scholarly journals A Hermeneutics of Blessing as a Meta-Requisite for Reconciliation: John E. Toews’ Romans Paradigm as a Case Study

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vern Redekop
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Practical Wisdom ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Sciences ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Biblical Scholar

Within an overall framework of reconciliation as a transformation of mimetic structures of violence to mimetic structures of blessing, teachings of blessing are needed throughout the process. “Teachings” are considered as paradigmatic stories, principles, insights, and practical wisdom that are derived both from religious traditions and the human sciences. “Blessing” refers to that which contributes to sustained human well-being at the individual, collective and relational levels. A hermeneutics of blessing is a deliberate interpretive endeavour directed toward the generation of teachings of blessing. It can be used with any particular source and the insights can be both direct and inverse, identifying what is helpful and not helpful for reconciliation processes. John E. Toews, biblical scholar specializing on the book of Romans in the New Testament, is examined as someone practicing a hermeneutics of blessing. His paradigm of Romans shows how it can be viewed as a letter addressing an identity-based conflict involving Jews and Gentiles. A set of practical teachings of blessing is synthesized from Romans 12 to 15, using the Toews hermeneutical paradigm.

The New Testament Church and the Emergence of Religious Identities

2020 ◽  
pp. 102-140
Author(s):  
Savio Abreu
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Religious Identities ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Born Again ◽  
New Testament Church

This chapter is an elucidation of the process of identity formation among the Catholic Charismatics and the neo-Pentecostals, both at the corporate and the individual levels, with the recreation of the New Testament Church (NTC) as the guiding motif. The process of identity formation for the neo-Pentecostals involves marking clear-cut boundaries with Catholicism and Hinduism, the two dominant religious traditions in Goa. Assuming the identity of the NTC involves appropriating the dualistic spiritual worldview of the early Church and defining their mission as saving the lost, the lost being Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, and all others who are not Born-Again Christians. The identity of the neo-Pentecostals is closely linked with their idea of the mission to include urgent, aggressive proselytization and numerical expansion.

scholarly journals Die godsdienshistoriese agtergrond van die Nuwe Testament: Kommentaar op 'n onlangse publikasie

2001 ◽  
Vol 57 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan C. Thom
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Recent Introduction ◽  
General Orientation ◽  
Close Interaction ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Historic Background ◽  
Ancient Texts

The religio-historic background of the New Testament: Commentary on a recent publication. The religiohistoric background of the NT is of cardinal importance for its interpretation; however, it is far from easy for New Testament scholars to attain a thorough knowledge of this background. What is needed is not only a broad, general orientation, but also first-hand interaction with texts in which Graeco-Roman religious traditions themselves appear and are expressed. But available introductions are either too general or do not offer a satisfactory theoretical framework for understanding textual materials within context. Hans-Josef Klauck's recent introduction to the religio-historical context of the  NT, by presenting not only an "external", theoretical but also an "intemal" perspective emanating from close interaction with the ancient texts themselves, satisfies to an exceptional degree the requirements mentioned above.

Mona Siddiqui

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Benthall
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Yale University ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Theological Debate

This review of Mona Siddiqui’s Christians, Muslims, and Jesus (Yale University Press) was published in the Times Literary Supplement on 29 January 2014, under the heading “Abraham’s children”. As well as being a senior academic in religious studies, Siddiqui is well known to the British public as a frequent contributor to the “Thought for the Day” religious slot in the early morning “Today” programme broadcast by the BBC’s Radio Four. SIddiqui makes an important contribution to comparative theological debate by comparing and contrasting the roles of Jesus (Isa) and Mary (Maryam) in the New Testament and the Qur’an, and more broadly in the two religious traditions as they evolved. She also reflects on the specifically Christian semiotics of the Cross. The Chapter ventures some further reflections on how the two traditions may be compared along broader lines.

Faith

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas P. Wolterstorff
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
John Locke ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Faith And Reason ◽  
Western Philosophical Tradition ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Book Of Genesis ◽  
Human Responsibility ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

Faith became a topic of discussion in the Western philosophical tradition on account of its prominence in the New Testament, where the having or taking up of faith is often urged by writers. The New Testament itself echoes both Hellenistic concepts of faith and older biblical traditions, specifically that of Abraham in the Book of Genesis. The subsequent attention of philosophers has been focused primarily on three topics: the nature of faith, the connection between God’s goodness and human responsibility, and the relation of faith to reason. Discussions on the nature of faith, from Aquinas to Tillich, have tried to examine the subject in terms of whether it is a particular form of knowledge, virtue, trust and so on. Regarding divine goodness, the argument has primarily focused on the relationship between faith and free will, and whether lack of faith is the responsibility of the individual or of God. Concerning the relation between faith and reason, there are two quite separate issues: the relation of faith to theorizing, and the rationality of faith. Aquinas in particular argued that faith is a necessary prerequisite for reasoning and intellectual activity, while later, John Locke explored the relationship between faith, reason and rationality, and concluded that faith can be reached through reason. This latter viewpoint was later heavily criticized by Wittgenstein and his followers.

