scholarly journals Die tempel-metafoor in Efesiërs 2:11–22 as deel van identiteitsvorming van die gelowige in-groep

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aletta Vrey
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
First Century ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Temple

The temple metaphor in Ephesians 2:11–22 as part of identity formation of the believing in-group. One of the basic human needs is to belong, feel accepted and be part of a group. During the first century people from different backgrounds believed in Jesus, consequently unity among believers became a challenge. The inclusive heart of God, the atonement of Christ and the Holy Spirit unites believers from different backgrounds and groups. This article examines spiritual unity as part of the believers’ identity as portrayed by the temple metaphor in Ephesians 2:11–22. Christians should acknowledge their differences, as the author of Ephesians clearly does, without causing division in the group. Identity formation is linked to group membership, therefore the identity of the early Christian group is examined, to determine the influence it still has on the present-day unity among believers. We divide our society into groups and tend to discriminate against those that are different from us. These phenomena were part of the social interaction of Christians in the first century. To better understand the social functioning of the ancient Mediterranean world, this article uses Social Identity Theory to identify and compare the groups in Ephesians. The Jews and Gentiles were the out-groups. In the context of the letter, Gentiles were Artemis-worshippers. The Christians formed the in-group. The identity of the out-groups, to which Christians previously belonged, should be considered to determine the identity of the in-group. The metaphor of the spiritual temple identifies believers as becoming part of the temple at the time of their conversion. Unlike the Jewish temple and the temple of Artemis, which were physical buildings with exclusive membership, the temple of the Holy Spirit is an inclusive unity of believers. The Jewish temple was part of the identity of the Jews, the Artemis temple gave identity to the city of Ephesus and the spiritual temple identifies the unity of the Christian in-group. The Christian-identity, whether in the first century or in contemporary society, is unifying and inclusive regardless of our differences. According to the author of Ephesians Christ-founded and Spirit-driven identity should determine Christian thinking and actions.Contribution: The temple of Artemis and the Jewish temple were places of religious, political, economic and social status and power. The temple of Ephesians 2, however, becomes a spiritual force to which every believer has access apart from political, economic, social, ethnic and gender status. Christian identity and unity are rooted in the redemptive work of Christ.

scholarly journals Duch miłości w nauczaniu Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 24-39
Author(s):  
Sylwester Jaśkiewicz ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
The Bible ◽  
God's Love ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Temple ◽  
The Church

Cardinal Wyszyński continues teaching about the Holy Spirit as love and as a gift, which comes from the Bible and patristic tradition (eg St. Augustine). The basic text of his reflections on the God of Love are the words from the First Letter of St. John: “God is love” (1 Jn 4: 8, 16). He reads these words, or the shortest definition of God, from the perspective of the Christian and his life experience. In the Holy Spirit, God communicates as love. To be gifted and loved by God means for man to elevate him to the supernatural order. The Holy Spirit, who in the interior life of God is the Love of the Father and the Son, in his self-giving to the world (ad extra), pours God’s love into human hearts (Rom 5: 5), enlivens and dynamises human life. Love as a proprium of the Holy Spirit is also the criterion of Christian identity and of the Church. Important threads of the discussed issue are also the spiritual motherhood of Mary and the establishment of her as the Temple and Bride of the Holy Spirit.

Tradition

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald O’Collins, SJ
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Joint Declaration ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Roman Catholics

This book opens by establishing the substantial convergence in reflection on Christian tradition proposed by a 1963 report of the Faith and Order Commission (of the World Council of Churches) and the teaching of Vatican II (1962–5). Despite this ecumenical consensus, in recent years few theologians have written about tradition, and none has looked to the social sciences for insights into the nature and functions of tradition. Drawing above all on sociologists, this work shows the difference that tradition makes in human and religious life. In the light of the divine self-revelation that climaxed with Jesus Christ, the central characteristics of tradition are set out: in particular, its relationship to and distinction from culture. The risen Christ himself is the central Tradition (upper case) at the heart of Christian life. All the baptized faithful, and not merely their ordained leaders, play a role in transmitting tradition. The ‘sense of the faithful’ amounts to a ‘sense of the tradition’. The essential, if invisible, agent of tradition remains always the Holy Spirit. Scripture and tradition function in mutual dependence, as shown by the emergence of the creeds, the image of Christ as the New Adam, and the doctrine of justification (on which a 1999 joint declaration shows substantial agreement now reached by Lutherans, Roman Catholics, and others). The full context of Christian life and history focuses the relationship between Scripture and tradition. The book deals with the challenge of discerning and reforming particular traditions. A closing appendix shows how modern studies of memory—above all, collective memory—can illuminate ways in which tradition works to maintain Christian identity and continuity.

