Incongruous Conciliation: A Constructive Critique of John Barclay’s Paul and the Gift

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-402
Author(s):  
F. Gerald Downing
Keyword(s):  
The Gift ◽  
In Christ ◽  
God's Grace

John Barclay has recently argued that for Paul God’s grace, χάρις, in Christ is, almost without precedent, maximally ‘incongruous’, given to unfitting recipients. In fact, however, there are at least six further contemporary non-Christian examples, mostly Jewish, of incongruous grace in conciliation, some using καταλλαγή, ‘(re-)conciliation’, others not. Further, betokening change, from discord to harmony, καταλλαγή never on its own conveys (in)congruent ‘restoration’ of anything. This, of course, affects our interpretation of Paul in Rom. 5.10-11, 11.15 and 2 Cor. 5.17-20 (where perhaps the ‘re-’ in ‘re-conciliation’ misleads).

scholarly journals The requirement of the law fulfilled in Romans 8:4

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk J. Venter
Keyword(s):  
Moral Aspect ◽  
The Gift ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The Law ◽  
Point Of Reference ◽  
Romans 8

God effects the fulfilment of the requirement of the law through the agency (mission) of Christ. Those ‘in him’ are the point of reference in whose favour the law’s requirement is fulfilled, with the effect that they are no longer obligated to Torah. Being ‘in Christ’ they, nonetheless, are also envisioned as living in a way that corresponds to what Torah would have required of them, had they still been subject to it, but they are now being governed and empowered by the Spirit. Consequently their lives give expression to the ultimate (singular) requirement and intention (δικαίωμα) of Torah. The fulfilment of the requirement of the law refers to the purpose of the law as a whole, and not only of the ‘moral’ aspect, often anachronistically separated from the ‘cultic’ aspect. Ultimately, God who originally gave Torah now effected the fulfilment of its intention − something that had been unrealised before the mission of Christ and the gift of the Spirit due to the incapability of the law.Die vervulling van die wet se vereiste in Romeine 8:4. God bewerk die vervulling van die wet se vereiste (δικαίωμα) deur die bemiddeling van (die sending van) Christus. Dié wat ‘in Christus’ is, is die begunstigdes van die feit dat die vereiste van die wet vervul is, met die gevolg dat hulle nie meer aan die bepalinge van Tora as sodanig onderhewig is nie. Aangesien hulle ‘in Christus’ is, word dit egter voorsien dat hulle steeds sodanig sal leef dat dit ooreenstem met wat Tora in beginsel van hulle sou vereis indien hulle steeds daaraan onderhewig was, maar dat hulle dit nou vanweë die heerskappy en bekragtiging van die Gees uitleef. Gevolglik gee hulle lewens gestalte aan die uiteindelike (enkelvoudige) doel en vereiste (δικαίωμα) van Tora. Die vervulling van die wet se vereiste verwys nie na die vervulling van slegs die ‘morele’ vereistes nie, maar ook na dít wat dikwels op anachronistiese wyse as die ‘seremoniële’ wet afgesonder word. Uiteindelik het God, wat Tora oorspronklik daargestel het, die vervulling van die wet se bedoeling gerealiseer − iets wat vanweë die onvermoë van die wet ongerealiseerd gebly het in die epog voor die koms van Christus en die gawe van die Gees.

John Zizioulas

2018 ◽  
pp. 466-486
Author(s):  
Paul McPartlan
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Gift ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Further Development ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

The chapter explores three deeply interlinked aspects of John Zizioulas’s highly influential ecclesiology: the relationship between the church and the Trinity; the relationship between the church and the Eucharist; and finally the consequences of those relationships for the structure of the church. The church is a communion through its participation in the life of the Trinity. In Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, it receives and re-receives the gift of communion in every Eucharist, and communion has a shape that reflects the life of God. The Trinity is centred on the Father, and so in the church at various levels the communion of the many is centred on one who is the head. This is the purely theological reason why the synodality of the church requires primacy at the local, regional, and universal levels. The chapter concludes that, while prompting many questions and needing further development, Zizioulas’s proposal has great ecumenical value.

