scholarly journals Fulfilment in Matthew

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
FP Viljoen
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Jewish Scriptures ◽  
As If ◽  
The Way

Matthew extensively explored the motif that Jesus was the fulfilment of the Old Testament hopes. In this article investigation is done on the way Matthew employs this motif. The expression of fulfilment of Scripture had an important function in early Christian circles. The Christian faith had to be legitimatized by reference to the Jewish Scriptures. What happened to Jesus and the rise of the Christian church were to be identified as the fulfilment of the promises of the Old Testament. For today’s reader it seems as if Matthew sometimes draws awkward links between Old Testament citations and their fulfilment in Jesus. However, when his hermeneutical method is being mirrored against contemporary interpretative methods, it becomes clear that Matthew used the fulfilment motif in a then acceptable way to strategically and persuasively place Jesus’  ministry within the unfolding plan of God.

scholarly journals The Iconography of the Sarcophagus in S. Ambrogio. Hope for Salvation through the Word of Christ

1970 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 283-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaf Steen
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
City Gates ◽  
The City ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

The sarcophagus in the church of S. Ambrogio in Milan is dated to about 390. The lid of the sarcophagus shows scenes and symbols connected to the New Testament. On the front and rear sides, we find Christ represented among the Apostles. Figures from the Old Testament are shown on the two short sides. In this way, the narrative scenes are well arranged, and the arrangement differs from other early Christian sarcophagi in which scenes from the Old and New Testament are places together without any apparent connection between the scenes. Rows of city-gates run around all four sides, forming the background for the reliefs. The city-gates invite the beholder to read the images not as isolated scenes, but as parts of a connected whole. In this paper, I will argue that the iconography of the sarcophagus can be interpreted as a complete programme. The programme emphasizes the teaching of Christ and the Apostles’ teaching-mission given by Christ. Taking into consideration the monument’s funerary context, the programme of the sarcophagus focuses on the Word or the teaching of Christ as the way to salvation.

scholarly journals Det Gamle Testamentes kanoniske status

2019 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-74
Author(s):  
Mogens Müller
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Retroactive Effect ◽  
As If

Taking departure in the invitation in Slenczkas new book todiscuss the role of the Jewish Holy Scriptures in a Christian canon, thisarticle starts with contesting the validity of the arguments for introducingOld Testament readings in the service of the Danish Church.Reading the Old Testament in the light of Christian faith as if it in realityis about Christ was no longer possible after Enlightenment. With ahistorical and critical study, it became clear, that the Old Testament wasJewish and not Christian Scripture. In continuation of some deliberationsin Luther, and especially the thoughts of F. Schleiermacher, A. vonHarnack and R. Bultmann, Slenczka argues, that we today need to drawthe consequence of this view. It was only in the reception of the Churchthat the Old Testament became a Christian text, and this cannot beascribed a retroactive effect, a Jewish understanding and reception beingmuch more appropriate. Its meaning in a Christian Bible, therefore,can only be to witness about man’s place towards God without Christ.From this follows that in a Christian Bible the Old Testament cannotfigure with the same degree of canonicity as the New, instead it shouldbe reckoned at the same level as the Old Testament Apocrypha.

The Influence of Mother Wisdom on Augustine

Open Theology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 238-247
Author(s):  
Kitty Bouwman
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Wisdom Literature ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
Church Father ◽  
Wisdom Theology ◽  
Divine Mother ◽  
The Church

Abstract The Book of Ben Sira was popular in the early Christian church and influenced the Church Father Augustine (354–430). He adopts the person of Wisdom as a divine mother and adapts her within the context of the early Christian church. He links to Mother Wisdom a wisdom theology, in which Jesus is her envoy. Augustine describes Mother Wisdom as an eternal nourishing divine mother. She has a permanent revelatory status by continuously giving life-giving power, which she mediates through Jesus of Nazareth. He presents her grace which she has prepared for the competentes (the candidates for Baptism), who are working towards initiation into Christian Faith. Mother Wisdom serves as hostess in biblical Wisdom literature. For Augustine, Jesus Christ has taken this place. Mother Wisdom serves instead the angels and the spiritual persons as a representative of divine nourishment.

scholarly journals The Early Church’s Position on Law and the State.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-63
Author(s):  
Matija Stojanović
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Legal System ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament

This article will try to uncover the stance which the early Christian Church held on the legal system of the Roman Empire, in an attempt to reconstruct a stance which could apply to legal systems in general. The sources which we drew upon while writing this paper were primarily those from the New Testament, beginning with the Four Gospels and continuing with the Acts of the Apostoles and the Epistoles, and, secondarily, the works of the Holy Fathers and different Martyrologies through which we reconstructed the manner in which the Christian faith was demonstrated during the ages of persecutions. The article tries to highlight a common stance which can be identified in all these sources and goes on to elaborate how it relates to legal order in general.

scholarly journals Metafora soli w Biblii i literaturze wczesnochrześcijańskiej

Vox Patrum ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 221-243
Author(s):  
Mieczysław Celestyn Paczkowski
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Literature ◽  
The Way

The article presents the complex symbolism of salt that was strongly in­fluenced by the rites and beliefs of the pagan and the biblical world as well as early Christian literature. The salt is an element present in every aspect of human life (food, medicine and religious cults). It played an important role in sacrifices and offerings of Old Testament. For this reason, Jesus’ use of this metaphor was extremely familiar to His followers. On the biblical bases the various allegorical motifs of salt were present in Christian authors. Metaphors associated with the salt became precise and rich. Salt was a symbolic figure of wisdom, moral cleanness and incorruptibility. God’s salt enabled one to triumph over the spiritual enemy. The Fathers taught to point others to the way of life, to show how they might be preserved from death and destruction. They pointed out how the purpose of Christian life depended on their spiritual saltiness.

