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Representing God's Presence
Author(s) -
Dalferth Ingolf
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
international journal of systematic theology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.149
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1468-2400
pISSN - 1463-1652
DOI - 10.1111/1463-1652.00063
Subject(s) - christian faith , mythology , faith , philosophy , mysticism , theology , christian theology , apostles , prime (order theory) , religious studies , combinatorics , mathematics
The article tackles two myths: the modern myth that God has vanished from human life, and the religious myth that the apostles, patriarchs, mystics and martyrs were in a more privileged position vis‐´‐vis God than we are. Dalferth argues that God has never been more present than today, has never been less hidden than today, and develops the thessis that the importance of God being present is central to the Christian understanding of God. Christian faith is faith in a present reality, not a set of beliefs about past events. The implications of this for the task of Christian communication are clear: the prime interest of Christian communication is to help those to whom it is addressed to develop a sense of the presence of God.