Entre o amor e a soberba: o conceito de justiça do livro XIX do “Sobre a Cidade de Deus”, como chave de interpretação do amor ao próximo no “Comentário à Primeira Epístola de São João” de Agostinho

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 23-41
Author(s):  
Ricardo Evangelista Brandão
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Social Injustice ◽  
Unconditional Love ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Love Of Neighbor

Starting from the concept of justice in Book XIX of De civitate Dei, especially whatjustice is "to give to each one what is his", we will investigate the extent to which the love (dilectio) worked in the Commentary on the First Epistle of St. John can be interpreted as social justice. Considering that this Epistle is one of the hardest texts of the collection of love for the Christian in the New Testament, Augustine understands the consequences of abundance and lack of love in an eminently social way, since through love it is impossible to be insensitive before the misery of social injustice, which makes so many miserable. Thus, vera justitiawould be demonstrated by unconditional love of neighbor, not allowing his neighbor to be in miser. However, this aid, moreover, cannot translate into a constant dependence between the aided and the helper, for when this situation of dependence if it is perpetuated, the aided one naturally will nourish a feeling of superiority before the aided one, and the latter will think himself inferior to that which assists him. Sothat the love demonstrated by true justitiais configured in an emergency to get the poor from misery, and continuous rite, to work so that it acquires autonomy and dignity

scholarly journals The Lord's Prayer

1920 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-135
Author(s):  
George Herbert Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Inner Life ◽  
Lord's Prayer ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Ten Commandments ◽  
Love Song ◽  
The New Testament

In both the Old Testament and the New there is a climactic point, a passage, I mean, which so epitomizes all the teaching of that section of our Bible that we should be eager to save it were all else to be destroyed. In the Old Testament it is the Ten Commandments, which form a foundation for civil society. Society would go to pieces were not the Ten Commandments understood and usually obeyed. In the New Testament it is the Lord's Prayer, which lays foundations for the harmonious inner life as the Ten Commandments do for the outer. Here speaks the aspiring spirit to its Maker. This is the love-song of the Christian world. Few precepts of our Master, I suppose, have been more widely observed than that we are to “pray in this manner.” For most of us that day would lack something in which the Lord's Prayer had not been repeated. It fits all circumstances. It is the chant of the saint in his most exultant moments, his refuge and solace when most depressed. The poor sinner, who through walking in the ways of vice has almost lost the power of aspiration and can no longer formulate for himself his better desires, finds in these sacred phrases his appropriate utterance.

scholarly journals The motivation and limits of compassion

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elma Cornelius
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Christian Religion ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Poor ◽  
God's Love ◽  
The New Testament

What motivates people to serve others? Why do we help those in need, the poor, the sick, the lonely, orphans and widows? Is compassion for humans a natural instinct or is it a learnt response? In the biblical tradition, it is a clear imperative to show one’s faith in God in one’s behaviour by reaching out to others. Luke 10:25−37 seems to be a key passage in the Bible that teaches and exhorts Christians to be compassionate. Psychology teaches us that compassion is a natural instinct in humans although choice is involved too, and it turns out that religion plays a role in reinforcing compassion. This article is an attempt to understand the motivation and limits of compassion as reinforced by the Christian religion by (1) interpreting Luke 10:25−37 in the New Testament and by (2) using modern psychological insights. It often happens that people reach out to others for self-interested reasons, as serving others psychologically gives them a sense of meaning and fulfilment as well as a positive public image. Compassion, however, is also motivated by a love for God and a love and concern for people in general. As caring for others also affects one emotionally and might cause burnout, it is important to set some limits and boundaries on compassion. As God’s love for us leads us to reach out to others, we need to be sure about how and when we should fulfil people’s needs, help them to cope with their own needs, help them to understand the reason for their needs, guide them to fulfilling their own needs or help them to find a place where help is available.

The Vine and the Elm Tree: the Patristic Interpretation of Jesus’ Teachings on Wealth

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. McGuckin
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Biblical Criticism ◽  
Property Owner ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Original Message ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The One

If patristic tradition on the subject of wealth and possessions often appears ambivalent in its attitudes, then perhaps one of the reasons for this is that this tradition grows from an exegesis of Gospel teachings on the subject that themselves are far from being straightforward, even though they are immensely forthright. Clement of Alexandria, for example, has frequently been accused of twisting the simple and immediately obvious demand of Jesus: ‘Sell all you have and give to the poor’ (Mark 10.21) and subverting a radical vision of Jesus into a comfortable exhortation that any pious property-owner, bourgeois or aristocratic, could be happy to live with. If the rich young man had understood Christ’s real message, as Clement would have it (not so much to renounce his ownership of goods as to free his heart from attachment to them), then he might not have had such a crisis about following Jesus. Whether or not Clement’s case is, in the end, convincing as an exegesis, it none the less successfully raises all the implicit problems of interpreting the New Testament teachings on wealth in any kind of universalist sense—as teachings that are meant to apply to all, and for all time. And there are, consequently, many dangers in being too ready to dismiss Clement’s allegorism as an anachronistic exegesis, not least the danger of reverting to a different kind of biblical fundamentalism than the one Clement thought he was attacking; for contemporary biblical criticism, as it attempts to separate out the original message of Jesus and the insights of his later disciples, and to locate the original words in their correct historical and sociological milieu, has rightly warned us against over-confidence in our historical interpretations of Gospel material.

