What is ‘Advent Theology’?

‘God-talk’ happens.

Minimally, ‘God-talk’ can be called theology (from two Greek words: theos—God; and logos— word, talk, reason). But not all ‘God-talk’ makes sense or is helpful. Thus theology, as a more formal enterprise, seeks to figure out what’s going on here, and critically pursue the truth of the matter. It’s racking one’s brains to “speak well of God.”¹ In short, theology is taking rational trouble to figure out what’s going on with such talk. This is what you will find on this site.

But, as is to be expected, in the course of such inquiry different kinds of theology emerge.² While we are interested in the whole range of different possibilities, this site seeks to argue for, and give expression to, a quite distinctive kind of theology. We are calling it ‘Advent Theology’ for three reasons: its object is the purported ‘Coming of God’ (i.e. the events of the Advent: past, present and future); thus its subject-matter is ‘God with us’ (Emmanuel); and its procedure is thorough-going inquiry (in­to potentially all things) in the ‘wake of the coming God.’

Two important clarifications:

1. While Advent theology arises out of a quite particular historical movement and comm­un­ity, and seeks to recommend itself to such a global enterprise (by now, some 25 million strong), it is not to be misunderstood as simply an attempt to describe a particu­lar denom­ination’s theology. Advent theology is distinctively Adventist, but it is also ecumen­ic­ally Christian. Furthermore, if it is on the right track, it will seek to become a universal cata­lyst in the global human quest to form more sustainable and authentically humane, human communities.³
2. For many in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination (now the largest of all the histor­i­cal forms of Adventism that arose in the mid-19^th century) to speak of ‘the Advent’ con­jures up the notion of “the Second Advent” (and associated visions of an imm­anent ‘end of the world’). While to speak of “the Advent’ in most of the rest of Christendom is to evoke the memory of the incarnation in “the First Advent” (i.e. Christmas). In our talk of ‘Advent Theology’ we do not mean either apocalyptic speculation about the future, nor mere nostalgic evocation of nativity scenes from the past. We are referring to a trans-his­t­orical triaxial theodrama that together constitutes the ‘Advent’ or coming of God in three dramatic ‘Acts’: creation / covenant; incarnation / salvation; consummation / ‘New Heav­ens & a New Earth’. We are talking about the historical emergence of the awareness, pres­ence and self-disclosure of God.⁴

What you will therefore find on this site is an emerging articulation of the theodrama of the Advent and its implications for life and practice.⁵ While it will be ‘in construction’ for some time to come, here are the five kinds of materials/resources/functions you will find as you navi­gate around:

1. Publications, presentations, papers, works in process, authored by John W. Webster.⁶ The site is his, and one of its purposes is to archive, organize and gradually make more accessible material produced over the nearly 50 years of his career as a systematic theo­log­ian and teacher.
2. Projects. Some of the above mentions material consists of incomplete projects (e.g. publications, monographs, drafted but unfinished multi-volume works). The main hind­rance to their being published is that they all seek to formulate and articulate a major ‘paradigm-shift’ (T.S. Kuhn) in Adventist theology. This cannot be effectively done in drips and dabs, for the coherence is in the ‘whole’ not in its individual parts. Parts will seem incoherent until seen in the light of a new whole (like what happens in a Gestalt-switch). Hopefully, it might become possible to have other like-minded folk participate in helping to move some of these projects forward.
3. Conversation. In due course, the plan is to open the forum features of the WordPress site to enable comment, dialog and multiple-participant conversation around these themes and projects. Critical engagement would be most welcome!
4. Blog. Eventually, it might be helpful to use the blogging features of the site, to provide current, topical comment on relevant issues as they arise. We will have to see. This might require a retirement before anything like this is even half-promised.
5. Repository and/or links to related works produced by others that might further the aims and goal of the site.

Footnotes:

[1] That is speak both rightly (i.e. rationally and coherently) and appropriately (i.e. compellingly and winsomely) of God. The phrase is drawn from the title of one of Edward Vick’s early books, Speaking Well of God: A Statement of the Christian Doctrine of God, Studies in Adventist Theology series (Nashville: Southern Publishing Associat­ion, 1979). Vick was one-time prof­essor of theology at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University. To my knowledge, he is the first Advent­ist scholar to have an earned PhD in the explicit field of Systematic Theology from a major theological school (Vanderbilt University, Divinity School). For another (perhaps more controversial) example of Adventist talk about God, see, Richard Rice, The Openness of God (Tacoma Park: Review and Herald Press, 1980).

[2] For a fuller explanation and sort of ‘topographical map’ of various kinds of ‘God-talk’ click here.

[3] In fact, it ultimately sees its catholic vocation, not only to herald the call to ‘Come out of Babylon (i.e. any imp­erial form of religious/social/political/economic domina­tion), my people’ (Jeremiah 54: 45; Rev. 18:4), but to provide a sanctuary for such exiles.

[4] For a fuller, yet still introductory, treatment of these notions, click here.

[5] If you are curious about what this means, here is a non-technical treatment of our take on what it means to be an Adventist in narrative form, from a 30,000ft perspective. Click here—What does it mean to be an “Adventist’?

[6] Click here for some biographical information and a CV.