Public Theology—a Latin Captivity of the Church: Violence and Public Theology in the Asia-Pacific Context

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-470
Author(s):  
James Haire

AbstractThis article looks at public theology from the perspective of the Asia-Pacific context. Thus, the focus is on theology from the standpoint of Christianity as a minority faith, seeking to do theology in a world outside that of the western church. The article considers the activity of public theology through the engagement of theology with a world of violence. It begins by looking at violence and the transformed communities of peace in the New Testament, through examining the milieu of violence, the transformed communities of peace and the dynamics which created those transformed communities. It then goes on to observe the dynamics of peace and violence in the intercultural history of Christianity, by looking historically at cyclic culture and word culture and the interaction between the two, particularly as they relate to peace and violence. From this, the article draws out conclusions on the Christian experience of peace and violence in relation to cultures, and looks at how Christians are called to engage in public theology in such a world.

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.


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.


2008 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Editorial Office

Ephesians: Empowerment to walk in love for the unity of all in ChristThe stem cell debateDarwin and intelligent designThe fathers of the church: A comprehensive introductionSpiritual emotions: A psychology of Christian virtuesThe Bonhoeffer legacy post-holocaust perspectiveWondrously shelteredDietrich Bonhoeffer: A life in picturesA people's history of Christianity, Vol. 5 Reformation ChristianityDefeating depression: Real help for you and those who love youMartin Luther's message for us todayJurgen Moltmann Eine Lebensgeschichte, herausgegebn von W RaumA broad place: An authobiographyRender to God: New Testament understanding of the divine


Author(s):  
Carolyn Osiek

The article shows that first-century urban Christian communities, such as those founded by Paul, brought in both whole families and individual women, slaves, and others. An example of an early Christian family can be seen in the autobiographical details of the Shepherd of Hermas, whether factual or not. The article aims to demonstrate that the New Testament teaching on family gives two very different pictures: the structured harmony of the patriarchal family as presented in the household codes of Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5, over against the warnings and challenges of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels to leave family in favor of discipleship. The developing devotion to martyrdom strengthened the appeal to denial. Another version of the essay was published in Horsley, Richard A (ed), A people’s history of Christianity, Volume 1: Christian origins, 201-220. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.1.


1953 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-135
Author(s):  
Oscar Cullmann

The problem of the relationship between Scripture and Tradition is in the first place a problem of the theological relationship between the apostolic period and the period of the Church. All the other questions depend on the solution that we give to this problem. The alternatives—co-ordination or subordination of Tradition to Scripture—derive from the question of knowing how we must understand the fact that the period of the Church is the continuation and unfolding of the apostolic period. For we must note right away that this fact is capable of divergent interpretations. That is why agreement on the mere fact that the Church continues the work of Christ on earth does not necessarily imply agreement on the relationship between Scripture and Tradition. Thus in my thesis developed in Christ and Time as well as in my studies on the sacraments in the New Testament I came considerably nearer to the ‘Catholic’ point of view. In fact I would affirm very strongly that through the Church the history of salvation is continued on earth. I believe that we find this idea throughout the New Testament, and I should even consider it the key for the understanding of the Johannine Gospel. I would maintain, moreover, that the sacraments, Baptism and Eucharist, take the place in the Church of the miracles performed by Jesus Christ in the period of the Incarnation. And yet I am going to show in the following pages that I subordinate Tradition to Scripture.


1936 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. P. Hatch

In the manuscripts and versions of the New Testament, in lists of books accepted as canonical, and in the works of ecclesiastical writers the Epistle to the Hebrews occupies three different positions: (I) Among the epistles addressed to churches, i.e. after Romans, after 2 Corinthians, and very rarely after Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Titus. (II) After 2 Thessalonians, i.e. after the epistles written to churches. (III) After Philemon, i.e. at the end of the Pauline canon. Each of these positions represents the usage of some particular section, or sections, of the Church; and each is significant for the history of the canon of the New Testament. No other epistle ascribed to the Apostle Paul has been so variously placed in the canon as Hebrews.


2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-190
Author(s):  
Matthijs den Dulk

Abstract As part of NTT JTSR’s series on Key Texts, the present article discusses Benjamin Isaac’s monograph The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity. Despite its favorable reception among ancient historians and classicists, this important book has not garnered much attention from scholars working on ancient Christianity and related disciplines. The article introduces Isaac’s work, situates its contribution in the broader discussion about the origins and nature of racism, and argues that the book opens up new and interesting avenues for the study of the New Testament and related literature as well as the subsequent history of Christianity.


Author(s):  
G. M.M. Pelser

Rudolf Bultmann’s demythologizing of the eschatology of the New Testament This article investigates Bultmann’s views on the eschatology of the New Testament as expressed respectively by Jesus, the earliest Christians, Paul, John and the churches of the post-apostolic period. It also pays attention to what Bultmann has to say about the secularisation of eschatology during the history of the church, and about the relationship history-eschatology. The conclusion is that although his program of demythologizing has far-reaching and dire consequences for the traditional end-time eschatological expectations of the church, much of it is to be evaluated positively. Much is also to be gained from his insights especially with reg a rd to his emphasis on the ex iste n tia l importance of the decision of faith, in the moment here and now, for authentic existence as the eschatological event.


1927 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-104
Author(s):  
Maurice Goguel

The general public in France is singularly uninformed on questions of religion. Persons in other respects very well educated are frequently lacking in the most elementary notions of the doctrines and history of Christianity. Men who would be ashamed if they were caught taking Virgil for a Greek poet or Demosthenes for a Roman orator, unblushingly display an astonishing ignorance about the books of the Bible, and will suppose, for example, that the New Testament was written in Hebrew, or in Syriac, or even in Arabic, and the Old Testament in Latin. On the part of the small group of scholars who occupy themselves with the history of Christianity, efforts have been made to combat this ignorance and to awaken some interest in questions which the university programs systematically ignore. Plans have been sketched, but difficulties of every kind have prevented putting them into effect. Some steps have been taken, but as yet only too few; some books of an untechnical character, capable of being understood by anyone of moderate education, have been published, but so far they have not succeeded in shaking the general indifference.


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