Author : Nancy Helen Enright
Release : 1986
Genre : Christian fiction, English
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Charles Williams and His Theology of Romantic Love by : Nancy Helen Enright

Download or read book Charles Williams and His Theology of Romantic Love written by Nancy Helen Enright. This book was released on 1986. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Williams' Theology of Romantic Love, rooted in the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation, explores in theological terms the meaning and purpose of the romantic experience, particularly focusing upon love between the sexes. Williams sees in the romantic union a microcosm of the City of God, sharing in and expressing its qualities of life: Co-inherence--the living in and by the other whose prototype is the life of the Divine Trinity; and the Body as Index, the Wordsworthian phrase suggesting for Williams the sacredness of the physical as an image and "incarnation" of the Divine in light of the Incarnation of Christ. Williams expressed his Theology of Romantic Love in his seven novels and his two-volume poetry cycle. In a variety of depicted individual lives, he shows how love can be incarnated in several different "paths." Some of these are stages of a journey, one leading to another, such as Love as Vision, the "Beatrician" revelation, which leads to Love as Salvation; others, such as Married Love and Celibate Love are mutually exclusive, though equally valid options. In every instance, we see the theological significance of the human romantic experience. Williams' purpose in his portrayals of the Theology of Romantic Love is not merely to show that love can be theologically meaningful, though he certainly does intend to do that. He is also using Romantic Theology to express the heart of the Christian faith, as he saw it. The God Who exists in Co-inherent love in the Trinity came physically to earth in the Incarnation. Therefore, all of human life and love, including the romantic experience, is potentially redeemed and rendered more significant. Each person and relationship can now be seen as both image and incarnation of God's love; therefore, by experiencing and understanding human love according to the rudiments of Romantic Theology, we gain a glimpse and a taste of the nature and love of God.