scholarly journals Biblical principles as an answer to the African people�s questioning of witchcraft

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Semenya ◽  
Rantoa Letsosa
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
African Culture ◽  
Satellite Television ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Media ◽  
Biblical Principles

Witchcraft is still an enormous and serious issue in African culture. The media, including the entertainment component (e.g. African Magic programmes on satellite television), portray witchcraft as an issue that needs to be addressed. Witchcraft has in a sense been integrated into the system and context of the Nigerian community because most of the programming originates from this country. The same can be said of the South African milieu. It would be remarkable to read a tabloid such as the Daily Sun without at least one reference to witchcraft. Between 1994 and 1996 several hundred people were killed in the Limpopo Province on suspicion of witchcraft, to which the response from the Christian sector was diverse and varied. De Vries (2010:35) argues that Christians believe that upon becoming a member of this faith, witchcraft is powerless; yet there are indeed Christians who consider bewitchment possible, despite a belief in God. This being the case, the question that arises is, �What does the Bible teach in this regard�? The most compelling evidence for the existence of witchcraft is its mention in both the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT). Although all Christians read the same Bible, the interpretation of its teachings on witchcraft differ greatly. This article has attempted to identify, from a historical-grammatical exegetical point of view, a number of biblical principles on witchcraft that could be set as guidelines for addressing witchcraft-related matters and to obtain a clearer picture on Scripture�s teachings regarding witchcraft. (This topic has also been explored from a meta-theoretical perspective in a follow-up article.)

Canons to the Left of Him: Brevard Childs, his Critics, and the Future of Old Testament Theology

1997 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Provan
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Probable Origin ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

It is well known that the seeds from which the modern discipline of OT theology grew are already found in 17th and 18th century discussion of the relationship between Bible and Church, which tended to drive a wedge between the two, regarding canon in historical rather than theological terms; stressing the difference between what is transient and particular in the Bible and what is universal and of abiding significance; and placing the task of deciding which is which upon the shoulders of the individual reader rather than upon the church. Free investigation of the Bible, unfettered by church tradition and theology, was to be the way ahead. OT theology finds its roots more particularly in the 18th century discussion of the nature of and the relationship between Biblical Theology and Dogmatic Theology, and in particular in Gabler's classic theoreticalstatementof their nature and relationship. The first book which may strictly be called an OT theology appeared in 1796: an historical discussion of the ideas to be found in the OT, with an emphasis on their probable origin and the stages through which Hebrew religious thought had passed, compared and contrasted with the beliefs of other ancient peoples, and evaluated from the point of view of rationalistic religion. Here we find the unreserved acceptance of Gabler's principle that OT theology must in the first instance be a descriptive and historical discipline, freed from dogmatic constraints and resistant to the premature merging of OT and NT — a principle which in the succeeding century was accepted by writers across the whole theological spectrum, including those of orthodox and conservative inclination.

scholarly journals Immanuel Kant and Herman Cohen’s philosophy of religion

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-40
Author(s):  
Vladimir N. Belov ◽  
◽  
Aleksandra Yu. Berdnikova ◽  
Yulia G. Karagod ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Practical Philosophy ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Baruch Spinoza ◽  
Moses Mendelssohn ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Characteristic Features

The article analyzes the main characteristic features of the philosophy of religion of the founder of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism Hermann Cohen. Special attention is paid to Cohen’s criticism and reinterpretation of Kant’s “practical philosophy” from the point of view of the philosophy of religion: Cohen supplements and expands Kant’s provisions on moral law and moral duty, interpreting them as divine commandments. The authors emphasize the fundamental importance for Cohen of the “internal similarity” between Kant’s ethical teaching and the main provisions of Judaism. The sources of Kant’s own ideas about the Jewish tradition are shown, which include the work of Moses Mendelssohn “Jerusalem” and the “Theologicalpolitical treatise” by Baruch Spinoza. Cohen’s criticism of these works is analyzed an much attention is paid to the consideration of Cohen’s attitude to Spinoza’s philosophical legacy in general. The interpretation of the postulates of Judaism by Cohen (and their “inner kinship” with Kant’s moral philosophy) in ethical, logical, and political contexts is presented. Cohen’s understanding of such religious-philosophical and doctrinal phenomena as law, grace, Revelation, teaching, the Torah, messianism, freedom, the Old Testament and the New Testament, etc. is provided and analyzed. The main points of Cohen’s religious teaching as “ethical monotheism” are considered; in particular, the authors analyze his understanding of the idea of God as “the only one”, which is highlighted in the works of Paul Natorp. It is concluded that Cohen’s philosophy of religion, which is based on the postulates of Judaism as well as Kant’s “practical philosophy”, could be characterized by the terms “ethical monotheism”, “universalism” and “humanism”.

