scholarly journals Hope in Exile: In Conversation with Ezekiel

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 476
Author(s):  
Janina M. Hiebel
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Identity Crisis ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Political Structures ◽  
Modern Thinking ◽  
Babylonian Exile

The question of hope in dark times, though topical, is not new. The Babylonian Exile (597/587–539 BCE) is commonly recognised as perhaps the most profound, yet also most fruitful crisis in biblical (Old Testament) times. It involved the total breakdown of all religious and political structures and institutions that previously had provided meaning and protection, yet it led to significant theological progress, laying the foundations for both Judaism and Christianity. Today the metaphor of exile is sometimes used with reference to the present; however, the connection is usually not further explored. This article examines a biblical exilic voice, the book of Ezekiel, which offers an initial prophetic response to the theological, political and identity crisis of the early Babylonian Exile. While resisting both optimism and despair, Ezekiel arrives at an original, if peculiar, imagination of hope, founded solely on theological conviction. The article outlines this process by discussing select texts of the book as examples, and opens it up to conversation with the present. The logic of Ezekiel’s theocentric hope is bound to ultimately remain foreign to modern thinking. However, while it cannot be directly transferred into our times, the article aims to demonstrate that theological reflection on Ezekiel still yields valuable and transferable impulses for thought.

A Review of Terence E. Fretheim's God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-189
Author(s):  
Robert Stallman
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Review Essay ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Relational Theology ◽  
Positive Assessment

AbstractTerence Fretheim's God and World in the Old Testament is a significant contribution to an emerging conversation about the role of creation in biblical theology. This review essay summarizes the nature and scope of Fretheim's work on this topic within the Old Testament. It then offers a positive assessment of Fretheim's care to relate creational and redemptive strands of theological reflection as well as his sensitivity to exegetical and literary features of the texts he has chosen to consider. The essay concludes with three issues I regard as essential for continuing reflection and exploration.

scholarly journals Die doodstraf: ’n teologiese standpunt

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan A Du Rand
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Structural Transformation ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
Crucial Issue ◽  
Cultural Frameworks ◽  
Biblical Texts

The recent process of structural transformation on all levels of society in South Africa urges theological reflection to participate. In this instance the crucial issue of capital punishment is at stake. After a brief survey of viewpoints and arguments concerning the issue, prominent and mostly debated Biblical texts are analysed. Genesis 9:6 and Exodus 21:24, for example are read within their cultural frameworks and theological contexts. The same is done with Matthew 5:21-22; 15:4; 26:52; John 7:53-8:11 and Romans 13:1-7. The conclusion is that Old Testament references to capital punishment are to be understood contextually. A final theological decision rests on the meaning of  the incarnation of Jesus Christ which put man in a new relationship with God but also to each other . That does not mean that punishment has to be is abolished as such, but any punishment has to be executed through the new God given ethos of love, demonstrated in the meaning of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. 

scholarly journals Carlo Martini’s New World Order in Indonesian Context

MELINTAS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-144
Author(s):  
Rafael Mathando Hinganaday
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
New World ◽  
World Order ◽  
New World Order ◽  
Great Role ◽  
Anthony Giddens ◽  
The World ◽  
Political Structures ◽  
Great Wall

Diversity has been an unavoidable reality. People live with other people of different religions, tribes, or races. The falling of old ideological and political structures in the world has played a great role in making this happen. To replace the old ideological and political structures, populism tends to be widely accepted by people who want to erect great wall in order to avoid immigrants. In Indonesia, populism manifests in the ideas and attitudes that alienate others based on religions and ethnic groups. The author introduces the views of Carlo Maria Martini, who, as a Catholic bishop, has promoted the idea of creating a society that supports diversity to be a new world order. Martini based his ideas on a biblical analysis, mainly on the Old Testament books such as Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy. In order to find inspiration of Martini’s views for the context of Indonesia, the author relates them to Anthony Giddens and Raimon Panikkar, and finds how Martini’s ideas can be practised not only by inclusivists and pluralists, but also by exclusivists.

scholarly journals An interdisciplinary perspective on the theology of masculinity

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Rybicki ◽  
Andrzej K. Jastrzębski
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Identity Crisis ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
The Other ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
The Social ◽  
Spiritual Theology ◽  
Feminist Movements

