Erotic theology. Song of Songs as an entrance to theological aesthetics

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Je me considère comme une non-croyante. Mais si le lien à Dieu est celui du Cantique des cantiques, je suis prête à le partager. (Julia Kristeva)

"How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful!" (Sgs 4,1) What we do know about this little book called Shir ha-Shirim in Hebrew, according to the modern Biblical scholarship? Three things could be pointed at. First, Song of Songs is a book that does not mention the name of the Lord (Jahweh) at all, except for a vague implication in 8,6. Second, it boldly celebrates the sexual love between a man and a woman. Third, it has neither a moral agenda nor a doctrinal teaching, but exhibits pure joy of sensuous love.

Still, this ancient erotic poem is, according to many great theologians of Christianity, the very book that tells most about God! Its being a part of the Holy Scripture would perhaps have been contested, was it not of an ancient origin (and, supposedly, Solomonic authorship). Nevertheless, the idea that it contains more than just an array of earthly love songs, emerged already in Judaism. The rabbis explained that the Bride is Israel and the Bridegroom is Jahweh. The Christian theologians shifted the cast to the Church and Christ. The mystics replaced partly the Church with the single Christian.

As Julia Kristeva put it, the erotic poetry of Song of Songs may be more accessible for today's people than the traditional theological language. To speak about God as the Creator has become problematic in the light of modern science. God the Lawgiver is utterly unintelligible. The doctrine of salvation and justification does not make sense for most of the people. undermined also by the fact that theologians (and churches) debate with each other on how one should understand God's salvific action in Christ. Could God the Lover still survive? I would like to quote Sallie McFague:

"We speak of God as love but are afraid to call God lover. But a God who relates to all this is, not distantly and bloodlessly but intimately and passionately, is appropriately called lover. God as lover is the one who loves the world not with the fingertips but totally and passionately, taking pleasure in its variety and richness, finding it attractive and valuable, delighting in its fulfillment. God as lover is the moving point of love in the universe, the desire for unity with all the beloved, the passionate embrace that spins the 'living pulsing earth' around, sends the blood through our veins, and 'draws us into one another's arms.'"

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