Women in the New Testament World

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Hylen
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Social Expectations ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
The Social ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Economic Well Being

This book presents and interprets evidence for women’s lives in the social context of the New Testament. Some of the evidence from this period of Roman history suggests that women’s roles were sharply restricted. Other evidence shows women taking on leadership roles, managing property, and the like. Previous interpreters have often argued that the two kinds of evidence describe different groups or arenas where women’s activity was either forbidden or allowed. However, this book argues that the evidence points to complex gender norms that were sometimes in tension. The culture widely recognized modesty, submission to men, and silence as virtues of women. Yet society also encouraged women to contribute to the economic well-being of their families and to serve as patrons of individuals, groups, and cities. The chapters of the book address the virtues of women, their legal status, wealth, patronage, occupations, and speech. Each chapter explores the way the New Testament writings emerge out of and reflect this complex set of social expectations for women.

Reading tradition as pedagogy in Calvin and Augustine: the case of election

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-45
Author(s):  
Michelle C. Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Fundamental Interest ◽  
Christian Teaching ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Doctrine Of Election ◽  
Theological Authority ◽  
Pedagogical Framework

AbstractIn colloquial English the word ‘tradition’ tends to be understood as a noun referring to a more-or-less static set of propositions, often used to define the identity of the particular group that accepts them. This article seeks to challenge this convention by defending an older, more fluid sense oftraditiothat is not only found in but formative of a variety of major Christian theological sources. The argument draws especially on Jean Calvin, his preferred theological authority Augustine and briefly the New Testament itself, showing that each demonstrates a fundamental interest in Christian teaching as participation in divine pedagogy. Using the doctrine of election as a case study, I argue that this pedagogical framework evidences a dynamic conception oftraditioastradere, or a discourse on how human beings faithfully participate in what is properly a divine giving-and-receiving. This conception of tradition as pedagogy is commended for both its theological and its critical merit.

Dialogue analysis: a case study on the New Testament

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 603-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chak Yan Yeung ◽  
John Lee
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
The New Testament

scholarly journals The Catalogs of Vices and Virtues in the Pauline Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 130-146
Author(s):  
José David Padilla
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Virtuous Life

It was common to find in the writings of the different Greco-Roman philosophical schools of the first century certain catalogs of two or more vices and virtues. They were used to teach that a virtuous life ensured well-being and health while encouraging their disciples to abandon their vicious life leading to ruin. These catalogs influenced the composition of moral catalogs in the New Testament, especially in the letters written or attributed to Paul. Their catalogs were used as a rhetorical tool where the moral teachings of Christianity were developed and taught. According to the divine plan in Christ Jesus, good acts or virtues were considered divinely inspired because they helped the growth of the human person. On the other hand, bad actions or vices were seen as unworthy or sinful because they go against God’s plan and as a sign of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Thus, the catalogs of vices and virtues invited conversion and invited us to wait for the day when God will make all evil and corruption disappear from the world when love (agape), the Christian virtue per excellence, would be the norm for all.

Learning to Pray by Singing

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-121
Author(s):  
Stefan Klöckner
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Gregory The Great ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Christian Perspective ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Canonical Order ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church

Gregorian chants are mostly based on Old Testament texts, predominantly from the Psalms. Decisive for their interpretation in the light of the New Testament are texts of the Church Fathers (Augustine, Gregory the Great, etc.). The texts often do not follow their canonical order in the Bible, but were primarily compiled on the basis of broader associations. Hence, it is not uncommon for new content references to emerge that are committed to a Christian perspective, emotionally and theologically very bold. This article describes an imaginary ‘Gregorian Composition Workshop’: the individual ‘chambers’ include compiling texts, the choice of a suitable mode and melody, as well as the most refined rhythmic differentiations. The final piece, through its unique quality as the ‘sounding word of Holy Scripture’ permits an intensive view of the spirituality of the ninth and tenth centuries, and a realistic understanding of the Psalms as the basis of Christian existence.

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