The Gospel of Jesus Christ as a Story to Be Told: The “Narrative” Theologies of Eberhard Jüngel and Hans Frei

Pro Ecclesia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-103
Author(s):  
R. David Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Narrative Theology ◽  
States Of Affairs ◽  
External Objects ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Hans Frei

This article explores how Eberhard Jüngel and Hans Frei employ the category of “narrative” in Christian theology. Although Jüngel and Frei receive inspiration from different quarters, they end up drawing some similar conclusions. At the same time, their approaches to narrative theology reveal deep and striking differences between their programs for theology. My comments focus on the problem of language’s referential character, that is, the capacity of words and discourses to signify external objects and states of affairs. As I demonstrate, both Jüngel and Frei seize upon the “problem” (as they both deem it) of the structure of referential language. And yet, how Jüngel and Frei frame this issue and what they do in order to resolve it are conspicuously different in the arguments they unfurl. This difference, I show, folds back upon their distinct agendas for recovering narrative in theological discourse.

Masao Abe and Comparative Theology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo D. Lefebure
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Comparative Theology ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Faith Tradition ◽  
Mahayana Buddhist

A leading form of comparative theology entails commitment to one religious tradition but ventures out to encounter another tradition, with the goal of generating fresh insights into familiar beliefs and practices reliant upon both the tradition of origin and the newly encountered faith tradition. This chapter, based on a graduate course at Georgetown University, examines how Zen Buddhist thinker Masao Abe engages in a dialogue with Western philosophy and Christian theology. Abe interpreted the meaning of the kenosis (emptying) of God in Jesus Christ in Christian theology in light of Mahayana Buddhist perspectives on Sunyata (emptying) and the logic of negation. The chapter includes responses to Abe from various Christian theologians, including Georgetown graduate students.

scholarly journals Paradoks Salib: Keindahan Wajah Kemuliaan Allah

MELINTAS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-94
Author(s):  
Joko Umbara
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Divine Love ◽  
God's Love ◽  
Cross Of Christ ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Tragic Drama

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.

scholarly journals Playing God or Participating in God? What Considerations Might the New Testament Bring to the Ethics of the Biotechnological Future?

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-164
Author(s):  
Grant Macaskill
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Playing God ◽  
The New Testament

The Bible is normative for all Christian theology and ethics, including responsible theological reflection on the biotechnological future. This article considers the representation of creaturehood and what might be labelled ‘deification’ within the biblical material, framing these concepts in terms of participation in providence and redemption. This participatory emphasis allows us to move past the simplistic dismissal of biotechnological progress as ‘playing God’, by highlighting ways in which the development of technology and caregiving are proper creaturely activities, but ones that must be morally aligned to the goodness of God. Framing our approximation of divine character in terms of ‘deification’ highlights its relational and soteriologically defined shape, preventing us from conceiving its attainment in any way that is loosed from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The discussion allows us to affirm the pursuit of biotechnological research, but to recognize that it is unable by itself to accomplish certain ends, and that it must be pursued in alignment with the standards of goodness by which God loves his world.

scholarly journals African theology and African Christology: Difficulty and complexity in contemporary definitions and methodological frameworks

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Magezi ◽  
Jacob T. Igba
Keyword(s):  
Reference Point ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Theology ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Methodological Approaches

There is an ongoing challenge in defining African theology because of two important reasons: (1) the quest for a definitive African theology is a fairly recent pursuit and (2) the vastness and diversity of the African continent. Given this, this article presents the complexity of defining African theology and its methodological approaches through a background sketch of the development of African theology. Regardless of many definitions of African theology and its purposes, the article acknowledges African Christian theology as theology that should be derived from the interplay between Scripture, Christian tradition and African cosmology. In deriving theology from the aforementioned aspects, African theology should also seek to develop contextual African theologies with global relevance. In this way, African theology can claim its space in the universal church. Although we are conscious of the values and challenges associated with the task of doing African theology, we argue for its necessity. We further argue that if the centrality of Scripture is maintained in the African theological endeavour, it will cause African theologies to have some shared reference point with other Christian theologies and hence engaging globally, while contributing unique African perspectives to global theological discourse.

The Narrative Approach To Paul: an Early Retrospective

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce W. Longenecker
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Approach ◽  
Narrative Theology ◽  
Surface Level ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Pauline Studies ◽  
Paul's Letters

An interest in 'narrative' has progressively been incorporated into recent scholarship on Paul and his letters. In this enterprise, scholars interest themselves not only in the 'surface level' of a Pauline letter but also in what lies 'beneath the surface'—imagining Paul's letters to be both animated and constrained by a narrative theology that comes to expression in Paul's theological discourse. Interest in the narrative dimension of Paul's thought has arisen in relation to several contributing influences within the theologi cal disciplines—influences both within and beyond the discipline of Pauline studies itself. This article outlines some ways in which 'narrative' is becom ing a key tool in studies of Paul's theology and letters, and suggests four factors behind the rise in this interesting enterprise.

scholarly journals The Trinity in African Christian theology: An overview of contemporary approaches

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teddy C. Sakupapa
Keyword(s):  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
African Theology ◽  
Doctrine Of God ◽  
Concepts Of God ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
Primary Literature ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Trinity

