scholarly journals “Varii errores qui ab origine mundi emerserunt”. The semantic scope of the term “heresy” in Philastrius’ of Brescia Diversarum hereseon liber

Vox Patrum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 315-325
Author(s):  
Mariusz Szram
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Moral Issues ◽  
Rule Of Faith ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church ◽  
Semantic Scope

The bishop of Brescia, Philastrius, author of the first Latin catalogue of he­resies, written between 380 and 388, presented in his treaty an extremely large number of heterodox movements: 28 within Judaism and 128 in early Christianity. This comes as a result of a wide understanding of the term heresis. For Philastrius this term was synonymous with the term error, recognized as any deviation from the universal truth in the history of the world, inspired by Satan as “the father of lies”, ocurring primarily in Judaism and Christianity. Among the early Christian views defined by the bishop of Brescia as heresy five groups can be distinguished. The first group includes mainly the erroneous views on fundamental theological questions contained in the rule of faith, such as the concept of a creator God and saviour Jesus Christ. The second set of he­resies, closely related with the previous one, contains the erroneous doctrines of anthropology, such as questioning the resurrection of the human body or the view of the materiality of the human soul. The third group includes the views related to the misinterpretation of Scripture, especially exaggerated literal interpretations of the texts of the Old Testament, as well as the cosmological views which do not agree with descriptions contained within the Bible. The fourth group contains the moral issues related to the based on laxism or rigorism way of life, as well as to the attitude of lack of deference to the laws of the Church, but non-threatening the primary truths of the Christian faith. The fifth group of heresies includes the movements defined by the authors of the late patristic period as a schizm, while the term schisma is not at all used by the bishop of Brescia in his work. The semantic scope of the term heresis in Philastrius’ treaty went beyond the noncompliance with the regula fidei. According to the bishop of Brescia each offense – whether in doctrinal teaching or practice of life, as well as with regard to the understanding of the text of Scripture – is a heresy because it offends God and the Church. Therefore, in Philastrius opinion one should not differentiate between superior and minor error, but equally condemn them as attitudes directed against God as the Father of Truth.

The Church of the Reigning Lord

1948 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-73
Author(s):  
R. Stuart Louden
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Pauline Epistles ◽  
History Of ◽  
Four Square ◽  
The Church

We can trace a revival of theology in the Reformed Churches in the last quarter of a century. The new theological interest merits being called a revival of theology, for there has been a fresh and more thorough attention given to certain realities, either ignored or treated with scant notice for a considerable time previously.First among such realities now receiving more of the attention which their relevance and authority deserve, is the Bible, the record of the Word of God. There is an invigorating and convincing quality about theology which is Biblical throughout, being based on the witness of the Scriptures as a whole. The valuable results of careful Biblical scholarship had had an adverse effect on theology in so far as theologians had completely separated the Old Testament from the New in their treatment of Biblical doctrine, or in expanding Christian doctrine, had spoken of the theological teaching of the Synoptic Gospels, the Pauline Epistles, the Johannine writings, and so on, as if there were no such thing as one common New Testament witness. It is being seen anew that the Holy Scriptures contain a complete history of God's saving action. The presence of the complete Bible open at the heart of the Church, recalls each succeeding Christian generation to that one history of God's saving action, to which the Church is the living witness. The New Testament is one, for its Lord is one, and Christian theology must stand four-square on the foundation of its whole teaching.

From Areopagus to Corinth (Acts 17:22–31; I Cor 2:1–5) A Study on the Transition from the Power of Knowledge to the Power of the Spirit

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Pathrapankal
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Mission ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
History Of ◽  
Change Of Perspective ◽  
The Church

