On The Centrality Of "symbols" In Macquarie's Theological Methodology

John Macquarrie is a well-known contemporary existential theologian and philosopher.He is deeply influenced by Heidegger's existentialism,and uses the ideological achievements of existential philosophy as the philosophical basis of his systematic theology.He constructs a unique existential-ontological theology system.Macquarrie proposes replacing traditional dogmatic theology with symbolic theology.He sees symbolism as an important theological method,and a tool for revealing Being(God),in order to reinterpret Christian doctrines.Symbolism plays a central role in Macquarrie's theological methodology.Symbol is not only the only way to reveal Being,but also can rationally interpret doctrines,and eliminate religious distortions and fanaticism.Therefore,the symbolic method is the essence of Macquarrie's theology.Taking symbolism as the starting point,this paper mainly discusses the methodology of Macquarrie's existential-ontological theology.Macquarrie's concept of "symbol" is both narrowing and generalizing.Starting from the symbolic nature of language,he narrows this expression,which is common in human language,into the basic methodology of Christian theology,and at the same time,the "symbol" of Christian theological methodology contains indirect methods such as images,myths and analogies commonly used in theology.Macquarrie adheres to the view of existentialism and starts discussion from human.He defines human as "Existence" and regards God as "Being".He believes that the symbol can connect to the Existence and Being,human and God.Based on the similarity between a relationship of beings and a relationship of Being to a being,beings can symbolize Being and indirect refer to Being,in order to talk about God.Therefore,symbolism provides the only way in which we can attain insight into and talk about Being(God).At the same time,he replaces "dogmatic theology" with "symbolic theology",and reinterprets the traditional Christian doctrines in a symbolic method,including the trinity,the christology,the doctrine of the Holy Spirit,and the doctrine of God,in order to eliminate the negation of religion by modern science,culture and various ideological trends,and also find a more appropriate interpretation method for Christianity in the modern context.In addition,the symbolism of Macquarrie's theology is not absolute,permanent,and exclusive,but complement,interpret and balance each other.He seeks balance between various symbolic expressions,eliminates absolute and extreme views,and avoids distortions and fanaticism.It is believed that "symbol" has a core position in Macquarrie's theology.