3. The making of the Bible

2021 ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
John Riches
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Greek Version ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Jewish Scriptures ◽  
The Church

‘The making of the Bible’ discusses the process whereby different books came to be included in the various Bibles (a term first used by the Churches) which are now accepted as authoritative (canonical) by various religious communities, Jewish and Christian. This process is often referred to as the canonization of scripture. It is important to look first at the formation of the Hebrew Bible and its Greek version, the Septuagint. While the Septuagint started life as a translation for Jews living in the Diaspora, it was subsequently taken up by the Christian community as the medium through which the Old Testament was known in the Church. The language of the Septuagint also influenced many of the writers of the Christian New Testament. The authoritative writings of the Christian Church were in the first instance largely identical with the Jewish scriptures. It is valuable to consider the process whereby Christian writings, principally letters and gospels, were collected and recognized as authoritative alongside other Jewish writings.

scholarly journals The new in the religious movements among Zulu and Swazi

1975 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 215-217
Author(s):  
Bengt Sundkler
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
Interesting Aspect ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Holy Book ◽  
At Home

What was new in the Early Christian Church? Is it not a fact that continuity with the Old Testament background dominated? The first Christians were Jews; their Holy Book was the "Old" Testament; they honoured the Torah; and felt at the Sabbath at home in the Temple. All this goes to show that nothing, perhaps, was new. Yet, to the early Christians everything was, in fact, new. This same tension can be discerned in the modern Christian prophet movements in Africa. All of us who have tried to interpret aspects of this movement were intent on proving that what was new was in fact—the Old. Within the apparently Christian Church the old traditional African patterns showed through and dominated. If "magic" was found to have been smelled out, this was mentioned only in order to show how the particular group was dominated by fear of magic. In studying the "blend of old and new" in the movements it was easy to suggest that the interesting aspect was role of traditional values, dressed up in new forms.   

Hebrews

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig F. Koester
Keyword(s):  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Classical Rhetoric ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
God's Will ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Epistle To The Hebrews ◽  
New Directions ◽  
The One ◽  
The Way

One of early Christianity's most carefully crafted sermons, Epistle to the Hebrewsaddresses listeners who have experienced the elation of conversion and the heat of hostility, but who now must confront the formidable task of remaining faithful in a society that rejects their commitments. The letter probes into the one of most profound questions of faith: If it is God's will that believers be crowned with glory and honor, why are the faithful subject to suffering and shame? Through the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Moses, and Rahab, whose faith enabled them to overcome severe trials and conflicts, and through the story of Jesus himself, whose sufferings opened the way to God's presence for all, the sermon confirms the foundations of the Christian faith. In a magisterial introduction, Koester presents a compelling portrait of the early Christian community and examines the debates that have surrounded Epistle to the Hebrews for two millennia. Drawing on his knowledge of classical rhetoric, he clarifies the book's arguments and discusses the use of evocative language and imagery to appeal to its audience's minds, emotions, and will. Providing an authoritative, accessible discussion of the book's high priestly Christology, this landmark commentary charts new directions for the interpretation of Epistle to the Hebrews and its influence on Christian theology and worship.

Aniconic Worship and the Apologetic Tradition: A Note on Canon 36 of the Council of Elvira

1976 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 428-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Grigg
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Base Material ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Religious Images ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria

It is well known that the spokesmen for the early Christian church were hostile to religious images.1 They regarded the Old Testament prohibition against images (Exodus 20:4, Deuteronomy 5:8) as binding upon Christians.2 But even though Christian apologists like Clement of Alexandria and Origen cited the authority of this prohibition,3 they defended the aniconic worship of Christians from pagan attack by borrowing heavily from pagan writers. The arguments they borrowed portrayed the cult of images as a ridiculously inappropriate form of worship, one that degraded the very gods it sought to honor by likening them to base material, shaped by mere craftsmen.4

scholarly journals Christology in the works of Justin the Philosopher and the Martyr

Sabornost ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Ružica Milić
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The World ◽  
Resurrection Of The Dead ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Dead ◽  
God The Father ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Second Coming

Justin the Philosopher and the Martyr is an important figure in the history of the early Christian church. This paper will present Justin's thought, which is essentially Christocentric. The originality of Justin's Christology lies in revising the notion of the Logos and giving that notion a new meaning - the Christian meaning. The basic claim from which Justin starts is that the Logos is Christ who is God. The Logos, although God, differs from the Father only numerically, not by nature. That is why one of the main determinations of God the Father is the First God, while the Logos is the Second God. The conclusions that are imposed about the consequences of Justin's Christology directly affect the life of every Christian and they are multiple; namely, they concern man's salvation (soteriological consequences), ecclesiological consequences (liturgical life), but also eschatological consequences (hopes for the event of the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead). The aim of this article is to shed light on the main features of Justin's Christology, through whose prism Justin derives other aspects of the Christian faith and thus positions man as a relational being, primarily determined by three relations: to God, to the world and to himself.

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