The Gospel of John

2019 ◽  
pp. 601-613
Author(s):  
C. E. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Future Research ◽  
True Nature ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Academic Controversy ◽  
The Church

This chapter reviews the significant role played by the Gospel according to John in the early Church, and recent scholarship surrounding this issue. John’s importance in the Christological and Trinitarian debates of the fourth and fifth centuries is widely recognized, but controversy has surrounded the question of John’s use in the Church prior to Irenaeus. This chapter reviews that academic controversy, particularly the longstanding argument that John won its place in the ‘great Church’ only after a long battle with heresy (docetism; Gnosticism; Valentinianism) about its true nature and meaning. It then surveys some of the ways in which John’s influence was felt in the early period, in the areas of biblical interpretation, in mission, in Christology, and in artistic expression, all of which offer promise for future research.

scholarly journals Christianity and Indigenisation in Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 18-30
Author(s):  
M. A. Masoga ◽  
A. Nicolaides
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Spiritual Consciousness ◽  
The Church ◽  
Do So

In a quest for greater coherence between parochial identities, culture and Christianity, there exists an African consciousness which seeks to indigenise and decolonise Christianity. Africans are profoundly religious people who view their faith as part of their way of life, as strengthening their cultures and providing a moral compass for daily living. In efforts to transform society, the Christian religion has played a significant role in the path to African development. Christianity in Africa dates to the very inception of the church. Africans consequently played a crucial role in establishing the doctrines and theology of the early church. While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that the Christian faith has and continuous to play a significant role on the African continent in its development. While there are many indigenous African beliefs, these have been to a large extent supported by Christianity in a quest to systematize novel knowledge and promote peace and tolerance across the continent. Many Africans have sought facets of Christianity that are similar to their religious and personal practices and continue to do so. Thus, while there exist numerous similarities and also differences between Christianity and ATR, it is imperative to preserve old-style regional distinctiveness and Christianity as the unifying rudiments in nation building endeavours and in efforts to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Africans can and should come to comprehend the Triune Godhead as being consistent with their own spiritual consciousness and existential veracities. Indigenization of Christianity requires enculturation and essentially an understanding that it is indeed ecumenical and also embraces diversity and fundamentally requires viewing Holy Scriptures and the truths they propound as being applicable to any context and cultural milieu across the ages. Christians after all espouse a faith in the Ekklesia or body of Christ for all its people who are the Laos of God.

scholarly journals Lessons from the Early Church for Today’s Evangelical Christianity

Kairos ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-90
Author(s):  
Ervin Budiselić
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Evangelical Christianity ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Rule Of Faith ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

Presuming that within Evangelical Christianity there is a crisis of biblical interpretation, this article seeks to address the issue, especially since Evangelicals view the existence of the church as closely connected to the proclamation of the Truth. Starting with a position that Evangelical hermeneutics is not born in a vacuum, but is the result of a historical process, the first part of the article introduces the problem of sola and solo scriptura, pointing out some problematic issues that need to be addressed. In the second part, the article discusses patristic hermeneutics, especially: a) the relationship between Scripture and tradition embodied in regula fidei and; b) theological presuppositions which gave birth to allegorical and literal interpretations of Scripture in Alexandria and Antioch. In the last part of the article, based on lessons from the patristic era, certain revisions of the Evangelical practice of the interpretation of Scripture are suggested. Particularly, Evangelicals may continue to hold the Bible as the single infallible source for Christian doctrine, continue to develop the historical-grammatical method particularly in respect to the issue of the analogy of faith in exegetical process, but also must recognize that the Bible cannot in toto play the role of the rule of faith or the analogy of faith. Something else must also come into play, and that “something” would definitely be the recovery of the patristic period “as a kind of doctrinal canon.”

scholarly journals Gnosticism, church unity and the Nicene Creed

2008 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. F.C. Coetzee
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Church History ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Nag Hammadi ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
Nicene Creed ◽  
Age Of Aquarius ◽  
The Church

Gnosticism (derived from the Greek word “gnosis; knowledge”) is the well-known phenomenon or movement which dates from the first centuries of church history. The teaching of Gnosticism questioned and/or contradicted the teaching of the church on some of the fundamental truths of Scripture. Apart from Gnosticism, the Early Church also had to deal with the heresy of Arianism. In the Nicene Creed, formulated by the councils of Nicea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD) the universal or catholic church responded officially to the heresies of both Gnosticism and Arianism. In the final edition of the Nicene Creed we also find an article on the unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity of the church. Both Gnosticism and Arianism posed a serious threat to the unity of the church.   In our times we experience a revival of ancient Gnosticism, both pagan and “Christian”. This revival is also called the New Age or the Age of Aquarius. Within the framework of this new worldview, we are witnessing a rediscovery of gnosis. The discovery and publication of certain ancient gnostic texts like the Nag Hammadi Codices, play a significant role in this revival. Consequently the canon of Scripture is questioned or openly rejected and also the creeds based on that Scripture.   The Nicene Creed played a major and decisive role in preserving and maintaining the unity of the church on the basis of the truth of Scripture. This age-old creed is today just as relevant and important in proclaiming and confessing the true faith and preserving the true unity of the church.

