Reading tradition as pedagogy in Calvin and Augustine: the case of election

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-45
Author(s):  
Michelle C. Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Fundamental Interest ◽  
Christian Teaching ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Doctrine Of Election ◽  
Theological Authority ◽  
Pedagogical Framework

AbstractIn colloquial English the word ‘tradition’ tends to be understood as a noun referring to a more-or-less static set of propositions, often used to define the identity of the particular group that accepts them. This article seeks to challenge this convention by defending an older, more fluid sense oftraditiothat is not only found in but formative of a variety of major Christian theological sources. The argument draws especially on Jean Calvin, his preferred theological authority Augustine and briefly the New Testament itself, showing that each demonstrates a fundamental interest in Christian teaching as participation in divine pedagogy. Using the doctrine of election as a case study, I argue that this pedagogical framework evidences a dynamic conception oftraditioastradere, or a discourse on how human beings faithfully participate in what is properly a divine giving-and-receiving. This conception of tradition as pedagogy is commended for both its theological and its critical merit.

scholarly journals Von Harnack, Marcion en die Ou Testament

2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
J H Le Roux
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The New Testament

This article focusses on Adolf Von Harnack’s profound study of Marcion, a theologian of the second century. He was amongst other things fascinated by Marcion’s view of the Old Testament.  Marcion rejected  the  Old Testament because it depicted the creator-god as a mean figure who humiliated human beings. Jesus was in no way related to  this  god. He  came from the good God who is described in the New Testament. Marcion compiled his own Bible which had no Old Testa-ment and only a few books from the New Testament which he  purged from all Jewish or Old Testament influence. According to Marcion the newness of the Christ event made the Old Testament superflous. 

Dialogue analysis: a case study on the New Testament

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 603-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chak Yan Yeung ◽  
John Lee
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
The New Testament

scholarly journals MUST THEISTS BELIEVE IN A PERSONAL GOD?

Think ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (23) ◽  
pp. 77-86
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Burns
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Garden Of Eden ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Genesis 3

The claim that God is a person or personal is, perhaps, one of the most fundamental claims which religious believers make about God. In Hinduism, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are represented in person-like form. In the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament God walks in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8), experiences emotions (e.g. Isaiah 61:8), and converses with human beings (e.g. Job 38–41). In the New Testament, God communicates with his people, usually by means of angels or visions (e.g. Matthew 1:20–21), and retains the ability to speak audibly, as he does to Paul on the Damascus road (Acts 9:4–6). And, in the Qur'an, Allah is said to have a face and two hands (e.g. Qur'an 38:75), to see, and to sit on a throne (e.g. Qur'an 57:4). Many believers today would still claim that, among other things which God can do, he loves those who believe in him (e.g. Ephesians 5:29; I Peter 5:7; Qur'an 1:3) and responds to their prayers (e.g. Matthew 7:7–8; Mark 11:24; Qur'an 11:61).

Dostoevsky, Filaret, and The Principles of Christian Teaching

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Nicholas Rzhevsky
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Russian Version ◽  
Religious Issues ◽  
Christian Teaching ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Brothers Karamazov

The influence of a fundamental text and its author on Dostoevsky has been neglected in Dostoevsky scholarship. The text in question is Metropolitan Filaret’s (secular name Vasily Drozdov) catechism, Haчaтки xpиcтиaнcкoгo учeния [Principles of Christian Teaching]. Filaret was a leading religious presence on Dostoevsky’s cultural horizon throughout his life and the catechism, along with the Russian version of the New Testament Filaret helped translate, goes to the heart of the central religious issues Dostoevsky integrated into his fiction. Dostoevsky’s remark about the stench of Filaret’s corpse included in the notes to the Brothers Karamazov suggests the writer’s crucial themes of faith and disbelief played out in Zossima’s death as well as the issues of miracles, mystery, and authority to which he invites his readers.

scholarly journals Understanding Origen: The Genre(s) of the Gospels in Light of Ancient Greek Philology and Modern Genre Theory

Scrinium ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-214
Author(s):  
Carl Johan Berglund
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Genre Theory ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Greek Literature ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Christian Teaching ◽  
Origen Of Alexandria ◽  
The New Testament

The reflections of Origen of Alexandria (ca. 185–254 CE) concerning the nature of the New Testament Gospels may be better understood if viewed in relation to a scheme of standard introductory questions used by ancient Greek philologists in their commentaries on classical Greek literature. While this scheme did not include questions about the form or genre of the writings to be analyzed, Origen repeatedly added such reflections when he adapted the scheme in his commentaries on biblical writings. These reflections inform us of his expectations of the Gospels. Using a modern concept of genre as a system of expectations shared between author and reader, and frequently intended to shape the worldview of the readers, Origen’s views of the nature of the Gospels can be expressed as their simultaneous participation in two genres: Christian teaching and ancient historiography.


