Human hope and the reign of God

The Story of the Samaritan and the Innkeeper (Luke 10:30-35): A Study in Character Rehabilitation

Biblical Interpretation ◽

10.1163/156851509x447645 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 422-447 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Bruce Longenecker

Keyword(s):

Guiding Principle ◽

Good Samaritan ◽

History Of ◽

Reign Of God ◽

And Function ◽

The Relationship ◽

Interpretative Framework

AbstractThe aphorism 'context is everything' has been a guiding principle in many studies of Jesus' parabolic sayings. This is true, for instance, of studies attempting to recover a parable's significance in relation to the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, or in relation to its literary placement and function, or in relation to its polyvalent potential. It is also true of this study, which examines Jesus' narrative of the Samaritan—usually referred to as the 'parable of the good Samaritan'. It suggests that, when the Samaritan story is placed within a certain contextual configuration, its narrative features align themselves in ways that have either been conspicuously neglected or consciously avoided in the history of the story's interpretation. Rather than neglecting or avoiding the significance of these narrative features, this essay seeks to exploit their interpretative significance in a fresh manner, entertaining possibilities of meaning beyond the Lukan interpretative framework. In particular, consideration is given to the relationship between the Samaritan and the innkeeper as representing an exceptional partnership that testifies to the reign of God in making each party vulnerable to loss while promoting goodness towards others.

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The Reign of God in the O.T

Vetus Testamentum ◽

10.1163/156853369x00482 ◽

1969 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 230-243

Author(s):

Marco Treves

Keyword(s):

Reign Of God

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Liturgy and Public Theology

Anglican Theological Review ◽

10.1177/000332862010200206 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 102 (2) ◽

pp. 219-229

Author(s):

James W. Farwell

Keyword(s):

Jesus Christ ◽

Point Of View ◽

The Body ◽

Public Theology ◽

Temporal Patterning ◽

Ritual Performance ◽

Reign Of God

Liturgy is an act of public theology, when considered from the point of view that Christian ritual performance is publicly enacted for the sake of a wider public, and joins the assembly to Jesus Christ, who is himself God's logos tou theou and God's liturgy. Liturgy does this work through its scripted repetition, formality, spatial and temporal patterning, focus on the body, and deployment of the familiar and unfamiliar. Through these modes, a worldview is enacted and valorizes a certain set of virtues and an orientation to living that correspond to that worldview. Among those virtues are gratitude, a desire for reconciliation, the recognition of our dependency of God and responsibility toward others, and a compassionate commitment to the dignity of humanity and the created order. These ritually enacted virtues, practiced in the hope for the full and coming reign of God, will orient the liturgical assembly to particular social, moral, political concerns as worthy of Christian engagement; but liturgical formation will not, in most cases, prescribe detailed courses of action to take when facing specific instances of those concerns.

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Promoting the Constants of the Mission with Muslims in Today’s Middle East

Journal of Catholic Social Thought ◽

10.5840/jcathsoc20211818 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 139-151

Author(s):

Jules Boutros ◽

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Past Century ◽

Special Role ◽

Second Vatican Council ◽

Islamic Fundamentalism ◽

The Past ◽

Vatican Council ◽

Reign Of God ◽

The Church

One of the most important facts that the Second Vatican Council has revealed is that the point of the Church is not itself, but to go beyond itself, to be a community that preaches, serves, celebrates, and witnesses to the reign of God with due respect to the text and context. During the past century, the Church of the Middle East experienced the absence of an authentic missionary enthusiasm and the lack of a clear and pertinent theology with which it could face the challenge presented to Christianity by Islam. This challenge resides in its special role and mission before the Muslims, which this paper will further discuss and, in doing so, answer the question, How can the Church of the Middle East try to approach the Muslims in a time of violent Islamic fundamentalism and persecutions, in a region where most of the Christians are opting to remain distant or to emigrate?

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How to expect God’s reign to come: From Jesus’ through the ecclesial to the cosmic body

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v72i4.3380 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 72 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Jakub Urbaniak ◽

Elijah Otu

Keyword(s):

Cosmic Body ◽

Extended Body ◽

Social Body ◽

The Social ◽

Ecological Implications ◽

Reign Of God ◽

To Come ◽

Spiritual Body ◽

Radical Embodiment

This study seeks to articulate the universality of the eschatological expectation, in its specifically Christian form, by interpreting it from the perspective of a radical embodiment. This can be understood in a twofold manner. Firstly, the mysterious reality of the eschatological reign of God is rooted in – and thus can be more adequately grasped through the lens of – Jesus’ own body seen as distinct yet not separate from his risen body and, mutatis mutandis, from his extended body, both ecclesial and cosmic. Secondly, for the eschatological expectation to be lived out in an incarnational way, it must be ‘enfleshed’ in actions aimed at social and ecological liberation.The article consists of four sections. Firstly, we explain in what sense body – and more specifically Jesus’ body – is used in our analysis as a hermeneutic key to notions such as ‘risen body’, ‘spiritual body’, ‘extended body’, ‘social body’, ‘ecclesial body’, ‘cosmic body’, basar/kol basar (‘flesh’/‘all flesh’), and ‘life’. Then, the universality of the eschatological expectation is being articulated on two levels, namely, (1) with regard to the social, and in particular the ecclesial, body, and (2) with regard to the cosmic body, with ecological implications inherent in such perspective. Finally, we close the loop by briefly revisiting the notion of Jesus’ body.

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