'Will It Happen Again?' Reflections On Reconciliation and Structural Contraception1

1999 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-410
Author(s):  
Gerrie F. Snyman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Crisis Of Faith ◽  
Bible Interpretation ◽  
Bible Stories

AbstractThe essay deals with the inability of churches and individuals to take the indispensable next step of radically recasting their reading practices of the Bible in a post-apartheid society. Failure to remodel the premises and practices of Bible interpretation results in a sense of betrayal. Although the theological justification for apartheid might be confessed as a sin, the reading practices of the Bible that allowed for a theological justification never changed. However, a confession regarding apartheid entails a critique of the values embedded in the stories of the Old Testament in particular. Once this is recognised, it will be easier to argue a case for a better dispensation for women in those churches in which they are excluded from church offices. The essay discusses the recent female uproar in the Gereformeerde Kerke of South Africa against gender discrimination in their structures of power. The essay also responds to the crisis of faith generated in the laity by some of the confessions. It is argued that the laity had no means of recognising the falseness of the previous ideologically inspired apartheid readings of the Bible, because the leadership of the churches never provided them with the tools of responsible criticism. The reading practices of the past acted as a protective sheath for the theological justification of apartheid. For the confessions of the churches to become meaningful at all, and not tainted by smacks of political opportunism, a call is made for a more critical approach to the values embedded in the Bible stories.

scholarly journals Mystifying moments in Bible interpretation: An exploration of some implied backgrounds to three kinds of unusual Bible readings

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoffel Lombaard
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Garden Of Eden ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Adam And Eve ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Cultural Conditions ◽  
Direct Support ◽  
Bible Interpretation ◽  
To Come

This contribution is part of a series on Methodology and Biblical Spirituality. In this, the fourth contribution, the scope is widened; more practical-analytically oriented, three thoroughly different but nevertheless all unusual kinds of interpretations of the Bible are described, characterised and contextualised. Namely:• In order to explain what are perceived as textual anomalies, some Old Testament authors have been described by US-based medical practitioners as having suffered psychiatric dysfunctions.• The Garden of Eden from Genesis 2 and further has been located by a recently diseased Nigerian scholar as having been in her home country, with a Nigerian race having been the predecessors of biblical Adam and Eve.• Rastafarians, primarily Jamaica-based, regard marijuana as a holy herb and find direct support for their religious use of this plant in the Bible.However strange such ‘mystifying’ interpretations may seem within the theological mainstreams of Judeo-Christianity, there is more to these kinds of interpretations than simple whim. Certain cultural conditions along with personal, particularly spiritual, commitments enable these interpretations, which must be taken seriously in order to come to a fuller understanding of the text–interpreter dynamic. These then can cast at least some form of reflective light on the more usual current biblical-interpretative mainstreams within Judeo-Christianity, posing in a new light the question of what constitutes legitimate interpretations, also within mainstream interpretations, as religiously inclined people try to live their lives in the light of Scripture.

Calvin, the Bible, and History

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Pitkin
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Apostle Paul ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Introductory Overview ◽  
Historical Developments

Calvin, the Bible, and History investigates John Calvin’s distinctive historicizing approach to scripture. The book explores how historical consciousness manifests itself in Calvin’s engagement with the Bible, sometimes leading him to unusual, unprecedented, and occasionally deeply controversial exegetical conclusions. It reshapes the image of Calvin as a biblical interpreter by situating his approach within the context of premodern Christian biblical interpretation, recent Protestant hermeneutical trends, and early modern views of history. In an introductory overview of Calvin’s method and seven chapters focusing on his interpretation of different biblical books or authors, Barbara Pitkin analyzes his engagement with scripture from the Pentateuch to his reception of the apostle Paul. Each chapter examines intellectual or cultural contexts, situating Calvin’s readings within traditional and contemporary exegesis, broader cultural trends, or historical developments, and explores the theme of historical consciousness from a different angle, focusing, for example, on Calvin’s historicizing treatment of Old Testament prophecy, or his reflection of contemporary historiographical trends, or his efforts to relate the biblical past to present historical conditions. An epilogue explores the significance of these findings for understanding Calvin’s concept of history. Collectively these linked case studies illustrate the multifaceted character and expansive impact of his sense of history on his reading of the Bible. They demonstrate that Calvin’s biblical exegesis must be seen in the context of the rising enthusiasm for defining adequate and more formalized approaches to the past that is evident in the writings of Renaissance humanists, early modern historical theorists, and religious reformers across the confessional spectrum.