AbstractHow are we to understand Christian mission in our time? Is it the obedient response to the commission of his disciples by Jesus after his resurrection (Mt 28:18–20)? What should be the motivating power behind the mission of the church? Is it patterned on the conquest expeditions of the people of Israel narrated in the Old Testament? The long history of the mission of the church, especially as organized by the West, would give us such an impression. This approach has more the nature of exercising power over the other, the power of knowledge and the power of self to win over the other. From the time of the Roman Emperor, Constantine, this had been the pattern in the history of the western church. But times have changed and there is a real shift in the understanding of Christian mission in the context of religious pluralism. The Bible itself seems to support and substantiate this change of perspective of understanding mission as the operation of the power of the Spirit of God. Taking two New Testament writings, the Acts of the Apostles and the first Letter to the Corinthians as paradigms, the author tries to see how Paul first of all attempted to preach the gospel in Athens with the eloquence and wisdom of the Greeks and then changed his approach in Corinth to give centrality to the power of the Spirit of God. Although we may not argue for a historical sequence for this change of attitude in the case of Paul, applying new developments in biblical interpretation, we can still propose it as a trans-textual approach with a message for our time. The Word of God has within itself a dynamism to take on new meanings and new horizons of ideas through its encounter with new contexts in a pluralistic world.

Writing the History of the English Bible in the Early Eighteenth Century

2004 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 268-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Mandelbrote
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Rule Of Faith ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

The letter of Scripture suffering various Interpretations, it is plain that Error may pretend to Scripture; the antient Fathers being likewise dead, and not able to vindicate themselves, their writings may be wrested, and Error may make use of them to back itself; Reason too being bypassed by Interest, Education, Passion, Society, &c…. Tradition only rests secure.The 1680s were a difficult decade for the English Bible, just as they were for so many of the other institutions of the English Protestant establishment. Roman Catholic critics of the Church of England, emboldened by the patronage of James II and his court, engaged in controversy over the rule of faith and the identity of the true Church, much as they had done in the early years of the Reformation or in the 1630s. Nonconformists and freethinkers deployed arguments drawn from Catholic scholarship, in particular from the work of the French Oratorian Richard Simon, and joined in ridicule of the Bible as a sure and sufficient foundation for Christian belief.

scholarly journals JJP Valeton jr as godsdienshistorikus

1985 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Loader
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Israelite Religion ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

JJP Valeton Jnr was one of the main founders of the theological current in nineteenth century Holland called 'the ethical theology'. Some of the most prominent members of this current were, like Valeton, Old Testament specialists. One of the main characteristics of the ethicals was their distinction between scientific knowledge and the knowledge of faith. This enabled them to adopt a critical approach to the Bible while at the same time remaining active in the service of the church. In this article it is shown how Valeton applied this principle in his work on the history of Israelite religion. An attempt is made to demonstrate how his insight was more penetrating than that of even the great Abraham Kuenen.

scholarly journals Grundtvigs mageløse opdagelse. Et bidrag til dens tilblivelseshistorie.

1957 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-50
Author(s):  
Kaj Baagø
Keyword(s):  
Church Of Christ ◽  
Rule Of Faith ◽  
Corpus Christi ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Historical Argument ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Feature ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Church

