scholarly journals Parallelisms and revelatory concepts of the Johannine Prologue in Greco-Roman context

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benno Zuiddam

This article builds on the increasing recognition of divine communication and God’s plan as a central concept in the prologue to the Fourth gospel. A philological analysis reveals parallel structures with an emphasis on divine communication in which the Logos takes a central part. These should be understood within the context of this gospel, but have their roots in the Old Testament. The Septuagint offers parallel concepts, particularly in its wisdom literature. Apart from these derivative parallels, the revelatory concepts and terminology involved in John 1:1–18, also find functional parallels in the historical environment of the fourth gospel. They share similarities with the role of Apollo Phoebus in the traditionally assigned geographical context of the region of Ephesus in Asia Minor. This functional parallelism served the reception of John’s biblical message in a Greco-Roman cultural setting.Keywords: John's Gospel; Apollo Phoebus; Logos; Revelation; Ephesus

2006 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 493-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Harrison

Readers of the New Testament could be excused for thinking that there is little consistency in the manner in which miracles are represented in the Gospels. Those events typically identified as miracles are variously described as “signs” (semeia), “wonders” (terata), “mighty works” (dunameis), and, on occasion, simply “works” (erga). The absence of a distinct terminology for the miraculous suggests that the authors of the Gospels were not working with a formal conception of “miracle”—at least not in that Humean sense of a “contravention of the laws of nature,” familiar to modern readers. Neither is there a consistent position on the evidentiary role of these events. In the synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—Jesus performs miracles on account of the faith of his audience. In John's Gospel, however, it is the performance of miracles that elicits faith. Even in the fourth Gospel, moreover, the role of miracles as signs of Christ's divinity is not straightforward. Thus those who demand a miracle are castigated: “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” Finally, signs and wonders do not provide unambiguous evidence of the sanctity of the miracle worker or of the truth of their teachings. Accordingly, the faithful were warned (in the synoptic Gospels at least) that “false Christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders [in order] to deceive.”


Augustinus ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-152
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Grabau ◽  

Augustine of Hippo was active in the period leading up to conciliar definitions of Christology, yet he displays remarkably distinct preferences in his treatment of Christ. Rather than repurposing his work to discover antecedent traces of the Chalcedonian definition –or the pervading influence of Nicene faith–one must remain open to Augustine’s own Christological method. For, in fact, as much as he held to a firm belief in the objective work of Christ and its proper role in the divine plan for human salvation, Augustine maintains a certain approach to biblical exegesis that reinvents our notions of Christology to include, primarily, exegetical praxis. A valuable example of this practice appears in the early ‘anti-Donatist’ homilies on John, in particular in the 9th and 15th where Augustine reads Christ into the whole of Scripture, beginning with Gen. 2:24-5. In so doing, the bishop of Hippo builds upon essentially Pauline interpretative strategies, even in his reading of the Fourth Gospel. The present contribution aims to identify those Pauline elements, chiefly among them the role of Eph. 5:31-2 and Rom. 5:14, the latter of which presents Adam as ‘forma futuri’ – that is, a prophet of Christ. In his reading of John 2 on the Wedding at Cana (homily 9) and John 4 (homily 15), Augustine develops a hermeneutic of recognising Christological prophecy in the ‘old testament’, and in so doing he develops the Pauline sentiment of Rom. 5:14 in new directions, applying it liberally to the successive Hebrew patriarchs. This new turn in studies of Romans, chapter 5, under the Christological programme of Augustine during his early anti-Donatist engagement, offers new light on possible early Christian interpretations of the Bible – especially welcome after so many reflections on Rom. 5:12 and its influence for the later Pelagian controversy.


Author(s):  
Noah Kaye
Keyword(s):  

This article surveys taxation in the Hellenistic kingdoms of Asia Minor in the Near East, focusing on the Seleukid Empire and the Attalids of Pergamon. It argues that the study of Hellenistic systems and habits of taxation can tell us much about the distribution of sovereignty in these composite, multiscalar kingdoms. The negotiation of fiscal rights and privileges in these kingdoms drew cities, kings, courtiers, priests, and soldiers into frequent, even ritualized interactions. The article discusses taxation’s role in the competition over territory and resources, both interstate and internal, while also highlighting the role of taxation in the articulation of each state’s sovereignty claims on communities and individuals. Key sources are reviewed, both epigraphic and archaeological, including cuneiform documents from Hellenistic Babylonia and Greek inscriptions from Asia Minor (Anatolia) and Coele-Syria (Levant).


