Articles by Joseph Morgan-Smith
After probing some feminist and womanist rejections and revisions of traditional theories of aton... more After probing some feminist and womanist rejections and revisions of traditional theories of atonement, I revisit Luther’s ‘happy exchange’ model. Following Kathryn Tanner and Diana Thompson, I recognize the happy exchange as rooted in the incarnation, and re-organize it around the egalitarian metaphor of friendship. I argue that this revised model can take the feminist and womanist critique of atonement seriously, while accounting for the gravity of sin and salvific efficacy of the cross.
There is an anthropological paradox at the heart of Thomas Aquinas’ soteriology. Thomas is a tele... more There is an anthropological paradox at the heart of Thomas Aquinas’ soteriology. Thomas is a teleological thinker for whom everything in creation tends naturally toward its fitting and proper end—everything, that is, except human beings. As intellectual beings, humans have a natural desire to contemplate and to understand, which can ultimately be fulfilled only in beatific vision. As creatures, however, we do not have the capacity to fulfill our own natural desire, since vision of God is possible only by divine capacities. Thus, when Thomas thinks about how humans move toward what makes us ultimately happy, he begins with the categories, both Hebraic and pagan, available in his own context; but he systematically transforms these, by the addition of certain Augustinian elements, from human principles of motion into divine gifts. I trace this shift, from pagan striving to Augustinian grace, in Thomas’ doctrines of law and virtue, and then back again, as Thomas’ doctrine of grace retracts from an Augustinian to a more Aristotelian construction. Thomas’ mature doctrine of grace, then, becomes another iteration of his anthropological paradox, one that has been the source of as much heat as light in the history of theology in Thomist traditions.
Conference Presentations by Joseph Morgan-Smith
Demonstrating that John connects the cross with both the heavenly throne and the earthly temple, ... more Demonstrating that John connects the cross with both the heavenly throne and the earthly temple, I argue not only that the cross as the vehicle of God’s salvation fits organically into John’s overarching narrative of the revelation of divine glory, but also that, for John, the salvific effect of the cross is located precisely in the fact that the crucifixion is the moment of Jesus’ glorification.
L. Michael Morales’ recent retrieval of Ancient Near Eastern cosmic mountain ideology reveals that this double typology: cross as heavenly throne and earthly temple, are variations on the same theme. The earthly temple, of which Jesus is depicted in John’s gospel as the fulfillment, was deliberately constructed as a replica of the heavenly throne, to which John believes Jesus, in and through the cross, was exalted. The cross is salvific for John, therefore, because it makes manifest the divine presence, access to which had been obstructed by the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.
I develop an historically-conscious and uniquely Lutheran conception of moral education, which hi... more I develop an historically-conscious and uniquely Lutheran conception of moral education, which hinges household liturgical life. Central to my conception will be both an expansion of liturgical imagination as a means for continual return to the gospel, which alone gives shape to Christian life, and an understanding of the family as a site for the development of liturgical practice.
After probing some feminist and womanist rejections of atonement theory and other feminist and wo... more After probing some feminist and womanist rejections of atonement theory and other feminist and womanist revisions of atonement theory, I revisit Luther’s happy exchange model. Following Kathryn Tanner and Diana Thompson, I recognize the happy exchange as rooted in the incarnation and re-organize it around the egalitarian metaphor of friendship. I argue that this revised model can take the feminist and womanist critique of atonement seriously, while still accounting for the gravity of sin and salvific efficacy of the cross.
What is human nature? What sorts of things do we desire? What is our proper goal? Questions like ... more What is human nature? What sorts of things do we desire? What is our proper goal? Questions like these have always haunted theologians—not least in the twentieth century, when an emerging school of mostly French Catholic theologians—often called Ressourcement theologians, or, pejoratively, ‘la nouvelle théologie’—proposed that the human desire to be supernaturally united with God is not a gift of grace, but is essential to human nature. The establishment theologians of the day envisaged a more purely natural human nature. For them, human orientation toward supernatural union with God is always a matter of divine grace and always mediated through the Church.
In this essay, I explore the landscape of this so-called “supernatural debate,” which became one of the most important and most vicious theological disputes of the twentieth century. I argue that, while the terms of the debate are somewhat ethereal the abstract, the implications are real, and they are far-reaching. I make note particularly of those places where both sides in this debate share certain assumptions and points of departure. And in the end, I suggest that pushing back against precisely these shared assumptions may create space for new avenues of creative engagement.
Book Reviews by Joseph Morgan-Smith
Religious Studies Review (forthcoming)
Religious Studies Review 42/3 (Sept 2016)
Religious Studies Review 4/14 (Dec 2015): 183
Teaching Documents by Joseph Morgan-Smith
Annotating books-marking important passages and writing in the margins-is an important scholarly ... more Annotating books-marking important passages and writing in the margins-is an important scholarly skill. Doing it well will help you engage more deeply with what you read, get back up to speed quickly when returning to a book you read some time ago, track your intellectual progress with regard to the material upon second and third readings of a book, and write better papers. Like any skill, annotating books doesn't come naturally; it has to be learned and practiced. You will get better at it over time, but it's never too early to start learning to annotate well. Below is a list of examples of how I annotate books, and a few suggestions for how you can start to develop your own system of annotation.
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Articles by Joseph Morgan-Smith
Conference Presentations by Joseph Morgan-Smith
L. Michael Morales’ recent retrieval of Ancient Near Eastern cosmic mountain ideology reveals that this double typology: cross as heavenly throne and earthly temple, are variations on the same theme. The earthly temple, of which Jesus is depicted in John’s gospel as the fulfillment, was deliberately constructed as a replica of the heavenly throne, to which John believes Jesus, in and through the cross, was exalted. The cross is salvific for John, therefore, because it makes manifest the divine presence, access to which had been obstructed by the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.
In this essay, I explore the landscape of this so-called “supernatural debate,” which became one of the most important and most vicious theological disputes of the twentieth century. I argue that, while the terms of the debate are somewhat ethereal the abstract, the implications are real, and they are far-reaching. I make note particularly of those places where both sides in this debate share certain assumptions and points of departure. And in the end, I suggest that pushing back against precisely these shared assumptions may create space for new avenues of creative engagement.
Book Reviews by Joseph Morgan-Smith
Teaching Documents by Joseph Morgan-Smith
L. Michael Morales’ recent retrieval of Ancient Near Eastern cosmic mountain ideology reveals that this double typology: cross as heavenly throne and earthly temple, are variations on the same theme. The earthly temple, of which Jesus is depicted in John’s gospel as the fulfillment, was deliberately constructed as a replica of the heavenly throne, to which John believes Jesus, in and through the cross, was exalted. The cross is salvific for John, therefore, because it makes manifest the divine presence, access to which had been obstructed by the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.
In this essay, I explore the landscape of this so-called “supernatural debate,” which became one of the most important and most vicious theological disputes of the twentieth century. I argue that, while the terms of the debate are somewhat ethereal the abstract, the implications are real, and they are far-reaching. I make note particularly of those places where both sides in this debate share certain assumptions and points of departure. And in the end, I suggest that pushing back against precisely these shared assumptions may create space for new avenues of creative engagement.