The Human Response in the Creation and Formation of Faith: A Narrative Analysis of John 12:20-50 and its Application to the Doctrine of Justification

2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-135
Author(s):  
Scott Celsor
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Human Response ◽  
The World ◽  
The Gift ◽  
The Creation ◽  
God The Father ◽  
God's Grace ◽  
Roman Catholics

AbstractOne area of lingering tension between Lutherans and Roman Catholics on the doctrine of justification relates to the necessity, or even the possibility, of a human response in one's justification. In this article, I argue that the Gospel of John can address this lingering tension and, in doing so, acts as a counter balance to the Pauline corpus. Through narrative and inner-textual analysis, the article claims that John 12:20-50 informs the reader that Christ, the light of the world which allows humanity to see where to walk, has been sent into the world by God the Father. In this critical passage, the point at which the light of Christ is to be taken out of the world, one discovers that John corroborates Catholic concerns that the gift of God's grace, God's light, empowers and requires a human response. Such a response, however, must not be understood as independent of God's gift of grace, or light, both in its origin and continuing efficaciousness.

“The One Who Calls in Grace”: Paul’s Rhetorical and Theological Identification with the Galatians

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orrey McFarland
Keyword(s):  
Important Link ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The One ◽  
God's Grace

Abstract This article explores an important link Paul makes between himself and the Galatians in Galatians 1: the connection between God’s calling the Galatians “in grace” (1:6) and the calling of Paul “through grace” (1:15). By describing his calling in the same language as the Galatians’, Paul presents himself, together with the Galatians, as one who has received grace in Christ: calling here designates foremost an act of divine creation in the Christ-event and only secondly a commissioning to a particular vocation. Paul’s and the Galatians’ stories thus become intertwined and mutually explicable as instantiations of the gospel Paul received. Accordingly, this rhetorical and theological identification with the Galatians more fully establishes how chapters 1-2 relate to 3-6: Paul’s autobiographical testimony of an unworthy Apostle who now preaches the gospel of God’s grace in Christ to his unworthy churches cannot be disentangled from his exposition and exegetical defense of that gospel.

Psychological Dynamics in Christian Worship: A Beginning Inquiry

1973 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 10-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Harold Ellens
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Health ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
The World ◽  
Spiritual Wholeness ◽  
Christian Worship ◽  
Vertical Relationship ◽  
In Christ ◽  
God's Grace ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Severe Anxiety

Worship is essentially a horizontal relationship between the human persons involved, not a vertical relationship with God. It is a human celebration of the historical datum that “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.” That celebration is not essentially sermon pedagogy nor mood inspiration. The purpose of worship is the achievement of emotional health and spiritual wholeness in the form of relief from destructive anxiety by means of celebration of God's grace. God is involved in two ways. It is His event in Christ which is celebrated and He is spectator to the celebration. Worship involves humans in two ways. It is our act of Christian relationship to each other and it is our experience and expression of celebrating God's nature and behavior. Typical worship reinforces pathologies of anxiety and self-deception. Worship which is genuine will heal humans of overriding guilt, crippling shame and severe anxiety. That is the purpose of worship in God's economy.

Theological and Pragmatic Aspects of the Divine Gift of Discernment in the Epistles of St. Paul

2019 ◽  
pp. 231-253
Author(s):  
Филофей Артюшин
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Holy Trinity ◽  
Cultural Phenomenon ◽  
The Gift ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
In Christ ◽  
Love Of God ◽  
Human Responsibility ◽  
Mystery Of God ◽  
Pragmatic Aspects

Среди новозаветных писаний послания ап. Павла являются глубочайшим богословским источником для разработки библейского учения «о рассудительности (διάκρισις)». Благодаря разнообразию и чередованию греческих терминов, обозначающих этот духовный и одновременно культурный феномен, проясняется прагматический замысел Апостола, постоянно имеющего в виду «тайну» Божию (μυστήριον), явленную во Христе. «Евангелие» ап. Павла сосредотачивается на неизъяснимости плана Божия, то есть на апофатическом измерении рассудительности, а также на необычайной открытости этого плана в апокалиптическом контексте, на фоне которого рельефно выступают такие важные темы, как человеческая ответственность, бодрствование, стойкость, разделения (κρίσις). Между этими двумя полюсами (имманентность и трансцендентность, «уже» и «ещё нет») вращается диалектика рассудительности. Дар, а вместе с ним и искусство рассудительности в синтетическом виде заключаются в русской иконографии «Троицы Живоначальной» прп. Андрея Рублёва. В духовном богатстве и богословской глубине этого образа звучит призыв к укреплению братских взаимоотношений между христианами и раскрывается глубинное содержание суда Божия, заключающегося в троической любви Бога к человеку. Among the New Testament writings the Epistles of St. Paul serve as the deepest theological source for elaborating the biblical doctrine of «discernment» (διάκρισις). Due to the variety and interrelation of the Greek terms representing this spiritual as well as cultural phenomenon, pragmatic intention of the Apostle is clear. Referring an appeal directly to the man, he constantly has in mind the mystery of God (μυστήριον), that was revealed in Christ. The «Gospel» of St. Paul focuses properly on an unexplicability of Godʼs plan: i.e. on the apophatic dimension of discernment as well as on an extreme openness of this plan in the apocalyptic context. On this background such important themes are stressed as: human responsibility, vigilance, perseverance, divisions (κρίσις). Between these two poles (immanence and transcendence, «already» and «not yet») dialectics of discernment is developing. The gift as well as the art of discernment is condensed in the Russian iconography of the «Holy Trinity» of Andrej Rublev. Within spiritual richness of this unique image resounds an appeal to strengthen brotherly relationships among Christians. It also discloses a deep dimension of the Godʼs judgment whose essence is expressed by the Trinitarian love of God towards a man.