The Church of the Reigning Lord

1948 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-73
Author(s):  
R. Stuart Louden
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Pauline Epistles ◽  
History Of ◽  
Four Square ◽  
The Church

We can trace a revival of theology in the Reformed Churches in the last quarter of a century. The new theological interest merits being called a revival of theology, for there has been a fresh and more thorough attention given to certain realities, either ignored or treated with scant notice for a considerable time previously.First among such realities now receiving more of the attention which their relevance and authority deserve, is the Bible, the record of the Word of God. There is an invigorating and convincing quality about theology which is Biblical throughout, being based on the witness of the Scriptures as a whole. The valuable results of careful Biblical scholarship had had an adverse effect on theology in so far as theologians had completely separated the Old Testament from the New in their treatment of Biblical doctrine, or in expanding Christian doctrine, had spoken of the theological teaching of the Synoptic Gospels, the Pauline Epistles, the Johannine writings, and so on, as if there were no such thing as one common New Testament witness. It is being seen anew that the Holy Scriptures contain a complete history of God's saving action. The presence of the complete Bible open at the heart of the Church, recalls each succeeding Christian generation to that one history of God's saving action, to which the Church is the living witness. The New Testament is one, for its Lord is one, and Christian theology must stand four-square on the foundation of its whole teaching.

EARLY CHRISTIAN REPRESENTATIONS OF MAN BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND GREEK PHILOSOPHY – THE FEATURES OF THE RELATIONSHIP

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-111
Author(s):  
A. V. Laputko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
World View ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Greek Philosophy ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Ancient Greek Philosophy ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Final Design

The article examines the preconditions for the formation of Christian ideas about man. The emphasis is on the fact that the doctrine of a person has never been a separate problem of theology, and, consequently, was formed in parallel and within the basic tenets of Christianity. The author focuses attention on the contradiction in understanding the origin of representations of a person between the traditional branches of Christianity. On the whole, while remaining in common positions, each denomination identifies its own fundamental source of the origin of anthropological ideas, not taking into account the complex and contradictory path of interpenetration of the ideas of ancient Greek philosophy and Christianity. The author shows the path of formation of the main anthropological representations from the Old Testament notions to the New Testament, which receive their final design only in the works of apologists of Christianity brought up by the logic and culture of thinking of ancient philosophy. Thus, the birth of a new world-view anthropological paradigm, which remains one of the most popular and discursive in the modern world, takes place within the framework of a dialogue between ancient Greek philosophical thought and Old Testament ideas.

The Child Who Does Not Know How to Ask

We Walk ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 115-138
Author(s):  
Amy S. F. Lutz
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Learning Differences ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The New Testament

This chapter discusses the parable of the four sons, in which the author relates via the character of the wise son known as the “the child who does not know how to ask.” It talks about the representation of the “simple” child that already represents those with learning differences or intellectual disabilities. It also mentions how disability is seldom addressed in the Old Testament, noting that Moses allegedly suffered from a speech impediment. The chapter describes a token directive not to insult the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind but is belied by the treatment of the few disabled people mentioned in the Bible. It elaborates how the New Testament, by contrast to the Old Testament, is full of disabled people.

scholarly journals Strack-Billerbeck, Orthodoxy and a Jewish New Testament

1999 ◽  
Vol 55 (2/3) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Loader
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The New Testament

