scholarly journals Is ’n kerkorde nie kragtens sy aard strydig met die werking van die Heilige Gees nie?

2008 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Smit

Is a church order, according to it’s nature, not contrary to the work of the Holy Spirit? The question is whether a church order should be seen as anti- Spiritual. Does a church order, in contrary to the work of the Holy Spirit, lead to rigidity of the church? By this question the controversy of the spiritual life of the church versus the institutional ordination of it has been raised as a real actuality in modern church life. The rejection of the institutional character of the church has a long history. To understand the true nature and the true Scriptural functioning of a church order one needs to get perspective on the new order which was given by Christ by means of his Holy Spirit. The new order must be seen as the way of life that was created by Christ on the profound ground of the expiation. In this context a church order must be understood as existing in the movement from the believer to the Word which occurs in the leading of the Spirit through ordained means. Seen in this sense, a church order must be regarded as a modus quo by which the church is governed by Christ by means of his Spirit, in order to maintain the new order which He created for his children. Seen as such, a church order is not a man created dispensable burden for the church of Christ, furthermore it is not an anti-Spiritual instrument by which the church is plunged into a dreary existence of cold formalism. To the contrary, a true Scriptural church order must be appreciated as a valuable instrument through which the governing labour of Christ, by means of his Holy Spirit, in the church should become visible. A Scriptural church order is in essence a correction on the separation of the Holy Spirit from the Word of God. Therefore a Scriptural church order should be considered as indispensable in this world for church being, according to the new order of life in Christ.

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-111
Author(s):  
Ferderika Pertiwi Ndiy ◽  
S Susanto

Church growth is an important study in church history. The Bible has important principles in church growth, therefore these principles need to be analyzed so that they can contribute to the study of church growth. The Acts of the Apostles is a book that has a history and principles of church growth, therefore the author conducted research on church growth based on Acts 2: 1-47. The author uses a qualitative approach to literature study to find the principles of church growth based on Acts 2: 1-47. The results showed that there were three principles for the growth of the early church. The first principle based on the fourth verse is to depend on the Holy Spirit, the second principle based on verses 14-36, 42 is to preach the Word of God, the third principle based on verses 42-46 is to live in fellowship. For the growth of the church today the church must depend on the power of the Holy Spirit, teaching based on the word of God, and the church lives in fellowship.


Author(s):  
Gerald O’Collins, SJ

Dealing with biblical inspiration within the scheme of the Word of God in its threefold form (as preached, written, and revealed), Karl Barth distinguished between divine revelation and the inspired Bible. He insisted that the revelation to prophets and apostles preceded proclamation and the writing of Scripture. He interpreted all the Scriptures as witness to Christ. While the human authors of the Bible ‘made full use of their human capacities’, the Holy Spirit is ‘the real author’ of what is written. Raymond Collins, in dialogue with Thomas Aquinas, Barth, and others, interpreted biblical inspiration in the light of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on Divine Revelation. He spoke of the Holy Spirit as the ‘principal, efficient cause’ (with the human authors as the ‘instrumental’ causes), rejected dictation views of inspiration, and examined the scope of biblical truth and the authority of the Bible for the Church.


2006 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kommers

Revival within churches from traditional-reformed origin: on sincere longing and extreme embarrassment Within churches from reformed origin the debate about revival has become an actual issue. It seems that these churches are becoming smaller and smaller, and that there is a lack of missionary zeal. Many pastors seem to have lost the courage to go on. What is happening in the churches? One can learn something from the history of the church. What was God doing in the past? The Word of God was there and it seems that in those places where revivals broke out, the Word of God was preached faithfully, in the power of the Holy Spirit. From sermons of three revival preachers who worked from 1816 to 1880 in Wuppertal (Germany), one can learn how their sermons contributed to revival in those days.   The missionary-soul caring message struck the people in their hearts, and not only individuals, but also whole regions changed; change took place not only in doctrine and lifestyle, but also holiness occupied a central place in the people’s hearts. When praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, people will repent and turn to God and “times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19).


Vox Patrum ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 315-324
Author(s):  
Józef Grzywaczewski

The article shows Sidonius Apollinaris’ admiration for all intellectual acti­vities. For example he congratulated Faustus of Riez after reading his book „On the Holy Spirit”. In all the Sydonius’ writings one can see that he has always had a lot of respect for poets and writers as Lampridius or to scholars as Phoebus. In the context of the fall of the Roman Empire Sidonius really appreciated those who reach for the teachings of ancient philosophy, rhetoric, astronomy and music in the proclamation of the Gospel. So Claudianus Mamertus, author of the book „De sta­tu animae” did. According to Sidonius he was a great master of the three cultures: Roman, Greek and Christian. In the works of Sidonius we can see a gradual transi­tion from the vision of the Empire as a political power to the vision of the Church as a spiritual power. In this context, he gladly stated that the Plato’s Academy was working for the Church of Christ. For this reason, he appreciated each quotation from pagan’s works in Christian works. Polish reader can see common elements in Sidonius and Sienkiewicz: both writers were living in a difficult political situa­tion, the home of the two was ruled by foreign rulers: both writers set themselves the same goal – to write to encourage hearts with glorification of excellent people. Both writers wanted to help people get out of the crisis and to lay the foundations for a better future.


