The Message of Jesus and our Customary Theological Language: An Indian Approach to a New Language in Theology and Inculturation

Exchange ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-226
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Good News ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Paschal Mystery ◽  
Loving Parent ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
Theological Language ◽  
Gospel Message

AbstractThe Asian Context demands a new language in theology, as both the Bible and the past theological formulations are conditioned by their time, place and problems. The Paschal Mystery needs to be understood in the light of the picture of God given by Jesus as an unconditionally loving Parent. Jesus was killed because of the way he lived and spoke of God. Hence we need to look afresh at the sacrificial interpretation of Jesus' death. The title Christ is conditioned by the expectations of the Jewish people, and Jesus, the Son of God we honour, is more and other than what they expected. Past theological developments did not come from this picture of God, and from Jesus' outlook, his options and priorities; they were responses to the problems of their times, conditioned more by Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, than by the good news that Jesus proclaimed. In the context of the 'Old Testament' of the peoples of these places, with Jesus' option for the poor, we need to announce the simple message of Jesus to let new theologies and liturgies emerge. Certain conditions are necessary for any true inculturation of the gospel message.

scholarly journals Menafsir Ulang Makna בּ֣וֹרְאֶ֔יךָ dalam Pengkotbah 12:1

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Yane Octavia Rismawati Wainarisi
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Biblical Hebrew ◽  
Time Span ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Sitz Im Leben ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Consonant Letter ◽  
Original Message ◽  
Form Criticism

Biblical Hebrew actually composed with the consonant letter only. To get the original sound of Hebrew Bible, the Bible Editor use Nikud. This is cause one word with the same consonant in Hebrew can have many letters, sounds, and different meaning. This causes new problems in the translation and interpretation of the Bible, especially in finding the original meaning of the author of the Bible. Even so, the process of translating and interpreting the Bible can be approached in another way, namely by looking at the original context (sitz im leben) of the first reader or recipient of the original message (milieu). This phenomenon also occurs in Qohelet's writing which is the study of this paper. The word בּ֣וֹרְאֶ֔יךָ in the text of Ecclesiastes 12: 1 has the root בר which can have a variety of meanings when it is added to Nikud. While the time span from 3-2 BC century BC to the writing of Qohelet is quite far and errors in the gift of Nikud may lead to different interpretations. For this reason, a form criticism and cultural semiotics approach needs to be done to bridge this. This article is about Qohelet with the paradigm of human development that he aimed at young Jewish people at that time. Created with the approach of Cultural Semiotics and Form Criticism in the Old Testament with various book references as research aids. Bahasa Ibrani Alkitab umumnya terdiri dari huruf-huruf konsonan saja. Untuk memperoleh bunyi yang sesuai dengan aslinya, tulisan Bahasa Ibrani dibantu dengan Nikud. Hal ini menyebabkan satu kata dengan konsonan yang sama dalam Bahasa Ibrani dapat memiliki berbagai tulisan, bunyi dan menghasilkan berbagai arti yang berbeda. Hal ini menyebabkan persoalan baru dalam proses penterjemahan dan penafsiran Alkitab terutama untuk dapat menemukan makna asli dari si pengarang Alkitab. Pun demikian, proses penterjemahan dan penafsiran Alkitab ini dapat didekati dengan cara lain yaitu dengan melihat konteks asli (sitz im leben) dari pembaca pertama atau penerima pesan aslinya (milieu). Fenomena ini juga yang terjadi dalam tulisan Qohelet yang menjadi kajian dari tulisan ini. Kata בּ֣וֹרְאֶ֔יךָ dalam teks Pengkhotbah 12:1 memiliki kata dasar בר dapat menimbulkan beragam arti jika sudah ditambahi dengan Nikud. Sementara rentang waktu dari abad ke 3-2 SM masa penulisan Qohelet cukup jauh dan kesalahan dalam pemberian Nikud bisa saja menimbulkan penafsiran yang berbeda. Untuk itu, pendekatan Kritik Bentuk dan Semiotik budaya perlu dilakukan untuk menjembatani hal ini. Artikel ini adalah tentang Qohelet dengan paradigma pembangunan manusia yang ia tujukan kepada anak-anak muda Yahudi masa itu. Dibuat dengan pendekatan Semiotik Budaya dan Kritik Bentuk dalam Perjanjian Lama dengan berbagai referensi buku sebagai alat bantu penelitian.

scholarly journals Концепція Божого синівства (παῖδα κυρίου): лінгвістичний аналіз Муд 2:13б

2020 ◽  
pp. 176-185
Author(s):  
Halyna Teslyuk
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
God's People ◽  
Privileged Status ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Jewish Youth ◽  
Theological Thought ◽  
Unique Relationship