This contribution offers a survey of the modern African theological discourse on the Trinity as a distinctive Christian doctrine of God. It is a systematic narrative review of primary literature on the doctrine of the Trinity in modern African theology with a view to identify main trends, key concepts and major proponents. It is argued that the contemporary African Trinitarian Hermeneutics cannot be understood in isolation from African debates on translatability of concepts of God framed first in terms of the reinterpretation of the theological significance of pre-Christian African concepts of God and subsequently as an outcome of African Christological reflection. The article affirms an apophatic resistance to any tendency to take God for granted as recently advanced by Ernst Conradie and Teddy Sakupapa.

scholarly journals A call for the restoration of orthodoxy in South African Christian theology

1991 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Engelbrecht
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The Road ◽  
Bona Fide ◽  
Orthodox Theology ◽  
Polar Opposite ◽  
The Demonic

Liberation theology can only be understood as a pseudo-theology inspired by the spirit of Marx. It is not a bona fide or leg itimate theology, but the polar opposite thereof. Its destructive aims mirror those of Marxism, which can only be understood if the demonic spirit of Marx is seen as its real origin. The Kairos Document and the Road to Damascus replaced the biblical God with the anti-god of Marx, the deified proletariat and the deified revolution. The article calls for a reconversion to God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ of Scriptures. Orthodox theology is truly ‘thisworldly’ theology, since it offers real hope and salvation. The Marxist gospel can only offer a utopia, a ‘no-place’. It is self-alienating, world-aUenating and God-alienating.

scholarly journals Sketching the elements of a Christian theology of change

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannelie J. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Change Agent ◽  
Positive Change ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Change Agency ◽  
Theories Of Change ◽  
Biblical Perspective ◽  
Agent Of Change ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation ◽  
The Church

Reconciliation is a biblical concept, wherein God reconciled himself with humanity through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The concept of reconciliation remains complicated in nature, and for the church to be an agent of reconciliation, prescriptive elements such as confession, repentance, forgiveness, restoration, restitution, mercy, truth, justice, peace and reconciliation will be discussed. The elements needed for the church to be an agent of change are action-driven and include a vision for change, the acceptance of responsibility, the acceptance of failure, repentance, confession, forgiveness, action towards change justice, peace and mercy, and reconciliation. The aim of this article is to describe a possible process for reconciliation through change agency by using the biblical perspective of the concept as a foundation. The research will then focus on different perspectives of change and the church’s role as a change agent to bring about positive change in the transformation of existing and persistent forms of injustice that are problematic in society. Many theories of change exist; I will briefly refer to some theories of change and will then move on to sketching the elements that are necessary for the church to fulfil its calling as a change agent towards reconciliation as a core biblical principle.

The Barthian heritage of Hans W. Frei

2008 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-326
Author(s):  
John Allan Knight
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Theological Method ◽  
Narrative Theology ◽  
Secondary Literature ◽  
Untimely Death ◽  
Biblical Narratives ◽  
Hans Frei

AbstractHans Frei and the ‘Yale School’ of narrative theology are often understood to be Barthian in orientation, but only rarely have the origins and contours of Frei's engagement with Barth been treated in the secondary literature. Frei's dissertation itself remains unpublished, with the exception of an oddly edited abridgement that appeared ten years after Frei's untimely death. This lacuna is unfortunate, because Frei's dissertation on Barth, and especially his treatment of Barth's method, are of signal importance in that they set the agenda and orientation for much, if not all, of Frei's later work. Consequently, in this article I analyse Frei's dissertation on Barth, focusing primarily on his treatment of Barth's protest against ‘relationalism’. On Frei's reading, three moves constitute Barth's break with relationalism: the primacy of ontology over epistemology, the subordination of method to positive affirmations about God, and the conformance of interpretative method both to Barth's methodological commitments and to his affirmations about God. In his dissertation, Frei argues that Barth believed that, without these moves, theology would be vulnerable to Feuerbach's critique. Frei's construal of Barth's break with relationalism sets the agenda for Frei's own later work, in which he appropriates these Barthian moves by insisting on the primacy of biblical narratives in theological method. Similar to Barth, Frei takes twentieth-century hermeneutic theology to be vulnerable to deconstructionist critique. His insistence on the primacy of a literal reading of the biblical narratives is his attempt to rectify this vulnerability.

Should Christians do Natural Theology?

2010 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Moore
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Natural Theology ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Christian Philosophy ◽  
Damaging Effects ◽  
Christian Beliefs

AbstractNatural theology is enjoying something of a resurgence at present but this article seeks to question its place in Christian philosophy and theology. Antecedent natural theology accepts that it is necessary for Christian beliefs to be rationally warranted. Romans 1:18ff. is often cited in favour of natural theology. However, examination of this text shows that Paul argues here on the basis of a prior revelation. Not only does he not endorse natural theology but what he does say implies that arguments for a God's existence are not likely to lead to the God revealed in Jesus Christ. Such arguments are in any case tainted by the noetic effects of sin. It is therefore not clear that these arguments lead to the God of Christian belief who calls us to simple discipleship. Consequent natural theology holds that Christians are under an epistemological obligation to their surrounding culture to show that they are reflectively rational. But the arguments put up for this by Michael Sudduth ignore theological arguments which should bear on Christian epistemology. Apart from God's self-revelation we find ourselves sceptics, and natural theology is unable to overcome this. Historical research has shown the damaging effects that arguing from nature has had on Christian theology. So, for both theological and historical reasons, Christians need not accept the epistemological obligations imposed on them by unbelievers which lead them to do natural theology.

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