Archaeology and the Letters of Paul

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Salah Nasrallah
Keyword(s):  
Judith Butler ◽  
First Century ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Apostle Paul ◽  
The Social ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Feminist Historiography ◽  
The Many ◽  
Political Economic

Through case studies of archaeological materials from local contexts, Archaeology and the Letters of Paul illuminates the social, political, economic, and religious lives of those whom the apostle Paul addressed. Roman Ephesos, a likely setting for the household of Philemon, provides evidence of the slave trade. An inscription from Galatia seeks to restrain traveling Roman officials, illuminating how the travels of Paul, Cephas, and others may have disrupted communities. At Philippi, a donation list from a Silvanus cult provides evidence of abundant giving amid economic limitations, paralleling practices of local Christ followers. In Corinth, a landscape of grief includes monuments and bones, a context that illumines Corinthian practices of baptism on behalf of the dead and the provocative idea that one could live “as if not” mourning. Rome and the Letter to the Romans are the grounds to investigate ideas of time and race not only in the first century, when we find an Egyptian obelisk inserted as a timepiece into Augustus’s mausoleum complex, but also of Mussolini’s new Rome. Thessalonikē demonstrates how letters, legend, and cult are invented out of a love for Paul, after his death. The book articulates a method for bringing together biblical texts with archaeological remains in order to reconstruct the lives of the many adelphoi—brothers and sisters—whom Paul and his co-writers address. It is informed by feminist historiography and gains inspiration from thinkers like Claudia Rankine, Judith Butler, Giorgio Agamben, Wendy Brown, and Katie Lofton.

Pentecostal Understanding of Sanctification from a Pentecostal Perspective

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-110
Author(s):  
Hollis Gause
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Divine Revelation ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Holy Trinity ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Birth ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Fruit Of The Spirit ◽  
The Trinity

AbstractThe doctrine of the Holy Trinity is the product of divine revelation, and is a doctrine of divine worship. The expressions of this doctrine come out of worshipful response to divine revelation demonstrating the social nature of the Trinity and God's incorporating the human creature in His own sociality and personal pluralism. The perfect social union between God and the man and woman that he had created was disrupted by human sin. God redeemed the fallen creature, and at the heart of this redemptive experience lies the doctrine of Holy Trinity, with the Holy Spirit as the communing agent of all the experiences of salvation. The Spirit is especially active in the provision and fulfillment of sanctification, which is presented here as the continuum of 'holiness-unity-love'. He produces the graces of the Holy Spirit – the fruit of the Spirit. He implants the Seed of the new birth which is the word of God. He purifies by the blood of Jesus. He establishes union and communion among believers and with God through His Son Jesus. This is holiness.

Climbing the Lampstand-Witness-Trees: Revelation's Use of Zechariah 4 in Light of Speech Act Theory

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-92
Author(s):  
Cullen Tanner
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
First Century ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Witness Trees ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis article traces John's use of Zechariah 4 through its most likely first century perceptions in conjunction with the implicit ecclesial audience of Revelation. After placing the Apocalypse amid the atmosphere of Second Temple Judaism in the Roman Empire, it provides conjecture as to the theological implications of these speech acts on the Church of Revelation. These findings are then used to piece together the illocutionary force of John's use of Zechariah 4 and the resulting perlocution, which together comprise an essential element of the pneumatology that John supports in Revelation. When interpreting through such a lens, one ought to ask not only who the Spirit is but how this biblical author anticipated his audience to act in response to this document and to the Holy Spirit.

