Christian Holiness and the Sacredness of the New Testament

2021 ◽  
pp. 206-232
Author(s):  
Donald Senior

Because of their intense focus on both the earthly and transcendent figure of Jesus as viewed by Christian faith, the New Testament books have a “sacred” character for the community of faith. But like any other proclamation or preaching, these New Testament portrayals of Jesus are not abstract or speculative. The purpose of their proclamation is to compel the recipients of their words to respond to what they hear, to transform their lives, and to discover the path to individual and communal holiness. The goal of this chapter is not to present a full study of New Testament ethics, but to offer enough examples, especially from the Four Gospels and Paul’s writings, to demonstrate that the books of the New Testament anticipate that the Christian readers will discover within these texts guidance on how to live a life of holiness, both individually and as a Christian community.

Author(s):  
Д.К. АСРАТЯН

Письма патриарха Константинопольского Николая Мистика архиепископу Аланскому Петру – основной документальный источник по истории христианства на Северном Кавказе в X в. Изучение «Аланского досье» патриарха Николая сохраняет актуальность в связи с ростом интереса к духовной истории народов Кавказа, находившихся на стыке цивилизаций, религий и культур и сформировавших под их влиянием собственные самобытные национально-культурные традиции. Основным методом исследования стало сопоставление лексических и семантических средств, используемых апостолом Павлом и патриархом Николаем в двух различных, но соотносимых исторических и религиозных контекстах. Цель исследования – выявление жанровых и литературных связей писем патриарха с книгами Нового Завета. Научная новизна заключается в обосновании лингвистических, семантических и богословских параллелей между письмами Николая и посланиями апостола Павла, особенно пастырскими (1-2 Тим и Тит). Хотя сравниваемые тексты хронологически разделены почти тысячелетием, отмечается типологическое сходство исторических контекстов, в которых они были написаны (духовный наставник – ученик в епископском сане – молодая христианская община из «варваров», нуждающихся в просвещении). В интерпретации Николая миссия – это именно тяжкий труд, но совершаемый по прямому повелению Бога и ради награды свыше, и в этом смысле патриарх вполне укоренен в новозаветной традиции. Как показали результаты исследования, риторическая и богословская насыщенность писем Николая Мистика не снижает их историческую ценность, однако для корректной интерпретации необходимо учитывать их литературный характер. Letters of Nicholas Mysticus, Patriarch of Constantinople, to Peter, Archbishop of Alania, remain the chief documentary source for the history of Christianity in the North Caucasus in the 10th century. The study of the "Alan Dossier" of Patriarch Nicholas remains relevant due to the growing interest in the spiritual history of the peoples of the Caucasus, who lived at the crossroads of civilizations, religions and cultures and formed their own distinctive national and cultural traditions under such diverse influence. The main research method was the comparison of lexical and semantic means used by the Apostle Paul and Patriarch Nicholas in two different, but correlated historical and religious contexts. The purpose of the study is to identify genre and literary connections between the letters of the Patriarch and the books of the New Testament. Scientific novelty lies in the substantiation of the linguistic, semantic and theological parallels between the letters of Nicholas and the letters of the Apostle Paul, especially the pastoral ones (1-2 Tim and Titus). Although the compared texts are chronologically separated by almost a millennium, there is a typological similarity in the historical contexts in which they were written (a spiritual mentor - a bishop student - a newly formed Christian community of “barbarians” in need of education). In the interpretation of Nicholas, mission is a hard work, but it is done at the direct command of the God and is rewarded from above, and in this sense, the Patriarch is completely rooted in the New Testament tradition. As the results of the study have shown, the rhetorical and theological richness of the letters of Nikolas the Mysticus does not diminish their historical value, yet for correct interpretation it is necessary to take into account their literary character.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-298
Author(s):  
Judith M. Lieu

In Roman Faith and Christian Faith Teresa Morgan brings a classicist’s sensitivities to a subject that lies at the heart of the New Testament but that is often taken as self-evident. This article engages in a conversation with its insights, with particular reference to the Johannine literature. It suggests that more nuancing might be needed, not least from a recognition of the demands of the genre of the gospel, but also finds much to provoke further reflection.


1962 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Edgar

The attempt to get behind the gospel record back to the authentic words and acts of Jesus has occupied many scholars of this generation. This has come about because of a scepticism regarding the historical value of the sayings as recorded, and has often concluded by assuming that the New Testament throws light only on what the early Christian community believed Jesus said rather than on what he did say. It is not the writer's intention to belittle the problem, but to suggest it may be approached from a fresh angle. This article seeks to show that in one respect at least the words of Jesus, as recorded in the gospels, are of a distinctive character, especially when compared with the editorial comments of the evangelists, and hence the form of the first may not be as dependent on the evangelists and the early church as sometimes claimed.


1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-298
Author(s):  
Joel Marcus

“While Pride and Prejudice is certainly not a primary source for reconstructing the world of the New Testament, the vivid way in which it takes us into one person's crisis of perception can, I believe, allow us to enter imaginatively into the crisis of first-century people on their way to Christian faith.”


2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Markus Bockmuehl

AbstractAmong the New Testament Gospels, Matthew most emphatically stresses the continued presence of Jesus throughout his ministry and with his disciples after Easter. This is despite sensitivity to the challenge of the cross and experiences of absence or deprivation. Structurally, the Gospel develops this affirmation in relation to the narrative of Jesus’ birth and incarnation, to his ministry, to the governance of the Christian community in its apostolic mission to Israel and the nations. Matthew never quite articulates how this continued presence actually works, whether in spatial or sacramental or pneumatological terms. And yet the emphatic correlation of ‘Jesus’ and ‘Emmanuel’ confirms that each is constituted by the other: being ‘God with us’ (Matt 1.23) means precisely to ‘save his people’ (1.21), and vice versa.