From Esther to Kwezi

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Juliana Claassens ◽  
Amanda Gouws
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Patriarchal Society ◽  
Collaborative Engagement ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
The One

This article seeks to reflect on the issue of sexual violence in the context of the twenty year anniversary of democracy in South Africa bringing together views from the authors’ respective disciplines of Gender and the Bible on the one hand and Political Science on the other. We will employ the Old Testament Book of Esther, which offers a remarkable glimpse into the way a patriarchal society is responsible for multiple levels of victimization, in order to take a closer look at our own country’s serious problem of sexual violence. With this collaborative engagement the authors contribute to the conversation on understanding and resisting the scourge of sexual violence in South Africa that has rendered a large proportion of its citizens voiceless.

scholarly journals Konsep Keselamatan Dalam Perjanjian Lama

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
PHILIPUS PADA SULISTYA
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Subject

Soteriology (doctrine of salvation) is the subject of the most extensive in the Bible. This is because it covers the whole eternity of time either in the past or future. Safety relates to the whole of mankind. Salvation is personal as well as national and world universe. The theme of salvation contained in the Old Testament and New Testament01

scholarly journals “Jonah’s gourd” and its early Byzantine interpretations

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-51
Author(s):  
Dmitry Kurdybaylo ◽  
Inga Kurdybaylo
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Intellectual Culture ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Modern Reader ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of ◽  
Bible Interpretation ◽  
Early Byzantine ◽  
Patristic Exegesis

Many modern scholars consider the Old Testament book of Jonah being written in a boldly parodic manner. The narrative engages many details that sound humorous for a modern reader. However, from the standpoint of late Antique and early Medieval patristic exegesis, it is often unclear whether Byzantine interpreters perceived such passages laughable or at least inappropriate for a prophetic writing. This study presents a few examples of early Byzantine commentaries to the episode with Jonah and a gourd (Jonah 4:6–11). None of the commentaries expresses any explicit amusement caused by the discussed text. However, the style, method, or context of each commentary appears to be passing the traditional bounds of Bible interpretation. The earlier interpreters adhere to the most expected moral reading of Jonah 4, but they use epithets, metaphors, or omissions, which produce the effect of paradox comparable to the biblical wording itself. The later commentaries tend to involve unexpected and even provocative senses. In such interpretations, God can be thought of as being able to play with a human or even to fool and deceive. What seems us humorous in the Bible, Byzantine commentators take primarily as a paradox, which they did not explain or remove but elaborate further paradoxically. The later an interpreter is, the bolder his paradoxical approach appears. The results of the study provide some clues to understanding how the interpretation of humorous, parodic, or ironical passages were developing in the history of Byzantine intellectual culture.

Towards A Theology of the Old Testament

1948 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-149
Author(s):  
Norman W. Porteous
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Religious Instruction ◽  
True Nature ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Tremendous Amount ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Violent Attack

During the past quarter of a century the problem of Old Testament Theology has been the subject of discussion by a succession of well-known scholars (such as Rudolf Kittel, Marti, Gressmann, W. Staerk, Steuernagel, Eissfeldt, Eichrodt and Weiser) and still the debate shows no signs of coming to an end. In fact at the present time there are very deep cleavages of opinion among students of the Bible and among theologians, the consequent confusion of thought in the minds of many people leading to grave embarrassment. The question at issue is related to, though not identical with, the question as to what one has a right to expect of an Old Testament commentator. In this connection I need scarcely remind you that during the few years immediately before the War, more particularly in Germany and Switzerland, there was a tremendous amount of writing and discussion about the true nature of Biblical exegesis. The circumstances of the time, which included a violent attack delivered from certain directions upon the Old Testament, sufficiently explain why all this high debate should have taken place just then. The debate goes on and a solution is not yet in sight.In all this, most serious theological issues are involved in so far as the present theological confusion means that many people, who are interested in the Old Testament and wish to make use of it for personal edification or in religious instruction, are sincerely perplexed by the results of Old Testament scholarship and so are inclined to set them on one side and get on with the business in hand in their own way.

The Mind of Victorian Orthodoxy: Anglican Responses to ‘Essays and Reviews,’ 1860–1864

1982 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef L. Altholz
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Victorian England ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Crisis Of Faith ◽  
Religious Mind ◽  
The Mind