Author(s):  
Adelajda Sielepin

Terminology and metaphors of space in liturgy The goal of the following study is to present the vocabulary denoting space and their meaning in the Mystery of Christ and the Church as applied in liturgy. The investiga-tion is based on the liturgical texts, mainly the euchologies of the Missal of Paul VI and the Marian Missal. First several basic terms indicating God’s dwelling were an-alysed, which evince the fact of God’s intention and actual coming to individuals and making them His home and temple. Another point was to establish and specify certain factors contributing to creating the holy space of God’s and human encounter. Two kinds of such were distinguished: pneumatological and initiational. Both prove, that becoming God’s dwelling is a process of assuming an adequate attitude of heart and requiring the intervention of the Holy Spirit. The last section of the article was dedicated to some selected, most popular theological and existentional equivalents of liturgical space, such as: faith, liturgy, Word of God, silence, which are of great importance in establishing and maintaining the Mystery of God and man happening in temporality. It is worth noticing that all analysed words and phrases confirm the fact that, this is God, who is inclined to dwell in human beings and that through the Mystery of Incarnation He has inhabited human nature, and sustains His presence through Christ in the Holy Spirit in liturgy, mainly in the Eucharist. The unique at-tribute of Christianity lies in this incarnational aspect of God’s location, sacramental spatiality. Mary, Mother of God was the first, who experienced this grace, and re-mains the impeccable model for every single being called for being God’s dwelling. Therefore the majority of the studied material was taken from the Marian euchologies. Terminology of space in liturgy is entirely metaphorical, and eventually refers to God and to a human being, as announced by the Johannine idioms of communion in the Fourth Gospel.


Author(s):  
Francis Appiah-Kubi

Holy Communion is one of the seven sacraments in the Catholic Church. With Baptism and Confirmation, they constitute the sacraments of Initiation. Similarly, with the Word of God, they constitute the two indispensable pillars upon which the Church is built. It is the “fount and apex of the whole Christian life” (LG 11). It is named Holy Eucharist because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. It recalls God’s work of creation, redemption, and sanctification. The Eucharistic elements, bread and wine become, by the prayer of consecration and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, Christ's Body and Blood through an act appropriately known as transubstantiation. The term emphasizes the conversion of the total substance of bread and wine into the entire substance of the Body and Blood of Christ. When the bread and wine are consecrated at Mass, they are no longer bread and wine; they have become instead the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit in accordance with the words of Christ. The empirical appearances and attributes remain the same, but the underlying reality changes. Therefore, the doctrine of transubstantiation teaches without ambiguity that in the Holy Communion, the Body and Blood, together with the soul and divinity, of the Lord Jesus Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained. How is this understood and what is its implication theologically? In an attempt to elucidate this problem, this work seeks first to highlight the theology of the Holy Eucharist within the context of the ecclesiology of Communion, and second, through some theological themes: sacred memorial and sacrificial banquet; eschatological meal. The third and final part treats the theme of real presence under the rubrics of Transubstantiation. Keywords: Transubstantiation, Eschatological Meal, Memorial, Real Presence, Communion, Eucharistic conversion.


Kairos ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-100
Author(s):  
Monika Bajić

The Bible, which is indisputable regarded as the inspired word of God, is written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Man, as an earthen vessel, was used by the Holy Spirit to pen the revelation of God’s truth in Jesus Christ. The Holy Scriptures are “God breathed” words to the Church and are key in interpreting and fulfilling God’s telos for creation. This write-up wishes to emphasize and survey the critical role of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. Due to the inspiring role of the Spirit, the word of God is not a dead letter, rather a life-giving word that spills new life into the believer and the Church. Precisely this connection of Spirit and letter marks the Holy Scripture as living and active and conveys the desired transformative dimension for the individual believer and the faith community.


2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
V. E. D’Assonville

Calvin did not start his famous vocation as an interpreter of Scripture with Scripture itself. After a thorough training in interpreting classical literature as a philologist, he made his debut before turning 23, with a highly respected commentary on Seneca’s “De Clementia”. His focus shifted to Scripture shortly thereafter. Certain features of his exegetical approach as part of his “Word of God theology” can thus be observed, especially as they relate to his use of the concept of “doctrina”. His exegesis used not only the principle of “sola Scriptura” as point of departure, but also the principle of “tota Scriptura”, i.e. to take the whole of Scripture into account when expositing a certain biblical text. For Calvin the original intention of the writer of a particular (Bible) book is of crucial importance. The exegesis should be done using a sound theological-methodological, historical-grammatical method. Knowledge of the original lang- uages of Scripture is therefore a prerequisite for any exegesis. In his exegesis Calvin emphasises the point that Scripture as the Word of God and the Holy Spirit cannot be separated. As the truth is simple, Calvin avoids any traces of allegory in his exegetical activities and aims to keep his exegesis and ex- position of Scripture simple, brief, clear and understandable – exegesis should always exhibit the quality of clarity and brevity. In all exegesis, Scripture as the Word of God should be accepted as the final authority on any issue, not the church as institute.


