scholarly journals Does the Christian worldview provide a place for the law of attraction? (Part 2): An apologetic evaluation of the way the Bible is used in promoting this idea

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dani�l J. Maritz ◽  
Henk G. Stoker
Keyword(s):  
Word Of God ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Biblical Law ◽  
Word Of Faith ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Christian Worldview ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Of Attraction ◽  
Positive Confession ◽  
The Church

This article investigates the biblical motivation that is given for the secular idea of the so-called spiritual law of attraction to become part of Christian doctrine. In 2010 Pastor At Boshoff of the Christian Revival Church (CRC) preached two sermons on the law of attraction in which he claimed it as a powerful principle in the Word of God. According to him this biblical �law� provides human beings with physical manifestations of their thoughts and words. The idea to create one�s own favourable future through the law of attraction flows from a New Age worldview and is similar to the positive confession doctrine taught by popular Word of Faith teachers. Boshoff�s claim regarding the law of attraction cannot be deduced from the key Scripture passages he uses, which reflects an unfounded use of Scripture to promote this idea.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article challenges the secular infiltration of the Law of Attraction in the church. This is important since the so-called Law of Attraction was preached by Pastor A. Boshoff of the CRC. Many of his listeners embrace his teaching although it reflects a poor exposition and application of Scripture.

scholarly journals Does the Christian worldview provide a place for the law of attraction? (Part 1): An apologetic evaluation of the roots of this doctrine

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dani�l J. Maritz ◽  
Henk G. Stoker
Keyword(s):  
New Age ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Biblical Law ◽  
Word Of Faith ◽  
New Age Movement ◽  
Christian Worldview ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Of Attraction ◽  
Positive Confession

This article investigates the roots of the so-called spiritual law of attraction that some Christian preachers today describe as an important biblical law. One of the proponents of this idea, Pastor At Boshoff of the Christian Revival Church (CRC), refers in his sermons to the law of attraction as a powerful principle derived from the Word of God. This idea bears striking similarities to the positive confession doctrine as taught by popular Word of Faith preachers. The basic claim of this spiritual �law� is that human beings create their own future through their thoughts and words. The article shows the idea of a spiritual law of attraction as a New Age doctrine that flows from a New Age worldview. Preaching prosperity through the law of attraction is not in accordance with orthodox, historical Christianity or the Christian worldview.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article challenges the secular view that intangible thoughts and words can take on tangible reality. This is important since this secular idea is infiltrating the Christian church. It is already being preached as biblical although the roots thereof are clearly shown to originate from the New Age movement.

scholarly journals Autonomia świata a podmiotowość człowieka w ekoteologii

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-131
Author(s):  
Jarosław Horowski
Keyword(s):  
Modern World ◽  
Ecological Problem ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
Inherent Value ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Teleological Argument ◽  
Christian Worldview ◽  
The World ◽  
Human World

One of the most difficult problems, which is to be solved by contemporary culture, is the ecological problem. It concerns the culture because the hedonistic and consumerist mentality of man plays an important part in it. Biocentrism states that the ecological problem results from traditional Western attitudes to the non-human world based on the belief that humans are the central and most significant entities in the universe. Biocentrism puts forward a teleological argument for the protection of the environment. It indicates that non-human species have inherent value as well and each organism has a purpose and a reason for being, which should be respected. Biocentrism states that the anthropocentric attitude to the non-human world results from the Christian worldview based on the Bible where it is written that God gives man dominion over all creatures. The author analyses the main issues of the Catholic concept of the relationship between human beings and other creatures. He indicates that ecotheology respects the inherent value of non-human creatures because, as the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the modern world Gaudium et spes says: “all things are endowed with their own stability, truth, goodness, proper laws and order”, but maintains that the purpose of the world is connected with its relationship to God. The author considers also what is the human subjectivity in behaving towards the environment and what is the dependence between the autonomy of the world and the subjectivity of man in ecotheology. In the end, the author comes to the conclusion that according to ecotheology the ecological problem results from the broken relationship between the human and God and in consequence it the broken relationship between the world and God.

scholarly journals Alkitab dalam Formasi Rohani pada Era Reformasi Gereja dan Implikasi bagi Gereja Pada Masa Kini

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
K Katarina ◽  
I Putu Ayub Darmawan
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Formation ◽  
Moral Life ◽  
Spiritual Life ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Church Member ◽  
The Bible ◽  
God's Word ◽  
Present Context ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

