Recent Eastern Orthodox Interpretation of the New Testament

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 322-340
Author(s):  
Timothy Clark

Interpretation of the Bible in the Eastern orthodox Church has until recently been largely determined by the dogmatic imperatives of the ecclesial institution. in the “last several decades, however, a variety of Orthodox scholars have launched significant investigations of the Bible and particularly of the New Testament using methododolgy modeled on that of the Western scholarly academy, while in some cases continuing to search for a specifically 'Orthodox' approach to biblical study. This article concentrates primarily on developments in New Testament interpretation among orthodox biblical scholars in North america over the last three decades, focusing on the contributions of a generation of researchers responsible for the first significant expansion of Orthodox biblical study into modern academia and looking forward to newer voices and research directions in the orthodox world.

1962 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-203
Author(s):  
Bruce M. Metzger

Among the several scholars of the ancient Church who occupied themselves with the textual criticism of the Bible, one of the most influential was Lucian of Antioch. Though not as learned or as productive in a literary way as either Origen or Jerome, Lucian's work on the text of the Greek Bible proved to be of significance both in his own day and, to an even greater extent, during the centuries following. In fact, his recension of the text of the New Testament, with only minor modifications, continued to be used widely down to the nineteenth century, and still lives on in the so-called Ecclesiastical text of the Eastern Orthodox Church.


Author(s):  
Li Zhengrong

This essay surveys the arrival of the Eastern Orthodox Church by Russian Orthodox missionaries to China. It examines how, in the development of the Eastern Orthodox Church in China, the Chinese Orthodox Bible came into being from the Church Slavonic Bible: the 1864 Xin Yi Zhao Sheng Jing (The New Testament), the 1879 Sheng Yong Jing (The Psalms), the 1910 Xin Yue Sheng Jing (The New Testament), the 1911 Ma Te Fei Yi Sheng Fu Yin Jing (The Gospel of Matthew). Other biblically related materials are discussed, such as the catechesis and liturgies: Tian Shen Hui Ke (Conversation of the Angels), Dong Jiao Zong Jian (Mirror of Orthodox Confession), Jiao Yi Wen Da (Catechesis), Quan Gao Jie Wen (The Catechetical Instruction on Confession).


2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 370-376
Author(s):  
Daniel Buda

AbstractThis paper contains a short biography of St. John Chrysostom, as well as a presentation of his main theological points. He is the most important theologian of the so-called »Antiochian Theological School«. His writings are better known for their ethical and pastoral aspects, than for their speculative-dogmatical ideas. This paper presents the following aspects of John Chrysostom`s theology and activities: Christology, ecclesiology, the role of the Bible, the role of ethics, his portrait as pastor, the role of philosophy, John Chrysostom as supposed author of the most celebrated liturgy in the Eastern Orthodox Church.


2021 ◽  
pp. 183-217
Author(s):  
Kirsten Macfarlane

Towards the end of his life, Broughton sought funding for a monograph on the New Testament that, he felt sure, would counter-balance all his past failings. It would convert both Jews and Catholics; it would prove his beliefs about scriptural incorruption; and, most of all, it would demonstrate the need for a new English Bible. This project never materialized, and its drafts are scattered across Europe and North America. Using these sources, this chapter reconstructs Broughton’s ambitious New Testament studies and brings the book’s arguments to culmination. Firstly, it examines the relationship between Broughton’s scholarly practices and theological beliefs. Broughton’s New Testament scholarship demonstrates his involvement in one of the most exciting areas of biblical criticism in his lifetime: the study of the New Testament’s Jewish contexts. It argues that Broughton’s desire to prove his beliefs about the Bible pushed him further than his more liberal colleagues into this area, and enabled his most innovative insights into the historical and linguistic contexts of the New Testament. Secondly, this chapter shows how Broughton attempted to make this highly complex, elite scholarship accessible to the unlearned believer in his New Testament translations. Finally, by examining the political, confessional, and personal obstacles that thwarted Broughton’s plans to publish this work, this chapter concludes the complicated picture of his scholarly life offered by the book so far.


