The Window of Vulnerability: A Political Spirituality
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472 - | Thinking about God: Introduction to Theology The Window of Vulnerability: A Political Spirituality |
Thinking about God: Introduction to Theology
By Dorothee Soelle
Philadelphia, Trinity Press International, 1990. 156 Pp. $8.95.
The Window of Vulnerability: A Political Spirituality
By Dorothee Soelle
Minneapolis, Fortress, 1990. 210 Pp. $15.95.
For Dorothee Soelle, formerly professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York and now peace activist in Germany, politics, spirituality, and theology are of one piece. Theology as "faith seeking understanding" is both a quest for intellectual clarity and the direction that one's life takes. In fact, she insists, "there are no basic theological convictions which... can, but need not, also find political applications.... Tell me how you think and act politically and I will tell you in which God you believe."
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474 - | Thinking about God: Introduction
to Theology The Window of Vulnerability: A Political Spirituality |
This thesis undergirds both volumes. Thinking About God is essentially an introduction to theology for nonspecialists. Written in a clear, almost conversational tone, it is taken from lectures the author gave while teaching at Union. While the two volumes often overlap, this is the more systematic work. Soelle sets out three types of theologyorthodox, liberal, and liberation-and demonstrates how they approach the various core topics such as Bible, creation, sin, grace, and Jesus Christ. She also devotes chapters to feminist and black theologies and the theology of peace.
The blending of traditional topics with examples from the author's personal experience, and use of the first person voice, is unique in a comprehensive introductory text. While not alone sufficient for the introductory student, it gives one of the most accessible and warm, yet competent, introductions to theology available today. It includes such current issues as the feminist critique of the traditional understanding of sin as pride, and the new third world appreciation of the virgin birth story. A pastor or layperson, too, could easily pick up this book and profit. The advantage is not theological originality, but its way of organizing and stating things.
Soelle clearly comes from the liberation perspective and presents this as an attractive, compelling way. She, at times, does a disservice to " orthodox" theology (meaning, usually, the conservative brand) by caricaturing it. But at other times, she shows that she understands the attraction of the conservative stance. She is fair to liberal theology, and clearly demonstrates her indebtedness to it. Yet, she also sets forth its weaknesses, showing that the liberal paradigm is not adequate to address, much less affect, today's perils.
Soelle is entirely appreciative of liberation theology. Clearly, it offers a way to hold to the faith, as well as fueling political action and spirituality. Yet, her way of framing the problems can at times seem outmoded, at least in the late-twentieth-century North American context. In particular, Soelle speaks of the "bourgeois" as prime problem, that in their comfort, complacency, and political privilege, they cannot and do not want to hear the voice of the poor, where Christ truly speaks.
But even in a still-affluent country like the United States, the middle class is dwindling, less comfortable, and, rather than complacent, frenzied. These disheartened people are not simply "thwarted capitalists." While this does not put them any closer to hearing God, the situation must be addressed in a way beyond what the traditional Marxist categories allow.
Soelle's The Window of Vulnerability reiterates the themes of Thinking About God, but in an even more discursive tone. Some of these essays are from speeches the author has given. The three sections, "Security is Death," "God, Mother of Us All," and "Cells of Resistance," do not always hang together clearly. But some essays,
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individually, would be provocative introductions to topics such as God-language and our fatal penchant today for security.
Her critique of the "post-ism" craze, as in "post-modern" and "post-Christian" is one example of her incisive and sometimes barbed style. "My suspicion of these post-intellectuals is that they are in the business of doing away with the question of truth.... Is chronological factor supposed to replace every substantial discussion?... I sense a species of intellectual weakness when something new is not given a new name. "
For readers who are already enthusiastic about Soelle's work, this volume will be a good supplement. For others, it can serve as an introduction to her thought and political spirituality. But for the reader who only has time for one of Soelle's new books, Thinking About God is the better choice.
LINDA A. MERCADANTE
Methodist Theological School in Ohio
Delaware, Ohio