Twilight of Western Thought

Home

Imagination, Image of God and Wisdom of God
Introduction
Part 1: Theosophy
Part 2: Acts
Part 3: Perception
Part 4: History
Part 5: Aesthetics
Part 6: Theory
Conclusion
Appendix A: Calvin
Appendix B: Animals
Appendix C: Corbin
Appendix D: Twilight
Appendix E: New Root
Bibliography

Dooyeweerd
Linked Glossary
List of Notes
His last article
General Bibliography

De Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee Volume I
Foreword
Introduction
Ground-Idea
Foundation
Law-Idea
Prism of Cosmic Time
Law and Subject
Philosophy/Worldview

De Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee Volume II
The Gegenstand
Dis-stasis/ Synthesis
Intuition and Time
Conceptual Limits
Horizon and Levels
God, Self and Cosmos

Vollenhoven
Vollenhoven articles

Other links

Franz von Baader
Abraham Kuyper
Frederik van Eeden

Imagination, Image of God and Wisdom of God:
Theosophical Themes in Dooyeweerd’s Philosophy

by
Dr. J. Glenn Friesen

Appendix D: Twilight of Western Thought

A .pdf version of the entire article can be downloaded here.

Click here to go back to Introduction. Or select a different part of this article using the navigation bar at the left.

Appendix D: Excerpts from Twilight of Western Thought (Nutley: Craig Press, 1968).

The following excerpts from Twilight have been compiled because in my experience, many readers of that book skip over what Dooyeweerd says. They think that they know what is meant by “creation, fall and redemption,” and that they therefore do not have to read about it. But Dooyeweerd’s emphasis is that the Christian Ground-motive of creation, fall and redemption must be understood in its radical and integral sense. It is not enough to merely believe in creation, fall and redemption. By ‘radical and integral,’ Dooyeweerd means that creation, fall and redemption must all be understood in relation to the supratemporal religious root, originally man’s selfhood or heart, and later redeemed in Christ, the New Root.

Another reason for this compilation is that the page numbering is inconsistent across the various editions of Twilight, and so some readers were not looking at the correct passages. My citations are from the 1968 edition. There are variations in the text of other versions, and Paul Otto’s 2005 article in Philosophia Reformata [230] shows that the recent Mellen edition of Twilight is unreliable.

The excerpts also distinguish between theoretical and theological knowledge, which is temporal, and the knowledge of our heart, which is supratemporal. The entire book Twilight is devoted to this topic, and this collection of excerpts demonstrates just how carefully Dooyeweerd’s work must be read.

I have added some footnotes, emphasizing certain points.

As Dooyeweerd says, the radical nature of these ideas, including the idea of the supratemporal heart and root can be understood only when God opens our heart. So when you read these excerpts, put aside your ideas of what you think you learned about these ideas. Don’t assume that you know what Dooyeweerd means. Don’t skip over words on the assumption that you already know their meaning from Sunday School. Read these excerpts meditatively, and in prayer.

* * * * *

page 7:

This whole diversity of modal aspects of our experience makes sense only within the order of time. It refers to a supra-temporal, central unity and fulness of meaning in our experiential world which is refracted in the order of time…the central unity of the human selfhood. [231]

page 29:

My selfhood is nothing without that of yours, and that of our fellow-men. In other words there exists a central communal relation between the individual centers of experience, lying at the foundation also of any temporal communal relation in theoretical thought. [232]

page 30:

…central religious relation between the human ego and God, in whose image man was created.[233]

page 42:

…the human ego, as the religious concentration-point of our integral existence, as the central seat of the imago Dei… [234]

page 115:

…fatal step of confusing theoretical Christian theology with the true knowledge of God and true self-knowledge. [235]

page 121:

[Theoretical thought] …is always related to the I, the human self; and this ego, as the center and radical unity of our whole existence and experience, is of a religious nature. Therefore real self-knowledge is dependent on the knowledge of God, since the ego is the central seat of the imago Dei. [236]

pages 123-124:

For it is not only the individual temporal existence of man which is centered in a radical unity. Much rather, it is our whole temporal world, the “earth” as it is called in the initial words of the book of Genesis, which, according to the order of creation, finds its center in the religious root of mankind, i.e., in the spiritual community of the hearts of men in their central communion with God, the Creator. This is the radical and integral sense of creation, according to the Word of God. [237]

pages 124-125:

…the fullness of meaning of his [man's] existence was only to reflect the divine image of his Creator. This also determines the radical and central sense of the fall into sin. [238]

This apostasy concerns the root, the religious center of human existence.…This apostasy implied the apostasy of the whole temporal world which was concentrated in man's ego. Therefore the earth was cursed, because it had no religious root of its own, but was related to the religious root or center of human existence. [239]

For the same reason [240] the redemption by Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit, which makes us into members of His body, has a central and radical sense. In Christ mankind and the whole temporal world have received a new religious root [241] in which the imago Dei is revealed in the fullness of its meaning.