This article discusses spiritual formation and God's Word in reformation. The formulation of the problem is the relationship between spiritual formation and God's Word in reformation. The author uses literature studies to collect information about spiritual formation and God's Word in reformation. Spirit for sola scriptura has produced a change in the life of the church at that moment. All teachings, church traditions, and practical actions which is conducted by church member must be tested under the Word of God. In the present context, church who facing various challenges related to moral life, teaching, and practical actions must return to the principles of word of God. To build a spiritual life, we must start from the Bible that is interpreted correctly, which then becomes a theological development, which then influences the concept of believer's thinking and practical actions. Artikel ini membahas tentang formasi rohani dan Firman Tuhan dalam reformasi. Rumusan masalah penelitian ini adalah bagaimana kaitan antara formasi rohani dan firman Tuhan dalam reformasi? Penulis menggunakan studi pustaka untuk menggali informasi tentang formasi rohani dan Firman Tuhan dalam reformasi. Semangat untuk sola scriptura menghasilkan perubahan dalam kehidupan gereja pada masa itu. Segala pengajaran, tradisi gereja, dan tindakan praktis yang dilakukan oleh setiap anggota gereja harus diuji di bawah Firman Tuhan. Dalam konteks masa kini, menghadapi berbagai tantangan gereja baik yang terkait dengan kehidupan moral maupun pengajaran dan tindakan praktis, gereja harus kembali pada prinsip Firman Tuhan. Untuk membangun kehidupan rohani maka harus dimulai dari Alkitab yang ditafsirkan secara benar yang kemudian menjadi sebuah bangunan teologi yang kemudian mempengaruhi konsep berpikir orang percaya dan tindakan praktis.

scholarly journals Pentecostal talk about God: Attempting to speak from experience

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Nel
Keyword(s):  
Faith Community ◽  
Theological Method ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Experience Of God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Pentecostal Theology

Pentecostals have their own ethos to bring to the theological table. Although they represent a diverse spectrum of beliefs, they share a basic preference for experience co-determining their theology, along with their interpretation of Scripture. Their hermeneutical viewpoint since the 1970s that links them with that of early Pentecostals allows them to regard the Bible as the inspired Word of God with authority for their lives although they qualify that statement by adding that encounters with God within the faith community in ways similar to those recorded in the Bible is conditional for understanding and interpreting biblical accounts of God and God’s faith community. It is proposed that Pentecostals need to develop a perspective on the all-inclusive difference made by their experience of God in all areas of their lives. Their experience of God through his Spirit shifts their  loci communes and theological method. It is argued that Pentecostal theology should rethink every aspect of theological enterprise through the lens of the reality of God’s encounter with human beings as experienced in the faith community. In the last section, this is demonstrated in terms of one subject, of God as the object of theology.

Moses and the Magistrate: a Study in the rise of Protestant Legalism

1975 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. D. L. Avis
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The Law ◽  
Civil Laws ◽  
The Church

‘It is now disputed at every table’, declared Whitgift in 1574, ‘whether the magistrate be of necessity bound to the judicials of Moses’. Edwin Sandys told Bullinger of Zürich in the previous year that it was being maintained, to the great trouble of the Church, that ‘The judicial laws of Moses are binding upon Christian princes, and they ought not in the slightest degree to depart from them’. Though often neglected by historians as an important factor in the Reformation, the question of the validity of the Old Testament judicial (as opposed to moral or ceremonial) law frequently arises in the writings of the Reformers, and their various answers made no slight impact on the course of events. It bears directly on Henry VIII's divorce and the bigamy of Philip of Hesse; the treatment of heresy and the possibility of toleration; the persecution of witches; usury and iconoclasm; Sabbatarianism and the rise of the ‘puritan’ view of the Bible as a book of precedents, and the corresponding shift to legalism in Protestant theology. The question is also of fundamental relevance to the thought of the Reformers on natural law, the godly prince and magistrate, and the so-called ‘third use of the law’. This article is an attempt to survey, up to the end of the sixteenth century, the various interpretations of the Mosaic penal and civil laws, with particular reference to the development of legalistic tendencies after Luther.

Prinsip Pertumbuhan Gereja Mula-Mula Ditinjau Dari Kisah Para Rasul 2:1-47 Dan Aplikasinya Bagi Gereja Masa Kini

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-111
Author(s):  
Ferderika Pertiwi Ndiy ◽  
S Susanto
Keyword(s):  
Church Growth ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Acts Of The Apostles ◽  
Church History ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Church ◽  
Acts 2

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.

