The Beauty of the Pre-existent Wisdom and Word ‘in Heaven’

2020 ◽  
pp. 16-29
Author(s):  
Gerald O’Collins, S.J.
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Active Power ◽  
Divine Wisdom ◽  
The World ◽  
Lady Wisdom ◽  
Divine Beauty

Augustine named God as ‘the Beauty of all things beautiful’. The Old Testament speaks not only of the beauty of God but even more of overlapping realities: light, glory, wisdom, and word. The radiant light and glory of God, celebrated frequently in the Psalms and other biblical books, manifest the divine beauty. God’s creative and self-revealing activity is personified in beautiful Lady Wisdom. By being identified with divine Wisdom, Christ justifies Augustine in calling him beautiful in his pre-existence ‘in heaven’. Identified also with Word, another personification of God’s active power and self-manifestation, Christ can also be declared beautiful before his incarnation. By ‘becoming flesh’ the Word (or Wisdom) of God brought into the world the beautiful glory and light of God.

La transposition profane de l’Exode dans Moïse fiction de Gilles Rozier

2013 ◽  
pp. 174-183
Author(s):  
Piotr Sadkowski
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
The Other ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Human Being ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Jewish Origin ◽  
French Writer ◽  
The World ◽  
Jewish Writers

Throughout the centuries French and Francophone writers were relatively rarely inspired by the figure of Moses and the story of Exodus. However, since the second half of 20th c. the interest of the writers in this Old Testament story has been on the rise: by rewriting it they examine the question of identity dilemmas of contemporary men. One of the examples of this trend is Moïse Fiction, the 2001 novel by the French writer of Jewish origin, Gilles Rozier, analysed in the present article. The hypertextual techniques, which result in the proximisation of the figure of Moses to the reality of the contemporary reader, constitute literary profanation, but at the same time help place Rozier’s text in the Jewish tradition, in the spirit of talmudism understood as an exchange of views, commentaries, versions and additions related to the Torah. It is how the novel, a new “midrash”, avoids the simple antinomy of the concepts of the sacred and the profane. Rozier’s Moses, conscious of his complex identity, is simultaneously a Jew and an Egyptian, and faces, like many contemporary Jewish writers, language dilemmas, which constitute one of the major motifs analysed in the present article. Another key question is the ethics of the prophetism of the novelistic Moses, who seems to speak for contemporary people, doomed to in the world perceived as chaos unsupervised by an absolute being. Rozier’s agnostic Moses is a prophet not of God (who does not appear in the novel), but of humanism understood as the confrontation of a human being with the absurdity of his or her own finiteness, which produces compassion for the other, with whom the fate of a mortal is shared.

scholarly journals Humans created God in their image? An anthropomorphic projectionism in the Old Testament

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ndikho Mtshiselwa ◽  
Lerato Mokoena
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The World ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
History Of ◽  
Old Testament Studies

The Old Testament projects not only a Deity that created the world and human beings but also one that is violent and male. The debate on the depiction of the God of Israel that is violent and male is far from being exhausted in Old Testament studies. Thus, the main question posed in this article is: If re-read as ‘Humans created God in their image’, would Genesis 1:27 account for the portrayal of a Deity that is male and violent? Feuerbach’s idea of anthropomorphic projectionism and Guthrie’s view of religion as anthropomorphism come to mind here. This article therefore examines, firstly, human conceptualisation of a divine being within the framework of the theory of anthropomorphic projectionism. Because many a theologian and philosopher would deny that God is a being at all, we further investigate whether the God of Israel was a theological and social construction during the history of ancient Israel. In the end, we conclude, based on the theory of anthropomorphic projectionism, that the idea that the God of Israel was a theological and social construct accounts for the depiction of a Deity that is male and violent in the Old Testament.