Author(s):  
Grant Macaskill

This chapter considers the role that the sacraments of baptism and Eucharist play in fostering a proper attitude of intellectual humility within Christian community. The sacraments dramatically enact the union with Christ that we have argued in previous chapters to define Christian intellectual humility, embodying the truth that our intellectual identities are not autonomous, but are dependent upon the constitutive identity of Jesus Christ and are located within the community of the church. Both baptism and Eucharist are understood within the New Testament to communicate the eschatological identity of the church, and therefore the distinctive character of our relationship to the reality of evil. The chapter will pay particular attention to the way that Paul directs his readers to think differently in response to the significance of the sacraments. It will also consider the close connection of the command to ‘love one another’ to the sacraments.


1995 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Bekker ◽  
S. J. Nortje

The use of the 'sacrifice' of Isaac as a motif for the proclamation of Jesus as the suffering Christ. In this article the  authors try to trace the possible influence of the sacrifice' of Isaac, as narrated in Genesis 22, on the proclanwtion of Jesus as the suffering Messiah. The New Testament authors made use of this tradition to explain the death and resurrection of Jesus within the context of Jewish belief As Abraham and Isaac were examples of suffering righteous figures, Jesus became the prime example of the suffering, Messiah for the Christian community and the believer under oppression.


Horizons ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-141
Author(s):  
William M. Thompson

“Distinct but not separate” is a venerable formula whose origins go back to the Council of Chalcedon's confession of 451 that Jesus' humanity and divinity are each distinct realities, yet at the same time united in the one person of the Savior himself. Jesus' singular personhood (= “not separate”) protected the New Testament insight that God really united himself with all humans in their historical and earthly condition through the deeds and words of Jesus himself. God's utterly personal oneness with Jesus was the way in which God became adoptively one with the whole human family and world. But this could only be a true union between God and humans if neither was swallowed up in the other, or reduced to the other. Union (we might say communion as well) presupposes oneness and difference. And so Chalcedon speaks of Jesus' divinity and humanity as remaining distinct. By our adoption in grace through Jesus (Rm 8:14–17) we ourselves are not pantheistically swallowed up in God, but retain our distinctiveness as humans as well.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gottfried Orth

Martin Luther’s writings contain a waelth of economic analyses and perspectives on the beginning capitalist changes in the economy and society of his time. In this case, his economic considerations did not pertain to areas of ethics or ethics in the area of economics, but explitely theological analyses and perspectives, ones that originated from the First Commandment: they are about god or false gods, the god of the Christian faith or the mammon of the emerging „for profit“ economy. With this, Luther takes up the Jesuanic alternative version of god or mammon emphasized in the New Testament. The author outlines Luther’s deliberations and, in the context of the „Radicalizing Reformation“ project, further calls for contemporary critical perspectives on capitalism as well as conceptions of god in the vein of and in line with Luther’s theology, which can support current faith orientations in the engagement with economic and social developments.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-38
Author(s):  
Daniel Horatius Herman

Christian witness in Indonesia, in an encounter with Islam, experienced rejection. The message about Jesus Christ (or Isa Al Masih) is acknowledged exist in Islam’s scripture, Al Qur'an, but has several different parts and even contrary to the New Testament. Some teachings about Jesus in the Qur'an are interpreted differently: 'Isa is the Kalimatullah (a word from God),' Isa is mercy, 'Isa will come again,' Isa is a justice Judge at the end of time and others, all that is different from the New Testament’s teachings. Christians, in their testimonies, tried to interpret and used the same terms. This gives rise to debate and is of course contrary to the ethics of faith, where religious teachings cannot be explained by the perspective of other religions. This study aims to obtain an objective view of Jesus Christ from the Islamic view to form an initial understanding for the preaching of the Christian faith, but this study is not intended to seek justification (or verification) of the Christian faith. This study only seeks an explanation of the Islamic version of Jesus Christ.Kesaksian Kristen di Indonesia, dalam perjumpaan dengan Islam, mengalami penolakan-penolakan.  Berita tentang Yesus Kristus (atau Isa Almasih) diakui ada dalam kitab suci Islam, Al Qur’an, tetapi pada beberapa bagian berbeda dan bahkan bertolak belakang dengan Perjanjian Baru. Beberapa ajaran tentang Yesus dalam Al Qur’an dimaknai secara berbeda: Isa adalah Kalimatullah (firman Allah), Isa adalah rahmat, Isa akan datang kembali, Isa adalah hakim yang adil di akhir zaman dan lain-lain, semua berbeda dengan ajaran Perjanjian Baru.  Orang Kristen, dalam kesaksian, mencoba menafsirkan dan menggunakan kesamaan terminologi-terminologi tersebut.  Hal ini menimbulkan perdebatan dan tentu saja bertentangan dengan etika iman, dimana ajaran sebuah agama tidak dapat dijelaskan dari perspektif agama lain. Penelitian ini bertujuan memperoleh pandangan obyektif tentang Yesus Kristus dari pandangan Islam untuk pembentukan pemahaman awal untuk pemberitaan iman Kristen, tetapi penelitian tidak dimaksudkan untuk mencari pembenaran (verifikasi) terhadap iman Kristen. Penelitian ini hanya mencari penjelasan dari versi Islam tentang Yesus Kristus.


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