Craig Keen

The Transgression of the Integrity of God

Craig Keen

"In this dark, when we all talk at once, some of us must learn to whistle."
In this comprehensive collection of his work, Craig Keen's voice emerges as that of a theologian who has indeed learned to whistle. In a day when much of what passes for academic «theology» is careful to maintain a safe distance from any determinate act of faith or work of praise, Keen evinces a single-minded determination to think and to speak, to write and to live doxologically. And whether writing or lecturing, teaching or conversing, Keen understands theology to be nothing less than an invitation to work out one's faith with fear and trembling.
Throughout this volume Keen argues that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus disrupt all metaphysical attempts to determine the reality of «God,» and suggests instead that theology is to be done liturgically and eucharistically–as the work of a people whose labor is carried out with open hands, free from all attempts to grasp and control. Keen discusses doctrinal issues–the Trinity, incarnation, creation–as well as a number of critical theological concerns–church and culture, justice, holiness, Christian education–in this light. The result is a profound set of reflections on the ways in which the word of the cross simultaneously transgresses our constructions of «God» and gives us to live transgressively in love.

After Crucifixion

Craig Keen

This is an extraordinary text. It addresses no small number of traditional theological concerns. However, it addresses them mindful of the earthiness of life. Thus this is also a book that is concerned to address questions of migration, brain physiology, emotional trauma, time, love, and death. It is written not to satisfy a bloodless lust for the resolution of puzzles. It is written with confidence that tangible bodies think. Thus there is an earthy quality to its writing, both in what it addresses and how it is addressed. The manner of After Crucifixion may be imagined as a moment in which in some unpretentious underground venue the deep, resonant percussions of subwoofers roll as a carnal wave across the chest and throat before they become the bass line in a conscious musical thought. After Crucifixion has been written for the ears, the chest, the throat, no less than for focused, deliberate, disciplined thought. But it is written in particular for bodies befriended by the Mystery of life and death–in the carnal event of the crucifixion/resurrection of the Galilean peasant Jesus, who unhands the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and thus invites us to join him in prayer.