scholarly journals God as One

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem H. Oliver ◽  
Erna Oliver

Two notions are discussed in this article, namely, the (unity of the) Trinity and God’s omnipresence. These two notions are deeply embedded in the Christian faith system and religion – they actually form both the basis and point of departure for the Christian religion. The aim of this article is to revisit the (Early Church and present) dogma of the Church about the Trinity and omnipresence of God as a result of the heresies and apologies linked to this dogma, and to rethink the notion of the concept ‘Trinity’ linked to God’s omnipresence. The historical method is used in the discussion of the (primary) sources and to reach the outcome.

2018 ◽  
Vol 130 (7) ◽  
pp. 285-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Thang Moe

This paper examines the problem of a theology of religions without the Trinity and the problem of overemphasizing interreligious dialogue without taking the inner communion identity of the church seriously. This paper argues that central to an authentic Trinitarian theology of religions is the question of how the church is rightly to be understood in relation to the Trinity as the doctrinal ground and guide for its inner communion of first theology (a trinitarian theology of the Christian religion) and in its external communion of second theology with the religious world as the realm of the trinitarian reign (a trinitarian theology of religions). Building on this framework, this paper explores the right hermeneutics of the triple identity of the Trinity, Christian faith and other faiths as the ground and guide for Christian right approaches to other faiths for the right goals of mission.


2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriaan L. Rheeder

In ’n vorige artikel is beredeneer dat die grammaties-historiese metode van Skrifuitleg as kreatuurlike geskrif nie meer voldoende is vir alleengebruik in Skrifvertolking nie en dat dit met ander uitgangspunte aangevul moet word. In aansluiting by twee hermeneutiese uitgangspunte wat in ’n vorige artikel behandel is (Rheeder), word in hierdie artikel ’n verdere drie hermeneutiese vertrekpunte bespreek, naamlik teenkultuur, nie-wetenskaplike skopus en moreel-etiese vertolking. Die teenkulturele vertrekpunt gaan uit van die oortuiging dat outentieke getuienis in die Skrif gevind word in dit wat verskil (afwyk) van die omliggende antieke kultuur, terwyl die nie-wetenskaplike skopus vertrekpunt uit gaan van die standpunt dat wetenskaplike (of empiriese) kennis in die Bybel buite die skopus of bedoeling van die Skrif staan. Die moreel-teologiese vertolking as vertrekpunt van die standpunt uitgaan dat ’n moreel-teologiese beoordeling van liefde die keuse tussen twee konflikterende, maar beide aanvaarbare, interpretasies moet begelei. Daar word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat ’n etiese verstaan van die posisie van die vrou beteken dat die vrou as gelykwaardig aan die man beskou en so behandel moet word, wat beteken dat die vrou, net soos die man, tot enige amp in die kerk toegelaat mag word.Appeal to Scriptures in the formation of an ethical point of view: An ethical understanding of women in the Bible. In a previous article it was argued that the grammatical-historical method  of  Bible  exposition  was  no  longer  sufficient  as  sole  method  and  should  be supplemented with other hermeneutical points of departure. Following the discussion of two hermeneutical points in a previous article (Rheeder), this article will discuss three other hermeneutical points of departure, namely counterculture, non-scientific scope and moral-ethical interpretation. The counter-cultural point of departure is based on the belief that authentic witness in Scripture is found in that which is different (that which deviates) from the surrounding ancient culture, while a non-scientific scope starts from the view that scientific (or empirical) knowledge in the Bible is outside the scope or intent of Scripture. The point of departure of the moral-theological interpretation is the view that a moral-theological evaluation of love should inform the choice between two conflicting but mutually acceptable interpretations. It is concluded that an ethical understanding of women in the Bible means that women should be regarded and treated as equal to men, which leads to the further conclusion that all offices in the church should be open to women.


1917 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 73-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Henry Newman

The intellectual, social, and religious upheaval of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of which the Renaissance and the Protestant Revolution were phases, along with the decidedly skeptical tendency of the Scotist philosophy which undermined the arguments by which the great mysteries of the Christian faith had commonly been supported while accepting unconditionally the dogmas of the Church—together with the influence of Neoplatonizing mysticism which aimed and claimed to raise its subjects into such direct and complete union and communion with the Infinite as to make any kind of objective authority superfluous:—all these influences conspired to lead many of the most conscientious and profoundly religious thinkers of the sixteenth century to reject simultaneously the baptism of infants and the traditional doctrine of the Trinity. Infant baptism they regarded as being without scriptural warrant, subversive of an ordinance of Christ, and inconsistent with regenerate church membership. Likewise the doctrine of the tripersonality of God, as set forth in the so-called Nicene and Athanasian creeds, involving the co-eternity, co-equality and consubstantiality of the Son with the Father and the personality of the Holy Spirit, they subjected to searching and fundamental criticism.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Fekky Daniel Yermia Tatulus

