Adolf Schlatter's Interpretation of Scripture

1978 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Stuhlmacher

Four years ago Paul Ricoeur gave a lecture here in Tübingen on ‘Philosophische und theologische Hermeneutik’,and advised us theologians in particular to give thought to our current practice and teaching in regard to the understanding of the biblical text. A real understanding of texts means, according to Ricoeur ‘to understand oneself in the light of the text. It does not mean imposing upon the text one's own limited capacity for comprehension, but exposing oneself to the text…It is not the (understanding) subject who forms…understanding, but … the self is formed by the “subject matter” of the text’ If we follow Ricoeur and attempt to practise such a form of understanding of the biblical text, then in the present-day situation of theology and church we fall all too quickly into a dilemma. The splendid tradition of modern biblical criticism, founded in Tübingen above all by F. C. Baur, seems to conflict with Ricoeur's proposal. How are we, trained and dedicated as we are to the historical and critical investigation and analysis of the biblical texts, to return again to that readiness and capacity for exposing ourselves to the texts and understanding ourselves anew in the light of them, i.e. before the tribunal of the Bible? Would that not mean precisely to abandon the scientific ethos to which we have so long considered ourselves bound? It is a searching question and, as we well know, a source of distress to many. This distress is intensified when today we hear not a few Christians pronounce a decisive ‘No!’ to all scientific biblical criticism. For them ‘understanding oneself in the light of the text’ of the Bible is only possible when all the historical insights we possess in regard to the Bible have first been rejected. A study document of the Lutheran Missouri Synod affirms: ‘We reject the doctrine, which under the name of science has gained wide popularity in the church of our day, that Holy Scripture is not in all its parts the Word of God, but in part the word of man and hence does, or at least might, contain error. We reject this erroneous doctrine as horrible and blasphemous, since it flatly contradicts Christ and His holy apostles, sets up men as judges over the Word of God, and thus overthrows the foundation of the Christian church and its faith.’

Author(s):  
Jetze Touber

The conclusion recapitulates the variegated dynamics at play in the interpretation and use of the Bible in the Dutch Public Church when Spinoza articulated his biblical criticism. Spinoza’s Tractatus theologico-politicus did not suddenly open the eyes of his contemporaries to the technical and philosophical problems of identifying a text with the Word of God. Rather it arrived at an extremely delicate moment, when forces from various directions were already contesting one another over the authority to interpret Scripture in their own ways. These forces had their own momentum when refuting Spinoza’s outlandish appeal to biblical philology, and responded in turn to one another inlight of the new reality. In result, by 1700 the space allowed for exegetical variety within the doctrinal enclosure of the Public Church had gradually widened, but it remained a contested terrain where innovations were easily considered, or branded, harmful to ecclesiastical unity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
K Katarina ◽  
I Putu Ayub Darmawan

This article discusses spiritual formation and God's Word in reformation. The formulation of the problem is the relationship between spiritual formation and God's Word in reformation. The author uses literature studies to collect information about spiritual formation and God's Word in reformation. Spirit for sola scriptura has produced a change in the life of the church at that moment. All teachings, church traditions, and practical actions which is conducted by church member must be tested under the Word of God. In the present context, church who facing various challenges related to moral life, teaching, and practical actions must return to the principles of word of God. To build a spiritual life, we must start from the Bible that is interpreted correctly, which then becomes a theological development, which then influences the concept of believer's thinking and practical actions. Artikel ini membahas tentang formasi rohani dan Firman Tuhan dalam reformasi. Rumusan masalah penelitian ini adalah bagaimana kaitan antara formasi rohani dan firman Tuhan dalam reformasi? Penulis menggunakan studi pustaka untuk menggali informasi tentang formasi rohani dan Firman Tuhan dalam reformasi. Semangat untuk sola scriptura menghasilkan perubahan dalam kehidupan gereja pada masa itu. Segala pengajaran, tradisi gereja, dan tindakan praktis yang dilakukan oleh setiap anggota gereja harus diuji di bawah Firman Tuhan. Dalam konteks masa kini, menghadapi berbagai tantangan gereja baik yang terkait dengan kehidupan moral maupun pengajaran dan tindakan praktis, gereja harus kembali pada prinsip Firman Tuhan. Untuk membangun kehidupan rohani maka harus dimulai dari Alkitab yang ditafsirkan secara benar yang kemudian menjadi sebuah bangunan teologi yang kemudian mempengaruhi konsep berpikir orang percaya dan tindakan praktis.


