The Power and Vulnerability of Love: A Theological Anthropology
What is it about human beings that makes us capable and even desirous of inflicting terrible suffering on others (and ourselves)? If human beingsnot Godare the cause of evils such as extreme poverty, violence, and oppression, it is imperative that we probe the depths of the human heart to uncover why we, who are made in the image of Divine Eros, fail so miserably to love. Gandolfo constructs a theological anthropology in response to these pivotal questions. Gandolfo maintains that such an anthropologyand a response to these questionsbegins with the condition of human vulnerability. Drawing on womens experiences of maternity and natality, she argues that vulnerability is a dimension of human existence that causes us great anxiety, which in turn sets in motion tragic attempts by individuals and interest groups to eliminate their own vulnerability at the cost of vulnerable others. Yet vulnerability not only forms the basis for violence but also affords the possibility of human openness to the redemptive work of divine love. Poised paradoxically between tragic and redemptive vulnerability, human beings need existential resources and empowering practices to cope with and manage our vulnerability in more courageous, peaceful, and compassionate ways.

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The Power and Vulnerability of Love: A Theological Anthropology
What is it about human beings that makes us capable and even desirous of inflicting terrible suffering on others (and ourselves)? If human beingsnot Godare the cause of evils such as extreme poverty, violence, and oppression, it is imperative that we probe the depths of the human heart to uncover why we, who are made in the image of Divine Eros, fail so miserably to love. Gandolfo constructs a theological anthropology in response to these pivotal questions. Gandolfo maintains that such an anthropologyand a response to these questionsbegins with the condition of human vulnerability. Drawing on womens experiences of maternity and natality, she argues that vulnerability is a dimension of human existence that causes us great anxiety, which in turn sets in motion tragic attempts by individuals and interest groups to eliminate their own vulnerability at the cost of vulnerable others. Yet vulnerability not only forms the basis for violence but also affords the possibility of human openness to the redemptive work of divine love. Poised paradoxically between tragic and redemptive vulnerability, human beings need existential resources and empowering practices to cope with and manage our vulnerability in more courageous, peaceful, and compassionate ways.

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The Power and Vulnerability of Love: A Theological Anthropology

The Power and Vulnerability of Love: A Theological Anthropology

by Elizabeth O'Donnell Gandolfo
The Power and Vulnerability of Love: A Theological Anthropology

The Power and Vulnerability of Love: A Theological Anthropology

by Elizabeth O'Donnell Gandolfo

Paperback

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Overview

What is it about human beings that makes us capable and even desirous of inflicting terrible suffering on others (and ourselves)? If human beingsnot Godare the cause of evils such as extreme poverty, violence, and oppression, it is imperative that we probe the depths of the human heart to uncover why we, who are made in the image of Divine Eros, fail so miserably to love. Gandolfo constructs a theological anthropology in response to these pivotal questions. Gandolfo maintains that such an anthropologyand a response to these questionsbegins with the condition of human vulnerability. Drawing on womens experiences of maternity and natality, she argues that vulnerability is a dimension of human existence that causes us great anxiety, which in turn sets in motion tragic attempts by individuals and interest groups to eliminate their own vulnerability at the cost of vulnerable others. Yet vulnerability not only forms the basis for violence but also affords the possibility of human openness to the redemptive work of divine love. Poised paradoxically between tragic and redemptive vulnerability, human beings need existential resources and empowering practices to cope with and manage our vulnerability in more courageous, peaceful, and compassionate ways.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781451484670
Publisher: 1517 Media
Publication date: 02/01/2015
Pages: 360
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth O'Donnell Gandolfo is an independent scholar in Greenville, South Carolina.She has taught religion at Furman University and Converse College. Her research interests include systematic, feminist, and liberation theologies, and her work has been published in Theology Today, Horizons, Spiritus, and the International Journal of Practical Theology.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Part I The vulnerability of the Human Condition

1 The Fundamentals of Human Vulnerability Embodiment and Interrelationality 33

2 The Complexity of Human Vulnerability Perishing, Conflict, and Ambiguity 67

3 The Violation of Human Vulnerability Anxiety, Egocentrism, and Violence 103

4 Violated Vulnerability and the Violence of Privilege 135

Part II The Trinitarian Dynamics of Divine Love and Human Redemption: A Theological Anthropology Of Resilience Resistance

Theological Interlude and Introduction to Part Two 177

5 Do Not Be Afraid The Invulnerability of the Imago Dei 183

6 And She Gave Birth The Vulnerability of the Imago's Incarnation 207

7 Rachel's Lament and Mary's Flight Love's Longing for Abundant Life 241

Part III To Suckle God with Exercise of Love

8 Practices of Resilience and Resistance Memory, Contemplation, and Solidarity 265

9 Conclusion Contemplating Vulnerability 311

Bibliography 321

Index 337

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