Called by name: contemporary Christian anthropology

Abstract

The paper argues that Christian theological anthropology is best understood, in the contemporary world, in terms of relationships. Human persons are formed in and through sedimented interactions with other persons. In the paper these interactions are considered against the backdrop of the concept of naming. In being named we are invited into relationships of increasing intimacy in which we are challenged to reveal more of who we are and what our name genuinely means. In each interaction it is possible to be embraced or to be rejected. Embrace encourages greater openness to relational interaction; rejection encourages closure and an unwillingness to open ourselves to further hurt and pain. It is possible to reflect on the use and power of names in the Bible where narratives using names can be read as models of the creative and redemptive activity of God. Gen 2–3 is examined as a 'case study' of this theory and then linked to other significant instances of naming in the Bible to demonstrate that this reading is a legitimate one. There are quite profound implications of thinking about theological anthropology in this way: challenges to our understanding of personhood, styles of ministry, sin and atonement and perhaps most of all to our view of God – the divine person who in revealing the divine name in every age invites humanity to enter into the divine life.