A Constructive Theology of Truth as a Divine Name with Reference to the Bible and Augustine
This study is a work of constructive theology that retrieves the ancient Christian understanding of God as truth for contemporary theological discourse and points to its relevance to biblical studies and philosophy of religion. The contribution is threefold: first, the thesis introduces a novel method for constructive theology, consisting of developing conceptual parameters from source material which are then combined into a theological proposal. Second, applying this method to selective texts of Augustine of Hippos’ corpus and the Christian Old Testament does original work to excavate their accounts of truth and divinity. Third, this harvest is re-interpreted and developed into a constructive theological proposal, that understanding God as truth can robustly contribute to accounts of truth in general. The first chapter positions my study within the fields of theological and philosophical debate and presents its methodology. This clarifies its relationship with historical theology, and delineates a productive engagement with biblical studies and cognitive linguistics, which accomplishes theological retrieval and resolves interdisciplinary tension. The second chapter examines Augustine’s writings On Free Will (De Libero Arbitrio), Confessions (Confessiones), and On the Trinity (De Trinitate). This engagement produces conceptual parameters that cover mathematical truth, Trinitarian logic, and human epistemic limitations. The thirst chapter examines the Old Testament. Judicious engagement with biblical scholarship and cognitive linguistics illuminates the Hebrew text’s complex articulation of senses and concepts associated with truth. From this, I extrapolate conceptual parameters that address truth-bearers and the relevance of divine truth to God’s love, being, law, word, and wisdom. The fourth chapter synthesises and augments the conceptual parameters developed in chapters two and three. The resulting constructive theology establishes the consequences of approaching ‘God as truth itself’ for truth in general. The relevance to perennial controversies in theology are noted, along with its potential to resolve philosophical challenges with further study.
Augustine of Hippo, Biblical Studies, Bruce Marshall, Catherine Pickstock, Cognitive Linguistics, Confessiones, Confessions, Constructive Theology, dabar, dābār, De Libero Arbitrio, De Trinitate, Divine Names, Emet, ʾĔmet, Emt, Epistemology, God as Truth, Hans Urs von Balthasar, ḥokmâ, John Milbank, Old Testament, On the Free Choice of the Will, Theology, Truth, Truth, philosophy of, Truth, theology of, Truth-bearers, Wisdom, Wisdom Literature, yhwh
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