The composite volume entitled Essays and Reviews, published in 1860, became the center of one of the major religious controversies of Victorian England—a crisis of faith contemporary with that provoked by Darwin's Origin of Species but more central to the religious mind. Essays and Reviews was at once the culmination and the final act of the Broad Church movement. The volume itself was modest in its pretensions and varied in the character and quality of its seven essays. The first, by Frederick Temple, was a warmed-over sermon urging the free study of the Bible. Rowland Williams wrote a provocative essay on Bunsen, denying the predictive character of Old Testament prophecies. Baden Powell flatly denied the possibility of miracles. H. B. Wilson gave the widest possible latitude to subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles and questioned the eternity of damnation. C. W. Goodwin (the only layman among the Essayists) wrote a critique of the attempted “harmonies” between Genesis and geology. Mark Pattison wrote a learned and cold historical study of the evidential theologians of the eighteenth century (perhaps the only essay of lasting value). The volume was capped by Benjamin Jowett's tremendous though wayward essay “On the Interpretation of Scripture,” in which he urged that the Bible be read “like any other book” and made an impassioned plea for freedom of scholarship. Little of all this was original, though it was new to most Englishmen. It was not the cutting edge of biblical scholarship; rather, it was the last gasp of an outmoded Coleridgianism, contributing little except a demand that somebody—somebody else—engage in serious biblical criticism. But this work touched off a controversy which lasted four years and mobilized the resources of both church and state.

scholarly journals Kenteoretiese besinning oor teologiebeoefening aan die Teologiese Skool van Potchefstroom die afgelope twintig jaar

1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Snyman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Naive Realism ◽  
Founding Father ◽  
Naïve Realism ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Theological School

In commemoration of the death a hundred years ago of Dirk Postma, the founding father of the Gereformeerde Kerke in South Africa, this article focuses on the theological creativity of the past twenty years at the Theological School in Potchefstroom. Theological creativity in the GKSA should be viewed in the light of a fear of humanism, horizontalism and secularism. In the churches' zealousness to treat the Bible as the Word of God, in order to be able to say 'Thus says the Lord God’, the need to reflect on the recipients' epistemological presuppositions is not felt. Consequently, Neoplatonism, Positivism and Naive Realism found their way into the theological activity of the TSP. A lack of such reflection on these epistemological presuppositions creates the possibility of projecting them back into the Bible and then investing them with revelational authority.

Catholics and the King James Bible: Stories from England, Ireland and America

2013 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellie Gebarowski-Shafer
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
New York ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Bible Stories ◽  
Biblical Scholar ◽  
King James Bible

AbstractThe King James Bible was widely celebrated in 2011 for its literary, religious and cultural significance over the past 400 years, yet its staunch critics are important to note as well. This article draws attention to Catholic critics of the King James Bible (KJB) during its first 300 years in print. By far the most systematic and long-lived Catholic attack on the KJB is found in the argument and afterlife of a curious counter-Reformation text, Thomas Ward's Errata of the Protestant Bible. This book is not completely unknown, yet many scholars have been puzzled over exactly what to make of it and all its successor editions in the nineteenth century – at least a dozen, often in connection with an edition of the Catholic Douai-Rheims Bible (DRB). Ward's Errata, first published in 1688, was based on a 1582 book by Catholic translator and biblical scholar Gregory Martin. The book and its accompanying argument, that all Protestant English Bibles were ‘heretical’ translations, then experienced a prosperous career in nineteenth-century Ireland, employed to battle the British and Foreign Bible Society's campaign to disseminate the Protestant King James Bible as widely as possible. On the American career of the Counter-Reformation text, the article discusses early editions in Philadelphia, when the school Bible question entered the American scene. In the mid-nineteenth century, led by Bishop John Purcell in Cincinnati, Bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick in Philadelphia and Bishop John Hughes in New York City, many Catholics began opposing the use of the KJB as a school textbook and demanding use of the Douai Rheims Bible instead. With reference to Ward's Errata, they argued that the KJB was a sectarian version, reflecting Protestant theology at the expense of Catholic teachings. These protests culminated in the then world-famous Bible-burning trial of Russian Redemptorist priest, Fr Vladimir Pecherin in Dublin, in late 1855. The Catholic criticisms of the KJB contained in Ward's Errata, which was reprinted for the last time in 1903, reminded the English-speaking public that this famous and influential Protestant version was not the most perfect of versions, and that it was not and never had been THE BIBLE for everyone.

scholarly journals Politieke mag, die Ou Testament en kerkeenheid

1996 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-372
Author(s):  
J.H. Le Roux
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
The Past ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
The Family ◽  
Reformed Churches

Political power, the Old Testament and church unity The  family  of Dutch  Reformed  Churches  in  South  Africa  are  involved  in tense  discussions  on  church  unity.  One  aspect  which  must  be  discussed thoroughly  is  the  legitimation  of  political  "power.  Not  only  in  the past but also  the present Mandela government  is  religiously supported.  It  is argued that  this a dangerous  venture.  Some  examples from  the Old Testament are used to  illustrate  this point.  It  is  stated that Israel became disillusioned  in political power and therefore reformulated royal theology.

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