The Old Testament Conception of Miracle

1952 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-361
Author(s):  
Harold Knight
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Creative Activity ◽  
Pure Science ◽  
Independent System ◽  
The World ◽  
Patterns And Processes ◽  
Modes Of Thought ◽  
Modern Sense

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the significance underlying the concept of miracle in the world of Old Testament thought and theology, in the hope that the results attained may shed fresh light upon something which touches the very centre of religious life and is a frequent cause of genuine doubt and perplexity for modern man. Perhaps the word miracle itself is ambiguous in this connexion, for it has gathered around itself a penumbra of associations derived from its use in our modern scientifically determined modes of thought and speech. Broadly speaking the background which it implies is that of nature conceived as an independent system presupposing fixed laws or if, with the more modern scientific outlook we reject the notion of materialistic determinism and mechanism, then, at any rate, we must substitute for ‘laws’ the tendency for uniform patterns and processes to emerge. Against such large uniformities, miracle, in the modern sense, stands out somewhat sharply as an exception, mysterious and apparently inexplicable, repugnant in its arbitrariness to the spirit of pure science. Such presuppositions do not exist in the Old Testament World of ideas where we are confronted by a type of thought which is through and through theological rather than philosophical and scientific. The corner-stone of the Old Testament system of ideas is the primacy of God as self-existent Creator whose creative activity is unceasing, upholding and interpenetrating by His watchful redeeming care all that is.

Soundbite-Hooks and Foreign Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 111-124
Author(s):  
Karl Kraus
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
The Sun ◽  
World War ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
The World ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter investigates the extent to which the struggle against the anti-German Spirit is German in origin. Kraus's “Prayer to the Sun of Gibeon,” misinterpreted when it appeared in 1916, highlights the absurdity of a world of power politics in which the pan-German present uncannily converged with an Old Testament narrative fraught with atrocities. The reflection “On the Sinai Front” of 1917 pointed to the concurrence of two ethnicities. This was expressed by Schopenhauer's definition of a nation that “worships a God who promises it the lands of its neighbours.” During the World War, the Old Testament and modern German ideologies of being “chosen peoples” had already reached a point of convergence—of alignment before the event.

scholarly journals Die hermeneutiese proses onderliggend aan Paulus se eksegese van Eksodus 17:6 en Numeri 20:7–11 in 1 Korintiërs 10:1–4

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus D.W. De Koning
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Original Text ◽  
1 Corinthians ◽  
Dialogical Relationship ◽  
The World ◽  
The Church

The hermeneutical process underlying Paul’s exegesis of Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:7–11 in 1 Corinthians 10:1–4. In this article, Paul’s use of the Old Testament in 1 Corinthians 10:1–4 comes under scrutiny. In contrast with the theory of some modern scholars that Paul uses, ‘fanciful analogies’, ‘startling figurative claims’ and metaphors that ‘should not he pressed’, in reaching his conclusion that ‘the rock was Christ’, in 1 Corinthians 10:4c, it is indicated that Paul is indeed taking the original text, the Old Testament’s interpretation of the text, and the Jewish tradition of the interpretation of the text, seriously, in the light of the Christ-event. To prove this claim, research of the text (Exodus 17:6 Numbers 20:7–11), that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 10:1–4, is followed by research of the ‘world in front of that text’ (Deuteronomy 32, the Psalms and Second Temple Judaism).Contribution: The conclusion that is reached indicates that Paul established within the context of contemporary Jewish practices, a true dialogical relationship between an intertextual handling of the text, and his interpretation thereof in the light of the relevance of the Christ-event for the conflict in the Church of Corinth.

scholarly journals Dilema Kekerasan dalam Ayat-ayat Kitab Suci

MELINTAS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-39
Author(s):  
Staniselaus Eko Riyadi
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
The Other ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Violent Acts ◽  
Biblical Texts

Violence is a crime condemned by religions, but religions in the world are apparently involved in some kind of violence. It has been considered problematic that some scriptural texts are showing violent acts that seem to be ‘authorised’ by God, even ‘allowed’ by God, or celebrated by the people. How should we understand such problematic texts? Is there any violence authorised by God? Christianity has been dealing with the interpretation of violent acts in biblical texts from the Old Testament as well as from the New Testament. This article suggests that violence in the biblical texts must be understood within the context of defining religious identity of Israel among the other nations that have their own gods. Scriptures do not promote violence, but has recorded the historical experiences of Israel in their confrontation with other nations. Therefore, violence in the biblical texts cannot be referred to as a sort of justification for any violent acts by religions in our multireligious and multiethnic society.

scholarly journals Theophany in the Old Testament and its Interpretation in Aramaic Translations (The Concept of the Divine Word in the Targum)

2007 ◽  
pp. 27-37
Author(s):  
Dmytro V. Tsolin
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Epic Poetry ◽  
Material World ◽  
The World ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
History Of ◽  
Repeated Use ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Experienced Researcher

