The Cruelty of Supersessionism: The Case of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The impact of the Shoah on Christian biblical and theological studies has been significant. The Christian doctrine of supersessionism, the replacement of the Jews and Judaism by the Christian church, has come in for particular criticism. Some more traditional scholars have either ignored these critiques or suggested that they were shaped not by critical study of the biblical text but by Christian guilt. It is also argued that the supersessionist argument is so thoroughly woven into the Christian story that extracting it would destroy the story itself. For some, it appears that there is no Christianity without supersessionism. This paper argues not only that this challenge to supersessionism was indeed the result of post-Shoah reflection, but that such challenges were appropriate and necessary. It does this in part by considering the case of German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer whose early citations of the “teachings of contempt” were challenged by the violence of Nazis and the clarity of their intent to destroy both the Jews and, eventually, the church. A non-supersessionist Christianity is both possible and necessary, not simply to preserve the relationship between Christians and Jews, but to enable both communities to engage in the work of “consummation” and “redemption” that God has entrusted to them.

Sin and Missing the Mark in Management: A Lukan Perspective

This paper draws on biblical writings to contribute to our understanding of sin, a catchphrase commonly used in everyday discourse and the scholarly literature with little reference to its underlying meaning. A biblical understanding of “sin” draws attention to whether behaviors are consistent with religious teachings and/or with the will of God. This study develops a Lukan understanding of sin and management—grounded in the socio-economic context in which the biblical text was written—that calls for the development of management theory and practices that liberate relationships (rather than promote patron-client relationships), de-marginalize the poor and oppressed (rather than widen gaps between rich and poor), promote positive deviance (rather than stigmatize diversity), provide fresh ways of thinking (rather than perpetuate the status quo), and facilitate connection to the spiritual (rather than reject spirituality). The conclusion describes practical examples and implications associated with the Lukan approach.

Storied Identity

In this paper, I explore two ways of understanding the moral and spiritual significance of stories, and in turn two ways of developing the notion of storied identity, and hence two ways of reading the Bible. I propose that these two approaches to the biblical text provide the basis for a fruitful interpretation of the Christian rite of the Eucharist, so that, to this extent, we can take the Eucharist to support these ways of drawing out the sense of the text. Accordingly, we can speak of reading the Bible eucharistically. The aim of the paper is not to substantially explain central features of the Eucharist as it has been understood in mainstream Christian teaching but, more modestly, to consider how these two ways of approaching the biblical text may help to bring some aspects of the rite, as depicted in Christian thought, into rather clearer focus, including its social dimension, and the relationship, on the Christian understanding, between the divine presence in the Incarnation and in the Eucharist.

Homiletikai tűnődések a Jelenések könyve 5,1–7 kapcsán

Homiletical Reflections on the Book of Revelation 5:1–7. The passage mentioned in the title bears several motifs and style characteristics of the apocalyptic literature. One of the many difficulties dealing with the text is that such motifs convey the message (Kerygma) in apocalyptic coded language. Therefore, this study seeks to study the biblical text from the aspect of homiletics. It endeavours to provide some guidepost for preaching and to unfold the messages that are relevant for today’s listeners in the church. It addresses several significant topics such as God’s rule, Christ’s (the Lamb slain) mandate, stepping on the throne, the judgement about the earthly power, and the interpretation of human history in the light of divine rule. Keywords: apocalyptic, Book of Revelation, history, God’s omnipotence, the stepping in the throne of the Lamb

Implementasi Arkeologi Alkitabiah (Biblical Archaeology) Dalam Hermeneutik Sebagai Metode Penafsiran Alkitab

