Sola Scriptura in Africa: Missions and the Reformation Literacy Tradition

2019 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-87
Author(s):  
Steven van Dyck
Keyword(s):  
Print Culture ◽  
Church History ◽  
First Century ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Print Communication ◽  
Mission Movement ◽  
The Church

This theoretical reflection addresses issues arising in the history of world Christianity, in particular regarding mission churches in Africa since the nineteenth century. The article first evaluates the development of oral, manuscript and print communication cultures in western culture, and their influence since the first century in the Church. Modernity could only develop in a print culture, creating the cultural environment for the Reformation. Sola Scriptura theology, as in Calvin and Luther, considered the written Word of God essential for the Church’s life. The role of literacy throughout Church history is reviewed, in particular in the modern mission movement in Africa and the growing African church, to show the importance of literacy in developing a strong church. In conclusion, spiritual growth of churches in the Reformation tradition requires recognition of the primacy of print culture over orality, and the importance of a culture of reading and study.

scholarly journals Inleiding in die grondslag van die gereformeerde teologie

1995 ◽  
Vol 29 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. F. Schulze
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Theory ◽  
Close Relation ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Theology And Science ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

Theology is not a neutral science but should be embedded in the ser­vice of the Church. A close relation between theology and the church is clearly visible in the history of the early church until the era of the Reformation. The disintegration of religion and culture (church and world) during the Renaissance received new impetus from the En­lightenment. Consequently, the tie between church and theology was to a large extent dissolved and theology progressively became a ‘wordly ’ rationalistic enterprise, as a concomitant to what happened in the arts (l'art pour l'art). In this context the problems of defining theology and science are discussed and the popularity of modern scientific theory is uncovered. Finally it is argued that the basis (grondslag) and object for Reformed theology can only be the Word of God

Children, the Liturgy, and the Reformation: the Evidence of the Lichfield Cathedral Choristers

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 261-274
Author(s):  
T. N. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Administrative Records ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

The great interest generated by the theme of this year’s conference reflects the central importance of children in the history of the Christian Church, yet at the same time their omission from much of historical writing. For all but the recent past this is largely the result of the difficulties with the source material itself, and this is certainly true for historians of the Church during the medieval and Reformation periods. The main concern of the administrative records of the Catholic Church was with adults and, in particular, ordained men. It is to the schools that we must look for the most useful references to children and, more specifically, to the choir schools for evidence of the role of boys in the liturgy.

Medieval Heretics as Protestant Martyrs

1993 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 185-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euan Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Church History ◽  
Medieval Church ◽  
Church Polity ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Articles Of Faith ◽  
The Church

Two themes which figure repeatedly in the history of the Western Church are the contrasting ones of tradition and renewal. To emphasize tradition, or continuity, is to stress the divine element in the continuous collective teaching and witness of the Church. To call periodically for renewal and reform is to acknowledge that any institution composed of people will, with time, lose its pristine vigour or deviate from its original purpose. At certain periods in church history the tension between these two themes has broken out into open conflict, as happened with such dramatic results in the Reformation of the sixteenth century. The Protestant Reformers seem to present one of the most extreme cases where the desire for renewal triumphed over the instinct to preserve continuity of witness. A fundamentally novel analysis of the process by which human souls were saved was formulated by Martin Luther in the course of debate, and soon adopted or reinvented by others. This analysis was then used as a touchstone against which to test and to attack the most prominent features of contemporary teaching, worship, and church polity. In so far as any appeal was made to Christian antiquity, it was to the scriptural texts and to the early Fathers; though even the latter could be selected and criticized if they deviated from the primary articles of faith. There was, then, no reason why any of the Reformers should have sought to justify their actions by reference to any forbears or ‘forerunners’ in the Middle Ages, whether real or spurious. On the contrary, Martin Luther’s instinctive response towards those condemned by the medieval Church as heretics was to echo the conventional and prejudiced hostility felt by the religious intelligentsia towards those outside their pale.

scholarly journals Comfort through ‘the lively Word of God’: Katherine Willoughby and the Protestant Funeral Monument

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Lauenstein
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Spatial Presence ◽  
Protestant Church ◽  
Medieval Church ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Church Building ◽  
Visual Impact ◽  
The Church

