scholarly journals Sabbath Observance in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Kinyua Njeru ◽  
John Kiboi
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Seventh Day Adventist ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Crucial Question ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Church

The study of the nature of the church1 is very significant to the body of Christ. Often, when this subject is introduced, Christians tend to ask: which is the true church and how can it be identified? Most churches claim to be the only ‘true church’ based on their teachings and this has continued to divide the body of Christ across the centuries. The Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church has maintained the physical observance of the Sabbath to be one of the marks2 of identifying the ‘true church,’ yet the church fathers described the church as One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. The SDA uses the Sabbath worship as a mark of identifying a ‘true church’ alongside the four attributes; and on the other hand, those churches that do not worship on Saturday regards the SDA’s emphasis of worshipping on Saturday as ‘worshipping the day’ rather than the almighty God. Besides this, misunderstandings have been encountered between the SDA and the so-called Sunday churches concerning the issue of what constitutes the true Sabbath. The study employs the dialogical-ecclesiological design in its bid to understand the contestations between the SDA and the ‘Sunday churches’ and in its building on the premise that dialogue is critical in our endeavor to find a new understanding and re-interpretation of the Sabbath, as one of the marks of a true church. The crucial question remains: can the observance of physical Sabbath be considered as one of the key marks of knowing the ‘true Church’?

scholarly journals Incarnation, Posthumanism and Performative Anthropology: The Body of Technology and the Body of Christ

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S Burdett
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Intelligent Machines ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Church

Abstract This essay argues that a Christian incarnational response to posthumanism must recognize that what is at stake isn't just whether belief systems align. It seeks to relocate the interaction between the church and posthumanism to how the practices of posthumanism and Christianity perform the bodies, affections and dispositions of each. Posthuman practices seeks to habituate: (1) A preference for informational patterns over material instantiation; (2) that consciousness and the self are extended and displaced rather than discrete and localized; (3) that the body is merely a tool, the original prosthesis we learn to manipulate and (4) that human life is organized such that it is seamless with intelligent machines. The Christian performance of embodied life, on the other hand, has Christ as template and, in the Eucharist, Christians are marked by offering, sacrifice and celebration in a community that affirms the integrity of our common incarnate life.

scholarly journals Towards a Kenotic Identity Politics: Migration, Transformation and the Eucharist

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 380
Author(s):  
Matthew John Paul Tan
Keyword(s):  
Identity Politics ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Eucharistic Theology ◽  
Critical Tradition ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Massive Influx ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
The One

This paper will focus on one element of the pushback against the massive influx of immigrants taken in for humanitarian purposes, namely, an identity-based chauvinism which uses identity as the point of resistance to the perceived dilution of that identity, brought about by the transformation of culture induced by the incorporation of a foreign other. The solution to this perceived dilution is a simultaneous defence of that culture and a demand for a conformity to it. While those in the critical tradition have encouraged a counter-position of revolutionary transformation by the other through ethics, dialogue, or the multitude, such a transformation is arguably impeded by what is ultimately a repetition of the metaphysics of conformity. Drawing on the personalism of Emmanuel Mounier and the Eucharistic theology of Creston Davis and Aaron Riches, this paper submits an alternative identity politics position that completes the revolutionary impulse. Identity here is not the flashpoint of a self-serving conflict, but the launch-point of politics of self-emptying, whose hallmarks include, on the one hand, a never-ending reception of transformation by the other, and on the other hand, an anchoring in the Body of Christ that is at once ever-changing and never-changing.

Patronage from the Privy Chamber: Sir Anthony Denny and Religious Reform

1988 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia C. Swensen
Keyword(s):  
Effective Means ◽  
The Other ◽  
Henry Viii ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Religious Reform ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Church ◽  
Individual Interpretation

