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May 1st, 2010
Te Transformation of Persons and the Concept of
Moral Order: A Study of the Evangelical Ethics of
Oliver O'Donovan with Special Reference to the
Barth-Brunner Debate
Bruce D. Baker
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Baker, Bruce D., "Te Transformation of Persons and the Concept of Moral Order: A Study of the Evangelical Ethics of Oliver
O'Donovan with Special Reference to the Barth-Brunner Debate" (2010). SPU Works. 20.
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UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS
ST MARY’S COLLEGE
THE TRANSFORMATION OF PERSONS AND THE
CONCEPT OF MORAL ORDER:
A STUDY OF THE EVANGELICAL ETHICS OF OLIVER O’DONOVAN WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE BARTH-BRUNNER DEBATE
A THESIS SUBMITTED BY
Bruce D. Baker
TO THE FACULTY OF DIVINITY
IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND
MAY 2010
ii
Declarations
I, Bruce D. Baker, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 87,000 words in
length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has
not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree.
I was admitted as a research student in September 2007 and as a candidate for the degree of
PhD in April 2008; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the
University of St Andrews between 2007 and 2010.
date ____________ signature of candidate __________________________
I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and
Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St Andrews and that the
candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree.
date ____________ signature of supervisor ___________________________
Copyright
In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are giving
permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the
University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not
being affected thereby. We also understand that the title and the abstract will be published,
and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research
worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless
exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to
migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the
thesis. We have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order
to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below.
The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic
publication of this thesis:
Access to Printed copy and electronic publication of thesis through the University of St
Andrews.
date ____________ signature of candidate __________________________
date ____________ signature of supervisor ___________________________
iii
Abstract
This dissertation investigates the evangelical ethics of Prof. Oliver O’Donovan in order
to explore the implications of his “evangelical realism” for theological anthropology, moral
knowledge and the concept of moral order. The Barth-Brunner debate regarding natural
theology provides a lens onto these issues. Theological case studies are used to test our
findings.
Chapter 1 provides an overture to these issues, paying attention to current ideas about
human nature and morality, and the growing influence of neuroscience and evolutionary
psychology.
Chapter 2 focuses on Resurrection and Moral Order, and elucidates the salient factors in
its outline for evangelical ethics.
Chapter 3 diagnoses the challenges which a dialectical epistemology presents to the
development of a doctrine of evangelical ethics.
Chapter 4 delves into O’Donovan’s treatment of the Barth-Brunner debate over natural
theology, and discovers therein an illuminating correspondence between O’Donovan’s ethics
and the concept of a human “capacity for revelation” (Offenbarungsmächtigkeit), which
became a hinge issue in the debate. This provides a helpful lens onto O’Donovan’s concept of
moral order.
Chapter 5 examines the intrinsic connection between the concept of moral order and the
epistemic role of faith. Kierkegaard’s treatment of the paradoxical aspects of faith as an event
of epistemic access figures prominently in this analysis.
Chapter 6 brings together the results of our analysis and applies them to the thesis that:
the transformation of persons lies at the heart of evangelical ethics. The cosmology of faith
emerges as a critical hermeneutical factor in the development of a doctrine of evangelical
ethics. We explore here the doctrinal implications for Trinitarian theology.
Chapter 7 draws out practical implications of our thesis. We see the central place of
prayer and worship in evangelical ethics, and point out implications for teaching. Lastly, we
show practical applications of our thesis by examining the bio-ethical issues of human
reproductive technologies, with special attention to O’Donovan’s work, Begotten or Made?
iv
Contents
Abbreviations vii
Chapter 1. The Quest of Evangelical Ethics 1
Ethics as quest for a Point of Contact 1
“Explaining Religion” 4
Dialog within our secular age 9
Sense and nonsense 12
High-water marks of polemics & deep waters of
epistemological presumptions 13
Pressing on into evangelical ethics, with Oliver O’Donovan 16
Outline of dissertation 19
Chapter 2. The Concept of Moral Order 21
In Pursuit of Moral Reality 21
Love: the shape of evangelical ethics 25
Eschatological transformation 27
One reality: objective reality 28
Historicism overruled by teleological order 34
Ontological priority 38
Chapter 3. Implications of O’Donovan’s Evangelical Realism 44
Sustaining the polarities within evangelical ethics 44
The peril of naturalism 47
The conditions for moral knowledge: love & obedience 49
Avoiding the peril of divine command ethics 53
Implications for theological anthropology 55
Adopted into equality in Christ? 56
Challenges ensuing from O’Donovan’s evangelical realism 58