Every reader of the Old Testament, both experienced researcher and newcomer, cannot fail to pay attention to one peculiarity in the presentation of the idea of ​​God: it is a harmonious (and, at times, amazing) combination of transcendence and immanence. The History of the Creation of the World (Genesis 1: 1 - 2: 3), which begins the first book of the Strictly Testament - Genesis - is an example of an exquisite prose genre with elements of epic poetry. In it, the Creator of the Universe appears to the Almighty, the Wise, and the All-Powerful, standing above the created world: Only one word of it evokes the material world from nothingness. This is emphasized by the repeated use of the formulas אלהים וימר / wa-yyo'mer 'ělohîm ("And Elohim said ...") and ויהי־כן / wa-yəhî khēn ("And so it became"). This use of two narrative constructs at the beginning and at the end of messages about the creative activities of God clearly emphasizes the idea of ​​reconciling the divine Word and being. God is shown here to be transcendental.

scholarly journals Paul’s Preaching and Postmodern Skepticism

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
VERN S. POYTHRESS
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Divine Presence ◽  
Divine Power ◽  
2 Corinthians ◽  
Multiple Cultures ◽  
The World ◽  
Multiple Languages

Abstract: By focusing on Paul’s own descriptions of his preaching, and especially on 2 Corinthians 4:1–6, we can see several ways in which Paul’s own views provide answers to postmodern skepticism. Paul presupposes that God exists, the same God who is set forth in the Old Testament as the creator and sustainer of the world. In 2 Corinthians 4:1–6, Paul affirms that his message has divine authority, divine truthfulness, divine power to overcome resistance to its claims, and divine presence through the glory of Christ. Paul’s message also shows how, in the midst of the Roman Empire’s situation of multiple cultures and multiple languages, he preaches a gospel with universal claims, in “the open statement of the truth” (2 Cor 4:3).

Wisdom in Christian Theology

2021 ◽  
pp. 254-272
Author(s):  
Paul S. Fiddes
Keyword(s):  
Practical Wisdom ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Wisdom Literature ◽  
Modern Culture ◽  
Presence Of God ◽  
The World ◽  
Triune God ◽  
Lady Wisdom ◽  
Late Modern

This article argues that the concept of wisdom in modern Christian theology, to be most effective, should draw on two dimensions of wisdom that are present within Hebrew Wisdom Literature. These are wisdom as careful observation of the world, and wisdom as participation in the presence of God in the world, the latter expressed in the personification of “Lady Wisdom.” These two aspects are reflected in the duality between practical wisdom (Aristotelian phronēsis) and sophia in Christian tradition, though for Christian theology participative wisdom will be engagement in the relational love of a triune God. This two-fold approach to wisdom illuminates doctrines of creation, the Trinity, and Christology, and produces a theology which aims to articulate the relation of God to the world in creation and redemption, while taking seriously the awareness in late modern culture of the dangers of a human self that attempts to dominate the world around it.

Jeremiah 1–20

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack R. Lundbom
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Environmental Pollution ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
The People ◽  
God's Word ◽  
The World

Jeremiah, long considered one of the most colorful of the ancient Israelite prophets, comes to life in Jack R. Lundbom’s Jeremiah 1-20. From his boyhood call to prophecy in 627 b.c.e., which Jeremiah tried to refuse, to his scathing judgments against the sins and hypocrisy of the people of Israel, Jeremiah charged through life with passion and emotion. He saw his fellow Israelites abandon their one true God, and witnessed the predictable outcome of their disregard for God’s word – their tragic fall to the Babylonians. The first book of a three-volume Anchor Bible commentary, Jack R. Lundbom’s eagerly awaited exegesis of Jeremiah investigates the opening twenty chapters of this Old Testament giant. With considerable skill and erudition, Lundbom leads modern readers through this prophet’s often mysterious oracles, judgments, and visions. He quickly dispels the notion that the life and words of a seventh-century b.c.e. Israelite prophet can have no relevance for the contemporary reader. Clearly, Jeremiah was every bit as concerned as we are with issues like terrorism, hypocrisy, environmental pollution, and social justice. This impressive work of scholarship, essential to any biblical studies curriculum, replaces John Bright’s landmark Anchor Bible commentary on Jeremiah. Like its predecessor, Jeremiah 1-20 draws on the best biblical scholarship to further our understanding of the weeping prophet and his message to the world.

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