scholarly journals Skrifbeskouing en Skrifhantering: Marcus Borg en die Hervormde Kerk – ʼn Vergelykende studie

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Van Eck

Marcus Borg, one of the most prominent New Testament scholars in the past four decades, is considered by many in the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa as a liberal scholar. His understanding of the origin of the Bible, the way he interprets the Bible, and what he sees as the status and function of the Bible, should therefore be dismissed. A comparison of Borg’s point of view on these topics with that of the points of view of the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa, however, indicates that Borg’s understanding of these matters differs not even marginally from that of the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa. In a certain sense, Borg could therefore be described as a theologian who fits the mould of what is understood in the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa as a responsible approach to and interpretation of the Bible.

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piet A. Geyser

This article reflects on hermeneutics in the widest sense of the concept and not on the detailed technicalities from philosophical and other perspectives. Hermeneutics will be taken to refer to the whole act and process of understanding. It is done with special reference to how the understanding of Scripture and specifically the New Testament of theologians of the Netherdutch Reformed Church over the past seven decades, is reflected in the work in the HTS Theological Studies journal. It is clear that their approach to the understanding and concretisation of the message of the New Testament was one of greatest respect for Scripture. The basic tenet throughout was that the Word of God was to be found in the Bible. There was no assumption that Bible and Word of God were identified on one and the same level. Taking the Bible as literature seriously implied that the best scientific methods had to be found and implemented in this search for the meaning of the Word of God for the Church’s message and practice in the world.


1972 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-47
Author(s):  
Edward Higgins ◽  
André Rousseau

In the first part of the article the author describes the position of Calvinism and Catholicism in South Africa from the historical, demographic and socio-cultural points of view. Following this there is a report, with comments, on two studies carried out on religious roles in these two Churches. The first of these studies was conducted by C.J. Alant on the role of the pastor in the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk) and the second by J. Kiernan on the Catholic priest. Among the most outstanding aspects of these two studies the author emphasises that in both Churches the roles of religious still are closely linked with their functions relating to the sacraments and worship. He emphasises that, as a result, these role models tend to maintain the status quo ; from the point of view of non-involvement in politics and privatisation of religion the Catholic priest may be able to play a more vital role than the Calvinist pastor.


Author(s):  
Jetze Touber

Chapter 1 homes in on Spinoza as a Bible critic. Based on existing historiography, it parses the main relevant historical contexts in which Spinoza came to articulate his analysis of the Bible: the Sephardi community of Amsterdam, freethinking philosophers, and the Reformed Church. It concludes with a detailed examination of the Tractatus theologico-politicus, Spinoza’s major work of biblical criticism. Along the way I highlight themes for which Spinoza appealed to the biblical texts themselves: the textual unity of the Bible, and the biblical concepts of prophecy, divine election, and religious laws. The focus is on the biblical arguments for these propositions, and the philological choices that Spinoza made that enabled him to appeal to those specific biblical texts. This first chapter lays the foundation for the remainder of the book, which examines issues of biblical philology and interpretation discussed among the Dutch Reformed contemporaries of Spinoza.


Chapter One deals with several central issues with regard to understanding the role of religious motifs in contemporary art. Besides being a repetition of imagery from the past, religious motifs embedded in contemporary artworks become a means to problematise not only the way different periods in the history of art are delimited, but larger and seemingly more rigid distinctions as those between art and non-art images. Early religious images differ significantly from art images. The two types are regulated according to different sets of rules related to the conditions of their production, display, appreciation and the way images are invested with the status of being true or authentic instances of art or sacred images. Chapter One provides a discussion of the important motif of the image not made by an artist’s hand, or acheiropoietos, and its survival and transformation, including its traces in contemporary image-making practices. All images are the result of human making; they are fictions. The way the conditions of these fictions are negotiated, or the way the role of the maker is brought to visibility, or concealed, is a defining feature of the specific regime of representation. While the cult image concealed its maker in order to maintain its public significance, and the later art image celebrated the artist as a re-inventor of the old image, contemporary artists cite religious images in order to reflect on the very procedures that produce the public significance and status of images.


1994 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Van Rooy

Regarding the issue whether Allah is God, much difference of opinion exists among Reformed theologians. J.H. Bavinck, John Calvin and Z. Ursinus would probably say no in answer to the question as to whether Allah is God. whereas others, like Albert Kruyt and most specialists on Islam would say yes. These differences may be explained as emanating from different approaches. The subjective-personal point of view would not recognize in Allah the God of the Bible. Gods of different faiths reflecting a distorted image of God should, however, only in a very relative and limited way he called false gods. The exegetical point of view should take cognisance of Taul’s statements about the God of Judaism in Romans 10:2 and his own experience according to 2 Timothy 1:3. These Pauline statements make it clear that the God of Judaism cannot historically and objectively be called an idol. Knowledge of Allah of Islam, however, is historically dependent on Judaism and Christianity, and is therefore an extension of the knowledge Jews and Christians have of God. From a New Testament perspective Judaism and Islam cannot be called true religions, but neither can the God they worship be called an idol in the absolute sense of the word.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 3036
Author(s):  
Efisio Puxeddu ◽  
Giovanni Tallini ◽  
Roberta Vanni