Towards an Affirmative Feminist Boys Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-92
Author(s):  
Timothy Laurie ◽  
Catherine Driscoll ◽  
Liam Grealy ◽  
Shawna Tang ◽  
Grace Sharkey
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Heuristic Model ◽  
Critical Commentary ◽  
Childhood And Youth ◽  
The Social ◽  
Girls Studies ◽  
Political Economic

This critical commentary considers the significance of Connell’s The Men and the Boys in the development of an affirmative feminist boys studies. In particular, the article asks: How can research on boys contribute to feminist research on childhood and youth, without either establishing a false equivalency with girls studies, or overstating the singularity of “the boy” across diverse cultural and historical contexts? Connell’s four-tiered account of social relations—political, economic, emotional, and symbolic—provides an important corrective to reductionist approaches to both feminism and boyhood, and this article draws on The Men and the Boys to think through contrasting sites of identity formation around boys: online cultures of “incels” (involuntary celibates); transmasculinities and the biological diversity of the category “man”; and the social power excercised within an elite Australian boys school. The article concludes by identifying contemporary challenges emerging from the heuristic model offered in The Men and the Boys.

Pentecostals and Charismatics in America

2019 ◽  
pp. 241-260
Author(s):  
Cecil M. Robeck
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
First Century ◽  
1 Corinthians ◽  
The Past ◽  
Family Tradition ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Christian Family ◽  
The Church

This chapter traces Pentecostal and related congregations, churches, denominations, and organizations that stem from the beginning of the twentieth century. They identify with activities at Pentecost described in Acts 2 and in the exercise of charisms in 1 Corinthians 12–14. Each of them highlights is the significance of a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit leading to a transformed life. These often interrelated organizations and movements have brought great vitality to the Church worldwide for over one hundred years, and together, they constitute as much as 25 per cent of the world’s Christians. This form of spirituality is unique over the past 500 years, since it may be found in virtually every historic Christian family/tradition, and in most churches of the twenty-first century.

Desires of the Spirit

2020 ◽  
pp. 183-231
Author(s):  
Simeon Zahl
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Transformative Power ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Culturally Embedded

This chapter examines the work of the Holy Spirit in the transformation and sanctification of Christians. It argues that accounts of sanctification that build upon the idea of an instantaneous implantation of new moral powers in the Christian upon receipt of the Spirit have significant problems. It then turns to Augustine’s theology of delight and desire to provide an alternative theology of sanctification that is experientially and affectively more persuasive. The second half of the chapter shows that this “affective Augustinian” approach has a number of further advantages. It can account for the fact that sanctifying experience of the Spirit exhibits variability and that human beings are often a mystery to themselves; it can affirm a qualified role for practice and habituation in Christian sanctification without overestimating the transformative power of Christian practice; and it directs attention to the social as well as materially and culturally embedded dimensions of sanctification. The chapter concludes by arguing that an “affective Augustinian” vision of Christian transformation can also account effectively and compassionately for the persistence of sin in Christians.

Reinterpreting social harm

2018 ◽  
pp. 13-32
Author(s):  
Anthony Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Causal Power ◽  
Social Harm ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
The Social ◽  
Realist Interpretation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Systemic Violence ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Unintentional Action

This chapter states the case for a social harm perspective. Initially, the chapter outlines the emergence of social harm as an extension of criminological investigation through the suggestion that entirely legal processes and actions can engender harmful consequences. The strengths and limitations of harm perspectives are outlined before contemplating the question harm from what? This evidences Pemberton’s ‘human needs’, Yar’s ‘search for recognition’, and deviant leisure’s ‘ethical responsibility for the other’. Following this, an ultra-realist interpretation of society is proffered. Synthesising ultra-realism with social harm perspectives extends the social harm perspective by recognising the systemic violence of capitalism and neoliberalism, the negative motivation to harm, is complemented by the positive motivation to harm and the transcendental materialist subject. This emphasis on motivation delineates intentional and unintentional action and links the subject (micro) with organisational culture (meso) and political-economic ideology (macro). Finally, the crucial role of causative absence is outlined; negativity or absence has as much causal power as a positive or presence; both intentional and unintentional harms stem from problematic absences at a structural, cultural and interpersonal level.

The Improper Temple Offering of Ananias and Sapphira

2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 346-364
Author(s):  
Anthony Le Donne
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Temple Community

In Acts 1–7, the Holy Spirit functions as the restored temple presence of the Lord that will restore the kingdom to Israel via the Ekklesia. The Holy Spirit acts through the Ekklesia as one would expect the Lord's temple presence to act. When Barnabas, Ananias, and Sapphira bring their offerings to the temple, they place them at the feet of the leadership of the new religio-fiscal center of restored Israel. As proof that the Lord's presence has indwelled this eschatological temple community, an improper act can, and does in this case, result in immediate death.

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