Among the accomplished humanists who flourished in the court of Henry VIII, there were a number devoted to the promotion of the “New Faith,” which, with its emphasis on classical learning and rereading of the church fathers, also called into question certain theological truths of Rome as well as the authority of the pope. The most immediate and effective means for this promotion were the various types of patronage readily available to holders of government and household office, both high and low. There is a certain irony here as Henry had, after his split with Rome, declared that there would be no doctrinal innovation, simply that the head of the English church would be the English king rather than the pope at Rome. Yet members of his own court whose actions should have supported and carried out his expressed intentions were those who advanced the very doctrinal innovations he professed to deplore. The reason for this incongruity may be found at least in part in the actions of the king rather than in his words, as he did not develop and follow through with any consistent religious program. As a result, the signals sent to court members were at best mixed and open to individual interpretation. A remarkable latitude in personal policies resulted as members of both Protestant and Catholic factions jockeyed for power. Conservatives, believing they supported the royal wishes, opposed vigorously any further innovation in religious affairs. On the other hand, courtiers who were theologically curious quite easily could believe that, in patronizing sometimes extreme reformers, they were merely carrying out Henry's real but not clearly stated intentions.

Ecclesiology

2019 ◽  
pp. 224-240
Author(s):  
Tom Greggs
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Corporate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Church

This chapter examines Bonhoeffer’s account of the church and advocates that throughout Bonhoeffer’s corpus there remains a desire to explicate the reality of the church in terms of its structural being with and for the other. This structure exists both internally in terms of its members’ relation to each other, and externally as the church relates as a corporate body to the world. The chapter considers Bonhoeffer’s ecclesiological method; the visibility of the church; vicarious representation; the church as the body of Christ; the agency of the Holy Spirit; preaching, the sacraments, and the offices of the church; and the question of the church in a religionless age.

scholarly journals Arminius, Arminian, dan Kaum Injili: Sebuah Klarifikasi

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-32
Author(s):  
Marlon Lahope
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
False Accusations ◽  
Determinant Factor

Tulisan ini akan memberikan klarifikasi terhadap tuduhan-tuduhan palsu yang sering dilontarkan sebagian besar kaum Calvinis kepada kaum Arminian dan kemudian mendiskusikan alasan utama kaum Arminian menolak ajaran Calvinisme.  Klarifikasi ini akan difokuskan pada dua tuduhan yang sering menjadi kartu favorit, yakni Arminianisme menolak konsep kerusakan total dan mengajarkan manusia sebagai penentu keselamatannya.  Jawaban terhadap tuduhan ini sederhana, kedua tuduhan ini adalah hasil dari pembacaan yang keliru atau representasi yang cacat terhadap teologi Arminian.  Setelah itu, penulis akan mendiskusikan alasan utama penolakan kaum Arminian terhadap ajaran Calvinisme, yakni konsep kedaulatan Allah Calvinisme membawa logika kepada konsekuensi yang sulit dihindari bahwa Allah adalah sumber dari segala dosa.  Di sisi yang lain, tulisan ini tidak dimaksudkan untuk melebarkan jurang pemisah dalam tubuh kaum Injili.  Sebaliknya, kaum Injili harus melihat perbedaan sebagai keragaman dalam tubuh Kristus daripada menjadikannya sebagai pemicu keterpecahan.  Di tengah perbedaan yang ada, injil haruslah menjadi prioritas utama dan bukan perdebatan-perdebatan minor yang akhirnya hanya menghambat pemberitaan injil Yesus Kristus.      Kata-kata Kunci:  Arminian(isme), Calvinis(isme), Kerusakan Total, Keselamatan karena Anugerah, Kedaulatan Allah, Injili    English : This paper will provide clarification of the false accusations that most Calvinists often make to the Arminians and then discuss the main reasons Arminians reject the teachings of Calvinism. This clarification will focus on two accusations that are often favorite cards, namely Arminianism rejects the concept of total depravity and teaches that human as a determinant factor of their salvation. The answer to these accusations is simple, these two accusations are the result of a false reading or defective representation of Arminian theology. After that, the author will discuss the main reason why the Arminians reject the teachings of Calvinism, namely the concept of God's sovereignty in Calvinism brings logic to the inevitable consequences that God is the source of all sins. On the other hand, this paper is not intended to widen the gap in the body of the evangelical. Conversely, evangelicals must see the differences as diversity in the body of Christ rather than making it a trigger for division. In the midst of differences, the gospel must be a top priority and not minor debates which ultimately only hinder the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Keywords: Arminian(ism), Calvinis(m), Total Depravity, Salvation by Grace, Sovereignty of God, Evangelical

scholarly journals Studi Apologetika Tentang Pandangan Rasul Paulus Terhadap Kepemimpinan Wanita Di Gereja