The subject of the Trinity in the Christian faith is often the subject of questions from other religious groups that are posted to the congregation. The concept of the Trinity is not easy to understand, but the church must strive to teach the congregation so that they can become apologetic in this disruptive era. The method used in this study is descriptive and phenomenological analysis, giving an overview of the situation in the disruptive era and its effect on the lives of believers. The conclusion of this study is that the pastor as a leader has the responsibility to teach the subject of the Trinity through weekly sermons. Abstrak Pokok Trinitas dalam iman Kristen sering menjadi bahan pertanyaan dari kelompok agama lain yang dilayangkan kepada jemaat. Konsep Trinitas memang tidak mudah dipahami namun gereja tetap harus berusaha untuk mengajarkan kepada jemaat agar dapat menjadi bekal apologetis di era disruptif ini. Metode yang digunakan dalam kajian ini adalah deskriptif dan analisis fenomenologis, memberikan gambaran tentang situasi di era disruptif dan efeknye terhadap hidup orang percaya. Kesimpulan dari kajian ini adalah, gembala sidang sebagai pemimpin memiliki tanggung jawab untuk mengajarkan pokok Trinitas melalui khotbah mingguan.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-236
Author(s):  
Demetrios E. Tonias

Abstract Concentrating on the Orthodox theology of biblical Israel within the context of fulfillment theology, the argument is that the early Church envisioned itself as the continuation of Israel of the Jewish Bible rather than its replacement. In the author’s view, the current understanding of the distinction between replacement and fulfillment theology, the early Christian theological conception of the Church as Israel, and the ways in which both contemporaneous pagans and Jews viewed the nascent Christian faith support this assertion.


Author(s):  
Christoph Schwöbel

Luther’s theology of the Trinity is firmly rooted in the catholic tradition of the church. In scholarly debate, it has therefore not received the same attention as the doctrines usually associated with the distinctive profile of the teaching of the Reformation, like the doctrine of justification by faith alone. The intrinsic connection between Luther’s catholic theology of the Trinity and the distinctive emphases of Reformation theology has consequently often been overlooked. Luther was reasonably well acquainted with the medieval debate and could occasionally, as in the late disputations, directly comment upon them, if the distinctions served to clarify his view of the place of Trinitarian teaching in the church. The most interesting question with regard to Luther’s doctrine of the Trinity is not which influences can be traced in his Trinitarian thought but how he developed the status of Trinitarian discourse in Christian faith and how he applied it in his treatment of other theological issues. If we survey Luther’s engagement with the doctrine of the Trinity, ranging from the early glosses on Lombard’s Sentences and Augustine’s De Trinitate to the very last disputation, we can see that in all the different genres in which he develops his theology, Trinitarian reflection plays an integral role. Luther’s own attempts at giving expression to the Trinitarian faith are developed within the boundaries of creedal orthodoxy. He does not modify the doctrinal tradition of the conciliar Creeds but employs it in such a way that its basis in the witness of Scripture becomes apparent and that the task of Trinitarian language in relating the different articles of Christian faith to their foundation and so can be understood by others.


1996 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Nelson

This article which originated as a background study for what Augustine says about his own baptism, presents the facts, as far as they could be ascertained, on practices concerning catechesis and baptism in the early Christian church down to about 400 AD, without going into any doctrinal issues. Public confession of faith and baptism was preceded in the early church by lengthy preparations: catechetical, liturgical and ascetical. Baptism was also followed by mystagogical instruction. All of these are set out concisely, based on a number of primary sources, namely some writings by Augustine, Ambrose and Tertullian, the Traditio Apostolica by Hippolytus and the Didache. A number of secondary sources are also cited. Attention is drawn to the significance of the custom to baptise at Easter this explains why Easter was seen as the climax of the church year in the time of the early Christian church.


1958 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. H. C. Frend

Each generation of historiographers has had its own interpretation of the persecutions. In their hour of triumph in the years following the Council of Nicaea, Christians in both halves of the Roman Empire looked back to these events as the heroic age of the Christian faith. The sufferings of the Church were linked to the sufferings of the children of Israel and this time, too, anti-Christ and his abettors, the pagan emperors, their officials and the mobs had been worsted. Like the Egyptians they had perished miserably. But, as so often happens, victory dissolved the common bonds which united the victors. In the next centuries the relations between Church and State in the East and West were to follow different paths. In the East the ‘martyrdom in intention’ of the monastic life tended to replace the martyrdom in deed in opposition to the emperor. In the West, the martyr tradition was to underline that same opposition. Tertullian, Hilary, Ambrose, Gregory VII, Boniface VIII embody a single trend of ideas extending over a thousand years.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes P Deetlefs

While the twentieth century has witnessed renewed interest in the doctrine of the Trinity, in their daily lives Christians are mostly unaffected by it. The reason for this lack of knowledge and the negligence of this vital Christian doctrine could be blamed partly on a lack of preaching the doctrine of the Trinity. Considering the fact that the doctrine of the Trinity is the distinguishing doctrine of the Christian faith, such neglect in the homiletical ministry of the church is truly lamentable. This article is aimed at discussing some of the possible reasons for this regrettable situation and offering some guidelines for preaching the Trinity. Considering the practical implications of this foundational Christian doctrine for the ecclesial community, as well as for society at large, the church can no longer afford the neglect of the preaching of the Trinity. While I am writing from within the South African context, the issues raised here are relevant to the church internationally.


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