This article discusses the concept of divine sonship (παῖδα κυρίου) in the Book of Wisdom, chapter 2, verse 13b from the linguistic, literary,and theological perspectives. In this verse, the Bible author uses the phrase “a child/son of God” to express the unique relationship a righteous person has with God and demonstrate the consciousness of belonging to the Lord by the Jewish populace in diaspora. The aim of this paper is to explore how the author, by describing the pivotal feature of the life of the righteous in Wis 2:13b, uses the Greek terminology of his time as a means to teach about the faith. Lexical-syntactical, historical-cultural, and theological analyses are used to interpret the concept of the divine sonship in the Book of Wisdom. The patrimony of the Old Testament is taken into consideration as well. The Book of Wisdom written by a Jewish author in Egyptian Alexandria between 30 BCE – 14 CE reflects biblical theological thought, yet Pseudo-Solomon uses the terminology relevant to a Hellenistic milieu where he lives. The author teaches a younger Jewish generation in diaspora about their own religious tradition. The Jewish youth born in diaspora was more interested in contemporary philosophical/cultural trends than in the tradition of the ancestors. To attract them, the religious mentors present the topic using the conceptual terminology of the time. The concept of the divine sonship articulates the idea of a privileged status of the Jews and at the same time a responsibility that this status requires. This privileged status is traced back to the Exodus story when Israel was chosen as God’s people. As the book was written in diaspora, it also reflects the challenges the Jewish community was facing at that time. It was vital for the older generation to teach the younger generation about their ancestors and their beliefs. At the same time, the Hellenistic settings required Pseudo-Solomon to write in language that the audience spoke and to use the terminology that would yield meaning. The father-son image helps to identify the close relationship between the God and his people, mutual responsibility, and affection.

Statehood and Jerusalem in Ancient Israel: Myths And Realities

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-253
Author(s):  
H. Eberhard von Waldow
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Jewish History ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Spiritual Community ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
The People ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Holy City

The Old Testament people of Israel entered the political reality of ancient Palestine as a spiritual community held together by worshipping Yahweh in ‘the God-given land’. When it became a state with a king this spiritual character was threatened or lost. The capital was always the holy city of Jerusalem, as the spiritual—not political—centre o f Yahweh's people, and it survived all political catastrophes, even after the homeland was lost. The people of Israel survived not as a nation but rather as a religious community (Judaism). Only as such can today's Jews legitimately reclaim Eretz Yisrael. Certain claims made by the modern secular Jewish nation-state—for example, that Jerusalem always was and always will be the capital of the Jewish people—are not only problematic, but have no foundation, either in the Bible or in Jewish history: they are fabricated modern myths.

Michael Prior, The Bible and Anti-Semitism

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Macpherson
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
The Core ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Colonial Oppression ◽  
Gospel Message

Michael Prior raised the issue of Bible texts apparently morally unacceptable and at odds with the “core Gospel message” of the liberating love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. He pointed to Old Testament texts invoked to justify colonialism and, in particular, the colonial oppression of the Palestinians. Others have underlined texts in the New Testament used to justify anti-Semitism. Opinion divides between blaming the interpreters and blaming the texts themselves, usually by questioning their historicity. Both issues impact upon the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict and raise mirror-image questions concerning biblical inspiration demanding the liberationist hermeneutic implicit in Prior's work.

Reconceiving the Paradigms of Old Testament Theology in the Post-Shoah Period1

1998 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-160
Author(s):  
Marvin A. Sweeney
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Northern Kingdom ◽  
Protestant Christianity ◽  
Human Responsibility ◽  
Anti Jewish ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis paper examines the changed situation in the field of Christian Old Testament theology in the aftermath of the Shoah or Holocaust. It begins by pointing to the paradigm shift now taking place in the field as it moves from Enlightenment epistemological paradigms of historical objectivity and universality to postmodern paradigms that emphasize the subjectivity of the interpreter and the validity of particularistic truth claims in a pluralistic world. It points to the dominance of Protestant theology and theologians in the field during the Enlightenment and the impact that Protestant Christianity had in presenting its own subjective theological views of the Old Testament as objective and universal, often with anti-Jewish overtones. With the emergence of Jews and other previously marginalized groups in the field of biblical studies since the end of World War II, the time has come to recognize that Jews are legitimate theological interpreters of the Bible and that the specific concerns of Judaism and the Jewish people are valid topics for theological reflection in the field of Christian Old Testament theology. This new situation has tremendous implications for the theological interpretation of biblical writings in that issues and writings that were previously overlooked, ignored, or rejected must come to the forefront. Two examples, the book of Amos and the book of Esther, demonstrate the potential for such change. Recognition of Amos' particular national identity as a Judean points to his partisan nature as an advocate of a vassal state of Judah that is subject to the control of the northern kingdom of Israel. The absence of G-d in the book of Esther points to the human responsibility to take action when confronted with evil. Altogether, this points to the possibility of more comprehensive theological reading of the Hebrew Bible.