Conclusion 63
Chapter 4. Point of Contact: Implications of the Barth-Brunner
Debate for Moral Knowledge 64
Part 1: Analysis of Brunner’s doctrine of Anknüpfungspunkt 67
The humanum as that special ‘something’ 69
Of ontological priority and epistemological presumption 72
The formal-material imago: Doppelgänger or Doppelsinnigkeit? 77
Brunner’s epistemological antithesis 78
v
Part II: Barth’s Reply: Nein! – Offenbarungsmächtigkeit and
Theanthropic ethics 81
The concreteness of moral reality 81
The “great epistemological caveat” 83
In search of an Archimedean point 84
Uncovering the dilemma of Offenbarungsmächtigkeit 86
Identifying the locus of confusion 88
Concrete, not merely abstract 89
Positive, not merely dialectic 89
Noetic and ontic knowledge: parity in union 92
Fides contra ontologiam 93
The ethical import of Offenbarungsmächtigkeit 94
Part III: A lens onto O’Donovan’s effort to sort out
the confusion 95
Case Study: O’Donovan, Barth and Ramsey on the concept
of a ‘purchasing point for grace in nature’ 96
Conclusion 102
Chapter 5. The Kierkegaardian Knot: Binding the Concept
of Moral Order with the Epistemic Event of Faith 104
Whence the conflict between O’Donovan’s realism
and the ‘great epistemological caveat’? 104
Voluntarism & the ascent of the modern ‘self’ 106
Ontic encounter vs. ontological priority 109
Who can understand Abraham? 111
Faith as paradox 116
Suspicion of teleological ethics 120
Where and how does O’Donovan cut the
2
“Kierkegaardian Knot” (K )? 121
And where is all this going to lead? 125
Case Study: Ordnungen 126
Conclusion 130
Chapter 6. The Transformation of Persons and the
Concept of Moral Order 132
The hermeneutical task 133
Relationality: from ontological priority to the ontology of faith 134
Toward a “more natural” theology 136
Participation in Christ 143
Offenbarungsmächtigkeit in Christ 146
The Great Epistemological Presumption 150
Metanoia & moral knowledge 151
Transformation vs. Conversion 153
The Cosmology of Faith 155
vi
The Dynamics of Trinitarian Theology 160
Kingdom and Creation 169
Moral bricks vs. living stones 170
Apologetics 172
Ghosts of Voluntarism 173
Human freedom in light of the burning bush 175
Prayer at the Heart of Evangelical Ethics 177
Case Study: Reconciliation of a ‘Natural’ Ethic 180
Reconciliation in Christ 183
Chapter 7. Conclusion: Implications for Moral Knowledge
And Moral Action 188
Lex orandi lex credendi: Evangelical ethics as doxology 189
Implications for moral knowledge 191
Begotten or Made? Implications for moral action 192
Conclusion 202
Bibliography 207
vii
Abbreviations
Oliver O’Donovan:
R&MO Resurrection and Moral Order: An Outline for Evangelical Ethics; Second
edn. (Leicester, England: Apollos, 1994).
DN The Desire of the Nations: Rediscovering the Roots of Political Theology
(New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
WJ The Ways of Judgment (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005).
39 Articles On the 39 Articles: A Conversation with Tudor Christianity (Exeter, UK: The
Paternoster Press, 1986).
Karl Barth:
CD Church Dogmatics, trans. Geoffrey William Bromiley, 14 vols., eds. G. W.
Bromiley and Thomas Forsyth Torrance, 2nd ed. (Edinburgh: T & T Clark,
1975).
KD Die kirchliche Dogmatik: Die Lehre vom Wort Gottes. (München: Chr. Kaiser
Verlag, 1932).
Nein! Nein! Antwort an Emil Brunner. München: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1934. ET:
“No! Answer to Emil Brunner”, in Natural Theology, ed. John Baillie
(Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2002).
Emil Brunner:
Mensch Der Mensch im Widerspurch: Die christliche Lehre vom wahren und vom
wiklichen Menschen (Berlin: Furche-Verlag, 1937).
MiR Man in Revolt: A Christian Anthropology, trans. by Olive Wyon (London:
Lutterworth Press, 1939).
NG Natur und Gnade: Zum Gespräch mit Karl Barth. Tübingen: Mohr, 1934.
NT “Nature and Grace”, in Natural Theology, ed. John Baillie (Eugene, OR: Wipf
& Stock, 2002).
DI The Divine Imperative: A Study in Christian Ethics, trans. by Olive Wyon
(London: The Lutterworth Press, 1937).
viii
D-HE The Divine-Human Encounter, trans. by Amands W. Loos (London: SCM
Press, 1944).
Søren Kierkegaard :
F&T Fear and Trembling, trans. by Sylvia Walsh; C. Stephen Evans and Sylvia
Walsh, eds. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
CUP Concluding Unscientific Postscript, trans. by Howard V. Hong and Edna H.
Hong (Princeton University Press, 1992).
1 THE QUEST OF EVANGELICAL ETHICS
Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.
Habakkuk 2:4 [NRSV]
Ethics as quest for a Point of Contact
This dissertation concerns the interaction of evangelical ethics with modern concepts of
moral order. We find Professor Oliver O’Donovan to be a valuable guide in this regard, for
his desire to put evangelical ethics on a secure and realistic footing that remains unabashedly
evangelical while engaging simultaneously in fruitful dialog with the ethics of our secular
age. It has become popular in western culture to conceive of religion as a suspect idea which
has outlived its usefulness. Imbued with a patina of authority based on the ostensible claim to
be scientific, modern biological and psychological concepts of the self vie with religious
concepts in shaping the pattern of our cultural imagination. By innuendo, then, if not by
explicit argumentation, today’s popular western culture looks skeptically upon theology,
especially dogmatics, as an appropriate vehicle for the conveyance of ethics. The difficulty
encountered in the effort to reconcile an evangelical ethics with secular views of the modern
moral imaginary is that faith is accused of being an “unscientific” and “closed-minded”
epistemological conversation-stopper. “Surely, no one wants to be a fideist”, says Bruce
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