scholarly journals Tertullian on the Trinity

Perichoresis ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-98
Author(s):  
Bryan M. Litfin
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
New Development ◽  
The World ◽  
Generation Theory ◽  
Justin Martyr ◽  
Eternal Generation ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
The Way

Abstract Tertullian is often portrayed as a prescient figure who accurately anticipated the Nicene consensus about the Trinity. But when he is examined against the background of his immediate predecessors, he falls into place as a typical second-century Logos theologian. He drew especially from Theophilus of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus of Lyons. At the same time, Tertullian did introduce some important innovations. His trinitarian language of ‘substance’ and ‘person’, rooted in Stoic metaphysics, offered the church a new way to be monotheistic while retaining the full deity and consubstantiality of the Word. Tertullian also significantly developed the concept of a divine oikonomia, God’s plan to create and redeem the world. The Son and Spirit are emissaries of the Father’s will—not ontologically inferior to him, yet ranked lower in the way that the sent are always subordinate to the sender. For this reason, Tertullian denied that a Father/Son relationship was eternal within the Trinity, seeing it rather as a new development emerging from God’s plan to make the world. Such temporal paternity and filiation distances Tertullian from the eventual Nicene consensus, which accepted instead the eternal generation theory of Origen. While Tertullian did propose some important terms that would gain traction among the Nicene fathers, he was also marked by a subordinationist tendency that had affinities with Arianism. Tertullian’s most accurate anticipation of Nicaea was his insistence on three co-eternal and consubstantial Persons. Historical theologians need to start admitting that Tertullian was a far cry from being fully Nicene. Rather, he offered a clever but still imperfect half-step toward what would become official orthodoxy..

scholarly journals Die roeping van die kerk

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaco Beyers
Keyword(s):  
The World ◽  
God's Call ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

The calling of the church. The question as to the calling of the church is not a practical but a theological issue. The church can easily keep itself busy with activities that seem important. However, are these activities really the motivation behind God’s call to the church? This article investigates the calling of the church as perceived from various relationships: church and world, church and culture and church and church. Church and world addresses the age-old argument that the church is in the world but not of the world. The church does have an obligation in the world towards politics and ecology. Another factor addressed in the article is the way in which the church copes with the secularised society. Regarding culture, the premise is that the church has no obligation towards culture. Culture merely becomes a means to an end for the church. The church wants to exist in a ‘free culture’, as Barth suggests. When discussing the calling of the church, an ecclesiology of some sorts is in fact presented. This is reflected in the paragraph on church and church. The church is always seen in relationship with God’s intention with the community He assembles. This might be the true calling of the church: to be a community that calls others to community.

The Divine Trinity

2018 ◽  
pp. 39-53
Author(s):  
William J. Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Attributes Of God ◽  
Vision Of God ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
The Way

The Christian vision of God is that God is three Persons in one Substance. This vision went beyond Scripture in order to do justice to Jewish monotheism, encounters with Jesus as an agent of divine action, and personal and corporate experiences of the Holy Spirit. Objections based on entanglement with Greek metaphysics and on certain feminist claims about male language fail. Loss of the Trinity involves serious impoverishment of the life and work of the church. Its continued embrace prepares the way for the exploration of the attributes of God.

David Brown's Divine Humanity

2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-113
Author(s):  
Kathryn Tanner
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
The Self ◽  
Primary Indication ◽  
The World ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
The Way

The contributions of this fine book are many but I will concentrate on three, before turning to several more critical remarks.First, and most obviously, the book does the invaluable service of surveying developments in kenotic christology in the nineteenth century while situating them nicely in their different contexts of origin and with reference to lines of mutual influence: continental, Scottish and British trends are all canvassed rather masterfully. Some attention, in lesser detail, is also given to the way these christological trends are extended in the twentieth century to accounts of the Trinity and God's relation to the world generally: kenosis, the self-emptying or self-limiting action of God, in the incarnation, is now viewed as a primary indication of who God is and how God works, from creation to salvation.

