Wonder as a New Starting Point for Theological Anthropology (José Francisco Morales Torres)
WONDER AS A NEW STARTING POINT FOR THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Opened By the World (Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies in Religion and Society). By José Francisco Morales Torres. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2023.
The
idea that wonder could serve as the starting point for doing theology
caught my attention. Awe-inspiring
spaces can lead to theological reflection, even if we don’t call it that. It
might be a mountain (I grew up in the shadow of Mount Shasta, California, and
to this day I remain captivated by its beauty and majesty) or the ocean, or the
vastness of space. These kinds of encounters can create within us a sense of
wonder. So, is this what José Morales Torres has in mind when he
speaks of wonder being a new starting point for doing theological
anthropology?
The
book under review, Wonder as a New Starting Point for Theological Anthropology, is a revision of Morales Torres's doctoral dissertation
undertaken at Claremont School of Theology. Therefore, this book is directed at
a specific audience, a scholarly audience that shares a basic scholarly
foundation with the author. So, while I might qualify as an academic theologian,
having as I do, a Ph.D. in historical theology, Morales explores areas of
philosophy and theology that lay beyond my own expertise. His book is rooted in
the philosophical categories of phenomenology and metaphysics. So, I will
confess upfront that I’m not the primary audience of this book. Nevertheless,
there is much in this book that is intriguing, starting with the premise that wonder
can be a starting point for exploring theological anthropology. My hope, as
I’ll share as I move through the review, is that Morales will continue working
with this idea and making it accessible to a wider audience.
The
author is a personal friend and ministry colleague. Morales is an ordained
Disciples of Christ minister, having served as pastor and regional minister
within the Disciples of Christ denomination. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative
Theology from Claremont School of Theology and currently serves as an Assistant
Professor of Latinx Studies and Religion at Chicago Theological Seminary.
The book’s
subtitle is key: Opened by the World. Playing a central in the book is
Morales’ thesis that wonder is not something we produce or seek. Instead, it is
something that captivates us and takes hold of us. As I pondered this thesis, I
thought about attending Evensong in Oxford's Christ Church Cathedral. I
initially went to the service out of curiosity, but then the music and the
context took hold of me, stirring within me a sense of wonder.
Morales
opens the book by revealing that his study "emerges from the premise that
the experience of wonder is deeply foundational to the human being."
Therefore, he posits that "if theology is to transform, it must engage and
speak to the human person at the 'basic' level of wonder." (p. 1). When it
comes to theology, Jose affirms that God is not something we discover. Rather
God is one who reveals. That brings into the equation theological anthropology,
for it is to humans that God reveals God's self. That brings into the equation
wonder.
In his
effort to help us understand what this new foundation for theological
anthropology involves, Morales takes a deep dive into the philosophical
category of phenomenology, exploring the phenomenology of wonder. He chooses this foundational philosophical
position as a starting point because wonder is deeply experiential and
phenomenology deals with experience. His conclusion is that wonder is "the
encounter between the 'excess-with' of the other, that acts first, and the
available openness of the self" (p. 41). While phenomenology is
foundational, it is not a sufficient foundation for theological anthropology.
Therefore, Morales moves next to metaphysics in Chapter 2.
Chapter
2 focuses on the "Metaphysics of Participation as the Ontological
Grounding for Wonder." In this chapter, Morales turns to comparative
theology in his effort to lay a new foundation for theological anthropology. In
this regard, he utilizes the work of three medieval philosophers/theologians—one
Jewish, one Muslim, and one Christian. The figures engaged here are two
philosophers from Andalusia—the Jewish philosopher Ibn Gabirol and the Muslim
philosopher Ibn Arabi—and the definitive medieval Christian theologian—Thomas
Aquinas, who was himself influenced by Jewish and Muslim figures from
Andalusia. Taken together, these three philosophers/theologians offer us an
ontological grounding for understanding wonder as participation in Being. While
each theologian has his own approach, Morales believes that each of them offers
elements of value for the development of this new grounding for theological
anthropology. What he discovers is that central to all three figures is this
idea of "transcendental excess" or divine generosity. He suggests
that "Generosity has two features which speak to wonder: gift and
excess." (p. 96). Yes, wonder is a gift that makes life enjoyable. It is
an expression of God's goodness. It is something that captivates us from
outside ourselves, as we are being opened by the world to something wonderful.
This is a lengthy chapter that defies summation. Thus, let it be noted that
while this chapter, like the first chapter, is dense and at times difficult to
fully understand, it offers a vision that demands further exploration.