The incidence of thyroid cancer has increased over the past 3 to 4 decades. Nonetheless, the mortality from thyroid cancer has remained stable. The thyroid gland may develop nodules encompassing several types of cell proliferation, from frankly benign to very aggressive forms with many intermediate challenging variants. For this reason, there is growing interest in evaluating thyroid nodules from many points of view, from the clinical to the molecular aspects, in the search for innovative diagnostic and prognostic parameters. The aim of this Special Issue was to provide an overview of recent developments in understanding the biology and molecular oncology of thyroid tumors of follicular cell derivation and their repercussions on the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy. The contributions of many experts in the field made up a Special Issue of Cancers journal, that focusing on different aspects, including mechanistic and functional facets, gives the status of art of clinical and biological perspectives of thyroid cancer.


Author(s):  
Déborah Blocker

This article discusses how the constitution, circulation and institutionalization of discourses on poetry and the arts in early modern Europe could best be accounted for from a historical point of view. Pointing to various inconsistencies in the way historians of ideas have traditionally explained the rise of aesthetic discourses, the article examines the usefulness of the tools crafted by historians of the book for the development of such a project. Through an example, the drawbacks of interpretations based solely on serial bibliographies are also addressed, as the author argues for the importance of case studies, grounded in social, cultural and political history, through which various types of aesthetic practices may be made to appear. She also suggests that, to bypass the theoretical and practical deadlocks of traditional Begriffsgeschichte as far as the study of aesthetic practices is concerned, intellectual traditions and the actions that make them possible — that is “actions of transmission” — are to be promoted to the status of primary hermeneutic tools.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiera Lindsey

This article discusses a recent art project created by the Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi artist Jonathon Jones, which was commissioned to commemorate the opening of the revitalized Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney in early 2020. Jones’ work involves a dramatic installation of red and white crushed stones laid throughout the grounds of the barracks, merging the image of the emu footprint with that of the English broad convict arrow to ‘consider Australia’s layered history and contemporary cultural relations’. This work was accompanied by a ‘specially-curated programme’ of performances, workshops, storytelling and Artist Talks. Together, these elements were designed to unpack how certain ‘stories determine the ways we came together as a nation’. As one of the speakers of the Artist Talk’s programme, I had a unique opportunity to experiment with what colleagues and I have been calling ‘Creative histories’ in reference to the way some artists and historians are choosing to communicate their research about the past in ways that experiment with form and function and push disciplinary or generic boundaries. This article reflects upon how these two distinct creative history projects – one visual art, the other performative – renegotiate the complex and contested pasts of the Hyde Park Barracks. I suggest that both examples speak to the role of memory and creativity in shaping cultural responses to Australia’s colonial past, while Jones' programme illustrates how Indigenous artists and academics are making a profound intervention into contemporary understandings of how history is ‘done’ in Australia.


Open Theology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleg Bychkov

AbstractOver the past two decades, the debate has intensified over the nature of John Duns Scotus’s (meta) ethics: is it a purely voluntarist “divine command” ethics or is it still based on rational principles? The former side is exemplified by Thomas Williams and the latter by Allan Wolter. Scotus claims that even the divine commandments that are not based on natural law are still somehow “in harmony with reason.” But what does this mean? Richard Cross in a recent study claims that God’s reasons for establishing certain moral norms are “aesthetic.” However, he fails to show clearly what is “aesthetic” about these reasons or why God’s will would follow “aesthetic” principles in legislating moral norms. This article clarifies both points, first, by painting an up-to-date picture of what constitutes “aesthetic” principles, and second, by providing a more accurate model of the way the human volitional faculty operates and addressing the problem of the “freedom of the will” from a present-day point of view.


2006 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.J.H. Venter

Catechist and spiritualityThis article argues that catechetical instruction pertains to more issues than only transferring knowledge. The catechist’s spirituality can also contribute towards effective and convincing cathechetical instruction. The issue of the catechist’s spirituality is scrutinized, as well as the foundation and source of his/her spirituality. For the purpose of this article spirituality is defined as the way in which human beings, as made new in Christ, experience the gospel and apply it to the practice of life, also in teaching the Bible to children in catechetical work. On basis-theoretical level, attention is given to the occurence of the concept “spirituality” in the New Testament and the characteristics required of a catechist in his/her relationship with God. Special attention is given to the issue of modelling, and identification with the catechist. On a meta-theoretical level the focus is directed to the catechist’s personality including emotional intelligence and the way in which it functions within the framework of his/her spirituality. In conclusion certain practice-theoretical perspectives on catechist and spirituality are stated.


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