scholarly journals Israel and the Individual in Matthew and Midrash: Reassessing “True Israel”

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 425
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. Schaser
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
New Testament ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church

Since the Holocaust, New Testament scholarship has become increasingly sensitive to issues of Christian anti-Judaism. While many Matthean specialists have acknowledged the problems with polemical interpretations of the Gospel, the idea that Matthew presents Jesus and/or the church is the “true Israel” continues to enjoy broad acceptance. The scholarly conflation of Jesus and Israel recycles the Christian polemic against a comparatively inauthentic or inadequate Judaism. This article argues that Matthew does not present Jesus or his church as the true Israel, and that the Jesus-as-Israel interpretation could be refined by comparing the Gospel with later rabbinic discussion that connects Israel with biblical individuals. Genesis Rabbah 40:6 juxtaposes verses about Abraham and Israel to reveal a comprehensive scriptural relationship between the nation and the patriarch without devaluing either party. The rabbis’ theological thesis is predicated on both similarity and separation between Abraham and his offspring. Insofar as both Matthew and Midrash present similar biblical content and exegesis, a comparative analysis can provide Gospel commentators with a view of the Jesus-Israel paradigm that avoids the Christianization of “true Israel.”

Learning to Pray by Singing

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-121
Author(s):  
Stefan Klöckner
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Gregory The Great ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Christian Perspective ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Canonical Order ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church

Gregorian chants are mostly based on Old Testament texts, predominantly from the Psalms. Decisive for their interpretation in the light of the New Testament are texts of the Church Fathers (Augustine, Gregory the Great, etc.). The texts often do not follow their canonical order in the Bible, but were primarily compiled on the basis of broader associations. Hence, it is not uncommon for new content references to emerge that are committed to a Christian perspective, emotionally and theologically very bold. This article describes an imaginary ‘Gregorian Composition Workshop’: the individual ‘chambers’ include compiling texts, the choice of a suitable mode and melody, as well as the most refined rhythmic differentiations. The final piece, through its unique quality as the ‘sounding word of Holy Scripture’ permits an intensive view of the spirituality of the ninth and tenth centuries, and a realistic understanding of the Psalms as the basis of Christian existence.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Eyal Regev
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Ancient Judaism ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Christian Discourse ◽  
The Church

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the importance of the Temple for the early Christians and the diversity in the attitude toward the Temple found in the New Testament (NT). The Temple is the heart of ancient Judaism, in both an institutional and a symbolic sense. Meanwhile, early Christian discourse about the Temple engages with Judaism or with early Christianity's own Jewishness. This discourse is laden with deep religious sentiments, both positive and negative. Most NT texts allude to the Temple at a time when the physical structure is no longer in existence, and yet the Temple remains significant and even central to the authors of Luke, Hebrews, and Revelation. It is commonly argued that there are at least four ways in which the Temple is superseded in the NT texts: the church is the new Temple; the individual believer is the Temple; the Temple is in heaven; and the Temple is Jesus's body.

scholarly journals Die vraag na die noodsaaklikheid van 'n eietydse belydenis: Nuwe Testamenties en hermeneuties beoordeel

1999 ◽  
Vol 55 (2/3) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M.M. Pelser
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Life Situation ◽  
Community Of Faith ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

The question regarding the need for a contemporary creed: Argued from a New Testament and hermeneutieal perspective. As indicated in the title of this study, what is in essence at issue here is the quesion as to whether there is a need for a creed to be contemporaneous with the day and age the church finds itself in. It is argued that to produce a creed in accordance with current hermeneutieal insights is much more difficult than the way in which the existing creeds were created. It is therefore further argued that, for a creed to junction as it ought to, it should in the first place be the result of an interpretation of the Biblical text(s) on the basis of current hermeneutieal theory and practice, and in the second place be a means for expressing one's faith in a meaningful way in every life situation or faith experience. To this end a creed should be contemporaneous with each and every situation encountered by the individual believer or community of faith.

