Speaking Judgment

Abstract

Following an earlier argument for an apophatic approach to theologizing about judgment, this essay investigates some theological resources for imagining judgment. After briefly recapitulating the typical imagery of judgment and some problems arising from simple positing of it, the essay develops a series of reflections on three themes: the judge, the accused, and the sentence, paying particular attention to their pastoral significance. God is affirmed kenotically, eschatologically, and apophatically as judge. The nature, necessity, and preliminary status of human judgment is explored. The importance of not interrupting the human accusation of God is asserted, as is the sense in which judgment is not simply accusation but therapeutic disclosure of who we are. Finally, judgment is affirmed as deferred and as polysemic, iterative, and inclusive of different conclusions.