Beginning at the beginning: Reading missio Dei from the start of the Bible

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 414-425
Author(s):  
Christian J. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Beginning Reading ◽  
Missio Dei ◽  
Biblical Narrative ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
God's Mission ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Creation Mandate

While Missiological hermeneutics have pointed to the missio Dei concept as key to the entire Biblical narrative, these readings have described God’s mission activity as commencing after the entrance of sin, rather than at the beginning of the Bible. This article argues that a mission hermeneutic ought to begin with the Bible’s opening chapters, where humanity’s vocation in the narratives of Genesis 1 and 2 need not be treated as a separate “creation mandate,” but as involvement in the missio Dei. Iranaeus’ theology provides a precedent for thinking that God’s perfecting work was still at an early stage when sin entered creation; and G. K. Beale’s reading of Eden as a garden sanctuary to be expanded gives at least one exegetical avenue for seeing the creation narratives as continuous with the mission entrusted to Abraham’s descendants. Missio Dei participation, then, is inherent to humanity, and sin’s origins can be framed as a refusal to embrace it.

Philosophical Christology in the New Testament

Numen ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Pontoppidan Thyssen
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Greek Philosophy ◽  
John 1 ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Innate Knowledge ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
John's Gospel ◽  
Hellenistic Judaism

AbstractThe idea of this article is to determine the sense of the Logos in the Prologue of John's gospel by making use of the subsequent Christian doctrinal tradition. As an introduction, the general influence of Hellenistic Judaism on early Christian speculative theology and exegesis is illustrated by examples from Philo and Justin. Justin's exegesis is evaluated in accordance with the principle of Wilhelm Bousset, that learned scriptural demonstration (Schriftgelehrsamkeit) is not the source of doctrine but a post-rationalisation of existing doctrines. Then, Justin's argument from Scripture for Logos-Christology (Dial. 61–62), which is based on Genesis 1:26 and Wisdom 8:22–30, is taken as the point of departure. This argument informs us about the philosophical ideas behind Justin's Logos-Christology, which according to Bousset's principle preceded it. Further, it is argued that Justin's scriptural argument shows that the traditional derivation of the Logos of the Prologue from the word of creation of Genesis 1 did not exist at that early stage, since if it did, that derivation ought to have appeared in Justin. Since no other derivation of a Logos in the cosmological sense from the Bible is possible, the presence of this idea in John can only be explained as the result of influence from the eclectic philosophy of Jewish Hellenism (Philo). This conclusion is confirmed by the demonstration that the idea of universal innate knowledge, familiar from Justin's doctrine of the Logos, also appears in the Prologue of John. The argument for this is that it cannot be fortuitous that the traditional translation of John 1:9 lends itself to this interpretation. As the idea of universal innate knowledge is an idea unique to Greek philosophy, this observation settles the matter definitively. The origin of the traditional interpretation of the Logos goes back to Tertullian's interest in producing an exegesis that complies with the Latin translation of John 1.

scholarly journals Aristotelian Theories in Abraham ibn Ezra's Commentaries to the Bible

2018 ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Mariano GÓMEZ ARANDA
Keyword(s):  
The Bible ◽  
The World ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Biblical Commentaries ◽  
The Universe

Some of Abraham ibn Ezra’s philosophical ideas exposed in his biblical commentaries are the same as those of Aristotle. The purpose of this article is to analyse some of the Aristotelian ideas appearing in Abraham ibn Ezra’s biblical commentaries and explain how he adapts the Aristotelian concepts to the explanation of the specific biblical verses. Ibn Ezra uses these concepts in his explanation of the structure of the Universe as found in some Psalms, the creation of the world in Genesis 1, and the origin of evil according to the book of Ecclesiastes. This paper also attempts to provide a hypothesis on how Ibn Ezra was able to apprehend Aristotelian philosophy.

The Ethics of Eating Animals

2020 ◽  
pp. 339-350
Author(s):  
Aaron S. Gross
Keyword(s):  
Partial Answer ◽  
Meat Industry ◽  
Biblical Narrative ◽  
Nonfiction Book ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Popular Appeal ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
Do So

How do contemporary Jewish traditions respond to the fraught activity of eating animals, especially in an ethical register? This chapter sketches a partial answer to this question by considering two stories: The first is told by contemporary Jewish novelist Jonathan Safran Foer in his 2009 nonfiction book critiquing the meat industry, Eating Animals. Moving from the contemporary to the canonical, the second story is the biblical narrative about eating animals found in Genesis 1 and 9. Taken together, these two stories straddle an immense territory from the oldest strata of Jewish texts ever to address the question of eating animals to among the most recent texts to do so, from the popular appeal of contemporary nonfiction to the authoritative density of the Bible. These stories provide the reader a feel for how Jews find distinct ways to explore ethical questions, in this case about eating animals, through sharing and interpreting stories.

scholarly journals The Command to Rule over the Creation (Gen 1:26–28) in the Ecological Hermeneutics of the Bible

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 9-32
Author(s):  
Tomasz Twardziłowski
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Religious Background ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Responsible Care

In the discussions on the possible religious background of the current ecological crisis, the biblical text of Genesis 1:26–28 is the passage most often quoted by all sides of the debate. While for some it is an incentive to unlimited exploitation, and the resultant degradation of the natural environment, for others it carries a positive ecological message and a call for responsible care of the created world. Due to this ambiguity in interpretations, this article attempts to resolve whether the biblical text itself is problematic, and requires correction, or whether it is ecologically adequate, and it is the interpretations that have been thus far insufficient. Each of the three main currents of the ecological hermeneutics of the Bible (apologetic, radical, and neo-orthodox) offers its own specific answer to this question.

