scholarly journals The land is mine

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Van Eck
Keyword(s):  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
First Century ◽  
Roman Palestine

The parables told by Jesus the Galilean, when read from a realistic perspective, can be seen as a window to the exploitative socio-economic, political and religious situation of the peasantry in first-century Roman Palestine. The Galilean’s parables picture this exploitative world, and also speak of ways to address the societal ills of his day. In an agrarian world, land meant life. For most of the peasantry, however, this was not the case anymore. In reaction to this situation, Jesus proclaimed the possibility of a world in which the land, especially its produce, belongs to everyone. This world he called the kingdom of God, a different kind of world, a world ruled by God’s generosity and goodness. In this world, everybody has enough.

scholarly journals Jesus van Nasaret se bevrydende visie vir ’n geweldadige samelewing

1993 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-235
Author(s):  
S. J. Joubert
Keyword(s):  
Physical Violence ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
First Century ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Victims Of Violence

Jesus of Nazareth’s liberating vision for a violent society All political, economical and religious power in first century Palestine were in the hands of less than 5% of the population. This gave rise to a situation of "social rootlessness" among and different violent responses from many Jewish pedants. Within this society, characterized by "ideological" and physical violence, Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed an encompassing new reality, the Kingdom of God. In this regard He not only offered salvation to the victims of violence, hut also expected a new, violent-free, orientation and code of conduct towards God and all human beings from his followers.

scholarly journals The Catalogs of Vices and Virtues in the Pauline Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 130-146
Author(s):  
José David Padilla
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Virtuous Life

It was common to find in the writings of the different Greco-Roman philosophical schools of the first century certain catalogs of two or more vices and virtues. They were used to teach that a virtuous life ensured well-being and health while encouraging their disciples to abandon their vicious life leading to ruin. These catalogs influenced the composition of moral catalogs in the New Testament, especially in the letters written or attributed to Paul. Their catalogs were used as a rhetorical tool where the moral teachings of Christianity were developed and taught. According to the divine plan in Christ Jesus, good acts or virtues were considered divinely inspired because they helped the growth of the human person. On the other hand, bad actions or vices were seen as unworthy or sinful because they go against God’s plan and as a sign of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Thus, the catalogs of vices and virtues invited conversion and invited us to wait for the day when God will make all evil and corruption disappear from the world when love (agape), the Christian virtue per excellence, would be the norm for all.

Mark’s Story

2021 ◽  
pp. 16-40
Author(s):  
Alicia D. Myers
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of Mark ◽  
First Century ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Minor Characters ◽  
Parable Of The Sower ◽  
Roman Palestine

This chapter begins the study of the canonical Gospels with the earliest Gospel written rather than the first in the Christian canon: the Gospel of Mark. After offering basic background on authorship, provenance, and date of composition, this chapter outlines the historical and political contexts of Roman Palestine in the first century CE. This introduction leads into a discussion of Mark’s apocalyptic perspective and presentation of Jesus’s mission as a cosmic battle. Following this background information, the chapter offers a literary overview of the Gospel and explores major themes and passages, including Jesus’s characterization, the Parable of the Sower and minor characters, Jesus’s time in Jerusalem, and the various endings of the Gospel of Mark. The chapter ends with a conclusion describing Mark’s challenge for its readers to choose between fear and faith.

scholarly journals Putting Qumran, Jesus and his movement into relief

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eben Scheffler
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
First Century ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
New Covenant ◽  
Jesus Movement ◽  
Teacher Of Righteousness

After referring briefly to the fantasies regarding the origins of Christianity as elicited by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 (Dupont-Sommer, Allegro, Thiering), the purpose of the contribution is to put the Jesus movement into relief in the context of first-century Judaism. The identity of the Qumranites is argued to be Essene scribes. The identity, ideology and practices of the latter are compared with those of Jesus of Nazareth and the movement he elicited using the following rubrics: (1) Jesus, the teacher of righteousness and the powers that be; (2) asceticism versus itinerary charismaticism; (3) caring versus lack of caring for the sick, poor and marginalised; (4) elitist priests and scribes versus lower-class peasants; (5) the interpretation of the law; (6) religious and daily practices (baptism, ritual meal, sacrifice, prayer, community of possessions, scribal activity); (7) religious views or ideology (kingdom of God, the new covenant, light and darkness, politics). The result is a picture of Jesus (with his focus on human suffering) in sharp relief versus Qumran and facets of the early church.

scholarly journals Jesus en vroue

1999 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Hierarchical System ◽  
First Century ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Patriarchal Family ◽  
Mediterranean Culture ◽  
The World

Jesus and women.The patriarchal view of reality in first-century Mediterranean culture wasbased on a disparity between man and woman. It was a hierarchical system in which man was considered to be above woman, as God is above human beings. In the world of Jesus a woman would be represented before God by the patriarch. This article illustrates how Jesus' words and deeds did not mirror the values of his culture as far as the importance and role of the patriarchal family were concerned. Jesus, words and deeds were unconvenional within a strict purity system. Jesus used family imagery when speaking about the kingdom of God, but he meant a different type of family than the physical family according to cultural conventions. His non-patriarchal interaction with women was an example and a consequence of his culture critique.

scholarly journals The Kingdom of God and those who have not heard the contents of Scripture

2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Kruger
Keyword(s):  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
First Century ◽  
Technological Changes ◽  
Apostle Paul ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Invisible