1971 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
M. F. Wiles

‘Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: and then stop.’ The King of Hearts' advice is not as easy to follow as might seem on first hearing. It is not simply that I want to speak about the interrelation between two major subjects and there is a certain arbitrariness in choosing with which of the two to start. The problem is far more fundamental than that. Where for the theologian is ‘the beginning’? At whatever point he does begin he is always uneasily aware that way back behind the point that he has chosen there probably lie a number of unquestioned assumptions which have largely prejudged the kind of answer he will give to the very question he is setting out to investigate. This difficulty is not, of course, peculiar to the theologian. None of us, whatever the subject of our investigation, can ever really ‘begin at the beginning’. But if this is a difficulty which the Christian theologian shares with other scholars it is none the less real for that. One obvious and important feature of the tradition in which the Christian theologian stands is that it gives some kind of special authority to the Bible, to the Church and above all—though it is sometimes a little bit elusive to know exactly what is meant by saying this—to Christ himself.


2013 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 330-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Bebbington

‘From some modern perspectives’, wrote James Belich, a leading historian of New Zealand, in 1996, ‘the evangelicals are hard to like. They dressed like crows; seemed joyless, humourless and sometimes hypocritical; [and] they embalmed the evidence poor historians need to read in tedious preaching’. Similar views have often been expressed in the historiography of Evangelical Protestantism, the subject of this essay. It will cover such disapproving appraisals of the Evangelical past, but because a high proportion of the writing about the movement was by insiders it will have more to say about studies by Evangelicals of their own history. Evangelicals are taken to be those who have placed particular stress on the value of the Bible, the doctrine of the cross, an experience of conversion and a responsibility for activism. They were to be found in the Church of England and its sister provinces of the Anglican communion, forming an Evangelical party that rivalled the high church and broad church tendencies, and also in the denominations that stemmed from Nonconformity in England and Wales, as well as in the Protestant churches of Scotland. Evangelicals were strong, often overwhelmingly so, within Methodism and Congregationalism and among the Baptists and the Presbyterians. Some bodies that arose later on, including the (so-called Plymouth) Brethren, the Churches of Christ and the Pentecostals (the last two primarily American in origin), joined the Evangelical coalition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-60
Author(s):  
Liz Shercliff

Feminism’s contribution to homiletics so far has arguably been restricted to exploring gender difference in preaching. In 2014, however, Jennifer Copeland identified a need not merely to ‘include women “in the company of preachers” but to craft a new register for the preaching event’. This article considers what that new register might be and how it might be taught in the academy. It defines preaching as ‘the art of engaging the people of God in their shared narrative by creatively and hospitably inviting them into an exploration of biblical text, by means of which, corporately and individually, they might encounter the divine’ and proposes that in both the Church and the Academy, women’s voices are suppressed by a rationalist hegemony. For the stories of women to be heard, a new homiletic is needed, in which would-be preachers first encounter themselves, then the Bible as themselves and finally their congregation in communality. Findings of researchers in practical preaching discover that women preachers are being influenced by feminist methodology, while the teaching of preaching is not. In order to achieve a hospitable preaching space, it is proposed that the Church and the Academy work together towards a new homiletic.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-111
Author(s):  
Ferderika Pertiwi Ndiy ◽  
S Susanto

Church growth is an important study in church history. The Bible has important principles in church growth, therefore these principles need to be analyzed so that they can contribute to the study of church growth. The Acts of the Apostles is a book that has a history and principles of church growth, therefore the author conducted research on church growth based on Acts 2: 1-47. The author uses a qualitative approach to literature study to find the principles of church growth based on Acts 2: 1-47. The results showed that there were three principles for the growth of the early church. The first principle based on the fourth verse is to depend on the Holy Spirit, the second principle based on verses 14-36, 42 is to preach the Word of God, the third principle based on verses 42-46 is to live in fellowship. For the growth of the church today the church must depend on the power of the Holy Spirit, teaching based on the word of God, and the church lives in fellowship.


2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 593-613
Author(s):  
B Weber

This article endeavours to evaluate an integrated understanding and interpretation of the Bible, which simultaneously takes cognisance of the “self-understanding” of the Bible, complies with academic standards, and is helpful to the church in its service to bring the Word of God to the (post)modern world.  Therefore a “3-circles-model” has been developed, tested in the classroom and is here presented for discussion and further refinement. In this model the task of biblical exegesis is, in accordance with the three dimensions found in the Bible itself, explained as interpretation of the literary, historical and theological dimensions of the text(s).  The three dimensions are hermeneutically  and methodologically investigated. Some final considerations are given to the integration of the three dimensions into the whole process of interpreting the Bible.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dani�l J. Maritz ◽  
Henk G. Stoker

This article investigates the biblical motivation that is given for the secular idea of the so-called spiritual law of attraction to become part of Christian doctrine. In 2010 Pastor At Boshoff of the Christian Revival Church (CRC) preached two sermons on the law of attraction in which he claimed it as a powerful principle in the Word of God. According to him this biblical �law� provides human beings with physical manifestations of their thoughts and words. The idea to create one�s own favourable future through the law of attraction flows from a New Age worldview and is similar to the positive confession doctrine taught by popular Word of Faith teachers. Boshoff�s claim regarding the law of attraction cannot be deduced from the key Scripture passages he uses, which reflects an unfounded use of Scripture to promote this idea.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article challenges the secular infiltration of the Law of Attraction in the church. This is important since the so-called Law of Attraction was preached by Pastor A. Boshoff of the CRC. Many of his listeners embrace his teaching although it reflects a poor exposition and application of Scripture.