What does the use of biblical scripture, viewed through the funeral monument’s material and spatial presence in the church building disclose about the role of the places for the dead in establishing and maintaining church practices and ritual during the formative years of the Reformation? Taking the lead from the tomb of early evangelical reformer Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk at Spilsby in Lincolnshire, this article examines the relationship between text, space and materiality in the formulation of a protestant rhetoric of congregational equality with its epicentre in the church nave. Tracing the texts and placements of commemorative structures, and their relationship to official as well as more radical protestant texts, including the Elizabethan Injunctions (1559), as well as the writing of John Dod (1615), this preliminary investigation explores the fertile relationship between object and text in the development of Protestant identities.By applying recent archaeological scholarship into the role of ‘presencing’ mechanisms (Graves 2000, & Roffey, 2008) in the medieval and post-medieval church interior to the Willoughby monument in Spilsby’s north chancel, as well as two further examples of the tombs of protestant reformers, the notion of a protestant dismissal of the visual as a tool in devotion will be challenged. By introducing the central role of placement, the approach will destabilize the view that in the protestant church ‘the greatest visual impact came from words’ (MacCulloch, 1999, p. 159), and instead, place language into the wider architectural and spatial narratives of the church interior.

scholarly journals The keeper of Church Books: the biography of E.A. Karmanov in the context of the Soviet Era in the History of the Russian Orthodox Church

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-62
Author(s):  
Irina V. Lobanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Church History ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

In the article through the prism of the fate of E.A. Karmanov, a church publisher, editor and bibliophile, shows the complex process of survival of Russian church history science in the Soviet period. Deprived of the possibility of development, it turned out to be focused on the task of preserving its pre-revolutionary heritage and new manuscript evidence, which was to become material for future research. Under these conditions, the role of collectors and keepers of the book culture of the church became very important, as was E.A. Karmanov (1927 1998).

scholarly journals Kreatiewe prediking as die sigbaarmaking van ou en nuwe dinge en die verryking van die luisteraksie deur middel van preekgesprekke

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdi P. Kruger
Keyword(s):  
Research Question ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
Before And After ◽  
History Of ◽  
Practical Theological ◽  
Vantage Points ◽  
The Church ◽  
2 Samuel

Uit die kerklike praksis blyk dat goed bedoelde prediking wat op ’n biddende wyse gelewer word, meermale skipbreuk ly as gevolg van ’n vervelige aanbieding waarna die hoorders moet luister. Tussen die blote hoor van en ’n diepgaande en kreatiewe manier van luister na die prediking bestaan ’n groot verskil. Predikers moet dus oefen en hulself toerus om in hulle preekvoorbereiding en preeklewering meer kreatief gerig te wees. Kreatiewe prediking open nuwe en dinamiese perspektiewe vir die hoorders. In die lig hiervan word die volgende navorsingsvraag as die doel van hierdie navorsing geformuleer: In hoe ’n mate rus predikers hulle hoorders op ’n kreatiewe manier toe om kreatief deel te neem en na die prediking te luister sodat dít wat gesê en bedoel word, die hoorders se lewe kan beïnvloed? Ten einde hierdie navorsingsvraag te beantwoord, word die probleemveld uit verskillende prakties-teologiese invalshoeke verken en metateoretiese perspektiewe word uit die velde van die Sosiale Psigologie en die Kunsgeskiedenis ontgin. Hierdeur word insig ten opsigte van die vorming en die funksionering van kreatiwiteit verkry. Perspektiewe uit 2 Samuel 17 en Matteus 13:13–15, 52 word verken. Daar word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat persepsies oor die prediker en die prediking verlammend kan inwerk en selfs daartoe aanleiding kan gee dat hoorders die kerk verlaat. Die bevinding is dat dialoog voor die preeklewering die dialogiese gerigtheid van die prediking as deel van die liturgie van die gemeente, asook die preekgesprekke na afloop van die prediking, daartoe kan meewerk dat verkeerde persepsies reggestel word en dat ’n gemeente ’n pratende gemeente word wat deur diepgaande kommunikasie gevoed word.Creative preaching as visualisation of old and new things with particular reference to ecclesiastical discourses as enrichment of the act of listening. Ecclesiastical praxis indicates that preaching faces obstacles caused by the dreariness of sermons, regardless of the good intentions of preachers. There is a vast difference between hearing sermons and listening to sermons in a creative manner. Preachers should equip themselves to be more creative in the preparation and delivery of sermons. Creative preaching opens up new perspectives to hearers. In the light of this problematic praxis, the following research question has been formulated: To what extent do preachers equip their listeners in a dialogue situation to listen creatively in a profound manner with the objective to see clearly what the Word of God demands of them? In order to address this research question, the problem is investigated by taking into account the present Practical Theological vantage points concerning this field and by trying to get a grasp on metatheoretical perspectives from the fields of Social Psychology and the History of Art. The author investigates the challenging process of creative preaching as well as the importance of equipping hearers in becoming participants in the preparation of sermons through the process of ecclesiastical and sermon discussions. Perspectives from 2 Samuel 17 and Matthew 13:13–15, 52 will be explored with regard to the role of creativity in preaching. The conclusion is reached that a lack in creative preaching and commitment to the act of preaching are indeed endangering this ecclesiastical praxis. It may even be the cause of listeners leaving the church. Preachers should utilise creativity in preparing their sermons and should also focus on the custom of sermon discussions before and after delivering their sermons. In addition, preachers should endeavour to stimulate feedback of the sermons, for in this way fallacious views of reality could be rectified. Congregations should become discussant communities nurtured through profound communication.