Article 2 of the Belgic Confession deals with the following issue: By what means does God make Himself known to us? The first part of Article 2 that echoes the teaching of Calvin via the Gallic Confession reads as follows: “We know Him [God] by two means: First by the creation, preservation and government of the universe, which is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and small, are characters (read: letters – MAK) leading us to see clearly the invisible things of God, even his everlasting power and divinity, as the apostle Paul says (Rom. 1:20). All which things are sufficient to convince men and leave them without excuse.” This article of 1561 agrees with Calvin’s Institutes of 1559 (1, V, 1) and the early Reformed Confessions before the Canons of Dordt (1618-1619). It seems as though, after Calvin, a doctrine of insufficiency regarding this first means of revelation gradually developed. In the Westminster Confession of 1647 this means of understanding God’s revelation (i.e by receiving God’s communication through the creation, preservation and government of the universe) was explicitly interpreted as insufficient. Man’s inherent ability to know God by means of his own mental capacity, the so-called light of nature, that remained after the Fall, was also regarded as insufficient. The issue of whether the interpretation of Article 2A had not been changed in the first century after Calvin should therefore be seriously considered by Reformed churches. Furthermore, the church of today, situated in a world that experiences such phenomenal scientific and technological changes, should ask what relevance Article 2A of the the Belgic Confession has for the church and the world.

scholarly journals Ancient patronage: A possible interpretative context for Luke 18:18–23?

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kingsley I. Uwaegbute ◽  
Damian O. Odo
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of Luke ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Roman Palestine

Against the conventional reading of Luke 18:18–23 as a micro-narrative that revolves around discipleship and the dangers of wealth with regard to inheriting the Kingdom of God, this article reads the text using patronage (and clientism) as a model. It argues that this micro-narrative also mirrors patronal relations in the 1st-century Roman Palestine through which a few elites exploited the majority poor. The description of the chief protagonist in the narrative as a ruler, who was also rich, by Luke casts him in a negative light as a patron who exploited the poor around him who were his clients. From this standpoint, it is therefore argued in the article that the strategy of the narrative is to encourage patrons to move from negative and balanced reciprocity to ‘general reciprocity’ in which giving to the poor without the desire to receive back dominates. This interpretation is still within the framework of the theology of wealth in the Gospel of Luke, which encourages ‘giving without the expectation to receive back’.Contribution: This article argues that the micro-narrative of Luke 18:18–23 mirrors patronal relations of 1st-century Palestine. From Luke’s description of rich ruler, the first hearers of Luke probably thought of him as a patron who exploited his clients, the poor. The call by Jesus to self-divesture therefore is a call for patrons to move beyond negative and balanced reciprocity to practice general reciprocity in which giving to the poor, without the want to receive back, dominates; this is social-scientific criticism of Luke 18:18–23 mostly neglected in Lukan scholarship.

Intercity Relations in Roman Palestine: The Case of Sepphoris and Tiberias

AJS Review ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart S Miller
Keyword(s):  
First Century ◽  
Major Road ◽  
Two Cities ◽  
Roman Palestine

Sepphoris and Tiberias were the most important administrative and rabbinic centers of Roman Galilee. The two cities had much in common: both were associated with Herod Antipas, who rebuilt Sepphoris sometime after a futile revolt in 4 B.C.E. and still later founded Tiberias; both had jurisdiction over the bank and archives of Galilee at various times during the first century; both had pro-Roman factions in the First Revolt, though that of Sepphoris was more influential; both maintained Hellenistic institutions and minted coins; both were connected by the major road built by Hadrian from Acco to the Sea of Galilee;5 both would eventually become home to the Sanhedrin and the patriarchal house; both maintained communities ofpriests associated with a particular mishmar (priestly course), and finally, both attracted many prominent tannaim and amoraim who establishednoted academies.

scholarly journals In the kingdom everybody has enough – A social-scientific and realistic reading of the parable of the lost sheep (Lk 15:4–6)

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Van Eck
Keyword(s):  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
First Century ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Realistic Interpretation ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Scientific

This article presents a social-scientific and realistic interpretation of the parable of the lost sheep (Lk 15:4–6). Attention is given to the history of the interpretation of the parable, its integrity and authenticity, and verisimilitude. It is argued that the Lukan-version (Q 15:4–6) of the parable represents the earliest layer of the historical Jesus-tradition. Specific attention is given to the social and economic registers presupposed in the parable, as well as certain cultural norms and values of the first-century Mediterranean world in which Jesus told the parable. The conclusion reached is that the parable exemplifies several aspects of the kingdom of God, aspects that are also present in several other parables that Jesus told about the kingdom.

Jesus, Apocalyptic, and World Transformation

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Batstone
Keyword(s):  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
First Century ◽  
Social Milieu ◽  
Symbolic Universe

“It is often overlooked how ideologically explosive the notion of the kingdom of God was within Jesus' own social milieu. In first-century Palestine, it did not have the same metaphorical and strictly religious connotation that makes the term so safe within our own theological world. In fact, it evoked the memory and visionary impulse of Yahweh who acts to deliver Yahweh's ‘chosen ones’ from occupation and oppression at the hands of alien nations. Intrinsic to that symbolic universe is the conviction that the chosen suffer and the unjust prosper in the present day only because history stands at the brink of a great reversal.”

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