Transformation, participation and plurality : the Cappadocian heritage for Systematic Theology in the third millennium

摘要

The aim of this article is to demonstrate how SystematicTheology in the third millennium utilises facets from the legacy of the Cappadocian fathers.The focal point is the influence on present-day Trinitarian theology. Aspects which arediscussed include matters of metaphysics, philosophy, morality and spirituality. The influenceof the legacy of the Cappadocian fathers concerns the challenge which diversity and pluralitycreate in systematic theology. This legacy is explored by means of the ‘lived experiences’ of thelife stories of the Cappadocians. These narratives illustrate a shift from the ‘impersonal’ to the‘personal’, from ‘disengaged abstraction’ to ‘relational participation’. The latter is referred toas ‘a pastoral doctrine of the Trinity’ by Paul S. Fiddes. The emphasis on ‘economical ontology’confirms the Cappadocians’ relevance for a present-day ethical discourse and the ‘aestheticsof a feeling for the Other’.