On the basis of the evidence of publications daing from the eighteenth century, this paper argues that the orthodox doctrine of the verbal inspiration the Bible caused extreme views on the language of the Old Testament which could maybe transferred to the "heathen" language of the New Testament. The resulting void was filled by focussing on the Jewish (read "Hebrew", thought of the New Testament. The work of Chistian Schoettgen, available the author in Vienna, is used in conjunction with the Critica sacra by Johan Gottlob Carpzov to develop the argument for the thesis. Some conclusions ardrawn.

scholarly journals Inspiration and the Texts of the Bible

1997 ◽  
Vol 53 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Buchner
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Early Church ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Masoretic Text ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Book Of Hebrews ◽  
Textual Research

This article seeks to explore what the inspired text of the Old Testament was as it existed for the New Testament authors, particularly for the author of the book of Hebrews. A quick look at the facts makes. it clear that there was, at the time, more than one 'inspired' text, among these were the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text 'to name but two'. The latter eventually gained ascendancy which is why it forms the basis of our translated Old Testament today. Yet we have to ask: what do we make of that other text that was the inspired Bible to the early Church, especially to the writer of the book of Hebrews, who ignored the Masoretic text? This article will take a brief look at some suggestions for a doctrine of inspiration that keeps up with the facts of Scripture. Allied to this, the article is something of a bibliographical study of recent developments in textual research following the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls.

The biblical roots of English ‘love’

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-254
Author(s):  
Anna Wierzbicka
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
General Interest ◽  
The Bible ◽  
European Languages ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Rigorous Framework ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
Broad Meaning ◽  
English Verb

Abstract Seen from a broad cross-linguistic perspective, the English verb (to) love is quite unusual because it has very broad scope: it can apply to a mother’s love, a husband’s love, a sister’s love, etc. without any restrictions whatsoever; and the same applies to its counterparts in many other European languages. Trying to locate the origins of this phenomenon, I have looked to the Bible. Within the Bible, I have found both continuity and innovation. In the Hebrew Bible, the verb ’āhēb, rendered in the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint with the verb agapao, implies a “preferential love”, e.g. it is used for a favourite wife of a favourite son. In the New Testament, the concept of ‘love’ loses the “preferential” components and thus becomes applicable across the board: between anybody and anybody else. The paper argues that the very broad meaning of verbs like love in English, aimer in French, lieben in German, etc. reflects a shared conceptual heritage of many European languages, with its roots in the New Testament; and it shows that by taking a semantic perspective on these historical developments, and exploring them through the rigorous framework of NSM and Minimal English, we can arrive at clear and verifiable hypotheses about a theme which is of great general interest, regardless of one’s own religious and philosophical views and commitments.

scholarly journals The Old Testament in Christian spirituality: Perspectives on the undervaluation of the Old Testament in Christian spirituality

2003 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christo Lombaard
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Critical Scholarship ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Cultural Gaps

Christian spirituality draws strongly on the Bible. Yet, it is the New Testament that almost without exception features most prominently. Ten possible reasons are offered why the Old Testament takes on such a disproportionately diminutive role in the practice and study of spirituality: Textual complexity/critical scholarship/theological educa-tion; Modern popular pieties; The cultural gaps between the Old Testament worlds and our worlds; Theological difficulties/Christian sensibilities; Fear of “boundary-less” interpretations; The reference to Scripture by writers on spirituality; The notion of progressive revelation; Theological diversity within the Old Testament; OT : NT = law : grace; The long and the short of textual units.

Was the Diatessaron Anti-Judaic?

1925 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Rendel Harris
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Church

Vogels, in his new “Handbook to New Testament Criticism,” has started some interesting and important enquiries, by a consideration of the changes that can be marked in the copies and versions of the New Testament by an investigator who understands not only how to register various readings but also how to detect the causes of such differences. The evangelical stream is demonstrably discolored by the media through which it passes. The Bible of any given church becomes affected by the church in which it circulates. The people who handle the text leave their finger-prints on the pages, and the trained detective can identify the criminal who made the marks.

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