In contemporary academic discourse, there has been a strong tendency to shape theology according to a viewpoint based on the achievements of other sciences, especially those found in philosophy, psychology, sociology and anthropology. This has been particularly illustrated in the issue of masculinity. In this context, a question arises as follows: does theology have something to say to the social sciences? Or, does it only have to submit to them and simply fulfil the role of a commentator? The setting of this study has been the contemporary crisis in understanding masculinity, and the theological reflection that this situation calls for. To address this challenge, we have used a historical-analytical method in which we traced the historical and philosophical underpinnings of the concept of masculinity, with a special focus on modernity, in order to clearly understand the present state of the debate around masculinity.As a result, we have proposed some direction for future theological development, demonstrating that theology may also influence and inspire the other sciences. In conclusion, we have encouraged a deeper collaboration of various sciences that have already developed a reflection on masculinity, whilst avoiding unnecessary biases and simplification; we have sought to establish a better collaboration between feminist movements and theological reflection as well as making use of theology’s potential to inspire other sciences such as psychology, sociology and anthropology in this endeavour.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Using such an interdisciplinary collaboration, theology can supply a more positive and hope-giving picture of the contemporary male human being facing an identity crisis, as is demonstrated predominantly in the social sciences. Special attention to this topic has been given in Spiritual Theology.

scholarly journals Meesternarratiewe, kontranarratiewe en kanonisering - In Perspektief op sommige profetiese geskrifte

1997 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P.B. Breytenbach
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Grand Narrative ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Zion Theology ◽  
Babylonian Exile

Grand narratives, little narratives and canonisation - a perspective on some of the books of the Prophets. The raison d'etre of this study is the problem of normative theological dicta in parts of the Old Testament, which are contradicted in another or even the same book of the Old Testament. In this article canonisation as an ongoing process is investigated from a postmodem perspective which takes contextuality, intertextuality and grand and little narratives into account. The so-called Zion Theology is identified as a grand narrative during the time before and after the Babylonian exile. Books like Jeremiah, Micha, Samuel and Kings, as well as Jonah and Chronicles are referred to in this regard. The research, inter alia, leads to the following result: the normative material of a religious society is interpreted in the light of the prevailing grand narrative. These interpretations are usually added to the normative material. Little narratives, being contradictory to and resisting incorporation into grand narratives, are usually added to the normative material after the grand narrative has been stripped of its hegemony by historic events. This accounts for contradictory theological dicta in the Old Testament. From this follows that the very nature of the canonised material brought together in the Old Testament opposes a Jundamentalistic or orthodox theological approach.

scholarly journals Nadenke oor die kerkbegrip: Enkele perspektiewe op grond van die Deuteronomistiese geskiedenis

1995 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P.B Breytenbach
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Deuteronomistic History ◽  
The Future ◽  
Love Of God

Reflecting on the concept church: Some perspectives from Deutero-nomistic history. This article seeks to explain why and how the Old Testament and Deuteronomistic history in particular are essential in our theological reflection on the concept of church. The main trends in the theology of the Deuteronomistic history are discussed, namely that YHWH is a unique, sovereign and almighty God who elected Israel and made a covenant with them. His steadfast love and preparedness to forgive, as well as his judgement on those who disobey him, serve as an appeal to Israel to honor and obey him in absolute loyalty. The article concludes with the notion that the very existence of the religious community is totally de pendatil on the grace and love of God, and that its members are therefore committed to him and to one another with the prophetic word as their hope for the future.

Psalm 2 In The Context Of Biblical Theology

1990 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Watts
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
History Of ◽  
Royal Ideology ◽  
Psalm 2 ◽  
Religious Nature

AbstractPsalm 2 is an intersection in which a variety of issues in biblical theology meet. The psalm impacts upon our understanding of monotheism in ancient Israel, the religious nature of Judah's royal ideology, the origins of eschatology, and New Testament Christology. Theological reflection on Ps 2 should therefore not only consider the recent exegetical discussions of the text, but also the theological issues raised by the Old Testament context, the New Testament's use of the psalm, and the history of the psalm's interpretation. In what follows, a survey of all these aspects will lay the basis for a theological construal of this biblical text.

A Christian Perspective on Prophetic Prediction

1979 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 240-253
Author(s):  
J. J. M. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Christian Perspective

The prophets of the Old Testament did make predictions, and biblical scholars are paying more attention to that fact. Now, serious theological reflection on what came of the predictions of the prophets is needed.

scholarly journals Gerhard von Rad – ’n honderd jaar

2002 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jurie Le Roux
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Historical Criticism ◽  
Critical Scholarship

Gerhard von Rad – one hundred yearsIn 2001 Old Testament scholars celebrated the birth of Gerhard von Rad’s birth one hundred years ago. As a contribution to these celebrations, this article focuses on Von Rad and his views on history. Von Rad emphasized the importance of historical criticism and he valued the views of Wellhausen and Gunkel. His own approach can be termed “tradition history”. Von Rad used these critical tools to determine the “theological maximum” of the Old Testament. He was interested in Israel’s own presentation of Yahweh’s history with them. In a particular way, Von Rad brought history and theology, critical scholarship en theological reflection together. This extremely important intellectual contribution is elaborated in the ensuing article..

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