The Bible and the Sermonic Tradition

Author(s):  
Dawn Coleman

This chapter assesses the Bible in American preaching from the seventeenth century to the present by analyzing dominant uses of scripture in two types of Protestant sermons: the cultic, or those addressed to the faith community, and the civic, or those directed to a public beyond the church. Primary strands of cultic preaching have been the salvation of the soul, associated with John 3:3 and evangelicalism from the Great Awakening forward, and spiritual improvement and well-being, which draws on a wide range of mainly New Testament passages, notably the Sermon on the Mount, and historically has been more pronounced in liberal churches and among Methodists. In recent decades, American civic preaching has been linked to the jeremiad, a form derived from Old Testament prophetic rhetoric, yet it should also be recognized as featuring prominent motifs of freedom and of love, for which the central texts include, respectively, Exodus and the injunction to love thy neighbor as thyself.

1948 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-73
Author(s):  
R. Stuart Louden

We can trace a revival of theology in the Reformed Churches in the last quarter of a century. The new theological interest merits being called a revival of theology, for there has been a fresh and more thorough attention given to certain realities, either ignored or treated with scant notice for a considerable time previously.First among such realities now receiving more of the attention which their relevance and authority deserve, is the Bible, the record of the Word of God. There is an invigorating and convincing quality about theology which is Biblical throughout, being based on the witness of the Scriptures as a whole. The valuable results of careful Biblical scholarship had had an adverse effect on theology in so far as theologians had completely separated the Old Testament from the New in their treatment of Biblical doctrine, or in expanding Christian doctrine, had spoken of the theological teaching of the Synoptic Gospels, the Pauline Epistles, the Johannine writings, and so on, as if there were no such thing as one common New Testament witness. It is being seen anew that the Holy Scriptures contain a complete history of God's saving action. The presence of the complete Bible open at the heart of the Church, recalls each succeeding Christian generation to that one history of God's saving action, to which the Church is the living witness. The New Testament is one, for its Lord is one, and Christian theology must stand four-square on the foundation of its whole teaching.


1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernst Käsemann

In the Protestant tradition the Bible has long been regarded as the sole norm for the Church. It was from this root that, in the seventeenth century, there sprang first of all ‘biblical theology’, from which New Testament theology later branched off at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Radical historical criticism too kept closely to this tradition, and F. C. Baur made such a theology the goal of all his efforts in the study of the New Testament. Since that time the question how the problem thus posed is to be tackled and solved has remained a living issue in Germany. On the other hand, the problem for a long time held no interest for other church traditions, although here too the position has changed within the last two decades. In 1950 Meinertz wrote the first Catholic exposition, while the theme was taken up in France by Bonsirven in 1951, and by Richardson in England in 1958. Popular developments along these lines were to follow.


2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-121
Author(s):  
Stefan Klöckner

Gregorian chants are mostly based on Old Testament texts, predominantly from the Psalms. Decisive for their interpretation in the light of the New Testament are texts of the Church Fathers (Augustine, Gregory the Great, etc.). The texts often do not follow their canonical order in the Bible, but were primarily compiled on the basis of broader associations. Hence, it is not uncommon for new content references to emerge that are committed to a Christian perspective, emotionally and theologically very bold. This article describes an imaginary ‘Gregorian Composition Workshop’: the individual ‘chambers’ include compiling texts, the choice of a suitable mode and melody, as well as the most refined rhythmic differentiations. The final piece, through its unique quality as the ‘sounding word of Holy Scripture’ permits an intensive view of the spirituality of the ninth and tenth centuries, and a realistic understanding of the Psalms as the basis of Christian existence.


2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan H. Van Wyk

Spangenberg het ’n boeiende boek oor Jesus van Nasaret geskryf waarin hy aandag skenk aan onder meer (vermeende) Ou-Testamentiese agtergronde, om daarna veral dieper in te gaan op verskeie Nuwe-Testamentiese perspektiewe op Jesus. Hy het tot die konklusie gekom dat die onderskeie Nuwe-Testamentiese skrywers elk ’n eie perspektief op Jesus ontwikkel het, perspektiewe wat mekaar soms weerspreek. In elk geval was daar ’n groot verskil tussen die historiese Jesus van Nasaret en die dogmatiese Jesus van die kerklike belydenis. In die kerklike dogma is Jesus vergoddelik, iets wat Hy nooit was of wou wees nie. Die ware Jesus was niemand anders nie as ’n Joodse profeet en wysheidsleermeester. Spangenberg kom tot hierdie gevolgtrekking op grond van wat hy noem ‘wetenskaplike studie’ en ’n radikaal-kritiese omgang met die Bybel. In hierdie artikel is sowel die filosofiese vertrekpunte as die teologiese konklusies van Spangenberg krities bespreek en bevraagteken.From Christology to Jesuology? Theological discussion with Sakkie Spangenberg with reference to his book Jesus van Nasareth (2009). Spangenberg wrote a riveting book on Jesus of Nazareth in which he paid attention to inter alia (alleged) Old Testament background and then proceeded to a more in-depth investigation into several New Testament perspectives on Jesus. He came to the conclusion that the different New Testament authors each developed their own perspective on Jesus, perspectives which were sometimes contradictory. He found a huge difference between the historical Jesus of Nazareth and the dogmatic Jesus of the church confessions. In this church tenet Jesus was deified, something He was not, neither wanted to be. The true Jesus was none other than a Jewish prophet and wisdom teacher. Spangenberg reached this conclusion on the basis of what he called ‘scientific’ study and a radically critical way of dealing with the Bible. In this article both the philosophical points of departure and the theological conclusions of Spangenberg were discussed and queried critically.