The
first two chapters of the book are intended to be foundational. They lay the
groundwork for what Morales seeks to do with this book, and that is to develop
the idea that a sense of wonder can be the foundation for theological
anthropology. He develops this idea further in chapters 3 and 4. Before we get
to those chapters, Morales offers the reader an "Interlude on
Generosity." That is, he offers us a "Trinitarian Reflection on the
Holy Spirit as 'Giver of Life'" This brief interlude reflects Morales’ own
theology, as he and I have discussed through the years. Though brief, this
interlude offers a strong trinitarian foundation for what is to come. It is a
foundation that reflects the role of the Holy Spirit in creating wonder within
us. Of course, the focus is on generosity, and how generosity reflects God's
Being, which is for Christians trinitarian in nature. Morales addresses here
the question of whether creation is a necessary act of God or an expression of
God's generosity. He sides with the latter and envisions creation as an
expression of the excess of God's grace. That is, "wonder is an
'excessive' gift from the Giver of life who is this giving and receiving
dynamic and who imbues all creation with the 'aptitude' for such an excessive
experience" (p. 127). This interlude deserves to be expanded into a larger
effort as the question of whether creation is a necessary expression of God’s
existence is currently being debated.
This
idea of divine generosity drives the remainder of the book. Chapter 3 addresses
the question of whether wonder involves being opened to the world or opened by
the world. Morales Torres writes that “the capacity for order is a responsive
reaching out that is at the core of human being (in response to being grasped
by the O/other), and that reaching out is infinite." Further, wonder is
indispensable to framing a theological account of anthropology. It's not a
luxury that can be dispensed with. Rather "wonder is part and parcel of a
world saturated 'by the generous sap of God'" (p. 132). As for faith, it
is a form of wonder that is rooted in being grasped by the Other, that is by
God. Wonder is broader in scope, in that other things (like Mount Shasta) can
captivate us, but faith is a response to being captivated by God. Perhaps that
is why faith seeks understanding and not the other way around.
The
final chapter (Chapter 4) focuses on the "Ethics of Wonder and
Generosity." In other words, Morales believes that theological
anthropology rooted in wonder should lead from being captivated by God's
generosity to ethics. To get there he first defines sin as "making
myself" and "taking-by-force." He offers this discussion of sin
as an antidote to any sense that this vision of theological anthropology
involves "idealized notions of the pristine life rapt in wondrous awe."
In other words, we live in the real world where sin is present both personally
(making myself) and structurally (taking by force). Thus, he recognizes the
"dialectical tension" between the goodness of creation and the hope
of the consummation with the reality of sin, fallenness, and injustice. This is
an eschatological vision of already here and not yet. With this understanding
in mind, we can receive the word that the world is a gift of God that requires
a response on our part that involves an ethics of sustainability, solidarity,
vulnerability, and liberation. Liberation includes liturgy, because the two
together predispose us to joy by opening us up to the other—both to God and to our
neighbor.
In his
conclusion to Wonder as a New Starting Point for Theological Anthropology,
Morales notes that what he offers here is not a complete theological
anthropology. There is more work to be done, perhaps by him or by others, but
he offers it as a starting point for future development. As a reader, who
recognizes that this is an academic treatise written for a particular set of scholars—primarily
the scholars who made up his doctoral committee—it needs to be reiterated that
Morales did not write this book with a broader audience in mind. However, the
premise of this book is very intriguing and worthy of being developed in a way
that a broader audience can take hold of its message. Therefore, I would hope
that Morales will spend time further developing the concept with this broader
audience in mind. That is because I believe he is on to something here with
this idea that wonder can be a starting point for doing theology.
Since a lot of current theological conversation seems to be centered around theodicy, which can lead to reductive visions of God, such that we look for ways of getting God off the hook for the presence of evil in the world, these efforts often leave us without much about this God that is captivating us. There are few wonder-producing dimensions to this vision of God, but Morales’ trinitarian vision of a God whose act of creation is one of generosity is captivating, and thus is quite attractive to me. That he draws on representatives from the three Abrahamic traditions to get there is even more compelling. What is needed then is for José Morales Torres to take the message of Wonder as a New Starting Point for TheologicalAnthropology and translate it into more accessible theological language that would appeal to a broader audience, especially theologically trained clergy who can then interact with it and share it more broadly. Additionally, since this is the production of an academic press, it may not be affordable for many (you may need to order it from interlibrary loan). Nevertheless, as they say, there is something here that can be preached. We may need more accessible language to get there, but in the meantime, we have this important study of the role of wonder as a foundation for theological anthropology!
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