Search

The following is a panel discussion between four theologians about their recent theological work at the intersection of trauma and Christian theology. This conversation highlights the ways in which current (or recent) studies in trauma have impacted and reshaped the classic questions of Christian faith: Where is God in the suffering? Does God will suffering? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay offers a theological analysis of trauma, recognizing the difficult questions posed by trauma, which indwells a person's or community's body long after the first traumatizing event(s) has passed. The research draws upon a case study, psychological trauma studies, and neuro-biology in dialogue with a fresh reading of Mark 5:25 – 34, the story of the hemorrhaging woman. The analysis concludes with theological constructs that are significant for understanding trauma and trauma-healing. These are: the importance of bodily encounter, the accent on Jesus' role as witness to radical suffering and healing, and the time-extensive nature of healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I explore the witness of Mary Magdalene for its potential to contribute to discussions of survival and healing taking place in discourses of trauma. Through a reading of the Johannine text and an examination of Hans Urs von Balthasar's depiction of Mary's witness in Heart of the World, I claim that the obstructions of Mary's witness are constitutive of what it means to witness between cross and resurrection. Through her ‘unseeing’, she testifies to the unique configuration of divine love between death and life. Mary's witness not only provides an entrance into thinking about the experience of ‘middleness’ in trauma, it opens up a rich pneumatology in the wake of the cross. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]