2021 ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
John Riches

‘The making of the Bible’ discusses the process whereby different books came to be included in the various Bibles (a term first used by the Churches) which are now accepted as authoritative (canonical) by various religious communities, Jewish and Christian. This process is often referred to as the canonization of scripture. It is important to look first at the formation of the Hebrew Bible and its Greek version, the Septuagint. While the Septuagint started life as a translation for Jews living in the Diaspora, it was subsequently taken up by the Christian community as the medium through which the Old Testament was known in the Church. The language of the Septuagint also influenced many of the writers of the Christian New Testament. The authoritative writings of the Christian Church were in the first instance largely identical with the Jewish scriptures. It is valuable to consider the process whereby Christian writings, principally letters and gospels, were collected and recognized as authoritative alongside other Jewish writings.


Author(s):  
Andries G. Van Aarde

This article explained the valuation of Christian believers with regard to the Christian Bible a ‘Holy Scripture’. In the article the notion ‘Scriptural authority’ was connected with an understanding of both the origin and use of the Christian canon. The article described the origin of the Bible in light of the supposition that the Bible functions as (1) book of theology, as well as (2) book of believers and as (3) book of the church. The article consisted of references to the role of the Old Testament and the New Testament canonical collections and the role of ecclesial synodal decisions. It also obtained a graphical overview of the history and dates of the New Testament writings as a canonical list. The article concluded with a reflection on the relevance for the use and authority of the Bible, seen from the perspective of the use and origin of the Bible as Christianity’s canon.


2009 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter M. Venter

Inclusivism and exclusivism: A study of two trendsThe identity of the church can be either inclusivist or exclusivist. Van Ruler’s theocratic theology views the church as being an inclusive community in service of God’s kingdom. It is the vehicle God uses to introduce his kingdom into the world. According to Van Ruler, however, the church also shows a unique character based on its relationship with Jesus Christ. Although the church can take many forms, Van Ruler’s opinion is that the Christian Church could be advised by Old Testament Israel in this regard. This study shows that both inclusivist and exclusivist trends are present in the Old as well as the New Testament. The New Testament inherited the debate between these two opposing stances from the time of the Second Temple. Returning from exile, Sadocitic priests propagated an exclusivist identity for the Judaeans. Their viewpoint was based on the programme of Ezekiel 40–48, as is illustrated in the literature of Ezra–Nehemiah, the Priestly Writing, Chronicles and Jubilees. On the other hand, indeed there was an inclusivist approach as well, as is depicted in the books of Jonah, Ruth, Trito-Isaiah and even Numbers and Joshua. The conclusion drawn from the study is that both exclusivist and inclusivist trends are present in the Bible. Although the church does not have any other option in the present postmodern world but to be primarily an inclusive community, it should also show some form of exclusivism.


Kairos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-194
Author(s):  
Ervin Budiselić

The Church in the New Testament is described with various images, and this article argues that one image that is implicitly present in the New Testament is the Church as a “court” or a “community of trial.” First, this can be argued because the God of the Bible – YHWH - is Creator, King, and Judge. That means that YHWH’s community is responsible, per YHWH’s revelation, to maintain the purity of its members in all aspects of life. Second, in the New Testament, we find examples where the Church functions as a court. However, the question is, does the biblical requirement for “two or three witnesses” also support the claim that the Church should function as a court? The purpose of this article is to identify places where the biblical command about “two or three witnesses appear,” to trace its development and to see what role and place it plays in the Church. By doing so, we would demonstrate that the presence of this stipulation in the New Testament is additional proof that we should sometimes view the Church as a “court.” The first part of the article explains that the context for the concept of witness is the Mosaic covenant and underlying assumption that governs the command about “two and three witnesses.” The second part analyzes the appearance of “two or three witnesses” in the Old Testament. In the third part, we will argue that the Church is truly a community of trial. We will so argue by observing selected examples from the New Testament where the Church functions as a court, and by tracking the development of the requirement about “two or three witnesses” in the New Testament. Based on this research, we will end by offering a reflection and a conclusion.


Author(s):  
Liu Boyun

This essay examines the influence of Buddhist writings on the Bible. In the Tang dynasty, when the Church of the East reached China, they did not hold onto the idea of fixed Scripture in the form of an Old and a New Testament. The growing Buddhist canon had its impact on Tang Christians’ concept of authoritative text. As a result, the clergy produced a wide range of sūtras as their canon. They also appropriated many Buddhist terms, but managed to keep their Christian doctrines intact. Later Bible translations show little Buddhist influence, but we can still see traces of Buddhist vocabulary.


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