Kairos ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-91
Author(s):  
Stanko Jambrek

In order to have a fruitful understanding of the nature of the Church, the Bible uses a variety of pictures, which when taken together form Church models by which believers live and act by. We have reviewed Church models in three categories: the first category is taken by Church models which are formed today by our everyday life; the second one are Church models which have been created by man throughout history; and third, the Church models which have a foundation in the Word of God. Church models formed by everyday life and man-made Church models can be used as negative examples of models to be changed and avoided, especially models of the Church as an institution and as a denomination. The Bible shows a particular reality and nature of the Church by using numerous different pictures from everyday life. These include pictures from the ownership system; the picture of the way the human body works; pictures from premarital, marital, and family life; pictures from architecture, agriculture, cattle breeding, fishery, and citizenship and patriotism. Each of the used pictures communicates one or more God’s truths in a way that is experientially very close and familiar to the listeners and readers. These pictures reflect life and point towards life. The 21st century Christianity needs to adopt and apply Biblical pictures of Church which, when taken together, form the Biblical Church model. As we establish this model, we need to focus on God and His purposes and plans for a specific time, place, and culture. Our communication with God needs to be completely open, and the Church needs to be prepared to follow God’s plans and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Biblical Church model contains God’s (immutable) and human (mutable) elements. God is immutable, which is why anything that is permanent and immutable in Church comes from God, and what can and needs to be changed is anything that came from people. The human elements need to be aligned with God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s guidance, so that the Church would be able to obey God’s will fruitfully.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-57
Author(s):  
Paulus Purwoto

AbstractThe church is a chosen group or congregation, namely those who are called by God to come out of the world, go away from sin and enter into the realm of grace. The church has a relationship with God's people in the Old Testament, where in the Old Testament God chose Abraham as the embryo of the birth of the nation of Israel, which was God's chosen nation. Theologically, the idea of God's people being called out clearly existed in Old Testament times, as well as in New Testament times. Linguistically the Greek word ekklesia appears repeatedly in connection with Israel in the Septuagint translation. The elements in the Old Testament exist in the New Testament church, however, they cannot be correctly equated between the Old Testament congregation and the church, because the church is a new product, founded on the Lord Jesus, made by the Holy Spirit and contains people from all the races of all nations become one new people of God. The true church has the signs as described in the Word of God. The purpose of this research is to conduct a theological review of the true church and its application to the contemporary church. The method used in this research is literature study method. The true church has signs, joy, holiness, truth, mission, unity, love, proclaims the Word of God properly, uses the sacraments properly, and exercises church discipline. The conclusion of this study is that the true church has signs that can be applied in contemporary church ministry.Key words: Chruch, Contemporer, True, Ministry AbstrakGereja adalah kumpulan atau jemaat pilihan, yaitu mereka yang dipanggil Allah keluar dari dunia, pergi dari dosa dan masuk ke dalam wilayah anugerah. Gereja memiliki relasi dengan umat Allah dalam Perjanjian Lama, dimana dalam Perjanjian Lama Tuhan memilih Abraham sebagai embrio lahirnya Bangsa Israel yang merupakan bangsa pilihan Allah. Secara teologis gagasan tentang umat Allah yang dipanggil keluar jelas telah eksis pada masa Perjanjian Lama, sebagaimana pada masa Perjanjian Baru.  Secara linguistik kata Yunani ekklesia muncul berulang kali dalam kaitannya dengan Israel dalam terjemahan Septuaginta. Unsur-unsur dalam Perjanjian Lama tersebut ada dalam gereja Perjanjian Baru, namun demikian tidak dapat disamakan dengan tepat antara Jemaah Perjanjian Lama dengan gereja, oleh karena gereja adalah sesuatu produk baru, didirikan diatas Tuhan Yesus, dijadikan oleh Roh Kudus dan berisi orang-orang dari segala ras dari seluruh bangsa menjadi satu umat Allah yang baru. Gereja sejati memiliki tanda-tanda sebagaimana dijelaskan dalam Firman Tuhan. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk melakukan tinjauan teologis tentang gereja sejati dan aplikasinya bagi gereja kontemporer. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode studi literatur. Gereja sejati memiliki tanda-tanda, sukacita, kekudusan, kebenaran, misi, kesatuan, kasih, memberitakan Firman Tuhan dengan benar, menggunakan sakramen dengan benar, dan menjalankan disiplin gereja. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini adalah bahwa gereja sejati memiliki tanda-tanda yang dapat diaplikasikan dalam pelayanan gereja kontemporer.Kata kunci: Gereja, Kontemporer, Sejati, Pelayanan. 


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