Reviews for The Royal Remains: The People's Two Bodies and the Endgames of Sovereignty

The average rating for The Royal Remains: The People's Two Bodies and the Endgames of Sovereignty based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-04-26 00:00:00 Michael Murphy I will write this review in topical format, rather than reviewing chapter-by-chapter. The authors in this book propose a new theological vision critiquing the modern project by drawing upon Patristic and Medieval sources. Ontology The authors suggest that Western Christendom experienced an intellectual fall from grace around 1300. This dealt with the nature of "being" (or ontology). Previously, for the "church fathers or early scholastics, both faith and reason are included in the more generic framework of participation in the mind of God" (Milbank, 24). This meant while faith and reason are distinct, there is no duality. Likewise, creation itself participates in God. God is transcendent and suspended from creation. The "suspension" analogy is apt. God is high above creation but he can (and will!) participate in it. However, after Duns Scotus elevated being to the level of God, or that man and God participate in the same being in due proportion. In other words, God and man occupy the same reality. Because man and God now occupy the same ontology, ontology is flattened. The world is thus emptied of God. For the RO narrative, philosophy degenerates from this moment onward. Revelation Most people, conservative or liberal, Protestant or Catholic, regard the doctrine of Revelation as something like a deposit of divine truth accessible by reason and/or imparted graciously by God. This assumes, argues John Montag, a rationalistic view of knowledge that was foreign to the Patristics and Medievals. Anticipating objections to Thomas Aquinas and an alleged rational scholasticism, Montag argues that Aquinas saw revelation "teleologically" (Montag, 43). It is one's perspective on things in light of one's final end. Montag goes on to critique the distinctions between nature and supernature. Aesthetics The proponents of RO want a robust aesthetics'it is key to the Christian worldview. Central to an aesthetics is the sublime'the outpouring of God's love in plenitude (210). The sublime enters the vacant space created by postmodern chaos and in this space places the love and beauty of God. Sexuality and Embodiment Central to their aesthetic desire and healthy creationism is a focus on the blessings of being embodied. Graham Ward notes that since all creation issued forth from the Word of God, all of creation bears Christ's watermark (165). With talk of embodiment comes Christ's command to take and eat his body'talk of embodiment leads to talk of the Eucharist. Jesus's command is an ontological scandal'space and place are being redefined. Conclusion More could be said of their politics'the church is a counter-polis to the nation-state, the nation-state being an idol. They discuss the possibilities of epistemology and ontology after Wittgenstein. Finally is a rewarding discussion of friendship using St Anselm. The authors urge a return to the robustness of the Medieval age. Of course, the hindsight of postmodernism will condition our applications of medievalism, perhaps avoiding some of the medievals' faults (or perhaps not).

Review # 2 was written on 2018-01-06 00:00:00 Kimberley Martin An amazing collection of essays centered around the (loosely Anglican) Radical Orthodox theology. Difficult to summarize justly, some prominent themes include a rejection of the univocity of Being (a misstep largely laid at the feet of Duns Scotus which allegedly opened the door for voluntarism, nominalism, and modernity) and a return to Thomas' view of theology as the Queen of the sciences (without, however, rejecting wholesale everything that comes after Thomas). The ability of the Radical Orthodoxy to engage with postmodernism in a way that doesn't sell out Christian doctrine is intellectually satisfying while being mostly sound and sane (some of the things they say about gender are weird). Overall, this is some essential reading for intellectually serious Christians.