Grundtvig s “Matchless Discovery” (a contribution to the history of its origin). By Kai Baagø. Grundtvig’s “matchless discovery” in 1825 that the faith of the Church as expressed in the Apostolic Creed existed before the Bible, and that we find in it the unshakable foundation on which we can build when the question is “What is true Christianity?” — this discovery was not unconnected with some ideas concerning Church policy and theology which came strongly to the fore among some young theologians in the winter and spring of 1825. 1) During this winter a young clergyman, Jørgen Thisted, began to make a violent attack particulary against the rationalistic Professor C. F. Hornemann, and it was precisely the Creeds which he used as his weapon; Hornemann’s exegesis of the New Testament was not in accordance with the Apostolic Creed, “inter alia”. Thisted was powerfully supported by a couple of young and learned theologians who had just returned from Germany: J. A. L. Holm and A . G. Rudelbach, who had been influenced especially by the Professors Tholuck and Neander in Berlin. During the same winter Rudelbach lectured at the University on the Creeds, and in their new periodical, “Theologisk Maanedsskrift” (“Theological Monthly”), of which Grundtvig was co-editor, Holm attacked Hornemann with the same weapons as Thisted. Undoubtedly these happenings drew Grundtvig’s attention to the significance of the Creeds in the fight against the rationalists. 2) Grundtvig also learnt something in this circle with reference to the question concerning the relation between the Bible and the Church. Rudelbach brought home from Germany the Lutheran Scriptural principle, which he stressed strongly in his writings, namely, that the right interpreting of the Scriptures can only be done by believers, that is, in the Church. It was precisely this view which Grundtvig put forward in “Kirkens Gienmæle” (“The Church’s Reply”) in the autumn of 1825. The Bible is indeed written for the Church (“menighed”), which was a fact before the Bible. Therefore theology in its interpretation must keep within the bounds which the Church’s confession of faith marks out. 3) Until 1825 Grundtvig had used the word “Kirke” (“church”) of the clergy and “menighed” (“congregation”) of the laity. Together with his “discovery” a new conception of the Church appears: the Church (“Kirke” as “corpus Christi”, the Church (“menighed”) gathered round the sacraments of Baptism and Communion, the Church (“menighed”) as the living chain of professing Christians. Here, too, he may have learnt much from his coloborator in the “Theologisk Maanedsskrift”, Rudelbach, who in his sermons and articles during 1824 and 1825 strongly stressed the conception of the Church as the Church of Christ, militant in this world, triumphant in the next, the Church of Christ, which exists wherever He feeds those who believe on Him with His own flesh and blood. 4) But the decisively new feature in Grundtvig’s “discovery” appears in the use which he made of the Apostolic Creed in his fight against the rationalists. Like the Early Church in its contest with the Gnostics, so, too, Grundtvig used “the historical argument” : that in the rule of faith (which for Grundtvig is the same as the confession of faith — the Creed) the right expression of true Christianity is to be found. He himself wrote, in a review of Neander’s “Antignosticus” which appeared in the spring of 1825, that Marheinicke and Neander in Germany brought this truth forth before him. There is therefore reason to believe that a study of Marheinicke’s “System des Catholicismus” (1810) and Neander’s book on Tertullian (“Antignostikus” 1825) led him to his new outlook. In both these works we also find a view concerning the Apostolic Creed, especially in its relation to the Scriptures,which is entirely parallel to that of Grundtvig.

scholarly journals Formation of the early Church (beginning from the appointment of the first deacons to the end of the apostolic period)

2015 ◽  
pp. 168-220
Author(s):  
Алексей Иванович Сидоров
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Church History ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

Публикация представляет собой продолжение очерка по истории становления первохристианской Церкви. Исследование основано на свидетельствах первоисточников и привлечении широкого спектра мнений отечественных и зарубежных специалистов по истории Древней Церкви. События проповеднической деятельности апостола Павла, возникновение разногласий в первохристианской общине и последовавший за ними Апостольской Собор, который утвердил необязательность соблюдения ветхозаветных постановлений, рассматриваются в контексте появления в среде первых христиан так называемых «эллинистов». Последние вывели проповедь Евангелия за пределы Палестины, а апостол Павел и его сподвижники основали христианские Церкви во многих частях «ойкумены». Кроме того, повествуется о кончине святого Иакова Праведного и судьбе Иерусалимской Церкви, деятельности апостола Петра и Иоанна, как и прочих апостолов, вплоть до завершения апостольского периода в истории древней Церкви. This publication is a continuation of the essay on the history of the formation of the early Christian Church, based on first-hand evidence and engaging a wide range of views of domestic and foreign researchers of early Church history. Both the results of Paul’s preaching, the emergence of differences among early Christians, and the subsequent Apostolic Council, which approved some sort of compliance with the regulations of the Old Testament, are all considered in the context of the emergence among early Christians of the so-called «Hellenists», who brought the preaching of the Gospel beyond Palestine, while Paul and his associates founded Christian communities in many parts of the «Oecumene». Moreover, the article tells the story of the death of St. James the Just, and the fate of the Church of Jerusalem. It describes the activities of Apostle Peter and John, as well as the other apostles, up until the end of the apostolic period in the history of the ancient Church.