scholarly journals Aspek Teologis dan Aplikatif Dasa Titah

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-173
Author(s):  
Rully Solomon Runturambi
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Good News ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Ten Commandments ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
1 John

Believers today are eager to explore the Bible, especially the New Testament, because they believed that the Old Testament is no longer valid in the lives of believers. The discussion in this paper examines the importance of the Decalogue and its application to believers in the present. The Ten Commandments are the culmination (climax) of all the books, centers and themes of the extraordinary book that ever existed. The Ten Commandments are the basis of all Bible themes. The Ten Commandments are the highest foundation of God's law. Many verses in the Bible (Old and New Testaments) are citation extensions of the Ten Commandments. God's command is a measure that enables us to know whether we are on the path that is in accordance with His desires or we are deviating. As John warned in 1 John 3: 4 "Everyone who sins, also violates God's law, because sin is a violation of God's law." From the discussion it is known that the Ten Commandments of God are good news delivered to Israel and also to the Christian nowadays. The Ten Commandments are the good news that God has given us to do. What is meant by the good news is that the Ten Commandments, most of which are in the form of prohibitions or negative things, but behind that all God has good intentions, which are only shown to us believers today.AbstrakOrang percaya pada masa kini cukup bersemangat mendalami Alkitab, dan pada umumnya yang dipelajari adalah Perjanjian Baru, karena berpandangan bahwa Perjanjian Lama tidak lagi berlaku dalam kehidupan orang percaya. Pembahasan dalam tulisan ini mengupas pentingnya Dasa Titah dan aplikasinya bagi orang percaya pada masa kini. Sepuluh Perintah merupakan puncak (klimaks) dari seluruh kitab, pusat dan tema kitab yang sangat luar biasa yang pernah ada dan merupakan hasil dari yang kemudian dan tambahan-tambahannya. Sepuluh Perintah adalah merupakan dasar dari seluruh tema Alkitab. Sepuluh Perintah adalah dasar hukum Allah yang tertinggi. Banyak ayat-ayat dalam Alkitab (Perjanjian Lama dan Baru) merupakan perluasan kutipan dari Sepuluh Perintah. Perintah Allah  adalah merupakan suatu ukuran yang memampukan kita untuk mengetahui apakah kita berada di jalan yang sesuai dengan keinginan-Nya atau kita sedang menyimpang. Sebagaimana yang diperingatkan oleh Yohanes di dalam 1 Yohanes 3:4 ” Setiap orang yang berbuat dosa, melanggar juga hukum Allah, sebab dosa ialah pelanggaran hukum Allah.” Dari pembahasan diketahui bahwa sepuluh perintah Allah adalah merupakan kabar baik yang disampaikan bagi Israel dan juga bagi orang percaya. Sepuluh Perintah Allah merupakan kabar baik yang Allah telah berikan kepada kita untuk dilaksanakan. Yang dimaksudkan dengan kabar baik adalah bahwa Sepuluh Perintah, yang sebagian besar di dalam setiap perintahnya berupa larangan atau hal yang negatif namun dibalik itu semua Allah mempunyai maksud yang baik, yang hanya ditujukkan bagi kita orang percaya pada masa kini.

Dekolonisasi di Asia dan Pembacaan Alkitab yang Membebaskan dalam Pandangan Kwok Pui-Lan

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Sonny Samuel Hasiholan
Keyword(s):  
Good News ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Oppressed Group ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Gospel Message ◽  
Bible Reading

AbstractThe history of colonialization in Asia left traditions and perspectives that were often oppressive. Minority or weak groups, often become victims. When this oppression and injustice occurs, and the oppressed group feels it is normal, it will be passed on to the next generation. Oppressive traditions and worldviews also occur in Christianity and in Bible reading. This article explores how Feminist Theologian Kwok Pui Lan tries to decolonialize Bible reading through dialogue and imagination. Kwok Pui Lan, in particular, pays attention tothe injustice that is caused by problems of race and gender. With dialogue and imagination between Bible readers and listeners in their specific contexts the gospel message will reach everyone in their existence, and make them free human beings. In the end, the Bible and the good news it carries are not only read according to strong and powerful interests, but have a variety of voices that can greet anyone. AbstrakSejarah kolonialisasi di Asia meninggalkan tradisi dan cara pandang yang tidak jarang menindas. Kelompok minoritas atau yang lemah, seringkali menjadi korbannya. Ketika penindasan dan ketidakadilan ini terjadi, dan kelompok yang tertindas merasa hal itu sebagai sebuah kewajaran maka akan bertahan dan diwariskan kepada generasi berikutnya. Tradisi dan cara pandang yang menindas juga terjadi dalam kekristenan dan pembacaan Alkitab. Artikel ini menelusuri bagaimana Kwok Pui Lan, seorang Teolog Feminis, mencoba melakukan dekolonialisasi terhadap pembacaan Alkitab diantaranya melalui dialog dan imajinasi. KwokPui Lan secara khusus memberikan perhatiannya kepada ketidakadilan yang dilatarbelakangi oleh persoalan ras dan gender. Dengan dialog dan imajinasi antara pembaca Alkitab dan pendengar dengan konteks mereka yang khas maka kabar baik dalam Alkitab akan sampai kepada setiap orang dalam keberadaan mereka, dan menjadikan mereka manusia yang merdeka. Pada akhirnya Alkitab dan kabar baik yang dibawanya tidak saja dibaca menurut kepentingan yang kuat dan berkuasa, melainkan memiliki keragaman suara yang dapatmenyapa siapa saja.