Die kerk in die Nuwe Testament

1995 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M.M. Pelser
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
People Of God ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The People ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The Church

The church in the New Testament The article explores the documents of the New Testament in search of the concept church' and finds that,  in a nutshell, the answers are as follows: the  Spirit-controlled, charismatic togetherness of people 'in Christ' (Paul); cross-bearing followers of Jesus (Mk); the people of God on their way through history (Lk-Ac); the faithful locked in battle with Satanic powers, but with the expectation of occupying the heavenly Jerusalem (Rv); the  community with which Christ became solidary, and which is heading for its heavenly place of rest (Reb); the poor but pious community, putting their faith into practice (Ja); the body of Christ in which his universal reign can be experienced (Col); the sphere in which salvation is  realized (Eph); disciples following Jesus as God-with us, experiencing the  rift between synagogue and church (Mt); friends and confidants of Christ, living at loggerheads with the synagogue (In); the household of God, governed by householders (Pastorals); and the socia-ly ostracized elect of God whose way of life should be a demonstration of their otherness as Christians (1 Pt).

scholarly journals God's household and the poor in contextual ecclesiology

2001 ◽  
Vol 57 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J.A. Vos
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Practice Experience ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
African Context

As a consequence of the bipolar tension between theory and practice, experience (considered in the South African context) influences the church's reflection on Practical Theology. Insight into the economic system of the Mediterranean world helps us to understand the complexities involved in positioning poverty, as well as the role of the New Testament faith community in its interaction with the poor. The social system in the ancient world, within which poverty was encountered, cautions us against taking a simplistic view of the poor. We cannot duplicate social systems and impose them on current situations. The New Testament, which is set against a particular system, speaks of the Kingdom of God as a place where the poor must be cared for. The New Testament (especially the Gospel of John) lets us understand that a church, which has a family orientation as its basis, should provide a home for the poor.

Sirach

2021 ◽  
pp. 283-305
Author(s):  
Jeremy Corley
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Reception History ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Faith Communities ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
Survey Article ◽  
Biblical History ◽  
The New Testament

This survey article on the Book of Sirach (Latin: Ecclesiasticus) first considers its composition by a Jerusalem scribe named Ben Sira, who lived in the early second century bce. The article then examines major themes in the book’s theology (wisdom, creation, theodicy, and death), as well as its much-criticized portrayal of women. The chapter also explores its ethics of honor, generosity, and friendship, as well as the review of biblical history in the Praise of the Ancestors (Sirach 44–50). Thereafter, the chapter notes the book’s parallels to the New Testament, as well as its mixed reception history within Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant faith communities. Finally, to illustrate aspects of the reception history, the article offers four case studies showing how various later interpreters have used the sage’s teaching on testing (2:1–18), friendship (6:5–17), social justice (34:21–31), and remembering godly ancestors (44:1–15).

scholarly journals Augustine’s view of Manichaean almsgiving and almsgiving by the Manichaean community at Kellis

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Majella Franzmann
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Community Practice ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Historical Times ◽  
Food And Drink ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Geographical Locations

Taking its point of departure from Augustine’s criticism of Manichaean practices with food and drink that appear to disregard the New Testament injunction to give to the poor, or to those who are hungry and thirsty, this article investigates the probability that this was indeed Manichaean practice, by interrogating Manichaean texts and clues about Manichaean practice contained in the personal letters from 4th century CE Roman Kellis in Egypt. A further consideration of types of exclusive communities and their behaviour, or exclusive behaviour at various times from groups that are generally characterised as inclusive, leads to the proposal that Manichaean exclusivity was based firmly on an underlying theology and narrative myth of cosmic salvation that fixed an unalterable Manichaean community practice, carried out in a wide range of geographical locations and historical times.

scholarly journals Christen Gemeinde, Bürgergemeinden, Migranten, Aktiengesellschaften, Finanzmärkte …

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-79
Author(s):  
David Field
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
African Migrants ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Theological Politics ◽  
The Church

The thesis of this article is that the arrival and non-arrival of African migrants fractures the pseudo innocence of Western Europe exposing its colonial entanglements hence challenging the church to develop a decolonial theological politics. The article develops such a politics by re-examining and reconfiguring elements of Barth’s theological politics. It draws on his understanding of the “lordless powers” and of God taking the side of the poor and rereads them in the light of a counter imperial reading of the New Testament. This forms the basis for a reconfiguring of themes from his Christian Community and Civil Community.

scholarly journals Amos' Call for Social Justice in Amos 5:21-24: A Model for Prophets in The Apostolic Church LAWNA, Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Godwin Olutayo Akintola
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Faith Community ◽  
Social Injustice ◽  
Main Thrust ◽  
Social Oppression ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Modern Context ◽  
Apostolic Church

The book of Amos, particularly his message on social justice, has been of great interest in scholarship in recent times. However, the extent to which social justice issues manifest in the text and how they relate to modern context have not been fully explored. Following a careful reflection on the call for social justice in Amos 5:21-24 and informed by a justice-denying Nigerian context, could the theme of social justice, as reflected in the preceding text, inspire the prophets of The Apostolic Church LAWNA to proclaim a liberating and empowering message to the powers that be (political establishment), in solidarity with the poor and marginalised people of Nigeria? This concern is the main thrust of this article. Over the years, not only has the book of Amos become an inspiration for contemporary struggles against social oppression and injustice, the life and ministry of the prophet himself has become a model for pastors/prophets and crusaders of justice and righteousness today. In view of the prevailing social injustice and oppression in the Nigerian society, can the present-day prophets of The Apostolic Church LAWNA Nigeria be called upon to be as fearless as the eighth-century BCE Israelite prophets were, in raising their voices both within and outside the faith community to demand for a right andjust society?

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