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
Jessica Elizabeth Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Church Leadership ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Timothy 2 ◽  
Women In Church Leadership ◽  
Women's Role ◽  
The Church

Paul’s theological view on women in church leadership is often misinterpreted if not misunderstood. It is true that at first glance, his prohibitions and policies for women sound degrading the women’s role. Yet, the application of the appropriate hermeneutical approach to his writings such as in 1 Corinths 11:2-16, 1 Corinths 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:9-14 will show that Paul is never against women leading the church. This writing hopes to expand the church’s perspective on women’s leadership so that the church can provide women with the same opportunity as for the men in building up the body of Christ. On the other hand, it hopes to empower more women to take on leadership roles in the church without hesitation. [Pandangan teologis Rasul Paulus terhadap kepemimpinan wanita di gereja seringkali diterjemahkan dengan keliru atau disalah pahami. Jika dilihat secara sekilas, larangan dan aturan yang ia berikan kepada wanita terdengar merendahkan mereka. Namun, penerapan pendekatan hermeneutika yang sesuai dengan tulisan-tulisannya seperti dalam 1 Korintus 11:2-16, 1 Korintus 14:34-35 dan 1 Timotius 2:9-14 akan menunjukkan bahwa Rasul Paulus tidak pernah menentang wanita untuk memegang jabatan kepemimpinan di gereja. Tulisan ini diharapkan dapat memperluas perspektif gereja tentang kepemimpinan wanita sehingga wanita dapat memiliki kesempatan yang sama layaknya pria dalam membangun tubuh Kristus. Di sisi lain, gereja juga diharapkan untuk dapat memberdayakan lebih banyak lagi wanita untuk mengambil peran dalam kepemimpinan gereja tanpa ragu.] 

Ratramn’s Eucharistic Doctrine and its Influence in Sixteenth-Century England

1965 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 54-77
Author(s):  
J. N. Bakhuizen Van Den Brink
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Early Middle Ages ◽  
Reliable Interpretation ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

In the two ninth-century treatises on the Eucharist written by Paschasius Radbertus and Ratramnus two opinions are expressed which seem to be in complete contradiction with each other. Both, however, are founded in the liturgy of the Church and spring from the same orthodox root. Their doctrines, therefore, do not differ from each other in every detail of the argumentation. The one may be characterised as the realistic-metabolic doctrine, the other as the symbolic doctrine. J. R. Geiselmann in his penetrating studies of the eucharistic doctrine in the early Middle Ages prefers to distinguish between three tendencies: (1) the metabolism of St Ambrose and the Gallican liturgies; (2) the realism of the Roman liturgy; (3) the dynamism of St Augustine’s more spiritual doctrine. The most diverse answers were inspired by closer inquiries into the realisation of the sacrament, i.e. the question firstly how the conversion of the elements should be understood and, secondly, how the relation should be seen between the consecrated elements and the body of Christ ascended to heaven. In these answers the terminology used is not always the same, so that a reliable interpretation offers great difficulties.

INTERTEXTUALITY AS IRONY: HERACLES IN EPIC AND IN SOPHOCLES

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-59
Author(s):  
VAYOS LIAPIS
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
The Other ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Roman Literature ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Church

Heracles' image in antiquity is notoriously kaleidoscopic. Comedy represented him as a gluttonous buffoon, and myth made no secret of the brutal violence of many of his exploits. On the other hand, Pindar exalts him as a superlative figure who enforced the nomos of the gods, while Prodicus in a famous myth makes Heracles a supreme example of commendable conduct, a youth who chooses the path of Virtue over the path of Vice out of his own free will. This image of a moralized Heracles soon took root in the Greek imagination, and a whole host of Greek thinkers (Isocrates, Antisthenes, Diogenes the Cynic, and Plutarch, to name but a few) found in him a perfectly malleable exemplum for their various courses in moral edification. After undergoing a large number of transformations in Roman literature and the Church Fathers, Heracles resurfaces unscathed in the early Renaissance, when we find him again as an already established exemplum virtutis, now a man of letters, now a Christian. It would appear that, despite his multifarious metamorphoses, Heracles remained throughout the centuries essentially what he had been since Prodicus' day: an exemplary figure who undertook extreme toils and gained supreme recompense.