The Concept of Palestine: The Conception Of Palestine from the Late Bronze Age to the Modern Period

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Masalha
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Political Geography ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Collective Consciousness ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
Master Narratives ◽  
The Bible ◽  
School History

The Concept of Palestine is deeply rooted in the collective consciousness of the indigenous people of Palestine and the multicultural ancient past. The name Palestine is the most commonly used from the Late Bronze Age (from 1300 BCE) onwards. The name Palestine is evident in countless histories, inscriptions, maps and coins from antiquity, medieval and modern Palestine. From the Late Bronze Age onwards the names used for the region, such as Djahi, Retenu and Cana'an, all gave way to the name Palestine. Throughout Classical Antiquity the name Palestine remained the most common and during the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods the concept and political geography of Palestine acquired official administrative status. This article sets out to explain the historical origins of the concept of Palestine and the evolving political geography of the country. It will seek to demonstrate how the name ‘Palestine’ (rather than the term ‘Cana'an’) was most commonly and formally used in ancient history. It argues that the legend of the ‘Israelites’ conquest of Cana'an’ and other master narratives of the Bible evolved across many centuries; they are myth-narratives, not evidence-based accurate history. It further argues that academic and school history curricula should be based on historical facts/empirical evidence/archaeological discoveries – not on master narratives or Old Testament sacred-history and religio-ideological constructs.

Witches and Forgers

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Mandelbrote
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Republic Of Letters ◽  
The Bible ◽  
God's Word ◽  
1 Samuel ◽  
The Witch

Scepticism and loyalty represent the poles of van Dale’s career. Two contexts have been mentioned as relevant here: the seventeenth-century attack on magic and superstition, and the circles of friendship that created a contemporary Republic of Letters. This chapter evaluates both contexts, as well as others that may throw light on his relatively neglected attitude to the text of the Bible. It brings into focus two important intellectual episodes: his treatment of the account of the Witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:3–25), and his engagement with Hellenistic sources relating to the text of the Old Testament, especially to the miraculous composition of the Septuagint. These issues brought van Dale to ask questions about God’s Word. The chapter explores the limits of his scepticism, the extent of his scholarship, and the role of friendship and isolation in his development. Finally, it draws attention to his place in contemporary Mennonite debates.

Spinoza and Biblical Philology in the Dutch Republic, 1660-1710

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jetze Touber
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Dutch Republic ◽  
Biblical Criticism ◽  
Ecclesiastical History ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Dutch Golden Age

This book investigates the biblical criticism of Spinoza from the perspective of the Dutch Reformed society in which the philosopher lived and worked. It focusses on philological investigation of the Bible: its words, its language, and the historical context in which it originated. The book charts contested issues of biblical philology in mainstream Dutch Calvinism, to determine whether Spinoza’s work on the Bible had any bearing on the Reformed understanding of the way society should engage with Scripture. Spinoza has received massive attention, both inside and outside academia. His unconventional interpretation of the Old Testament passages has been examined repeatedly over the decades. So has that of fellow ‘radicals’ (rationalists, radicals, deists, libertines, enthusiasts), against the backdrop of a society that is assumed to have been hostile, overwhelmed, static, and uniform. This book inverts this perspective and looks at how the Dutch Republic digested biblical philology and biblical criticism, including that of Spinoza. It takes into account the highly neglected area of the Reformed ministry and theology of the Dutch Golden Age. The result is that Dutch ecclesiastical history, up until now the preserve of the partisan scholarship of confessionalized church historians, is brought into dialogue with Early Modern intellectual currents. This book concludes that Spinoza, rather than simply pushing biblical scholarship in the direction of modernity, acted in an indirect way upon ongoing debates in Dutch society, shifting trends in those debates, but not always in the same direction, and not always equally profoundly, at all times, on all levels.

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