2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (114) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Konings

Em outubro de 2008 transcorreu em Roma a XII Assembleia Geral Ordin ária do Sínodo dos Bispos, o qual é uma instituição permanente criada pelo Concílio Vaticano II para manter o diálogo dos pastores-bispos das Igrejas particulares. Nesta Assembleia, dedicada à Palavra de Deus na vida e na missão da Igreja, foi retomada praticamente a Constituição Dogmática Dei Verbum do Vaticano II. Depois de apresentar o tema da Palavra de Deus, traçamos um breve histórico focalizando os inícios da Tradição cristã e os tempos modernos desde Leão XIII até hoje. Em seguida descrevemos a XII Assembleia Geral, especialmente a Relatio post Disceptationem e as Propositiones. Concluímos com uma reflexão teológicopastoral sobre a Revelação e a leitura bíblica, e sugestões para a prática.ABSTRACT: In October of 2008 the XII Ordinary General Assembly of the Sinod of Bishops took place in Rome. The Sinod of Bishops is a permanent institution created by the II Vatican Council in order to maintain the dialogue of pastorsbishops of the particular Churches. This Assembly, dedicated to the Word of God in the life and in the mission of the Church, basically treated again the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum of the II Vatican Council. After presenting the theme of the Word of God, we outline a brief history focusing on the beginnings of the Christian Tradition and the modern epoch since Leo XIII until today. Next we describe the XII General Assembly, especially the Relatio post Disceptationem and the Propostiones. We conclude with a theological-pastoral reflection on Revelation and the reading of the bible, and some practical suggestions. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiago Faccini Paro ◽  
André Luiz Massaro

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo principal estudar os fundamentosteológicos e pastorais da Celebração da Palavra de Deus, resgatada peloConcílio Vaticano II. Os objetivos específicos desse trabalho são: apresentar aimportância da Celebração da Palavra de Deus no trabalho de evangelização daIgreja, apontando a inconsistência das resistências e incompreensões a respeitodo assunto. A Celebração da Palavra de Deus em sua estrutura é um valor herdadodos judeus, desde as grandes assembleias do primeiro Testamento (Cf. Ex19,24 e Ne 8,1-12) para a escuta da Palavra, até a estrutura da celebração noculto sinagogal (Lc 4,14-21), foi celebrada pelos primeiros cristãos, perdeu-sesua prática na história e foi restaurada pelo Vaticano II. Ela tem sua característicaespecífica e não é simplesmente um substitutivo da Celebração Eucarística. Ametodologia dessa pesquisa faz referência bibliográfica aos principais títulossobre o assunto na atualidade. Esse é o caminho percorrido dessa pesquisa:Faz-se análise da realidade, reflexão dos conceitos e desdobramentos práticos epastorais. Verifica-se, portanto, que, constatada a sacramentalidade da Palavrae da assembleia reunida, a Celebração da Palavra de Deus é autêntica açãolitúrgica e celebração do mistério pascal de Cristo. As famílias, como igrejas domésticas, podem ser bem mais evangelizados quando descobrirem a dimensãoorante da Palavra celebrada.Palavras-chave: Palavra de Deus. Assembleia. Ação Litúrgica. Mistério Pascal. Vaticano II.Abstract: This research has as main objective to study the theological andpastoral foundations of the Celebration of the Word of God, rescued by theSecond Vatican Council. The specific objectives of this work are: to present theimportance of the Celebration of the Word of God in the work of evangelizationof the Church; Pointing out the inconsistency of the resistances and misunderstandingsabout the subject. The Celebration of the Word of God in its structure isa value inherited from the Jews: from the great assemblies of the first covenant(cf. Ex 19,24 and Ne 8,1-12) to the listening of the Word, to the structure ofthe celebration in the The synagogue worship (Lc 4,14-21) was celebrated bythe early Christians, their practice in history was lost and restored by VaticanII. It has its specific character and is not simply a substitute for the EucharisticCelebration. The methodology of this research makes reference bibliographicalto the main titles on the subject nowadays. The way forward of this research:analysis of reality, reflection of concepts and practical and pastoral developments.It is verified, therefore, that the sacramentality of the Word and the assembledassembly have been verified, the celebration of the Word of God is authenticliturgical action and celebration of the paschal mystery of Christ. Families, likehouse churches, can be much more evangelized when they discover the prayingdimension of the Word celebrated.Keywords: Word of God. Assembly. Liturgical Action. Pascal Mystery. Vatican II.


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