Justin Mandela Roberts

Sacred Rhetoric

Justin Mandela Roberts

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a celebrated and enigmatic figure in theology. Though he is known for advocating a concrete and worldly Christianity, Justin Mandela Roberts argues that his theology is in continuity with a participatory ontology, especially as seen in the ressourcement movement and Radical Orthodoxy. While critical of such «metaphysical speculation,» Bonhoeffer displays similar inclinations that situate Truth, Goodness, and Beauty as transcendental aspects of divine being. His theology affirms the pervasive «rhetoric» of doxology, details the economy of reciprocal gift-giving, and celebrates the sacramentality of creation. Sacred Rhetoric contributes to the ongoing discussion of metaphysics, and also serves as a supplement to the debate between Karl Barth and Erich Przywara.

Behold Our God

Justin Mandela Roberts

This book offers reflections on a number of theological themes, going beyond abstraction to ask what is involved in coming to know God–through all the praying, struggling, and rejoicing that entails. For speaking accurately about God cannot be done apart from beholding him. We are all too prone to forget the innocence of life's immediacy as we become weathered by the passage of time. Wonder is a fragile thing that struggles for breath amidst our everyday habits, environment, and slothfulness of vision. We require guidance to see the world's wonder, but we are given to a time that is less than hospitable to transcendental ends. This book's purpose is to inspire perpetual reconsideration of the wonder of things. Behold Our God does not relate personal experience or dogmatic confession for the sake of a certain end, but rather seeks to excite the rhapsody of God and reveal the profundity of life, anticipating the day when it shall be said, «Behold, this is our God» (Isa 25:9).