Author(s):  
Дмитрий Евгеньевич Афиногенов

Трактат 1 из сборника «Амфилохии» св. патр. Фотия на примере истолкования конкретных мест из Библии объясняет методологию библейской экзегезы вообще. Во внимание должен приниматься не только богословский или исторический контекст, но также чисто филологические аспекты: семантика, интонация, языковой узус Нового Завета и Септуагинты, возможные разночтения и т. д. Патриарх убеждён, что при правильном пользовании этим инструментарием можно объяснить все кажущиеся противоречащими высказывания Св. Писания таким образом, что они окажутся в полном согласии друг с другом. The first treatise from «Amphilochia» by the St. Patriarch Photios expounds the general principles of the biblical exegesis on a specific example of certain passages from the Bible. It is not just the theological or historical context that has to be taken into consideration, but also purely philological aspects, such as semantics, intonation, the language usage of the New Testament and Septuagint, possible variant readings etc. The Patriarch is convinced, that the correct application of these tools makes it possible to perfectly harmonize all seemingly contradictory statements of the Scriptures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-140
Author(s):  
David J. Neumann

AbstractSwami Vivekananda was the most influential pioneer of a Yogi Christ, illustrating well over a century ago how the life and teachings of Jesus might be incorporated within a larger Hindu worldview—and then presented back to Western audiences. Appropriation of Jesus, one of the central symbols of the West, might be viewed as the ultimate act of counter-Orientalism. This article begins by providing a brief biography of Vivekananda and the modern Hinduism that nurtured him and that he propagated. He articulated an inclusivist vision of Advaita Vedanta as the most compelling vision of universal religion. Next, the article turns to Vivekananda's views of Christianity, for which he had little affection, and the Bible, which he knew extraordinarily well. The article then systematically explores Vivekananda's engagement with the New Testament, revealing a clear hermeneutical preference for the Gospels, particularly John. Following the lead of biblical scholars, Vivekananda made a distinction between the Christ of the Gospels and the Jesus of history, offering sometimes contradictory conclusions about the historicity of elements associated with Jesus's life. Finally, the article provides a detailed articulation of Vivekananda's Jesus—a figure at once familiar to Christians but, in significant ways, uniquely accommodated to Hindu metaphysics. Vivekananda demonstrated a robust understanding and discriminating use of the Christian Bible that has not been properly recognized. He deployed this knowledge to launch an important and long-lived pattern: an attractive, fleshed out depiction of Jesus of Nazareth, transformed from the Christian savior into a Yogi model of self-realization. Through his efforts, Jesus became an indisputably Indian religious figure, no longer just a Christian one. The Yogi Christ remains a prominent global religious figure familiar to Hindus, Christians, and those of other faiths alike.


2018 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-156
Author(s):  
Corneliu C. Simuț

In December 1989, Communism died in Romania—if not as mentality, it surely met its demise as a political system which had dominated almost every aspect of life in the country for over four decades. Thus, at least in theory, an ideological vacuum was created and concrete steps towards filling it with different values and convictions were supposed to be taken as early as possible. The Romanian Eastern Orthodox Church seized the opportunity and initiated a series of measures which eventually created a distinct perception about what culture, ethnicity, and religion were supposed to mean for whoever identified himself as Romanian. This paper investigates these ideological attempts to decontaminate Romania of its former Communist mentalities by resorting to the concept of ecodomy seen as ‘constructive process’ and the way it can be applied to how the Romanian Eastern Orthodox Church dealt with culture, ethnicity, and religion. In the end, it will be demonstrated that while decommunistization was supposed to be constructive and positive, it proved to be so only for the Romanians whose national identity was defined by their adherence to the Romanian Eastern Orthodox Church and its perspective on culture, ethnicity, and religion. For all other Romanian citizens, however, decommunistization was a process of ‘negative ecodomy’ because their cultural ideas, ethnic origin, or religious convictions were perceived as non-Romanian and non-Orthodox. In attempting to reach decommunistization therefore, the Romanian majority still tends to be xenophobic and even anti-Muslim, as plainly demonstrated by the Bucharest mosque scandal which rocked the country in the summer of 2015.


2017 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 149-157
Author(s):  
Cherryl Hunt

Ordinary Christians’ responses to a dramatized reading of the New Testament, together with reflection on research in the area of performance criticism, suggests that understanding of the Bible and spiritual encounter with its texts may be promoted by the reading aloud of, and listening to, substantial portions of the Bible in an unfamiliar format; this might be found in a dramatized presentation and/or a previously unencountered translation. This practice should form part of any programme designed to promote biblical engagement within churches.


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