scholarly journals Does John 17:11b, 21−23 refer to church unity?

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gert J. Malan

In ecumenical circles, John 17:11b, 21–23 has been understood as Jesus’ prayer for church unity, be it confessional or structural. This article questioned such readings and conclusions from historical, literary and sosio-cultural viewpoints. The Fourth Gospel’s language is identified as ’antilanguage’ typical of an ’antisociety’, like that of the Hermetic, Mandean and Qumran sects. Such a society is a separate entity within society at large, but opposes it. Read as a text of an antisociety, John 17:11b, 21–23 legitimises the unity of the separatist Johannine community, which could have comprised several such communities. This community opposed the Judean religion, Gnosticism, the followers of John the Baptist and three major groups in early Christianity. As text from the canon, this Johannine text legitimates tolerance of diversity rather than the confessional or structural unity of the church.

2017 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
Andrew-John Bethke

This essay analyzes the theological changes which are reflected in successive revisions of Southern Africa's Anglican liturgy from 1900 to 1989. The following liturgies are examined: A Book of Common Prayer—South Africa (1954); Proposals for the Revision of the Rites of Baptism and Confirmation (1967); the Church Unity Commission's ecumenical liturgies in the 1970s; Birth and Growth in Christ (1984); and An Anglican Prayer Book 1989. The article also includes valuable source material which influenced the revised liturgies, including two official reports on the theology of baptism and confirmation. The author finds that theological uncertainty surrounding the underpinning of current rites brings into question whether full church membership is actually granted during baptism.


Archaeologia ◽  
1940 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 271-279
Author(s):  
C. J. P. Cave
Keyword(s):  

The majority of the roof bosses in Peterborough Cathedral are on the wooden roof of the quire, but there are a few others which have points of considerable interest.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-114
Author(s):  
Edison R.L. Tinambunan

The development of Christian morality takes a long journey which was started when the Church was born. There were many typical moral cases faced by the Church at each period of time. From one period to another one, moralists came out to solve the cases by giving the right assessment according to the Church’s way of life. A period which was well-known in the journey of Christian morality is the period of the Fathers of the Church. The principle of Christian morality is love which is based on the Gospel and the commandment of Jesus Christ. This was documented in Didache which was used by the Christians at that time. It was the principal moral document of early Christianity. In the development, it was then added by other principals: freedom and justice which were applied in the Christian life. The three principals (love, freedom and justice) formed Christian attitude in respecting other Christians and all people which is applied perfectly by Augustine. The following development of Christian morality was the development of the practice and the profound of what had been laid down before by the Fathers of the Church, with addition of the figure which is excelling in the life as Job, who had been interpreted by Gregory the Great. This writing is ended at this point, because the research is limited from the beginning up to the first development of Christian morality during the period of the Fathers of the Church.


2011 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-158
Author(s):  
Milutin Tadic ◽  
Aleksandar Petrovic

The subject of the paper is an exact analysis of the orientation of the Serbian monastery churches: the Church of the Virgin Mary (13th century), St. Nicholas' Church (13th century), and an early Christian church (6th century). The paper determines the azimuth of parallel axes in churches, and then the aberrations of those axes from the equinoctial east are interpreted. Under assumption that the axes were directed towards the rising sun, it was surmised that the early Christian church's patron saint could be St. John the Baptist, that the Church of the Virgin Mary was founded on Annunciation day to which it is dedicated, and that St. Nicholas' Church is oriented in accordance with the rule (?toward the sunrise?) even though its axis deviates from the equinoctial east by 41? degrees.


2021 ◽  
pp. 39-48
Author(s):  
David Lloyd Dusenbury

It is strange that historians of early Christianity and have not made more of this, but in the years before his death Rome’s last pagan emperor, Maximin Daia (or Daza), tried to halt Constantine’s Christian revolution by promulgating a text entitled Memoirs of Pilate. One of the last tactical moves of Rome’s last pagan emperor, therefore, centered on the figure of Pilate. What is more, Daia’s Memoirs of Pilate seem to have dramatized the Roman’s innocence. In a broad sense, we could say that the last political doctrine promulgated by Rome’s last pagan emperor was—the innocence of Pontius Pilate. It is Pilate’s name which seems to preside, in Daia’s eastern territories, during Rome’s final concerted persecution of the church. This chapter shows what we know about Daia’s Memoirs of Pilate, and why they are of world-historical significance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph W. Stenschke

This article is an exercise in combining the exegesis, hermeneutical issues and application of 1 Timothy 2:12 in ecclesial contexts where this prohibition is still taken seriously as a Pauline injunction or, at least, as part of the canon of the Church. It surveys representative proposals in New Testament studies of dealing with this least compromising assertion regarding the teaching of women in early Christianity. It discusses the hermeneutical issues involved in exegesis and application and how one should relate this prohibition to other New Testament references to women and their role in the early Christian communities. In closing, the article discusses whether and how this assertion can still be relevant in contemporary contexts when and where women have a very different role in society and church.


1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Andrew Hamilton

Cyprian of Carthage is often mentioned in discussions of church unity and at times the impression is that he simply counsels both the avoidance of formal schism and passive obedience to the local bishop. Yet he is a more complex figure than this. His life and writing suggest that when we reflect on the unity of the church we should ask first in quite concrete terms what is demanded by the following of Jesus Christ and the living of the Gospel. When we have identified the contemporary shape of living the Gospel, we need then to ask how we might express it in a harmonious way. Unity with the bishop will be one part of this public expression of a demanding discipleship. The article considers what might be some other parts of this public expression in the Australian situation.


1987 ◽  
Vol 43 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 72-85
Author(s):  
B. J. Engelbrecht

A new ecumenical confession of faithRecently theologians, church leaders and even churches from all over the world expressed the desirability of a new confession of faith, preferably an ecumenical confession. The Reformed Church in America proposed a new confession with their Song of Hope. They still maintain large parts of their 16th century reformed confessions but the following motives played a role in their desire for a new confession:• The necessity to correct the existing, 'old' confessions in the light of modem scientific Bible-research, e g on the doctrine of predestination.• The need for additional confession-pronouncements on modern-day issues and experiences, unknown to the church in the 16th century.• The desirability of a new form (language) to communicate with modem man.• The sensitivity of the churches of today towards church-unity and the trends living in the oikouménè, e g their social awareness.We then proceed to treat the motives why a reformed Church überhaupt needs and forms a confession. In the light of these motives the question arises whether our Church really needs a new confession today; is the exposition of the existing confessions in theology, catechesis, preaching and modem church-hymns not enough to translate and communicate the existing confessions to modem man and to address modern-day issues?


2003 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loveday Alexander

It is no coincidence that the church in Luke's narrative bore the nickname “The Way.” The Evangelist's “mental map” of the early church's development is more fluid and open than the hierarchical model of later centuries.


2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-274
Author(s):  
Christoph W. Stenschke

In Romans does Paul refer on several occasions to Christians other than the addressees. This essay gathers these references and examines their function in the overall argument of the letter. It argues that these references to individual Christians, the Christians of whole regions or even the wider Christian community, play an important role for the self-representation of Paul. In addition, they serve to place the Roman audience in the wider community of faith in which Paul claims to be well rooted and accepted. Thus he deserves full support for his further mission in the West. His upcoming visit to them and his request for their future support is far from a mere private matter. Furthermore, these references contribute to our understanding of Paul’s understanding of the nature of the church and to understanding the translocal nature of early Christianity.


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