2004 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
J.C.J. Coetzee ◽  
H.J.M. Van Deventer

'The fear of the Lord' as central concept in biblical wisdom literature This article investigates the issue whether the Old Testament concept “the fear of the Lord” can be viewed as a central concept in wisdom literature from the viewpoint of Old Testament theology. After analysing the concepts that are related to the idea of “the fear of the Lord”, certain criteria that a central concept should comply with are listed. The concept “the fear of the Lord” is subsequently evaluated in accordance with these criteria.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-51
Author(s):  
Rafael Rodríguez

As Pontius Pilate nearly asked, What is history? This article draws upon memory and media studies to question the notion that we find history within the text of the Fourth Gospel. Rather than trying to identify and isolate history within John’s Gospel, our discussion aims to recover how the Gospel works as a set of historical claims, joining with or competing against other historical claims within the social sphere of its author, redactor, and/or audience. After a précis of memory’s and media’s significance for our question (What is history?), we will localize these abstract issues by turning to the Johannine portrayal of John the Baptist and his testimony for Jesus. This approach respects the Fourth Gospel as a written text that developed and was compiled/redacted in the late first century without imposing a rigidly atemporal conception of Johannine theology onto John’s claims about events six or seven decades earlier.


1998 ◽  
pp. 43-44
Author(s):  
Anatolii M. Kolodnyi

At the All-Ukrainian Christian Forum "The Fruit of Truth is Sacrified by the Creators of Peace", which took place in Kyiv in May, a section on the role of Christianity in the development of morality and spirituality worked. The section involved scientists, as well as theologians and teachers of eight Christian churches - three Orthodox, Greco-Roman Catholic, as well as Baptist, Adventist, and Pentecostal. At the session of the section were heard 20 reports and messages.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-38
Author(s):  
Jonathan Octavianus

As every epoch there are there a transition time, on Old Testament like Moses with Joshua, Joshua selected by God an supported fully by Moses, Conversely Moses have liberally to be changed. Like Elijah to Elisha too.Pattern on New Testament there are an examples of transition time too, like Jesus Christ to His Disciples, an transition from Paul to his successor Timothy. This is a heart and soul a big leader, and shall all leadership owners shepherd in church, Christian institution, etc.Which most be remembered in transition of leadership, that people of God leadership, about who will lead, who continue leadership, like a principle in biblical, hence a role of God, is determinant an anoint man which be selected the absolute God choice and constitute all other, but a succession router leader is which have been selected His own. An can be anointed in front of believers.


Author(s):  
Will Kynes

The introduction sets this study in the context of the three recent critical approaches it combines: (1) “metacritical” studies of biblical criticism that identify and critically analyze the “historically effected consciousness” that inspired a particular approach to biblical interpretation; (2) “biographies” of texts that examine their origins and effects; and (3) “end- of” books, which, following the lead of Fukuyama’s “The End of History?” (1989), argue, among other things, that old concepts may fade away as perceptions change. The role of genre methodology in perpetuating the Wisdom Literature category and now in challenging it is introduced. Finally, terminological distinctions are made between the Wisdom Literature category and Wisdom as a genre, the Wisdom Schools associated with it, and wisdom as a concept.


Author(s):  
Scott Mandelbrote

Scepticism and loyalty represent the poles of van Dale’s career. Two contexts have been mentioned as relevant here: the seventeenth-century attack on magic and superstition, and the circles of friendship that created a contemporary Republic of Letters. This chapter evaluates both contexts, as well as others that may throw light on his relatively neglected attitude to the text of the Bible. It brings into focus two important intellectual episodes: his treatment of the account of the Witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:3–25), and his engagement with Hellenistic sources relating to the text of the Old Testament, especially to the miraculous composition of the Septuagint. These issues brought van Dale to ask questions about God’s Word. The chapter explores the limits of his scepticism, the extent of his scholarship, and the role of friendship and isolation in his development. Finally, it draws attention to his place in contemporary Mennonite debates.


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