The “individual” in Johann Friedrich Overbeck’s and Franz Liszt’s Seven Sacraments

2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-356
Author(s):  
Dolores Pesce
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Franz Liszt ◽  
Individualized Treatment ◽  
Sacred Art ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Voice ◽  
Emotional Effects ◽  
The Church

In the preface to his Septem sacramenta (1878–1884), Franz Liszt acknowledged its stimulus — drawings completed in 1862 by the German painter J. F. Overbeck (1789–1869). This essay explores what Liszt likely meant by his and Overbeck’s “diametrically opposed” approaches and speculates on why the composer nonetheless acknowledged the artist’s work. Each man adopted an individualized treatment of the sacraments, neither in line with the Church’s neo-Thomistic philosophy. Whereas the Church insisted on the sanctifying effects of the sacraments’ graces, Overbeck emphasized the sacraments as a means for moral edification, and Liszt expressed their emotional effects on the receiver. Furthermore, Overbeck embedded within his work an overt polemical message in response to the contested position of the pope in the latter half of the nineteenth century. For many in Catholic circles, he went too far. Both works experienced a problematic reception. Yet, despite their works’ reception, both Overbeck and Liszt believed they had contributed to the sacred art of their time. The very individuality of Overbeck’s treatment seems to have stimulated Liszt. True to his generous nature, Liszt, whose individual voice often went unappreciated, publicly recognized an equally individual voice in the service of the Church.

Impact of the divorce experience on the marital and family mindsets

2018 ◽  
pp. 88-96
Author(s):  
Елена Лактюхина ◽  
Elena Laktyukhina ◽  
Георгий Антонов ◽  
Georgy Antonov
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Representative Sampling ◽  
First Marriage ◽  
Active Population ◽  
Volgograd Region ◽  
The Social ◽  
Marriage Stability ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
The Individual

The article presents a comparative analysis of marital and family mindsets of two categories of the demographically active population of modern Russia: (1) individuals that have no experience of a divorce and (2) those who have already experienced one or more official termination of a marriage. The empirical base of the analysis is the data of the author’s questionnaire survey conducted by representative sampling in Volgograd and Volgograd Region in 2015–2016. The analysis was made on the following basic empiric indicators: optimal (from the viewpoint of the respondents) age for the first marriage, frequency of mentioning marital and family statuses as the respondents describe their own social and demographic “portrait”, legitimate causes of a divorce and a number of others. It is found that, in the case of sufficiently strong traditional marital and family mindsets, perception of marital norms is adjusted, if an “abnormal” event (such as a divorce) occurs in the individual’s life course. At the same time, perception of the marriage stability is less variable and does not depend on the social and demographic characteristics of the respondents, including the presence/absence of a marriage termination experience. The “strongest” factor that affects the change of the marital and family mindsets is age. With age (and, consequently, experience accumulation), importance of the majority of main factors capable of preventing the individual from a divorce decreases and, therefore, the risk of such event increases.

Revelation, Tradition, and Inspiration

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald O’Collins, SJ
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Self ◽  
Divine Revelation ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Present Experience ◽  
Living Tradition ◽  
The Church

This chapter spells out the complex interrelationship between the divine self-revelation, the tradition that transmits the prophetic and apostolic experience of that revelation, and the writing of the inspired Scriptures. Primarily, revelation involves the self-disclosure of the previously and mysteriously unknown God. Secondarily, it brings the communication of hitherto unknown truths about God. Revelation is a past, foundational reality (completed with the missions of the Son and Holy Spirit), a present experience, and a future hope. Responding with faith to divine revelation, the Old Testament (prophetic) and then New Testament (apostolic) witnesses initiated the living tradition from which came the inspired Scriptures. Tradition continues to transmit, interpret, and apply the Scriptures in the life of the Church.

The Free Responsible Action of the Individual

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. DeJonge
Keyword(s):  
The Novel ◽  
Extreme Situation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Third Phase ◽  
Responsible Action ◽  
Action Type ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church

If, as Chapter 12 argues, much of Bonhoeffer’s resistance thinking remains stable even as he undertakes the novel conspiratorial resistance, what is new in his resistance thinking in the third phase? What receives new theological elaboration is the resistance activity of the individual, which in the first two phases was overshadowed by the resistance role played by the church. Indeed, as this chapter shows, Bonhoeffer’s conspiratorial activity is associated with what he calls free responsible action (type 6), and this is the action of the individual, not the church, in the exercise of vocation. As such, the conspiratorial activity is most closely related to the previously developed type 1 resistance, which includes individual vocational action in response to state injustice. But the conspiratorial activity differs from type 1 resistance as individual vocational action in the extreme situation.

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