Performing Christ: The Theological Vocation of Lay People

Ecclesiology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Ward
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Lay People ◽  
Secular Institutions ◽  
The Church

The development of secular institutions has led to the widespread assumption, even among Christians, that the Church is itself one more institution. There is to this a corresponding privatisation of piety and a depoliticization of the church and of the theologian. The church, however, is not primarily an institution. It is first of all the primordial fellowship of the body of Christ. Seen this way, a renewed emphasis is placed on the full distribution of ministries, in which every lay member bears a part. The church is ‘made to appear’ through the exercise of these roles within the body of Christ. This ‘labour’ is nothing less than the performance of Christ within the other social bodies to which Christians belong. This performance makes every Christian a theologian. The lay Christian is particularly well placed to exemplify a theology that is worked out in action and behaviour as well as words.

scholarly journals Between tradition and renewal: Some considerations about the use of tradition in reformed theology

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem Van Vlastuin
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Christian View ◽  
The One ◽  
Fundamental Unity ◽  
The Church ◽  
Methodological Reflection

In the theology and practice of the Christian church a tension between tradition and renewal exists. This essay focuses on this tension to provide a first step of methodological reflection to deal with it. Firstly, this tension is illustrated from the reformed perspective of sola scriptura that led to criticism of the tradition on the one hand, whilst understanding the reformed movement as part of the tradition on the other hand. A danger of unqualified sola scriptura is subjectivity. Subsequently, the importance of tradition is elaborated from the perspective of the church as the body of Christ across all ages. This implies that Christians should study and love the traditional theology because of the fundamental unity of the church that transcends cultural diversity. Rejecting tradition will cut the church from its historical and spiritual roots. Thirdly, this raises the question whether the church is imprisoned by tradition, as well as the problem of the relation between tradition and renewal. In response, it is argued that the doctrine of incarnation guarantees openness to history. With the help of the philosophical and Christian view on structural contingency, the belief that tradition is principally open to renewal is defended. Some examples are given as illustrations of how classic theological concepts can be reframed in our postmodern context. The last part of this essay concludes with the insight of Cyprian that only the conveyed tradition can be renewed, implying that renewal is in essence not a new theology, but a new application of apostolic theology.Hierdie artikel fokus op die spanning tussen tradisie en vernuwing in die praktyk van die Christelike kerk. Eerstens word die probleem vanuit die reformatoriese perspektief van die sola scriptura geïllustreer, wat aan die een kant tot kritiek op die tradisie gelei het, maar terselfdertyd word die reformatoriese beweging as deel van die tradisie verstaan. Die gevaar van ’n ongekwalifiseerde handhawing van die solascriptura-oortuiging is subjektiwiteit. Vervolgens word die belangrikheid van die tradisie uitgebrei vanuit die perspektief van die kerk as liggaam van Christus oor alle eeue. Dit impliseer dat Christene tradisionele teologie behoort te bestudeer, omdat die fundamentele eenheid van die kerk kulturele diversiteit oorkom. Die verwerping van die tradisie sal gevolglik die kerk van sy geestelike wortels afsny. Derdens bring dit die vraag na vore of die kerk deur tradisie gevange gehou word. In hierdie verband wys die artikel daarop dat die leer van die inkarnasie openheid ten opsigte van die geskiedenis waarborg. Met behulp van die Christelike siening van strukturele gebeurlikheid, word die oortuiging dat die tradisie prinsipieel vir vernuwing oop is, verdedig. ’n Paar voorbeelde word gegee om te illustreer hoe klassieke teologiese konsepte in ons postmoderne tyd benut kan word. Die artikel sluit af met ’n verwysing na die insig van Siprianus, naamlik dat net die oorgelewerde tradisie vernuwe kan word. Dit impliseer dat vernuwing essensieel nie ’n nuwe teologie is nie, maar ’n nuwe toepassing van die klassieke teologie.

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