Thus the central [242] theme of the Holy Scriptures, namely, that of creation, fall into sin, and redemption by Jesus Christ in the communion of the Holy Spirit, has a radical unity of meaning, which is related to the central unity of our human existence [243].…So long as this central meaning of the Word-revelation is at issue…In this sense the central motive of the Holy Scripture is the common supra-scientific starting point of a really biblical theology and of a really Christian philosophy. It is the key of knowledge [244] of which Jesus spoke in his discussion with the Scribes and lawyers.

page 136:

And it is only within the temporal diversity of experiential aspects that the divine revelation can become an object of theological thought.[245]

page 145:

From this it may appear that there must be a difference in principle between creation, fall and redemption in their central sense as the key to knowledge [246], and in their sense as articles of faith [247], which may be made into the object of theological thought. The Jewish Scribes and lawyers had a perfect theological knowledge of the books of the Old Testament. They wished, doubtless, to hold to the creation, the fall, and the promise of the coming Messiah as articles of the orthodox Jewish faith which are also articles of the Christian faith [248]. Nevertheless, Jesus said to them: “Woe unto you, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge!”

This key of knowledge in its radical and integral sense cannot be made into a theological problem.[249]

page 146:

In other words, the true knowledge of God in Jesus Christ and true self-knowledge are neither of a dogmatic-theological, nor of a philosophical nature, but have an absolutely central religious [250] significance. This knowledge is a question of spiritual life or death. [251]

page 148:

…theology in its scientific sense is bound to philosophical fundamentals which are in turn dependent on the central religious motive of theoretical thought. [252]

page 150:

…theologians…did not realize the fundamental difference between the divine creative deeds and the genetical process occurring within the created temporal order as a result of God's work of creation [253].…But as a truth of faith God has revealed these creative deeds in the faith-aspect [254] of this temporal order which points beyond itself to what is supra-temporal.

page 186:

But in this entire image of man [the opposing Greek view of man] there was no room for the real, i.e., the religious center of our existence which in the Holy Scripture is called our heart [255] , the spiritual root of all the temporal manifestations of our life. It [the Greek view] was constructed apart from the central [256] theme of the Word-revelation, that of creation, fall into sin, and redemption by Jesus Christ in the communion of the Holy Spirit. And it is this very core [257] of the divine Revelation which alone reveals the true center of human life [258]. It is the only key [259] to true self-knowledge in its dependency on the true knowledge of God. It is also the only judge both of all theological and philosophical views of man [260]. As such, this central theme of the Word-revelation cannot be dependent on theological interpretations and conceptions, which are fallible human work, bound to the temporal order of our existence and experience [261]. Its radical sense [262] can only be explained by the Holy Spirit, who opens our hearts [263], so that our belief is no longer a mere acceptance of the articles of the Christian faith, but a living belief [264], instrumental to the central operation of God's Word in the heart [265], namely, the religious center of our lives. And this operation does not occur in an individualistic way but in the ecumenical communion of the Holy Spirit who unites all the members of the true Catholic Church in its spiritual sense …[266]

page 187:

I am afraid that many Christians have only a theological knowledge of creation, fall into sin and redemption by Jesus Christ, and, that this central theme of the Word-Revelation has not yet become the central motive-power of their lives. [267]

page 189:

Just as [268] God is the absolute Origin of all that exists outside of Himself, so He created man as a being, in whom the entire diversity of aspects and faculties of the temporal world is concentrated within the religious center [269] of his existence, which we call our I, and which the Holy Scripture calls our heart, in a pregnant, religious sense. As the central seat [270] of the image of God, the human selfhood was endowed with the innate religious impulse to concentrate his whole temporal life and the whole temporal world upon the service of love to God [271]. And since the love God implies the love for His image in man…[the two commandments of love are related] [272]

page 191:

…the history of dogmatic theology proves that it is possible to give an apparently orthodox [273] theoretical explanation of the articles of faith pertaining to the threefold central theme of the Holy Scripture, without any awareness of the central and radical significance of the latter for the view of human nature and of the temporal world. [274]

Go to Appendix E: Christ as New Root

Endnotes

[230] Paul Otto: “In the Twilight of Dooyeweerd’s Corpus. The Publishing History of In the Twilight of Western Thought and the Future of Dooyeweerd Studies,” Philosophia Reformata 70 (2005), 23-40.

[231] Supratemporal, central, fulness and selfhood are all related. The central is always supratemporal. Cf. NC I, v (first page of Foreword): “I came to understand the central significance of the “heart”, repeatedly proclaimed by Holy Scripture to be the religious root of human existence.”

[232]The central communal relation is different from any temporal communal relation. The central relation is the invisible Church.

[233] Central religious. For Dooyeweerd, the religious is always central and supratemporal. Note the relation between this centrality and being created in the image of God.

