The Eschatological Economy: Time and the Hospitality of God [Paperback]

The Eschatological Economy presents a dynamic understanding of the transformation that occurs as man is brought into relationship with God. It links the central Christian truth that we are changed by the action of God to inform our understanding of time and history. Christian doctrine uses the terms ’sanctification’, and ’sacrifice’ to name the process in which God redeems his people and transforms all creation. This very old doctrine, associated with Saint Irenaeus, teaches that God always intended come to man and stay with him. In the course of this coming, man would grow up, a process delayed, but not ultimately halted, by our rebellion. This book uses the idea of development, or paideia, to talk about this dynamic process. It presents a theological discussion of the work of God and the people of God, and looks at the ways in which biblical studies tackle this issue of the education or formation of humanity, in particular by asking about the role of the people of Israel.
The Eschatological Economy offers a new account of human relations which shows that we owe one another all the life we have, and that God supplies to us the life that we are to supply to one another. Our failure to provide the life and recognition that is due to them, means that they suffer a deficiency, for which the theological term is ‘sin’. This ontological treatment of the doctrine of sin puts the fall into a properly Christian framework, which determines that the human condition is seen in the context of God’s ambitions for us. It examines sacrifice and other models of the work of Christ, and sets out a new understanding of the work, and the death, of Christ, showing that the cross and atonement are neither kind of mechanism or a metaphorical description of the human predicament, but simply God’s patience and power at work on our behalf.
The Eschatological Economy demonstrates that Christian theology is not just about ideas, but about life, practice and action, and about the plurality represented by the Christian community, created for us by God. It shows that the Christian gospel contradicts other systems of ideas and creates a real encounter and contest of world-views. When the doctrine of the Trinity determines the questions we ask about secularization, enlightenment and the idea of progress, it provides a way to avoid the divisions and tunnel vision that determines modern existence. Modernity is itself a religion, deeply conservative, and one which is contested by Christianity. Only Christianity can consistently point to a future. Modernity and Christianity are both forms of enlightenment, but modernity is the counterfeit version, Christianity the real one.

The Eschatological Economy is a new constructive systematic theology that explores the world-changing philosophical implications of Christian hope, and shows that secularism is just a kind of hopelessness. The Eschatological Economy has extensive discussions of christology and the atonement, the temple and sacrifice in the Old Testament and a radically theological account of the cross, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. It is God’s own labour that makes his people distinct: this labour meets resistance, but God overcomes this resistance and through slow and painful transformation makes his people holy. The book suggests how we should link the doctrine of the Holy Spirit to the people of Israel, to show that the New Testament is the fulfilment of the Old Testament, and that modernity is just a refusal to hear the promises of God, a refusal overcome by God’s own faithfulness.

"Douglas Knight is a free-flowing fountain of unexpected ideas and connections. Consider only the title of this book: everyone one of the pairings does conceptual work, including those made by the chiasmus."

Robert Jenson Center for Theological Inquiry, Princeton

Read this book...wrestle with this book...please, please, take your time with this book. This book is rocket-fuel. This book wants to teach you precisely how classic Christian theology interrogates and soars above so much that is stale and dispiriting in modern thought, particularly in modern political philosophy and, more generally, in all the humanities and social sciences. This book is an invitation to intellectual freedom and genuine creativity in the service of God.

Christopher Roberts Villanova University

"Ambitious, creative, and challenging, Douglas Knight combines a rigorous and scripturally disciplined dogmatic approach with fundamental analysis of metaphysical concepts. The result is an exciting and theologically motivated challenge to our modern assumptions about time and change, embodiment and identity."

R. R. Reno Creighton University

"Dense, erudite, and provocative, this work confirms the vitality of British, indeed, European doctrinal theology. This is fundamental theology in the best sense, investigating the unity of thought and practice, language and reality, faith and politics, and doctrine and worship in the activity of the triune God. The reader opening to any page will be rewarded with startling and original theological insights. "

Brian Brock University of Aberdeen

"No attentive reader of this book can fail to be impressed by its scope, boldness and sheer theological energy. As he moves across the fields of historical and systematic theology, biblical studies, and philosophy, Knight demonstrates the resources within the Christian tradition for critical analysis and hopeful reconstruction of culture. This provocative book deserves to be read and debated very widely."
John Webster University of Aberdeen
Knight has produced an ambitious, engaging, and creative account of the drama of redemption by changing the base-line terms in the discussion. This is constructive theology of a bold and fresh kind, taking seriously Israel, sacrifice, and an account of the problem of the human condition indebted to Irenaeus and Zizioulas. It is remarkable for its timely account of our present destiny as the Church, in the world of God’s constant, caring, and consummative work.

Christopher Seitz, University of St Andrews

"In the tradition of Irenaeus’ Against Heresies and in conversation with leading theologians and biblical scholars from across our confessions, this tour de force tells a grand narrative of all things coming together and coming to be in Israel, Jesus Christ, and his Church. Douglas H. Knight displays an impressive imagination for pulling together a dizzying variety of voices.
Telford Work Westmont College

Douglas Knight teaches Christian Doctrine in London, UK and is editor of 'Personhood and the Church: The Theology of John Zizioulas'. His website is resourcesforchristiantheology.org