scholarly journals Grace in action: exploring the intersection of soteriology and ethics in the letter to Titus

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 330-339
Author(s):  
Gustaf W. Henriksson
Keyword(s):  
Pastoral Epistles ◽  
Ethical Training ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Pauline Studies ◽  
God's Grace ◽  
Subsequent Passage

AbstractThis article investigates action of grace in Titus 2:11 and argues for a congeniality in this epistle with Pauline thought on grace as interpreted by John Barclay in Paul and the Gift. Barclay's disentanglement of the concept, including his newfound taxonomy for χάρις, advances Pauline studies significantly, yet it has not informed studies of the Pastoral Epistles. The article examines the juxtaposition of soteriology and ethics found in Titus 2:11–14 and 3:4–7, proposing that the subsequent passage is an elaboration of the first, which sheds light on the idiosyncratic notion of God's grace performing ethical training.

scholarly journals „Bestiariusz niewiary”. Ludzie oddaleni od Boga w nauczaniu św. Hilarego z Poitiers

Vox Patrum ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 225-239
Author(s):  
Helena Karczewska
Keyword(s):  
The Gift ◽  
In Christ ◽  
False Prophets ◽  
Doctrine Of The Church ◽  
Allegorical Interpretation ◽  
The Church

Bishop of Poitiers, referring to the allegorical interpretation of Scripture, makes the characteristics of people away from God through unbelief. Comparing them to beasts, Hilary creates an unique „bestiary of disbelief”. Bishop of Poitiers shows the catalogue of beasts and gives them a symbolic significance which re­veals the nature of opponents of the Church. In the allegorical world of beasts many animals can be found: foxes mean false prophets, ravens – sinners and cattle as a symbol of heathen. In general Bishop of Poitiers indicates symbol of serpent as heretics who reject the gift of faith in Christ and contempt the doctrine of the Church. In Hilary’s works a lot of helpful directions for believers are given. Bishop focuses on gaining spiritual knowledge and proclamation of the Gospel.

scholarly journals Gewetebinding, Calvyn en die viering van die Nagmaal

2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
B.J. De Klerk
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Holy Communion ◽  
The Gift ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
In Christ

Binding of the conscience, Calvin and the celebration of Holy Communion The context in which Scripture uses “conscience” determines the underlying relation of binding the conscience, freedom in Christ and essential and moderate matters. The Holy Spirit enables the conscience to discern which matters are essential and the believer receives the freedom (authority) in Christ not to be bound by moderate matters. Instances in which Scripture does not present a direct opinion and where it is doubtful whether a matter would indeed be essential or moderate, the conscience must not be bound, and the believer must be allowed to make a judgement of conscience by virtue of the gift of freedom in Christ, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For Calvin essential things are the dual unity of the Word and Holy Communion, the presence of Christ in Holy Communion, the sursum corda, and eating and drinking Christ with the Spirit through faith (cf. Confessio Belgica, art. 35). Moderate matters are external procedures, traditions elevated to principles, but even many more important aspects, such as the frequency of partaking of Holy Communion. Although Calvin provides Scriptural evidence for these aspects, he does not bind the conscience of others, as other conclusions could also be made from Scripture. Moderate matters are not of less importance and therefore Calvin leaves it to believers themselves to make their decisions on this matter by virtue of the freedom in Christ before God.

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