Kenneth E. Bailey: An Ambassador Serving the Middle East and the West

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-159
Author(s):  
Gary M. Burge
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
The West ◽  
Arab Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

Kenneth E. Bailey (1930–2016) was an internationally acclaimed New Testament scholar who grew up in Egypt and devoted his life to the church of the Middle East. He also was an ambassador of Arab culture to the West, explaining through his many books on the New Testament how the context of the Middle East shapes the world of the New Testament. He wed cultural anthropology to biblical exegesis and shaped the way scholars view the Gospels today.

scholarly journals Some Remarks on the Islamic and the Secular Paradigms of Knowledge

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-544
Author(s):  
Taha J. Al Alwani
Keyword(s):  
Driving Force ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Similar Degree ◽  
The West ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
The World ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

By the time secularist thought had succeeded, at an intellectuallevel, in challenging the authority of the Church, its roots had alreadytaken firm hold in western soil. Later, when western political and economicsystems began to prevail throughout the world, it was only naturalthat secularism, as the driving force behind these systems, shouldgain ascendency worldwide. In time, and with varying degrees of success,the paradigm of positivism gradually displaced traditional andreligious modes of thinking, with the result that generations of thirdworld thinkers grew up convinced that the only way to “progress” andreform their societies was the way of the secular West. Moreover, sincethe experience of the West was that it began to progress politically,economically, and intellectually only after the influence of the Churchhad been marginalized, people in the colonies believed that they wouldhave to marginalize the influence of their particular religions in orderto achieve a similar degree of progress. Under the terms of the newparadigm, turning to religion for solutions to contemporary issues is anabsurdity, for religion is viewed as something from humanity’s formativeyears, from a “dark” age of superstition and myth whose time hasnow passed. As such, religion has no relevance to the present, and allattempts to revive it are doomed to failure and are a waste of time.Many have supposed that it is possible to accept the westernmodel of a secular paradigm while maintaining religious practices andbeliefs. They reason that such an acceptance has no negative impactupon their daily lives so long as it does not destroy their places ofworship or curtail their right to religious freedom. Thus, there remainshardly a contemporary community that has not fallen under the swayof this paradigm. Moreover, it is this paradigm that has had the greatestinfluence on the way different peoples perceive life, the universe,and the role of humanity as well as providing them with an alternativeset of beliefs (if needed) and suggesting answers to the ultimate questions ...

Church

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam DeVille
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
Geographical Scope ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

The chapter traces developments in ecclesiology through the twentieth century, as the ecumenical movement unfolded, and raises questions about the relationship between the church and the communion of the Persons of the Trinity, and about the nature of the Church as eucharistic and sacramental. Further more practical questions about authority, primacy, and synodality (or conciliarity) are also examined in light of the work of multilateral ecumenical dialogues (especially within the World Council of Churches), and bilateral dialogues, particularly the Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and the international Roman Catholic–Orthodox theological dialogue. Considerable progress has been made on all these questions, but new issues have recently arisen, and these are briefly treated, including questions of imperfect communion, of the ordination of women and of those in same-sex relationships, and questions of geographical scope relative to jurisdiction and canonical territory.

scholarly journals Trinitology towards Challenges of Pluralistic Theology of Religion Systematical, Moral and Theological Reflection

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2(16)) ◽  
pp. 167-181
Author(s):  
Ignacy Bokwa
Keyword(s):  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Far East ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

Nowadays pluralistic theology of religion is rightly regarded as one of the greatest threats to Christianity. It specifically concerns Christology. A threat to the Christian belief in the Trinity, which is created by pluralistic theology of religion, is seen more rarely. Many scholars consider pluralistic theology of religion as a further step of the modern fight against Christianity and the Church. The increasing spread of religions of the Far East plays a significant role. Pluralistic theology of religion refers to the basic ideas of Buddhism, trying to create a universal religion of the world. Pluralist theology of religion treats every religion of the world with affection- with the exception of Christianity. It is Christianity that is supposed to be tolerant and to adapt to other religions by means of losing its own identity. Pluralistic theology of religion relativizes the Person of Jesus Christ, undermining the uniqueness of the incarnation of God. Jesus of Nazareth was only a prominent man standing near Reality itself (God). Since Jesus Christ was not an ontological Son of God, the doctrine of the Trinity is being undermined. Representatives of pluralistic theology of religion reject the idea of a personal God, at the same time hitting in all monotheistic religions. From their point of view, God is for the human mind unattainable reality which no revelation is able to bring. Various religions are only stages of searching for the final Reality itself. Father, Son and Spirit are nothing more than a projection of human yearnings and religious pursuits. Faced with such claims, Christian theology cannot remain silent. One should be reminded of development of faith in the Triune God in the life of the Church. This is a theoretical- scientific dimension of the problem. It also has its practical and existential meaning. Although Immanuel Kant claimed that the doctrine of the Trinity has no practical importance, contemporary theological reflection presents a new aspect of this problem. Communio- theology comprehends the mystery of the Trinity as an event of constant communication in which Father gives Himself to the Son and so they create the Holy Spirit. The mystery of diversity reconciled in the unity stands at the beginning of every reality. The mystery of the Holy Trinity has its significance not only inside (life of the Church) but also outside (life of the secular, political and economic community). Nowadays the latter has a special meaning in particular. It is a theological and moral surface of the reflection, showing that one should not be afraid of multiplicity and diversity but treat them as an opportunity. In the era of new conflicts and divisions that are increasing and the renewal of the old traumas, it turns out that appeals of the representatives of pluralist theology of religion are fake and are supposed to challenge the principles of Christianity, whereas Christian theology offers modern societies interesting proposals acceptable not only for those who believe.

