‘My Mother, My God,’ ‘Why have you forsaken me?’: An Exegetical Note on Psalm 22 as Christian Scripture

2019 ◽  
Vol 131 (5) ◽  
pp. 199-204
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Parker

This essay argues for a re-reading of the lament in Psalm 22:1–5, 9–11 as Christian Scripture. This reading of the Old Testament as Christian Scripture redresses an imbalance in Christian theology, which tends to highlight difficulties in Jesus’ cry of dereliction but obscures its lament. This lament is central to the cross as solidarity with the experience of human suffering as betrayal by God and as an invitation for humanity to cry out for God’s response, found ultimately in the cross. In particular, the essay offers a new, feminist, birth-sensitive interpretation of Psalm 22:9–11 and a new, feminist translation of Psalm 22:10b, accenting God’s motherhood in the passage.

Author(s):  
Richard Viladesau

This volume is the fifth in a series dealing with the passion and death of Christ—symbolized by “the cross”—in Christian theology and the arts. It examines the way the Passion of Christ has been thought about by theologians and portrayed by artists and musicians in the modern and contemporary world. It examines the traditional approaches to soteriology in contrast to revisionist theologies that take up the challenge of understanding the meaning of the cross in the light of critical historical studies and modern science. These provide new understandings of traditional concepts like “original sin,” “redemption,” and “substitution.” A new Christian spirituality of “the cross” is suggested by the insights of feminist and liberation theologies, which provide an existential interpretation and a need to combat human suffering rather than accepting it as a “cross” willed by God. Contemporary art and music reveal both the lasting power of traditional images of the Passion and new possibilities of expression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel F. O'Kennedy

The kingdom of God in the Old Testament: A brief survey. The kingdom of God is a central concept in the teaching of Jesus, but the question posed by this article is the following: What does the Old Testament say about the kingdom of God? Several Old Testament terms convey the concept of kingdom, kingship and rule of God. This article focuses on the Hebrew and Aramaic ‘technical’ terms for kingdom: mamlākâ, malkût, mělûkâ and malkû. One finds only a few Old Testament references where these terms are directly connected to God, most of them in the post-exilic literature: 1 Chronicles 17:14; 28:5; 29:11; 2 Chronicles 13:8; Psalm 22:29; 103:19; 145:11–13; Daniel 2:44; 3:33 (4:3); 4:31 (4:34); 6:27; 7:14, 18, 27; Obadiah 21. A brief study of these specific references leads to a few preliminary conclusions: The kingdom of God refers to a realm and the reign of God, the God of the kingdom is depicted in different ways, God’s kingdom is eternal and incomparable with earthly kingdoms, the scope of the kingdom is particularistic and universalistic, the Old Testament testifies about a kingdom that is and one that is yet to come, et cetera. It seems that there is no real difference when comparing the ‘kingdom of God’ with the ‘God is King’ passages. One cannot unequivocally declare that ‘kingdom of God’ is the central concept in the Old Testament. However, we must acknowledge that Jesus’s teaching about the kingdom of God did not evolve in a vacuum. His followers probably knew about the Old Testament perspective on the kingdom of God.Contribution: The concept ‘kingdom of God’ is relevant for the church in South Africa, especially congregations who strive to be missional. Unfortunately, the Old Testament perspective was neglected in the past. The purpose of this brief survey is to stimulate academics and church leaders in their further reflection on the kingdom of God.


1962 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
B. D. Napier ◽  
J. A. Sanders
Keyword(s):  

MELINTAS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-94
Author(s):  
Joko Umbara

An experience of the cross of Jesus Christ in Christian theology brings the sense of paradox. Christ’s death on the cross reflects the fate of humanity within the context of Christian faith. The cross is also seen as a mystery that tells the tragic story of humans who accept their punishment. However, the cross of Jesus Christ also reveals meanings that challenge Christians to find answers in their contemplation of the cross. The cross becomes a stage for human tragic drama, which might also reveal the beauty of death and life. It is the phatos of humanity, for every human being will die, but it is also seen as the tree of life hoped for by every faithful. On the cross is visible God’s self-giving through the love shown by the crucified Christ. God speaks God’s love not only through words, that is, in the teachings of Jesus Christ, but also through Christ’s loving gesture on the cross. The cross of Christ is the culmination of God’s glory and through it, God’s glory is shown in the beauty of divine love.


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.


Author(s):  
Pablo Irizar

Summary Dogmatic debates in early Christianity shaped philosophical discourse just as Greek philosophy offered the conceptual tools to engage and, accordingly to crystalize early Christian practice, into a formal system of belief. Thus, in the recently-published The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics, Johannes Zachhuber notes that “Patristic thought as a whole can be identified as a Christian philosophy.” Following suit – though not without nuance – this paper suggests treating Patristic scriptural exegesis as an exercise of speculative philosophy, as evidenced in Augustine’s interpretation of the figure of the cross at Eph 3.18, where the cross progressively becomes a simple yet compelling paradigm of divine manifestation. This paradigm can be framed according to Augustine’s mature articulation of the ‘ontological principle’ of manifestation in s. 165: “From the depth which you cannot see rises everything that you can see.” By engaging in scriptural exegesis, within a gestalt where Wisdom, sacred and profane alike, merge in the incarnate God manifest in Christ, Augustine articulates unprecedented philosophical principles.


Author(s):  
Bart van Egmond

The fourth chapter describes Augustine’s intellectual production and practice as presbyter of the Catholic congregation of Hippo Regius. It addresses his rereading of Paul against the Manichees, and describes the development of his thought on sin and free will (in relation to the Origenist tradition), his view of the salvific meaning of the Old Testament law, and his changing interpretation of the cross of Christ. Furthermore, the chapter describes the development of Augustine’s view of divine chastisement in the Christian life. A final series of sections deals with different aspects of fraternal correction and ecclesiastical discipline, and poses the question of how Augustine’s thought on these subjects relates to his later justification of coercion against the Donatists.


2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (2/3) ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Du Rand

How can God allow it? A bibliological enrichment of the theodicy issue from a comparison between the Book of Revelation and 4 EzraIn the process of understanding and defining the relationship between God and man, the theodicy issue frequently floats to the surface. A long strand in the history of philosophy and theology has addressed itself to the task of reconciling God’s omnipotence and benevolence with human suffering and the existence of evil. Some of the philosophical and theological views are represented in this article. According to reformed scholarly presentation, theodicy should seriously take into account the soteriological and eschatological hermeneutical views. This is confirmed by the Old Testament, intertestamental literature and the New Testament. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the apocryphal 4 Ezra which puts surprising views about theodicy on the table.


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