The Legal Basis for the Prohibition on Abortion in Jewish Law

1980 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Biblical Law ◽  
Foetal Development ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
The Church

One of the main issues in almost every treatment of abortion in Jewish Law is the legal basis for its prohibition. The recent trend in Rabbinic literature to categorise abortion as a form of homicide, proscribed by Biblical law, seems to constitute a break with the classical Rabbinic view, according to which abortion is neither homicide, nor directly prohibited in the major literary sources of Jewish Law, i.e. the Bible and the Talmud. Moreover, in the few instances in which abortion is discussed in these sources, it would seem that no such prohibition exists.This article will analyse the Biblical and Talmudic passages which deal with abortion, and survey the various Rabbinic opinions as to the legal basis for its prohibition. Particular attention will be paid to the argument that abortion is a biblically-proscribed form of homicide, and to the reasons which may underlie the adoption of that argument by a number of authorities in recent times. We will also analyse the significance in Jewish Law of the stages of foetal development.Our analysis will be both historical and normative, and in this context it will be a valuable exercise to compare the position in Jewish Law to that in the Canon Law of the Church of Rome. Although the Church Fathers held that abortion was a form of homicide, and the contemporary position of the Catholic Church reflects this attitude strictly and unswervingly, the Medieval Canonists adopted the distinction between the formed and the unformed foetus, based on a tradition derived from the Septuagint version of the Biblical passage dealing with the consequences of striking a pregnant woman (Ex. 21:22–23).

scholarly journals Verbum, Theologia et Ecclesia. Some hermeneutical reflections and methodological considerations towards an integrated interpretation of the Bible

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 593-613
Author(s):  
B Weber
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Academic Standards ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Integrated Interpretation ◽  
Methodological Considerations ◽  
The Church

This article endeavours to evaluate an integrated understanding and interpretation of the Bible, which simultaneously takes cognisance of the “self-understanding” of the Bible, complies with academic standards, and is helpful to the church in its service to bring the Word of God to the (post)modern world.  Therefore a “3-circles-model” has been developed, tested in the classroom and is here presented for discussion and further refinement. In this model the task of biblical exegesis is, in accordance with the three dimensions found in the Bible itself, explained as interpretation of the literary, historical and theological dimensions of the text(s).  The three dimensions are hermeneutically  and methodologically investigated. Some final considerations are given to the integration of the three dimensions into the whole process of interpreting the Bible.

scholarly journals XII ASSEMBLEIA GERAL ORDINÁRIA DO SÍNODO DOS BISPOS SOBRE A PALAVRA DE DEUS

2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (114) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Konings
Keyword(s):  
General Assembly ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Dei Verbum ◽  
The Church

Em outubro de 2008 transcorreu em Roma a XII Assembleia Geral Ordin ária do Sínodo dos Bispos, o qual é uma instituição permanente criada pelo Concílio Vaticano II para manter o diálogo dos pastores-bispos das Igrejas particulares. Nesta Assembleia, dedicada à Palavra de Deus na vida e na missão da Igreja, foi retomada praticamente a Constituição Dogmática Dei Verbum do Vaticano II. Depois de apresentar o tema da Palavra de Deus, traçamos um breve histórico focalizando os inícios da Tradição cristã e os tempos modernos desde Leão XIII até hoje. Em seguida descrevemos a XII Assembleia Geral, especialmente a Relatio post Disceptationem e as Propositiones. Concluímos com uma reflexão teológicopastoral sobre a Revelação e a leitura bíblica, e sugestões para a prática.ABSTRACT: In October of 2008 the XII Ordinary General Assembly of the Sinod of Bishops took place in Rome. The Sinod of Bishops is a permanent institution created by the II Vatican Council in order to maintain the dialogue of pastorsbishops of the particular Churches. This Assembly, dedicated to the Word of God in the life and in the mission of the Church, basically treated again the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum of the II Vatican Council. After presenting the theme of the Word of God, we outline a brief history focusing on the beginnings of the Christian Tradition and the modern epoch since Leo XIII until today. Next we describe the XII General Assembly, especially the Relatio post Disceptationem and the Propostiones. We conclude with a theological-pastoral reflection on Revelation and the reading of the bible, and some practical suggestions. 

The Inspiration of the Bible

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald O’Collins, SJ
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Divine Revelation ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Efficient Cause ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Church

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.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document