Inspiration

[cli...@multnomah.edu]

I am trying to understand Gunton's view of inspiration. Anyone have
any thoughts?

[Jordan....@gmail.com]

Not sure how much this will help, but here it is:

"the inspiration of scripture refers to the Spirit's enabling those
recipients of divine speech and action to compose the books which are,
in response to revelation, in their own human way divine revelation to
those generations that come after." - The Christian Faith, 53.

You can head to google books and look up gunton's books and search for
other quotes too.

[Mick Stringer]

Hi Clive,

For what it is worth, Gunton's views on inspiration can be understood theologically, scripturally and culturally. But such a distinction, to be true to his trinitarian framework of thinking, must be read in the light of the understanding that for Gunton the divine economy is both christologically and pneumatologically grounded.

1) The concept of inspiration applied theologically and scripturally is clearly stated by Gunton in The Christian Faith, pp 51-54. It is important, however, to note that inspiration, for Gunton, is something which is firmly grounded in the concrete reality of creation and in human culture in particular.

2) For Gunton, the incarnation takes place in the created order and must therefore be understood within the historical/cultural context within which Jesus' birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension takes place. Inspiration, too, is to be understood in the whole cultural matrix within which it happens. This leads to the view that creative human pursuits can be described as inspired insofar as they are human expressions empowered by the gift of God leading those same human beings into the intended purpose of the created order: viz, the praise of its Creator. Regarding the specific topic of artistic inspiration, Gunton holds that: "Here we should remember that 'inspiration' is a theological category, but one that finds major purchase in the arts. Inspiration refers to that side of art which is gift, that apparent givenness from beyond that gives artists a starting point and direction for their labours. All true art, and certainly not just religious or 'Christian' art, is therefore the gift of the creator Spirit as he enables in the present anticipations of the perfection that is to come at the end of the age. Art is thus one of the human ways of participating in God's project of creation. It is redemptive in the sense that it is an activity which enables the creation to reach towards the perfection that is its destiny." [1] 

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[1] Colin E Gunton, The triune creator: a historical and systematic study (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), 234.

Blessings,

Mick

[Nate Suda]

Clive,

I don't have the work at hand to quote from, but have you seen 'A Brief
Theology of Revelation'? There Gunton goes into the same idea in much more
depth. Some of his colleagues and former students have commented that they
think it is his best work.

Best Regards,

Nate

[Adrian Langdon]

Clive et al,

The reference for A Brief Theology of Revelation is chapter 4 "'All
Scripture is inspired'?: Revelation and inspiration: the problem of
scripture".

Sincerely,
Adrian Langdon