Anxious Angels: A Retrospective View of Religious Existentialism

301 Pages·1999·6.09 MB·English

by  George Pattison (auth.)

ANXIOUS ANGELS
Also by George Pattison
AGNOSIS: Theology and the Void
ART, MODERNITY AND FAITH
KIERKEGAARD AND THE CRISIS OF FAITH
KIERKEGAARD ON ART AND COMMUNICATION (editor)
KIERKEGAARD: The Aesthetic and the Religious
KIERKEGAARD: The Self in Society (co-editor with
Steven Shakespeare)
PAINS OF GLASS (with Wendy Beckett)
POOR PARIS! Kierkegaard's Critique of the Spectacular City
SPIRIT AND TRADITION: An Essay on Change
(with Stephen Platten)
Anxious Angels
A Retrospective View of
Religious Existentialism
George Pattison
Dean of Chapel
King's College
Cambridge
First published in Great Britain 1999 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-0-333-68739-0 ISBN 978-0-230-37781-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230377813
First published in the United States of America 1999 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-22011-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pattison, George, 1950--
Anxious angels : a retrospective view of religious existentialism
/ George Pattison.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-22011-2 (hardcover)
1. Christianity and existentialism-History. I. Title.
BT84.P37 1999
230'.046---dc21 98-30657
CIP
© George Pattison 1999
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with
written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by
the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
sustained forest sources.
109876543 2 1
08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99
For Ulrich, and for teachers and fellow students at
New College, Edinburgh, 1974-77

Contents
Acknowledgements xi
Abbreviations xiii
Foreword xv
1 Introduction 1
2 Forerunners 8
3 The Storm Bird 24
4 What Russian Boys Talk About 57
5 A Short Story of the Anti-Christ 92
6 A Bombshell in the Playground of
the Theologians 109
7 Faith without Myth 128
8 On the Boundary 147
9 The Russian Idea 170
10 Paradox and Mystery: Catholic Existentialism 194
11 The Life of Dialogue 223
12 Ends and Origins 254
Selective Bibliography 274
Index 282

Blessed be the Lord God, the Mighty One, who dwells on high
where no eye can reach, who alone is Holy, whose counsel is hidden
in the darkness of the clouds wherewith He has girded Himself,
and whose thoughts are as terrible lightnings, the course whereof
no man knows.
In His mercy He looked down from His eternal throne and
beheld the earth, and all that men did therein. And His heart grew
heavy within Him, seeing their works, how they neglected right
eousness, working wicked things, each according to their own lik
ing. And behold, His mind grew dark, thinking thereon. And He
reasoned thus with Himself, saying, Are these not creatures whom I
created in my own likeness, that they might have dominion over
the earth and no good thing be denied them? And have I ever
ceased to show forth my steadfast love unto them? Did I not make
my covenant with them, setting my bow in the sky as a sign to all
generations? Did I not give the Law through my servant Moses,
that they might do all that made for their peace? Did I not send
unto them prophets and wise men, that all knowledge might be
theirs, that they might repent and live? Have I not spoken unto
them by angels, and have they not heard my very voice, speaking
from the clouds of heaven? And yet they hearken not, continuing in
their evil ways and doing all manner of abominable works.
And the Lord God, the Mighty One, Blessed be He!, summoned
unto Him Gabriel, imparting unto him all that He pondered in His
mind. To no other angel did He speak at that time, yet Cherubim
and Seraphim and all orders of angels trembled at the thunder of
His voice. They did not know whereof He spoke, yet were filled
with dread lest some great ill might be the issue thereof. - But they
mistook them, for all His purposes are for the healing of the
nations, that the peoples of the earth might rejoice, that they might
keep His Sabbaths and delight to do that which is right.
Of that day, and of the words of that counsel, none spoke there
after. And from that time on the Lord God, the Mighty One, and
Merciful, Blessed be He!, sent forth no new commandment, nor
prophecy, nor vision. And His angels wondered greatly that He no
longer sent them as of old, as unto Balaam and to Gideon, that they
might direct the words and deeds of men.
Speaking to none, lest they might hear, nor opening the eyes of
any, lest they might see, the angels yet go to and fro upon the earth,
ever obeying the commandments of the Lord, who, in His mercy, is
alone wise and whose thoughts are deeper than the ocean. And 10,