scholarly journals The spiritual world, Christ, ancestors, angels, and demons in Hlungwani's art and theology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raita Steyn
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
Visual Metaphors ◽  
Spiritual World ◽  
Saint John ◽  
Cain And Abel

Jackson Hlungwani’s vision of a New Jerusalem is shaped by his unique African Christian theology teachings. They are expressed through his wooden sculptures in an “independent African Church which would echo the wish to Africanize Christianity and represent a new cultural and spiritual phenomenon through his art” (Rankin, 1998: 46; Steyn, 2019: 184). It is through this vision and his artworks that Hlungwani prophesied the coming of an Apocalypse, which would result in man's salvation, and signify an ultimate victory over evil. This article concerns the New Jerusalem (the ‘imagined’ and the ‘built’) and reveals Hlungwani’s Christian and traditional ideas around the spiritual world, Christ, the ancestors, angels, and demons. Hlungwani’s vision of a New Jerusalem should therefore be understood in the context of a unique African Christian theology created from the perspective of an African cultural context. The two altars for the New Jerusalem site and a number of wooden artworks are selected for their connection with both the artist’s vision and the supernatural world, angels, ancestors, and earthly warriors. The selected sculptures are the Crucifix IV, the sculpture God and Christ, and the panel Cain and Abel. They are discussed and analyzed as I believe that they reflect profound visual metaphors derived from spiritual visions, the visions of the Prophet Ezekiel, and of the Apocalypse of Saint John from the final book of the Christian Bible, the Book of Revelation.

scholarly journals Openbaring 21:1−8 in teks en prediking

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Bothma
Keyword(s):  
Turning Point ◽  
Literary Genre ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
Heaven And Earth

Openbaring 21:1-8 bring ’n belangrike wending in hierdie boek. Die koms van ’n nuwe hemel, ’n nuwe aarde en ’n nuwe Jerusalem word aangekondig. Die oue is verby. Die nuwe het gekom. Hoe behoort Openbaring 21:1-8 uitgelê, vertolk en verstaan te word? Hoe behoort daar oor hierdie teks gepreek te word? Hierdie en nog meer vrae word in hierdie artikel bespreek. Vanweë onder andere die literêre genre daarvan, stel die boek Openbaring unieke uitdagings aan diegene wat dit wil uitlê, verstaan en daaroor wil preek. Deur Openbaring 21:1-8 en homiletiese teorie met mekaar in verband te bring, word hierdie Skrifgedeelte vir die prediking ontgin. Deur die benutting van ’n literêr-estetiese benadering tot prediking in ’n skuiwende kultuur – soos deur Cas Vos en Cas Wepener ontwikkel – word die nuwe hemel en aarde, die nuwe Jerusalem en die lied ‘Hot Gates’ met mekaar gekombineer om nuwe betekenismoontlikhede te ontdek. Deur intertekstueel en inkulturerend te werk te gaan, word parameters vir die uitleg en verstaan van Openbaring 21:1-8 geformuleer en voorstelle vir die prediking van hierdie Skrifgedeelte word gemaak.Revelation 21:1-8 in text and preaching. Revelation 21:1-8 presents an important turning point in this book. A new heaven, a new earth and a New Jerusalem are introduced. The old has passed. The new has come. How should Revelation 21:1-8 be read, interpreted and understood? How should this text be preached? These and other questions are asked in this article. Because of its literary genre, amongst other factors, the Book of Revelation poses unique challenges to anyone who wants to interpret and understand or preach about it. Revelation 21:1-8 is investigated by engaging the text and homiletic theory with each other. By utilising a literary-esthetical approach to preaching in a changing culture – as developed by Cas Vosen Cas Wepener – the new heaven and earth, the new Jerusalem and the song ‘Hot Gates’ are engaged with one another in order to find possible new meanings. By working intertextually and inculturating, parameters for the explanation and understanding of Revelation 21:1-8 are explicated and suggestions with regard to preaching this text are made.

Mystical Theology in Contemporary Perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 85-105
Author(s):  
Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Mystical Experience ◽  
Interreligious Dialogue ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Contemporary Perspective ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Mystical Theology ◽  
Historical Moment

The chapter examines the presence and visibility of spiritual and mystical experience in the secularized and plural contemporary world. Our historical moment puts into question the socio-political and cultural context of contemporary mystical life and thought. This allows us to trace the contours of present-day mystical experience in the southern hemisphere, where the experience of the Spirit is intertwined in distinctive ways with issues such as secular politics or interreligious dialogue and with the emergence of intra-ecclesial spiritualism. In doing so, we elaborate the new challenges that the experience of and reflection upon mysticism poses for Christian theology and its discourse about humanity.

Manuscripts of the Book of Revelation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrick V. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Critical Edition ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Reception History ◽  
Holy War ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many

The book of Revelation is a disorienting work, full of beasts, heavenly journeys, holy war, the End of the Age, and the New Jerusalem. It is difficult to follow the thread that ties the visions together and to makes sense of the work’s message. This book argues that one way to understand the strange history of Revelation and its challenging texts is to go back to its manuscripts. The texts of the Greek manuscripts of Revelation are the foundation for the words that we encounter when we read Revelation in a modern Bible. But the manuscripts also tell us what other ancient, medieval, and early modern people thought about the work they copied and read. The paratexts of Revelation—the many features of the manuscripts that help readers to navigate and interpret the text—are one important point of evidence. Incorporating such diverse features like the traditional apparatus that accompanies ancient commentaries to the random marginal notes that identify the identity of the beast, paratexts are founts of information on how other mostly anonymous people interpreted Revelation’s problem texts. This book argues that manuscripts are not just important for textual critics or antiquarians, but that they are important for scholars and serious students because they are the essential substance of what the New Testament is. This book illustrates ways that the manuscripts illuminate surprising answers to important critical questions, like the future of the critical edition in the digital age, the bibliography of the canon, and the methods of reception history.