Martin Luther and Preaching

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Paulson ◽  
Chris Croghan
Keyword(s):  
Eternal Life ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
God's Will ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church

The profound impact of Martin Luther’s theological confession is well documented. What is not as thoroughly explored is Luther’s understanding of the function of preaching, which both rooted his reformational breakthrough and drove the Reformation thereafter. Luther’s simple assertion—instead of the pope, there stands a sermon—resulted in a revolution that impacted all facets of 16th-century life. Luther’s simple assertion concerning proclamation deconstructed a deeply embedded framework that had arisen around Christianity that affected everything from the function of the priest to the definition and role of the church, and even Scripture itself. While Luther learned as he went, especially in the matter of preaching, the unwavering consistency and even simplicity of his theology is breathtaking. Instead of the pope, a sermon which delivers Christ’s forgiveness of sins. Faith in that promise is certain and is not to be doubted in any way. Thus, preaching and nothing else makes the church, not vice versa. The ramifications of this assertion are monumental and far-reaching. Luther’s confession caused great upheaval and consternation in his time and continues to do so even now, since it addresses the basic questions of theology and life, such as the role of the individual in salvation, whether the will is free or bound in relation to God, what the authority of Scripture is in relation to tradition, and what the difference between a command and a promise is. Yet Luther held to the claim that the most important matter was the comfort of the conscience, which can come only through a promise delivered in place and time to a person pro me and thus builds a whole gathering of the faithful as true church. Thus, in the face of outcries and upheaval in Christendom, Luther refused to blame the gospel, but simply preached as he had taught, trusting that the word of God does not return empty but accomplishes what it says. So he trusted that in that proclamation God’s will would be done: killing and making alive, naming and absolving the sin of people desperate to hear that freeing proclamation. Thus the Reformation that followed Luther became a preaching movement that distinguished the law and the gospel and applied both categorically. Proclamation is the moment and fullness of the divine election unto eternal life.

A short history of written Wu, Part II: Written Shanghainese

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Snow ◽  
Shen Senyao ◽  
Zhou Xiayun
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Print Culture ◽  
First Century ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
History Of ◽  
To Receive

AbstractThe recent publication of the novelMagnificent Flowers(Fan Hua繁花) has attracted attention not only because of critical acclaim and market success, but also because of its use of Shanghainese. WhileMagnificent Flowersis the most notable recent book to make substantial use of Shanghainese, it is not alone, and the recent increase in the number of books that are written partially or even entirely in Shanghainese raises the question of whether written Shanghainese may develop a role in Chinese print culture, especially that of Shanghai and the surrounding region, similar to that attained by written Cantonese in and around Hong Kong.This study examines the history of written Shanghainese in print culture. Growing out of the older written Suzhounese tradition, during the early decades of the twentieth century a distinctly Shanghainese form of written Wu emerged in the print culture of Shanghai, and Shanghainese continued to play a role in Shanghai’s print culture through the twentieth century, albeit quite a modest one. In the first decade of the twenty-first century Shanghainese began to receive increased public attention and to play a greater role in Shanghai media, and since 2009 there has been an increase in the number of books and other kinds of texts that use Shanghainese and also the degree to which they use it.This study argues that in important ways this phenomenon does parallel the growing role played by written Cantonese in Hong Kong, but that it also differs in several critical regards. The most important difference is that, to date, written Shanghainese appears almost exclusively in texts that look back to “old Shanghai” and/or to traditional alley life in Shanghai, and that a role of the type written Cantonese has in Hong Kong is not likely to be attained unless or until Shanghainese texts that are associated with modern urban Shanghai life, especially youth culture, begin to appear.

scholarly journals Die teologiese gerigtheid van die Departement Kerkgeskiedenis 1957-1992

1992 ◽  
Vol 48 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Steenkamp
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Church History ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church ◽  
Theological Thinking

The theological character of the Department of Church History 1957-1992 The theological character of the Department of Church History at the Theological Faculty (Sec A) of the University of Pretoria is closely connected to the life and work of prof dr A D Pont. He accepted the call to the chair as a commission of the Church. His thought represents an extract of biblical and reformational theology enriched by a wide spectrum of theological thinking from the past and the present by great theologians like Kohlbrugge, Hoedemaker, Barth, Cullmann and Noordmans. The theology of the Reformation, however, is taken as the criterion of comparison for the history of the church before and since. With regard to South African Church History, Pont laid the foundations for a typical theology of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika, emphasising the close relationship between the Church and the Afrikaner.

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