The Power of Proclamation in the New Testament

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-44
Author(s):  
Douglas C. Mohrmann

This study addresses the basic phenomena of preaching in the New Testament. Those who formed the New Testament bear testimony to the power of preaching, both by the rhetoric of their own texts and by their record of the church's earliest preachers. There was never one simple kerygmatic formula, because each audience was uniquely situated in a setting in place and time, and accordingly preachers from Jesus to John responded with timely proclamations to shape their communities in those settings. Even while the composition of the assemblies changed so also the proclamation and its manifest power changed. Rather than merely describe the kingdom of God, proclamation worked to deliver it too. It was the conviction of these early preachers, however, that God was with them, guiding them in the creation of that new social reality, the church. Simple bread and wine became the body and blood of Christ through their speech acts. The power of preaching arises at the junction of human and divine inspiration.

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Willitts

This article defines, explains and argues for the necessity of a post-supersessionistic hermeneutical posture towards the New Testament. The post-supersessionistic reading of the New Testament takes the Jewish nature of the apostolic documents seriously, and has as its goal the correction of the sin of supersessionism. While supersessionism theologically is repudiated in most corners of the contemporary church through official church documents, the practise of reading the New Testament continues to exhibit supersessionistic tendencies and outcomes. The consequence of this predominant reading of the New Testament is the continued exclusion of Jewish ethnic identity in the church. In light of the growing recognition of multiculturalism and contextualisation on the one hand, and the recent presence of a movement within the body of Messiah of Jewish believers in Jesus on the other, the church’s established approach to reading Scripture that leads to the elimination of ethnic identity must be repudiated alongside its post-supersessionist doctrinal statements. This article defines terms, explains consequences and argues for a renewed perspective on the New Testament as an ethnic document; such a perspective will promote the church’s cultivation of real embodied ethnic particularity rather than either a pseudo-interculturalism or the eraser full ethnicity.


Scrinium ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-159
Author(s):  
David C. Sim

The early Church Fathers accepted the notion of an intermediate state, the existence of the soul following death until its reunification with the body at the time of the final resurrection. This view is common in the modern Christian world, but it has been challenged as being unbiblical. This study reflects upon this question. Does the New Testament speak exclusively of death after life, complete lifelessness until the day of resurrection, or does it also contain the notion of life after life or immediate post-mortem existence? It will be argued that, while the doctrine of future resurrection is the most common Christian view, it was not the only one present in the Christian canon. There are hints, especially in the Gospel of Luke and the Revelation of John, that people do indeed live again immediately after death, although the doctrine of resurrection is also present. These two ideas are never coherently related to one another in the New Testament and it was the Church Fathers who first sought to  systematise them.



1988 ◽  
Vol 22 (86) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. J. Van Rensburg

The significance of the metaphor in 1 Cor 12 : 27 for the assessment of the New Testament teaching on the unity of the church.


Author(s):  
J. P. Oberholzer

The church. This survey of biblical material on the church proceeds from the view-point that the identity of the church of God can be treated only as an existential question, asking 'who is the church?' and 'who am I?' at the same time. The article shows that, of the various images used in the New Testament to describe the church, virtually every one forms the basis of a call to a holy and dedicated life. At the same time these images, with the exception of the body image, unite the churches of the Old and New Testament in such a way that the church of Christ is shown to be heir and new creation at the same time. Two prominent features appear: the call to a holy life and acceptance of the universality of the church, emanating from the will and being of the Lord himself, and guided by his Holy Spirit.


JURNAL LUXNOS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-236
Author(s):  
Marthen Mau

Abstract: This research examines the New Testament Bible's view of the practice of anointing oil in the church today. In essence, consuming excess oil or oily foods will cause a high cholesterol risk. However, the exposure of the New Testament Bible's view of the practice of anointing oil in the church today under study, especially that oil does not contain cholesterol, but brings about medicine that heals the body, soul, and spirit. Abstrak: Riset ini mengupas tentang pandangan Alkitab Perjanjian Baru terhadap praktik minyak urapan pada gereja masa kini. Pada hakikatnya kelebihan mengonsumsi minyak atau makanan yang berminyak akan menimbulkan berisiko kolesterol tinggi. Namun, pemamaran pandangan Alkitab Perjanjian Baru terhadap praktik minyak urapan pada gereja masa kini yang diteliti, khususnya minyak tidak mengandung kolesterol, melainkan mendatangkan obat yang menyembuhkan tubuh, jiwa, dan roh.