Canons to the Left of Him: Brevard Childs, his Critics, and the Future of Old Testament Theology

1997 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Provan
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Probable Origin ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

It is well known that the seeds from which the modern discipline of OT theology grew are already found in 17th and 18th century discussion of the relationship between Bible and Church, which tended to drive a wedge between the two, regarding canon in historical rather than theological terms; stressing the difference between what is transient and particular in the Bible and what is universal and of abiding significance; and placing the task of deciding which is which upon the shoulders of the individual reader rather than upon the church. Free investigation of the Bible, unfettered by church tradition and theology, was to be the way ahead. OT theology finds its roots more particularly in the 18th century discussion of the nature of and the relationship between Biblical Theology and Dogmatic Theology, and in particular in Gabler's classic theoreticalstatementof their nature and relationship. The first book which may strictly be called an OT theology appeared in 1796: an historical discussion of the ideas to be found in the OT, with an emphasis on their probable origin and the stages through which Hebrew religious thought had passed, compared and contrasted with the beliefs of other ancient peoples, and evaluated from the point of view of rationalistic religion. Here we find the unreserved acceptance of Gabler's principle that OT theology must in the first instance be a descriptive and historical discipline, freed from dogmatic constraints and resistant to the premature merging of OT and NT — a principle which in the succeeding century was accepted by writers across the whole theological spectrum, including those of orthodox and conservative inclination.

scholarly journals Sejarah Penafsiran Ajaran Paulus Mengenai Pembenaran Oleh Iman

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-175
Author(s):  
Warseto Freddy Sihombing
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The World ◽  
Justification By Faith ◽  
History Of ◽  
To Come ◽  
Wrath Of God ◽  
The Church

AbstractNo one can be justified before God for doing good deeds. No matter how good a man is, if he does not believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, he will not be saved from the wrath of God to come. There is no human being who is right before God, and no sinful man can save himself in any way. The only way out is in the way that God has given to the problem of all sinners, by sending Jesus Christ to the world to die for sinners. "And for this he came, so that every man believed in him, who was sent by God" (John 6:29). The Bible teaches that salvation is only obtained because of faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the object of that faith. This salvation is known as the statement "Justified by faith. Paul explained this teaching in each of his writings. This teaching of justification by faith has been repeatedly denied by some people who disagree with Paul's opinion. The history of the church from the early centuries to the present has proven the variety of understandings that have emerged from this teaching, but one important thing is that sinful humans are justified by their faith in Jesus Christ before God.Keywords: Paul;history; justified by faith.AbstrakTidak ada seorang pun yang dapat dibenarkan di hadapan Allah karena telah melakukan perbuatan baik. Sebaik apa pun manusia, jika dia tidak percaya kepada Yesus Kristus, Anak Allah maka ia tidak akan selamat dari murka Allah yang akan datang. Tidak ada seorang pun manusia yang benar di hadapan Allah, dan tidak ada seorang manusia berdosa yang dapat menyelematkan dirinya sendiri dengan cara apa pun. Satu-satunya jalan keluar adalah dengan cara yang Allah telah berikan untuk masalah semua orang berdosa, yaitu dengan mengutus Yesus Kristus ke dunia untuk mati bagi orang berdosa. “Dan untuk itulah Dia datang, yaitu supaya setiap orang percaya kepada Dia, yang telah diutus oleh Allah” (Yohanes 6:29). Alkitab mengajarkan bahwa keselamatan hanya diperoleh karena iman kepada Yesus Kristus. Yesus Kristus adalah obyek iman tersebut. Keselamatan ini dikenal dengan pernyataan “Dibenarkan karena iman. Paulus menjelaskan ajaran ini dalam setiap tulisannya. Ajaran pembenaran oleh iman ini telah berulang kali disangkal oleh beberap orang yang tidak setuju dengan pendapat Paulus. Sejarah gereja mulai dari abad permulaan sampai pada masa sekarang ini telah membuktikan beragamnya pemahaman yang muncul terhadap ajaran ini, namun satu hal yang terpenting adalah bahwa manusia berdosa dibenarkan oleh iman mereka kepada Yesus Kristus di hadapan Allah.Kata Kunci: Paulus; sejarah; iman; dibenarkan oleh iman.

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