Thinking about what to read: Colin Gunton

Colin Gunton with his teacher Robert Jenson

Colin Gunton's book, The One, The Three, and The Many, is probably the most influential theological work that I have ever read. Partly this is because I read it early in my theological training but more likely it is how he masterfully brings together trinitarian theology, the arts, philosophy, and a theology of culture. His theology helped to shape my theological imagination in significant ways, and for that I will always be grateful. 

At the center of Gunton's theological project, is a robust and vibrant trinitarian theology. For Gunton, the Trinity is not some nice abstract idea about absolutes or perfections, nor is it a cypher by which and through which to understand the mysteries of the world (an entry into some kind of mystery religion). Instead, this doctrine brings us to the very heart of the God who is distinct, particular, and unity-in-community. As he argues:

“God is not God apart from the way in which Father, Son, and Spirit in eternity give to and receive from each other what they essentially are. The three do not merely coinhere, but dynamically constitute one another’s being” (Gunton, The One, The Three, and The Many, 164).

Thus, unity and diversity (particularity) are mutually constitutive - they do not exist separately or outside of one another. Unity in God requires the distinct persons and diversity requires the unique manner of God's being one. 

This kind of trinitarian theology leads to a core concept that I have taken from Gunton (and he took from Barth, and so on, and so on...): because God has space to be the one triune God as Father, Son, and Spirit, then all of the created order has space to be itself. This is the very heart of his dynamic theology of freedom. Freedom is mediated by relationships. It is his argument that the very being of God leads us to this conclusion. Freedom and relationship are intertwinned. 

Even though Colin Gunton was not my classroom teacher (though I did hear him lecture a number of times, and I almost spilled tea on him during a private conversation), I feel that he is one of my best teachers. His commitment to disciplined and critical theological thinking, his pastoral heart for the church, and his desire to raise up a new generation of theologians and pastors inspire me in my writing and teaching life. 

Gunton died too early. At the time of his death, he was in the midst of writing his systematic theology. The world of Christian theology will always be impoverished because his final theological project was never finished... 

Prof. Gunton, thank you for your passion and leadership. You are sorely missed.

Obituary for The Rev. Prof. Colin Gunton by Stephen R. Holmes