Narrative Features of the Book of Revelation

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-52
Author(s):  
James L. Resseguie
Keyword(s):  
Character Traits ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
People Of God ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
Promised Land ◽  
Road Signs ◽  
The People ◽  
The World

Four narrative features of the book of Revelation are the focus of this article: masterplot, characters and characterization, architectural and topographical settings, and numerical symbolism. Masterplots are skeletal stories belonging to cultures and individuals that clarify questions of identity, values, or the understanding of life. The masterplot of Revelation is a quest story of the people of God in search of the new promised land, the new Jerusalem. Characters either aid or hinder the questers’ sojourn. Hybrid characters, which blend character traits from the world below with characteristics of this world, or combine the human with the inhuman, underscore the dangers the exodus-people, the followers of the Lamb, encounter on their trek. Other characters—such as the angel of Rev 10—advance their quest with a MacGuffin. Architectural and topographical settings—such as Babylon, the new Jerusalem, the desert, and the sea—amplify peril and solace on the journey. Symbolic numbers are road signs that warn the exodus-people of dangers or proffer divine succor and protection.

Greco-Roman Religions and the Context of the Book of Revelation

2020 ◽  
pp. 167-183
Author(s):  
Richard S. Ascough
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
Imperial Cult ◽  
Religious Context ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The Social

This chapter describes the religious context of the book of Revelation by considering the primary deities present in the seven cities addressed in the messages embedded in the first three chapters. More broadly, it describes the social and religious activities of urban associations and the presence of the imperial cult in Asia Minor. Finally, it demonstrates how the writer of Revelation vilifies this rich cultural context through metaphors of feasting and fornication in order to urge Christ adherents to maintain strict separation and purity and thus gain entrance into a postmortem utopian city, despite the this-worldly conflicts that this will create.

The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Greek Text ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
People Of God ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
State Of Research

The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation is the premier reference work for the study of Revelation. Part 1 gives attention to the literary features of the book, including its narrative and rhetorical aspects, imagery, hymns, use of the Old Testament and distinctive Greek style. Part 2 considers the social context in which Revelation was composed and first read, including its relation to Roman rule, Jewish communities, Greco-Roman religions, and various groups of Jesus followers. Part 3 explores major topics in theology and ethics, including God, Jesus, and the Spirit; perspectives on creation, evil, and violence; and the portrayal of Babylon, new Jerusalem, and the people of God. Part 4 deals with the book’s history of reception and influence, including the transmission of the Greek text and inclusion in the New Testament canon, patterns of interpretation in antiquity, middle ages, and modern period, and Revelation’s impact on liturgy and music. Part 5 turns to emerging trends in interpretation, including the use of feminist, African American, and post-colonial perspectives. With contributions from leading international scholars, the volume offers authoritative essays on the current state of research that will help to shape the direction of future studies in the field.

scholarly journals Victim to Victor: The Appeal of Apocalyptic Hope

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 455
Author(s):  
Robyn Whitaker
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
World Order ◽  
New World Order ◽  
Apocalyptic Literature ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Resistance Literature ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
The Face

Jewish apocalyptic literature emerged as a form of resistance literature during the intertestamental period. A product of marginalized communities, such literature is highly political, articulating the worldview of the politically oppressed and those who considered their religious freedoms to be under threat. As resistance literature, apocalypses cathartically utilize vivid descriptions of violence and poetic symbols of hope to encourage those who identify as victims to maintain their resistance to political pressure or injustice. This paper explores the ways the Christian Book of Revelation builds on this tradition to envisage hope in the face of systemic evil, political oppression, and injustice. Neither the noun nor verb for hope appear in Revelation, yet its eschatological vision of vindication, victory, and shared rule in New Jerusalem for those who are oppressed has inspired many Christians to hope for a new world order with significant implications for the present. After considering the historical context of Revelation, this paper will examine the ways the apocalyptic imagination of Revelation continues to be invoked and (mis)used in contemporary Christianized political discourse. I argue that the Book of Revelation continues to appeal precisely because it offers a framework for believing that the victim will become the victor in the eschaton.

The Book of Revelation: The Alternative Temple

2019 ◽  
pp. 222-251
Author(s):  
Eyal Regev
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
The Other ◽  
Book Of Revelation ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Unique Approach ◽  
The One ◽  
The Temple

This chapter explores the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation to John is exceptional within the New Testament not only because of its genre and rich imagery, but also because it introduces a unique approach to the Temple. On the one hand, it portrays an alternative heavenly Temple, while on the other it argues that in the eschatological age, the New Jerusalem will lack a Temple altogether. The author's use of the genre of an apocalypse, not a gospel or letter, provides him with the opportunity to introduce radical approaches to the Temple. In the Book of Revelation, the secrets of the heavenly Temple and its impact on the earthly world are revealed, thus reflecting the author's conventions about the meaning of the Temple cult.

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