A Teenaged Prophet, a Golden Bible, and Continuing Revelation

Author(s):  
Eugene V. Gallagher
2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-59
Author(s):  
Pieter J. Lalleman

Summary This article introduces the Septuagint as a complex Bible version which deserves more attention from evangelical biblical scholars. The author asks if differences between the Septuagint and the Hebrew text of the canonical books can occasionally be considered as the result of inspiration, and if so, whether the wording of the Septuagint should in certain specific places form the basis for modern translations of the Old Testament. The article pays particular attention to some scholars who have pleaded for the place of the Septuagint in the Church, such as Edward Grinfield, Georg Bertram, Mogens Müller and Benjamin Giffone, as well as to the handling of the Septuagint by the authors of the New Testament and by the Early Church. With Ross Wagner, the article concludes that some elements of the Septuagint represent God’s continuing revelation to his Church.ZusammenfassungDieser Artikel stellt die Septuaginta als eine vielschichtige Bibelausgabe vor, die mehr Aufmerksamkeit seitens evangelikaler Theologen verdient. Der Autor stellt die Frage, ob Unterschiede zwischen der Septuaginta und dem hebräischen Text der kanonischen Bücher zuweilen als das Ergebnis von Inspiration angesehen werden können. Und wenn ja, ob der Wortlaut der Septuaginta an gewissen Stellen die Grundlage für moderne Übersetzungen des Alten Testaments darstellen sollte. Der Artikel legt besonderes Augenmerk auf Theologen wie Edward Grinfield, Georg Bertram, Mogens Müller und Benjamin Giffone, die für die Bedeutung der Septuaginta für die Kirche plädiert haben, sowie auch auf die Verwendung der Septuaginta durch die Autoren des Neuen Testaments und die alte Kirche. Zusammen mit Ross Wagner zieht der Artikel die Schlussfolgerung, dass einige Elemente der Septuaginta Gottes fortwährende Offenbarung an seine Gemeinde darstellen.RésuméCet article présente la Septante comme une version complexe de la Bible qui mériterait plus d’attention de la part d’exégètes évangéliques. L’auteur demande si les différences entre la Septante et le texte hébreu des livres canoniques peuvent parfois être considérées comme le fruit de l’inspiration divine; et dans l’affirmative, si la formulation de la Septante ne devrait pas, en certains endroits, servir de base pour les traductions modernes de l’Ancien Testament. L’article porte une attention particulière à certains exégètes qui ont plaidé pour que la Septante ait sa place dans l’Église, comme Edward Grinfield, Georg Bertram, Mogens Müller et Benjamin Giffone, ainsi qu’à la manière dont les auteurs du Nouveau Testament et l’Église primitive traitèrent cette traduction. Avec Ross Wagner, l’article conclut que certains éléments de la Septante illustrent la manière dont Dieu s’est progressivement révélé à son Église.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-253
Author(s):  
Jon Ruthven

Barth’s dream of a Spirit-centered theology hints at the great disconnect between the New Testament portrayal of the mission and message of Jesus and the ‘gospel’ of traditional Protestantism. This disconnect appeared as a result of the Reformers’ adoption of cessationism to undercut Papal authority, which rested, in part, on the idea of continuing revelation and miracle. The failure of both sides to understand the purpose of charismatic revelation and power as the central characteristic of the New Covenant, resulted in a misunderstanding of the mission of Jesus, the purpose of the cross, and the continuing commission of Christian disciples. In this, traditional theology significantly distorted the Christian message away from that of Jesus and the New Testament witness—a gospel about Jesus rather than from Jesus.


2021 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 233-253
Author(s):  
Claudia Jetter

Nineteenth-century North American religious history is filled with divinely inspired people who received and recorded new revelations. This article presents Joseph Smith Jr and Ralph Waldo Emerson as charismatic prophets who promoted the idea of continuing revelation. Drawing on Max Weber's concept of charismatic authority, it will contrast their forms of new sacred writing with one another to show how both had experienced encounters with the divine. The second part will then explore how different conceptualizations of revelation led to opposing concepts of religious authority, with consequences for the possibility of institution-building processes. While Smith would reify revelation in hierarchy, Emerson eventually promoted extreme spiritual individualization by rejecting the idea of an exclusive institution as the centre of revelatory authority.


Traditio ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 315-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Heffernan

The martyrs whose suffering and death is recorded in the Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis have been revered for almost two millennia. The Church has signaled its high regard with the inclusion of Perpetua and Felicitas in the canon missae. The praise for these young Carthaginian converts was immediate. Beginning with Tertullian and including luminaries like Augustine and Quodvuldeus, leaders of the African church acknowledged these youthful Christians as models of Christian self-sacrifice; their triumph, the courage of spirit over the dread of death. For Tertullian, their act of confident self-immolation was the apogee of Christian fortitude. In his discussion of the location of the eternal dwelling place for those who die in Christ, Tertullian, in De Anima, called the young Roman woman Vibia Perpetua “the most courageous martyr” of the Church. His comment, at least partly intended to stiffen the resolve of his threatened congregation, is difficult to reconcile with the normative status accorded at this time to the figure of Stephen in Acts (cf. Acts 6–7). His remark might be a flight of characteristic hyperbole. It might suggest, however, that the traditional role of the proto-martyr Stephen was not yet canonical in Carthage. Conversely, if Tertullian has already moved from orthodoxy, it might represent a deliberate attempt on his part to elevate the narrative of the Passio over the incident in Acts, thus privileging Montanist belief in the power of the Holy Spirit's continuing revelation. There is certainly evidence for the latter position in the anonymous editor's opening remarks in the Passio itself.


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