Theological Worlds

Part 5, Epiphania, Eschatology, and Experience

You'll have noticed in my description of the nine theological worlds that I focused on the obsessio and said little about the epiphania. I think this is true to Jones' work as the obsessio creates the center of gravity for the theological world. Given each particular obsessio we go in search for a particular grace.

But what is the nature of each particular grace?

As I've pondered what might be experienced as epiphania for each theological world that I have described I've struggled to name these precisely. Some epiphania seem obvious, but others are more elusive. Some might have a this-worldly experience and realization, while others have to be deferred to the future new creation. In those instances, the epiphania is an experience of hope or longing. We look for intimations of grace today, but won't experience its fulness in this life. Phrased differently, some epiphania are eschatological in nature. The epiphania is delayed. If this is so, going back to Part 2, then some theological worlds, by default, tip into a Winter Christian experience, where the experience of the obsessio predominates over the epiphania.

And yet, the lines are blurry here. For example, consider the obsessio of Injustice. Injustice has a this-worldly epiphania when justice is experienced and obtained. So we seek that justice. And yet, justice can also be elusive. This pushes the epiphania toward eschatology. "The arc of history is long," we say, "But it bends toward justice." So, there is justice now and justice delayed. This is the same thing we find with the obsessio of Ecological Grief. A lovely urban garden, reclaiming green space from a concrete wasteland, is an epiphania that breaks into our lives here and now. But we don't expect every ecological crisis to be resolved in our lifetimes. This global epiphania is delayed.

Consider, also, the obsessio of Self-Alienation. Coming to accept, love, and embrace oneself can be a this-worldly experience. And yet, some struggle with self-love their entire lives. The epiphania is never fully realized. Coming to see ourselves as God sees us is delayed until the new creation.

Other obsessios might struggle to have any epiphania in this life and are almost wholly eschatological in nature. The obsessios of Death and Suffering are like this. If you are not in these theological worlds, this might be puzzling to you. For example, you might think that the resurrection and heaven are the epiphania for the obsessio of Death. Problem solved, right? Well, from the outside that seems to be the easy "solution." But recall, the obsessio of Death is the pain of loss, the shadow death casts over human existence. The transitoriness of life. Yes, one can point to heaven in the face of death but that doesn't make the ache go away, nor dispel the mystery of why we must suffer death. The same goes for the obsessio of Suffering. Yes, there are theodicies available to those in this theological world, but if you're living in this theological world those explanations never fully satisfy. In fact, they can make things worse. For example, to return to the example of Ivan Karamazov, even the hope of new creation fails to satisfy his obsessio. Heaven may exist, Ivan says, but he'd refuse to go because of the suffering of this life.

Pondering all this, I am hesitant to give a specific description of the epiphania for each theological world. What I will say is that each theological world varies as to the degree that the epiphania can be realized proleptically, here and now, in anticipation of the new creation versus epiphanias that are expressed as eschatological hope, as a grace delayed.

I want to also suggest that every epiphania, while particular in location, is the same felt experience. And these experiences, as I discuss in Hunting Magic Eels, take the shape of mystical experiences as described by Willam James. That is, experiences of epiphania are often ineffable, transient, passive, and posses a noetic quality. As to the content of these experience, given their ineffable, inexpressible nature, there are words we use to try to capture them, words like mercy, grace, wonder, peace, wholeness, enlightenment, rest, restoration, joy, and eucatastrophe. Julian of Norwich, I think, captures it when she said, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." Again, while I think this experience is shared across theological worlds, what brings it about varies. These "all shall be well" moments are different depending upon your theological world. Grace is grace, but grace comes to us in our particularity.

Given all this, and unlike W. Paul Jones, I will not describe a particular epiphania for each theological world. I will simple say this by way of summary:

• Some epiphania can be strongly experienced in this life, while others are hoped for and are experienced as longings and intimations.

• Our experiences of epiphania, as religious experiences, are largely ineffable and difficult to put into words

• The subjective experience of epiphania is shared across theological worlds, an experience of "all shall be well." Grace is general.

• However, the locations where we experience these "all shall be well" epiphania are unique to each theological world. Grace is also particular.