[234] Religious concentration point. Again, ‘religious’ is supratemporal, related to the concentration point, as central seat of image of God.

[235] Theology is not the same as self-knowledge.

[236] Theoretical thought has to still relate to the human self. Again, the self is the center and radical unity of our whole existence and experience, and is of a religious nature [supratemporal].

[237] Not just our temporal functions are concentrated in this radical unity or concentration point. But rather the whole earth, the whole temporal world is concentrated in this radical unity. It is centered in the religious root. After the fall and redemption, this is the spiritual community of the hearts of men, participating in Christ, the New root. See below regarding‘heart.’

This concentration in the religious root is the radical and integral sense of creation. Note how ‘radical’ relates to ‘root’ or ‘radix.’

Note the use of the word ‘in’: “in the religious root of mankind,” “in the spiritual community of the hearts.”

[238] The fullness of meaning is related to man as the image of God. Thus, the concentration of temporal reality in man was part of man’s being created in the image of God. This is expressly affirmed below.

[239] Man as the religious root is also required for the Idea of the radical and central sense of the fall. There was an apostasy of the whole world, concentrated in man’s ego. [Note: The apostasy was not in Christ at that time, nor in a spiritual community, but in the undifferentiated root ego or selfhood]. And this ego is then called the religious root or center of human existence

[240] For the same reason, the Idea of religious root is also required to understand redemption.

[241] Christ as New Root. See also Appendix E for other references.

[242] The “central theme” is literally that. It is related to the center.

[243] The radical unity of this theme (creation, fall, redemption) has a radical unity of meaning related to the central unity of our human existence. That central unity is our selfhood. And that selfhood is supratemporal.

[244] It is in this sense (i.e. this radical sense) that creation, fall and redemption is the key of knowledge.

[245] Theory concerns only what is temporally revealed, and not the Word as it speaks to our heart. In ‘Curators,’ Dooyeweerd even says that creation fall and redemption are not the subjects of theology.

[246] The Christian Ground-motive is the key of knowledge only in this central sense.

[247] Articles of faith are not central. They are temporal expressions. That is why Dooyeweerd says that he is not bound by confessions of faith if they contain wrong philosophy that denies the supratemporal selfhood (See ‘Curators’)

[248] Perfect theological knowledge of creation, fall and redemption is not enough.

[249] The reference to perfect theological knowledge of creation, fall and redemption must therefore be ironic, since we cannot have theoretical knowledge of these deeds.

[250] Central religious refers to the supratemporal religious root. The selfhood and now Christ as the New Root in Whom we participate.

[251] This implies that any philosophy or theology that denies the supratemporal selfhood, religious root is spiritually dead.

[252] Theology as a theoretical discipline is based on philosophy.

[253] Rejection of creationism. See also ‘32 Propositions.’ And see Linked Glossary, entry for ‘creation,’ online at [http://www.members.shaw.ca/jgfriesen/Definitions/
Creation.html].

[254] The aspect of faith is temporal. Revelation in the faith aspect is of something that exceeds the temporal.

[255] The heart is the real religious center of our existence.

[256] Central=supratemporal religious, in the root

[257]Core=center.

[258] True center of human life.

[259] Again the word ‘key,’ related to self-knowledge and knowledge of God.

[260]The key of knowledge is also the criterion for theology and philosophy.

[261] Theological and theoretical knowledge are temporal.

[262] Radical=root, central, religious.

[263] We can only understand this truth about the central radical religious root of our hearts [see fn25] when the Holy Spirit opens our heart.

[264] Living belief requires a knowledge of and relation to the supratemporal religious root, the awareness of true self-knowledge.

[265] Note again “in the heart.”

[266] The spiritual sense is the supratemporal community of hearts.

[267] The central theme must become the central motive power.

[268]This “just as” is most important. It relates our being created as image of God to the way God is the Origin of all that exists outside of Himself. Man reflects this in that temporal reality is concentrated in him.

[269] Note: “within the religious center.”

[270] Central seat. Supratemporal seat of the image.

[271] Temporal life and the temporal world is concentrated in man, and so man has the innate impulse to in turn concentrate that to the service of love to God.

[272] We love fellow human beings because they reflect the image of God. I call this the “tat tvam asi” view of ethics. “That art thou.” We love others because they reflect the same image that is in us. See Linked Glossary, entry for ‘tat tvam asi,’ online at [http://www.members.shaw.ca/jgfriesen/Definitions/Tattvamasi.html].

[273] Without the radical sense of religious root, theology is only apparently orthodox.

[274] The Ground-motive of creation, fall and redemption has a central and radical significance for the view of human nature and of the temporal world. Why? Because this Ground-motive depends on a view of human nature as the central supratemporal religious root, and of the temporal world as concentrated therein.

Go to Appendix E: Christ as New Root

Revised Jul 2/06