What Christ Does, God Does: Surveying Recent Scholarship on Christological Monotheism

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-208
Author(s):  
Brandon D. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Early Church ◽  
Sharp Distinction ◽  
Jewish Heritage ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

Wilhelm Bousset’s Kyrios Christos, which argued that ‘high’ Christology developed in the early church due to influences from Hellenism, was and still is a pivotal book in studies on early Christology. Martin Hengel, however, rebutted Bousset’s sharp distinction with his own important insight—that early ‘high’ Christology actually developed out of Christians’ Palestinian-Jewish heritage, wherein the church confessed and worshiped Jesus as divine alongside the one God of Israel. This article will survey the torchbearers of this debate, particularly noting the major ideas and contributors to the ongoing conversation about the ‘Jewishness’ and modes of divinity in early Christology.

The Idea of the Ecclesia Primitiva in the Writings of the Twelfth-Century Canonists

Traditio ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 61-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Basic Problem ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
The Past ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Perfect Form ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church

Much recent scholarship on the period of the Investiture Struggle and the reform of the Church in the eleventh and twelfth centuries has suggested that the origins of these reforms lay not merely in the desire for moral regeneration, but in the conscious wish to return to the antique, Biblical, patristic, and Roman models of the Christian life represented by the early, pre-feudal Church. What modern historians have sometimes called ‘Germanic Christianity’ or ‘feudal Christianity’ was felt to be a pattern of institutions which had at least partly corrupted the life of the early Church. This explains the great concern of the Hildebrandine Party to rid the Church of those abuses which they felt had grown ‘especially since the time when the government of our church passed to the Germans. … But we, having searched out the Roman Order and the ancient custom of our church, imitating the old Fathers, have ordered things to be restored as we have set out above.’ The reaction against the immediate past in favor of a more perfect antique model manifested itself in the notion, expressed throughout the period, that custom must always be judged by natural law and by truth: ‘the Lord said: “I am the Truth.” He did not say: “I am the custom”; but “I am the Truth.” The reformers became impassioned to restore the ancient discipline, to rediscover the ancient laws of the Church, to bring monasticism back to its original purity, and in all this to use what they believed to be the ancient forms of the Christian life as a model by which to compare and criticize the Christianity of their own times. An extensive and varied literature appeared dealing with the problem of what the ancient ideal of the Christian life had been, a literature which began both to speak frequently of the ecclesia primitiva, and to use this idea as a model by which to reform the Church. Often this literature passed beyond the use of the idea of the ecclesia primitiva as a tool of reform to the use of the idea as a basis for the discussion of the more basic problem of what the perfect form of the Christian life had been or should be. In this regard, ‘reform’ signified not only the restoration and reestablishment of the forms of the Christian life of the past, but also the search for the continuing perfection of both the individual and the Church. The nexus of ideas associated with the Augustinian reformatio in melius was in this respect close to the idea of ‘renewal.’ Men not only returned to the forms of the past, but also explored ways of introducing new structures and forms of life into the Church.

Polydore Vergil and Ecclesiastical Historiography in hisDe Inventoribus RerumIV–VIII

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 144-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Church History ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Religious Orders ◽  
True Nature ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of ◽  
Popular Work ◽  
Scientific Phenomena ◽  
The Church

Polydore Vergil (c.1470–1555) was a controversial critic of the church of his day. As this essay will show, his radical solution to its problems was based upon his reading of the church’s history. An Italian cleric on English soil for much of his life, Vergil is most famous for hisAnglica Historia(1533), the first Tudor history of England. However, he was also responsible for another great (although now neglected) work,De Inventoribus Rerum(‘on the inventors, or discoverers, of all things’). Consisting of eight volumes, it is an example of early encyclopaedic technique from original Latin and Greek sources, including the Bible, Josephus and Eusebius, as well as observation from contemporary life, in which ‘invention’ is depicted as a category of historiography and a means of examining scientific and cultural history. The first three books were published in 1499 in Venice and deal mainly with scientific phenomena. The other five books, with which we are concerned here, consider the origins of Christian institutions(initia institutorum rei Christianae)and were published much later, in 1521, although Vergil continuously revised the entireDe Inventoribus Rerumuntil his death. The topics covered range from early church history, baptism, clerical and religious orders, penance, prayers and simony, to heresies and schisms, martyrs and the triumph of Christianity. An extremely popular work, with over forty editions in Vergil’s lifetime, it was, nonetheless, censured for its criticisms of the church. Indeed, the purpose of Books IV–VIII was to demonstrate what was initiated by Christ and what the true nature of the church was, not by examining its doctrine but by seeking the origins of its practice.