The Word to the World: Johannine Trinitarian Missiology (John 20.21–22)

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-85
Author(s):  
David Thang Moe
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
The World ◽  
Present World ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

This paper will read Jn 20.21–22 as a missional text of Johannine Trinitarian Missiology. It will argue that mission is proper first to the being and the act of the Trinity, and secondarily a concept in the church—the witness of the Trinity. The aim of this paper is threefold. First, it will explore the nature of the Trinity as a missionary God who sent the Son/incarnate Word and the Spirit/the cosmic Breath into the world. Secondly, it will examine how Christ as the Word and witness of the Father moves from the sent to the caller and sender of apostles into the world through the power of the Spirit. Third, seeing the world as the scope of the mission of Christ and apostles, this paper will study Christ’s boundary-crossing mission of incarnation and reconciliation as a model of the Church’s boundary-crossing mission witness in a pluralistic and Spirit-present world.

scholarly journals ’n Pastoraal hermeneutiese lees van Paulus se briewe: 1 Tessalonisense as toetsgeval

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaco Putter
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Church Community ◽  
The World ◽  
Paul's Letters ◽  
Difficult Situations ◽  
Interactive Dynamic ◽  
The Church ◽  
Cognitive Areas ◽  
The Way ◽  
Church Communities

Paul’s letters, filled with pastoral content, are illustrating how he founded the church communities, shaping them and caring for them with various techniques. Paul shaped these communities within their own contexts after they had received and accepted the gospel. The outcome was that such a church community and its individuals created their own worldview from which they viewed and experienced the world. It is argued here that their worldview influenced the individuals’ and groups’ identity, values, norms and actions. All these aspects influenced each other in an interactive dynamic way with interdependence as a result. If one aspect changes, it affects all the other areas. These aspects are rooted in the individual’s emotive and cognitive areas. Paul addresses this in his letters by referring to these two areas on a constant basis by reflecting on how the converts had to change the way they thought and lived in order to imitate Christ. This motivated them to endure difficult situations they found themselves in. When reading Paul’s letters with this in mind a new pastoral understanding of it emerges, as illustrated with reference to 1 Thessalonians.

NEW DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES IN BASS STRAIT

1980 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
S.J. Koroknay
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Deviation Angle ◽  
Average Deviation ◽  
Areal Coverage ◽  
New Development ◽  
The World ◽  
Angle Of Deviation ◽  
Platform Development ◽  
Exploratory Wells ◽  
The Way

A total of 114 exploratory wells have been drilled in Bass Strait by Esso Australia Ltd. Prior to 1979 discoveries of hydrocarbon accumulations have been developed exclusively by the use of conventional platforms. During 1979 the use of subsea completions was introduced as a development technique. In addition, areal coverage by conventional platform development was extended by the drilling of a very highly deviated directional well.Cobia-2, the first subsea completion in Bass Strait, was brought on production on June 30, 1979. During the installation of the subsea completion two 90 mm flowlines were successfully laid using the reel pipe-laying technique from the back of a workboat. Production of the well has been successfully controlled by one of the few operational electrohydraulic control systems in the world. Numerous pumpdown tool operations have been completed for dewaxing of flowlines. While on production the well has been producing 450 kl per day, flowing to the Mackerel ‘A’ platform.In the early 1970's the location of platforms was determined by using a 45° to 50° angle of deviation limit for directional wells. This limit was gradually extended with each platform until a very significant change was achieved with the Mackerel A-14 well drilled with an average deviation angle of 69°. The significance of following good basic drilling practices was accentuated while attempting to reach a true vertical depth of approximately 2 400 metres by drilling 5 200 metres of directional hole. Production was commenced from this well on November 30, 1979.These two techniques will pave the way for increased recovery in the 1980's, especially from the smaller reservoirs in Bass Strait. Perhaps more importantly, these techniques will have significance in the deeper water areas to which the industry is currently headed.

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