The Analogy of Faith

If God is transcendent, how can human beings speak meaningfully about him?For centuries philosophers and theologians have asked whether and how it is possible to talk about God. The shared answer to this question goes by the name of 'analogy,' which recognizes both similarity and difference between the divine being and human language. In the twentieth century, Karl Barth, Erich Przywara, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Eberhard Jüngel explored this question in new and controversial ways that continue to shape contemporary debates in theology.In The Analogy of Faith: The Quest for God's Speakability, Archie Spencer examines the problem of analogy in its ancient, medieval and modern forms. He argues for a Christological version of Barth?s analogy of faith, informed by Jüngel's analogy of advent, as the way forward for Protestant theology in answering the problem of God's speakability.

Archie J. Spencer (ThD, University of Toronto School of Theology) is associate professor of theology and John H. Pickford Chair of Systematic Theology for Northwest Baptist Seminary. A scholar, speaker and theologian, he has spoken and taught at institutions all over the world such as Wycliffe College, MacMaster Divinity College, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Seattle Pacific University, Briercrest Seminary, Trinity Western University, Redeemer Pacific College, Regent College and Associated Canadian Theological Schools. Spencer is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Karl Barth Society of North America, Society for the Study of Theology, and is a founding member of the Western Institute for Theological Studies. His research and publication interests include contemporary theology in the Western tradition and the theology of Karl Barth, Eberhard Jüngel and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He has also served as a pastor within the Pentecostal and Baptist contexts for over fifteen years.