TEOLOGIA E PÓS-MODERNIDADE: APONTAMENTOS PARA UM DISCURSO TEOLÓGICO RELEVANTE

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 051
Author(s):  
Adriano Sousa Lima ◽  
Jaziel Guerreiro Martins
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Religion And Theology ◽  
Christian Religion ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
The Church

O artigo reflete sobre o tema “Teologia e pós-modernidade: apontamentos para o discurso teológico relevante”. Tendo como objetivo discutir se a teologia pode sobreviver como discurso, como logos e quais seriam as suas chances, bem como alguns dos caminhos que ela poderia trilhar, o artigo enfrenta questões fundamentais para o debate religioso, no sentido amplo, e teológico, no sentido específico. Trata-se da busca de respostas para indagações antigas, mas sempre relevantes: a religião cristã e a teologia são pertinentes na pós-modernidade? Quais seriam os novos desafios para a teologia nesse contexto? Quais seriam os rumos da teologia na época pós-moderna? Para responder tais questionamentos, os autores analisam a literatura mais relevante e atual sobre o tema, visando contribuir no âmbito acadêmico, eclesial e social. Ao final, os autores destacam que para sobreviver num tempo pós-moderno, é fundamental que a teologia se lance à tarefa de decifrar as implicações da pós-modernidade para ela e para a igreja. A teologia precisará ainda desconstruir os paradigmas modernos da interpretação do texto bíblico, a fim de responder com mais consistência os questionamentos teológicos da pós-modernidade. Assim, os autores concluem que a pós-modernidade não é um mal a ser combatido, mas um período a ser discernido e ao mesmo tempo, enriquecedor e propositivo para a experiência religiosa e para o discurso teológico relevante.Palavras-chave: Teologia; Pós-Modernidade; Religião; Experiência. THEOLOGY AND POSTMODERNITY: NOTES FOR A RELEVANT THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSEAbstractThe article adresses the topic “Theology and post-modernity: notes for a relevant theological discourse”. It discusses if Theology may thrive as a discourse, as a logos and what are its chances, such as some ways that Theology may walk. This present research deals religious debate fundamental issues in broader and strict senses. So, it is about the search for answers to ancient, but always relevant questions: are Christian religion and Theology pertinent in post-modernity? Which are the new challenges for Theology in this context? Which are the possible paths for Theology in contemporary times? In order to answer these interrogations, the text analyses the most relevant and current literature on the topic, aiming to contribute in academic, ecclesial, and social environments. Finally, so that it may survive in post-modernity, it is paramount for Theology to engage the task of deciphering the implications of postmodernity for Theology itself and for the Church. Theology will need to deconstruct modern paradigms of biblical interpretation, so that it may consistently respond to postmodern theological issues. This way, postmodernity is not and evil to fight against, but a period that has to be discerned with wisdom and responsibility. It is an enriching propositional time concerning to religious experience and relevant theological speech.Keywords: Theology; Postmodernity; Religion; Experience.

Complement Components, C3 and C4, and the Metabolic Syndrome

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Copenhaver ◽  
Chack-Yung Yu ◽  
Robert P. Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Complement System ◽  
Gene Copy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Obese Adults ◽  
Complement Components ◽  
Cardiometabolic Diseases ◽  
The Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
The Complement System

Introduction: Increased systemic inflammation plays a significant role in the development of adult cardiometabolic diseases such as insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, and hypertension. The complement system is a part of the innate immune system and plays a key role in the regulation of inflammation. Of particular importance is the activation of complement components C3 and C4. C3 is produced primarily by the liver but is also produced in adipocytes, macrophages and endothelial cells, all of which are present in adipose tissues. Dietary fat and chylomicrons stimulate C3 production. Adipocytes in addition to producing C3 also have receptors for activated C3 and other complement components and thus also respond to as well as produce a target for complement. C3adesArg, also known as acylation stimulation factor, increases adipocyte triglyceride synthesis and release. These physiological effects play a significant role in the development of metabolic syndrome. Epidemiologically, obese adults and non-obese adults with cardiometabolic disease who are not obese have been shown to have increased complement levels. C4 levels also correlate with body mass index. Genetically, specific C3 polymorphisms have been shown to predict future cardiovascular events and. D decreased C4 long gene copy number is associated with increased longevity. Conclusion: Future research is clearly needed to clarify the role of complement in the development of cardiovascular disease and mechanisms for its action. The complement system may provide a new area for intervention in the prevention of cardiometabolic diseases.

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