Author(s):  
G. M.M. Pelser

The church in the New Testament The article explores the documents of the New Testament in search of the concept church' and finds that,  in a nutshell, the answers are as follows: the  Spirit-controlled, charismatic togetherness of people 'in Christ' (Paul); cross-bearing followers of Jesus (Mk); the people of God on their way through history (Lk-Ac); the faithful locked in battle with Satanic powers, but with the expectation of occupying the heavenly Jerusalem (Rv); the  community with which Christ became solidary, and which is heading for its heavenly place of rest (Reb); the poor but pious community, putting their faith into practice (Ja); the body of Christ in which his universal reign can be experienced (Col); the sphere in which salvation is  realized (Eph); disciples following Jesus as God-with us, experiencing the  rift between synagogue and church (Mt); friends and confidants of Christ, living at loggerheads with the synagogue (In); the household of God, governed by householders (Pastorals); and the socia-ly ostracized elect of God whose way of life should be a demonstration of their otherness as Christians (1 Pt).


Author(s):  
Anna Rebecca Solevåg

The profound and complicated marriage symbolism pervading the medieval West has its roots in the Bible, and particularly a set of images in the New Testament. In Ephesians 5 it is argued that ‘the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church’ (Eph 5:23). Further, both the gospels and the Apocalypse metaphorically describe Christ as a bridegroom (e.g. Matt 22:2–14; Luke 12:36–38; Rev 19:7–9). This chapter seeks to disentangle the two rather distinct images of (1) patriarchal marriage mapped onto the organizational structure of early Christ-believing communities and (2) bridegroom at wedding feast mapped onto the second coming of Christ. These two images mix and merge even in some of the New Testament texts, whereas other texts treat them separately, and with different emphases. The chapter presents the most relevant passages and discusses the various uses and contexts.


Author(s):  
Dale B. Martin

Chapter 7 begins by exploring what it means when Christians confess to “believe in the church. It proceeds by differentiating the church from the “kingdom of God” and comparing it to similar terms, such as the “household of God,” and the “body of Christ.” The gender of the church is explored, with arguments that Christians think of the church as male, female, neuter, androgynous, or intersexed. The English word “church” is a translation of the ancient Greek ekklêsia, a political term referring to the citizen assembly that made final decisions by democratic procedures in the ancient city. Thus the ancient political meanings of ekklesia, which included freedom, equality, and democracy, should inform postmodern theology and practice in Christian churches and denominations. Portraits of the church in the New Testament, however, should encourage Christians to reject modernist ideologies of family, nationalism, and capitalism. While avoiding Christian supersessionism over Judaism, Christians today must also avoid the oppressive politics of some forms of Zionism. Christians may also experience the church as a refuge in a sometimes hostile world. Finally, the book concludes with the church as a sacrament of eschatological hope for the future, an expectation of the coming kingdom of God.


2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 35-51
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Janczewski

Jesus Christ constituted the sacrament of Eucharist during last supper. This article shows what it is the matter and the form of this sacrament. It quotes the bibical texts from the New Testament and the writings of the Fathers of the Church. It analyses the law of Holy See: the Popes, the Councils, and the Vatican Congregations. At the beginning the article shows the matter which is necessary to consecration of the bread, and to consecration of the wine. This bread and this wine will becoming later the Blood and the Body of Jesus Christ. The next part of this article is about the form conforming to Eucharist. The last part of this elaboration shows, what influence have the different defects of the matter and the form, relating on validity of consecration of Eucharist.


Author(s):  
A. G. Van Aarde

The foundation of the unity of the church in the New Testament and the quest for unity today Early Christendom was not an Unitarian movement, but in the New Testament there is a quest for unity. However, this unity was not juridically meant to be institutional of nature. The concern of this article is to argue that the unity of the church in the New Testament is Theologically, Christologically, Pneumatically and kerygmatically founded. Since the church is the household of God, the relationship similar to that of a family home will hold the church together. Building upon the foundation laid by the apostolic tradition the presbyters-bishops, like fathers taking responsibilty for a home, are to be providing the foundation of the unity of the church grounded on th e ir kerygma th a t the household of God is pneumatically united with the body of the crucified and risen Christ.


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