The Emergence of Rabbinic Culture from the Perspective of Qumran

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-274
Author(s):  
Vered Noam
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Literary Works ◽  
Jewish Culture ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Set Up

The rabbinic halakhic system, with its many facets and the literary works that comprise it, reflects a new Jewish culture, almost completely distinct in its halakhic content and scope from the biblical and postbiblical culture that preceded it. By examining Jewish legislation in the area of corpse impurity as a test case, the article studies the implications of Qumranic halakhah, as a way-station between the Bible and the Mishnah, for understanding how Tannaitic halakhah developed. The impression obtained from the material reviewed in the article is that the direction of the “Tannaitic revolution” was charted, its methods set up, and its principles established, at a surprisingly early stage, before the destruction of the Second Temple, and thus at the same time that the Qumran literature was created.

Ancient Israel's Neighbors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Doak
Keyword(s):  
Nearest Neighbors ◽  
Biblical Narrative ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Social ◽  
Family Level ◽  
The Face ◽  
Social Turmoil

The purpose of this book is to tell the story of Israel’s nearest neighbors—not only discovering what the Bible has to say about them but also what we can know from archaeology, ancient inscriptions, and other sources. The Bible itself presents these neighbors in nuanced and conflicting ways; sometimes they are friends or even related to Israel at a family level, and sometimes they are enemies, spoken of as though they must die in order for Israel to live. We are left wondering how the biblical portrayal might have affected our thinking about these people as historical groups, on their own terms. How would an Aramaean have described her own religion? How would an Edomite have described conflict with Israel? This book explores both the biblical portrayal of the smaller groups surrounding Israel and what people can know about these groups through their own literature, archaeology, and other sources. By uncovering the identity of the Philistines as settlers along the coast at the same time that early Israel carved out their place in the land, for example, one can better understand the social turmoil and political maneuvering that lies just beneath the surface of the biblical narrative, and can see more clearly just how the authors of the Bible saw themselves in the face of others.

Reading from Worlds under the Text: Oceanic Women in the missio Dei

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-51
Author(s):  
Rosemary Dewerse ◽  
Cathy Hine
Keyword(s):  
Global South ◽  
Missio Dei ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Women

Abstract Missional hermeneutics is a relatively recent development in the field of biblical hermeneutics, emerging from several decades of scholarly engagement with the concept and frame of missio Dei. In a key recent publication in the field, Reading the Bible Missionally, edited by Michael Goheen, the voices of the Global South and of women – and certainly of women from Oceania – do not feature. In this article the authors, both Oceanic women, interrupt the discourse to read biblical text from their twice-under perspective. The Beatitudes provide the frame and the lens for a spiralling discussion of the missio Dei as, to borrow from Letty M. Russell, “calculated inefficiency.” Stories of faithful Oceanic women interweave with those of God and of biblical women, offering their complexities to challenge assumptions and simplicities.

Psalm 104: The Panorama of Life

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-14
Author(s):  
Robert Gnuse
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
The World ◽  
Formal Presentation ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Insight Into

Psalm 104 is a majestic hymn to creation, a dynamic corollary to the more formal presentation of the creation of the world in Genesis 1. Reflection upon some of the passages provides us with insight into the biblical author’s appreciation for nature, an attitude that needs to inspire us in this age of ecological crisis. Though the biblical text is unaware of such an ecological crisis; nonetheless, passages shine forth that can speak to us in our modern age of global warming and environmental collapse.

Enchanted Calvinism

2021 ◽  
pp. 589-607
Author(s):  
Adam Mohr
Keyword(s):  
Bible Study ◽  
Primary Site ◽  
Presbyterian Church ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Initial Transformation ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Church

The goal of this chapter is to explain how healing and deliverance practices were instituted in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG). The first half of this chapter examines the PCG’s initial transformation, which was driven by three factors: the decision by the leadership to introduce healing practices into the church, the creation of the Bible Study and Prayer Group to manage the afflicted within congregations, and the influence of two parachurch organizations. The second half of this chapter focuses on Catechist Ebenezer Abboah-Offei, who since 1996 has been leading Grace Presbyterian Church in Akropong, the primary site of healing and deliverance practices within the PCG. With regards to Abboah-Offei, this chapter describes how he came to teach and practise deliverance and the process by which Grace Presbyterian was established. Finally, this chapter describes the various healing and deliverance activities that occur at Grace Presbyterian Church.

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