scholarly journals An investigation into the socio-historical influences overcoming ethnicity in the early New Testament Church

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Humphreys Frackson Zgambo
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
In Christ ◽  
New Testament Church

Ethnicity, tribalism and xenophobia could be found inside and outside church walls. Ethnicity and racism are natural, learned and nurtured in human beings. However, ethnic identity and relations exist whether the ethnic groups are competing or not. The first challenge of the early church in the New Testament Church was to overcome ethnicity and hostile divisions between Jews, Gentiles and Samaritans. This study aims at exploring how socio-historical influences and nature of the message of the New Testament managed to overcome ethnicity and ethnic divisions in the early New Testament Church. The study will also reflect on how the contemporary church could manage ethnicity within its structures and redefine its position on what it means to be one in Christ within the diverse church.

scholarly journals Kategeet en spiritualiteit

2006 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.J.H. Venter
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Theoretical Level ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The Way

Catechist and spiritualityThis article argues that catechetical instruction pertains to more issues than only transferring knowledge. The catechist’s spirituality can also contribute towards effective and convincing cathechetical instruction. The issue of the catechist’s spirituality is scrutinized, as well as the foundation and source of his/her spirituality. For the purpose of this article spirituality is defined as the way in which human beings, as made new in Christ, experience the gospel and apply it to the practice of life, also in teaching the Bible to children in catechetical work. On basis-theoretical level, attention is given to the occurence of the concept “spirituality” in the New Testament and the characteristics required of a catechist in his/her relationship with God. Special attention is given to the issue of modelling, and identification with the catechist. On a meta-theoretical level the focus is directed to the catechist’s personality including emotional intelligence and the way in which it functions within the framework of his/her spirituality. In conclusion certain practice-theoretical perspectives on catechist and spirituality are stated.

scholarly journals The imago Dei Weltanschauung as narrative motif within the Corinthian correspondence

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus Kok ◽  
Walter P. Maqoma
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Imago Dei ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Apostle Paul ◽  
Article Title ◽  
Original Intention ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Innate Ability

This article reflects on the doctrine of humanity to explore that God created humankind in his image and likeness, and this means that all human beings have an inherent capacity to know the difference between good and bad, and between right and wrong. Thus, all human beings have an innate ability to be ethical, as the God who created them is good, and so becomes the source of their ethics. This article title highlights the interrelationships between identity, ethics, and ethos. These three related analytical categories, within the New Testament, show the necessity for an interdisciplinary approach in treating questions of the origin of humanity. This article incorporates reflections in the studies of anthropology, philosophy, and theology and draws from the writings of Apostle Paul, in his Corinthian Correspondence, as he instructed them on how they ought to relate, and what would be their roles within the broader scope of God�s original intention for humanity. In this attempt, he made reference to the anthropological identity of the imago Dei, and he shows that the perfect expression of the imago Dei is Christ Jesus; thus, this is the image they ought to emulate. Therefore, this article investigates �The imago Dei weltanschauung as narrative motif within the Corinthian correspondence�.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This research gives the perspective of the presupposition of the imago Dei as presented in the New Testament as the framework of understanding ethics, as it appears within the formation of an anthropological horizon. In relation to accepting the message of the New Testament, this article shows how the imago Dei worldview underpins Pauline ethics and can serve as a framework of understanding an anthropological ethical paradigm.Keywords: Imago Dei; Corinthian; Paul

scholarly journals Eros and Agape – a Critique of Anders Nygren

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-29
Author(s):  
Torstein Theodor Tollefsen
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
English Translation ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
New Religion ◽  
As If

Nygren’s book Eros och Agape was first published in Sweden in 1930/36. It was then published in English translation in 1953 under the title Agape and Eros. The author’s idea was to describe the development of the Christian concept of love through the centuries. Nygren argued that eros is the term for Platonic, self-centred love that strives for union with the divine realities, while agape, denoting the Christian concept of love, is the free, divine movement towards human beings. Agape is unselfish and is not motivated by any value in the recipient. This distinction drawn by Nygren has been so influential that it has been taken for granted in a lot of Christian contexts worldwide, even if one does not associate it with the name Nygren. In this paper his methodology and the distinction he draws are criticised. He finds in eros and agape two so-called “fundamental motifs” that, as he sees it, unfortunately merge in Christian tradition and thereby obscure the original Christian understanding of love that emerges in its purest form in St Paul and later in Luther. There are a lot of problems in Nygren’s book. He argues, for instance, that Christianity emerges from Judaism as a completely new religion, and separates the Old and the New Testament as if they had nothing in common. Agape as the divine gift to human beings excludes all human activity since God has freely and graciously chosen human persons as his slaves. In the present paper it is argued that Nygren’s methodology is unsound and that his conclusions are not even in agreement with the New Testament.

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