Human History and the Word of God. James M. Connolly

1967 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-160
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Idinopulos
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Bowering

This chapter discusses the historical origin and development, religious scholarship, political elements, and legacy of the Qur'an. The Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, is the most recent of the major sacred scriptures to have appeared in human history. It includes the prophetic proclamations of Muhammad (570–632) in Arabic, collected after his death in definitive written form and meticulously transmitted through the centuries. More than a billion Muslims around the globe consider the Qur'an to be the eternal word of God, who “sent down” the scripture as his final divine revelation and commissioned Muhammad to be the last prophet to proclaim his divine will for all of humanity to follow.


1994 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-251
Author(s):  
Walter Brueggemann

Presently, there are two views of human history vying for our allegiance. The one is grounded in the Enlightenment and insists that history is a closed process whose course is determined by the dictum that “might makes right.” The other view is that of supernaturalism, which regards every event in history as a direct act of God. Challenging both of these views is the prophetic construal of history. This construal dares to identify extraordinary human events—the promise of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, the exodus, the pronouncements of Israel's great prophets, and the ministry of Jesus—as acts of God. Such extraordinary events have the power to free us to speak of God as enacting “newness” also in our time.


1993 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Garrett

This article seeks to restate the idea of the inspiration of scripture in the context of contemporary debates about authority. It is argued that an adequate theory of scripture must be constructed as part of a comprehensive theology of the “word of God”, on the one hand, and a dynamic theology of the Spirit, on the other. In short, the doctrine of the inspiration of scripture cannot be stated in isolation, as if the Bible could be treated as an isolated object, whole and complete in itself. Only as the word of God empowered by the Spirit of God is comprehended in all its dimensions, and as the reception and interpretation of each dimension is apprehended in dialogical relation to the others, can we grasp what is the unique and irreplaceable part that biblical literature plays in the economy of God's self-declaration in human history.


MUTAWATIR ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-238
Author(s):  
Munirul Ikhwan

Kronologi wahyu adalah salah satu topik paling rumit dalam studi Alquran karena Alquran pada awal kemunculannya tidak berwujud mushaf yang tertata rapi, namun muncul dari rangkaian refleksi ‘tindakan Tuhan’ dalam latar kesejarahan tertentu manusia yang merespon beragam isu sosial keagamaan. Bertolak dari studi-studi terdahulu, artikel ini mengulas kronologi wahyu dengan menempatkan Alquran dalam konteks sejarah karir Nabi Muhammad. Studi ini mengambil penekanan yang berbeda dari teori kronologi yang ada yang utamanya bertumpu pada analisis gaya bahasa Alquran dalam kaitannya dengan psikologi Nabi, atau dari teori kronologi yang dibangun berdasarkan urutan (sequence) gagasan keagamaan. Dengan membaca ulang teori kronologi yang ada, studi ini berargumen bahwa upaya rekonstruksi kronologi wahyu harus didasarkan pada bangunan sejarah dialektika Alquran dengan audiens pertamanya. Studi ini melihat kronologi wahyu sebagai “drama ilahi” yang merefleksikan komunikasi dialektik antar berbagai aktor yang terangkum dalam teks yang kemudian diimani sebagai kalam Allah. Dengan demikian, studi ini menekankan bahwa dasar kronologi wahyu adalah rangkaian kejadian masa formasi Islam, sementara analisis terhadap gaya bahasa Alquran memainkan peran pendukung. The chronology of revelation is one of the most complicated topics in Qur’anic studies because the Qur’an at its initial emergence did not appear as a neatly arranged codex, but emerged from a series of reflections on the 'acts of God' in a particular setting of human history responding various socio-religious issues. Departing from some previous studies, this article examines the chronology of revelation by situating the Qur’an within the historical context of the Prophet Muhammad’s career. This study takes a different emphasis from existing chronological theories which primarily rely on the analysis of linguistic styles of the Qur’an in their relation to the psychology of the Prophet, or from those which are built on the order of religious ideas. By revisiting the existing chronological theories, this study argues that any effort to build a chronology of revelation must be based on the historical formation of the Qur’an’s dialectics with its first audience. This study sees the chronology of revelation as "divine drama" which reflects dialectical communication between various actors summarized in a text which is later believed to be the word of God. Thus, this study emphasizes that the basis of the chronology of revelation is a series of events during the formation of Islam whereas the analysis on the linguistic styles of the Qur’an plays a complementary role.


Verbum Vitae ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 245-278
Author(s):  
Bernadeta Jojko

The relationship between eternity and time has been a perennial issue in Johannine studies. Consider that the pre-existent Word of God enters in time and within concrete human history, thus bridging eternity and time. The evangelist describes both Jesus’ divinity as the Logos, existing in an  eternal, timeless “beginning” (1:1), and Jesus’ true humanity as the historical person who was made “flesh” (1:14), taking on the human condition in all its fragility, in its temporality, suffering and death. His earthly mission was fulfilled “in time” – in a concrete “hour”. Reading the Fourth Gospel in this light may help us appreciate the Johannine understanding of eternity and time. This survey presents the various interpretations of the expression “in the beginning” and also of the time-related noun “hour”, used by the evangelist on certain occasions with detailed precision: “it was about the tenth hour” (1:39); “it was about the sixth hour” (4:6; 19:14); and “at the seventh hour” (4:52), referring always to a particular chronological point in time. However, this article does not place undue emphasis on the  numbers recounting the particular hour, but rather tries to identify the links of each hour with the accompanying words and deeds of Jesus.


The topic of Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Islamic Thought (LIVIT) calls for an interdisciplinary, comparative and historical approach. This has been the underlying methodological assumption within the project which bore this name. Amongst the products of that three-year project is a series of collected studies by established and emerging scholars in the field, examining how Muslim thinkers have conceptualised violence and categorised (morally and legally) acts of violence. In this opening chapter, István Kristó-Nagy first explores how violence in Islamic thought can be set against a wider consideration of violence in human history. It is this comparative perspective which contextualises not only this volume, but also the two subsequent volumes in the LIVIT series. In the second half of this chapter, Robert Gleave explains how this volume is structured, addressing the different approaches used by the contributors, and examines the different ways in which violence can be categorised.


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