Biblical archaeology has very important roles in the method of hermeneutic interpretation to obtain an accurate, valid, precise and accountable interpretation of the Bible. Through a qualitative approach with a literature study method, this study concludes that biblical archaeology in hermeneutics has the implementations as a tool to reveal the historical context and cultural meaning of a text by understanding the archaeological relationship with the biblical text, as a tool to identify the text to adapt its content to the context of the Ancient Near East through the identification of historical, cultural, social, and religious issues provided by archaeological data, as a tool to build the construction of biblical-archaeological exegesis by combining both of data sources through critical thinking to adjust archaeological data with biblical data, as a tool control for context history and a tool produce more accurate historical information for listeners for more accurate application.Abstrak Arkeologi alkitabiah dalam metode penafsiran hermeneutik untuk mendapatkan penafsiran Alkitab yang akurat, valid, teliti dan dapat dipertanggungjawabkan sangat penting. Melalui pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode studi literature, penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa arkeologi alkitabiah dalam hermeneutik memiliki implementasi sebagai alat untuk mengungkap konteks historis dan makna budaya sebuah teks dengan memahami hubungan arkeologi dengan teks Alkitab, sebagai alat untuk mengidentifikasi teks untuk menyesuaikan kontennya dengan konteks Timur Dekat Kuno melalui identifikasi sejarah, budaya, sosial, dan masalah-masalah keagamaan yang disediakan oleh data-data arkeologi, sebagai alat membangun konstruksi eksegesis alkitabiah-arkeologis dengan menggabungkan kedua sumber data tersebut melalui pemikiran kritis untuk menyesuaikan data arkeologi dengan data alkitabiah, sebagai alat kontrol untuk konteks sejarah dan alat menghasilkan informasi historis yang lebih akurat bagi pendengar agar penerapan lebih akurat.

The World of the Bible: Indispensable Context in the Study of the Old Testament

The Bible was not originally written for the modern reader, but the testimony of the Church is that it continues to speak God’s word to readers/hearers today. However, many modern Bible readers come across texts that need further explanation because the biblical authors did not offer clarification of their writings. They assumed the readers of their time were familiar with the background and could understand the reported events without further explanation. To achieve a “legit” interpretation of Old Testament texts, we first need to understand Scripture correctly, meaning that the biblical text must be read in its narrower and broader context. Only within a context does it become clear what the author meant to say. The main argument of this article is to exhibit that the Bible can only be fully understood against the backdrop of the Ancient Near East (ANE). The broader context consists of the knowledge of surrounding nations during Bible times (i.e., Hebrew Bible). By examining ANE texts and archeological findings we achieve a more complete and enriched comprehension of a given scriptural text or passage. This article exhibits through some concrete examples how archeological findings, inscriptions, and Ancient Near East texts can aid in understanding the broader context of the Old Testament world. In return, the wider context of the Bible world can enlighten or clarify a difficult, incomprehensible, or ambiguous biblical text and henceforth scriptural interpretation become more accurate and closer to the original message and meaning.

Reading Ruth as an Akan Story: A Proposal for an Alternative Akan Mother-Tongue Translation of Ruth 1.1

One of the key steps in interpreting a biblical text is to identify its literary genre correctly. It is important for Bible translators to ensure that the translated text takes account of the genre of the source text and that an appropriate genre from the receptor culture is employed. The book of Ruth is generally recognized as a story. Yet, the translation of Ruth 1.1 into three Akan dialects—Asante, Akuapem, and Fante—does not introduce what follows in the book as a story and so Akan readers may not correctly interpret Ruth as a story. It is against this backdrop that this paper examines storytelling elements in the book of Ruth through a discourse analysis and then offers an alternative Akan translation of Ruth 1.1 that will lead to an improved interpretation and appropriate application of the message of the book.

Culture in Biblical Interpretation: The Use of Yoruba Cultural Elements in Adamo's African Cultural Hermeneutics

African Cultural Hermeneutics is an approach in biblical interpretation that makes African socio-cultural context a subject of interpretation. This article shows how Adamo has deployed effectively Yoruba cultural elements in the development of this interpretative grid. This is done with a view to determining the extent to which he has engaged successfully the biblical text in a way that has translated to a better understanding of the Bible in Africa. A descriptive approach is adopted as the basic methodology for the article. Yoruba cultural archival resources such as traditions, songs, oracles, folklores and incantations (potent words) are appropriated to make the Bible come alive and relevant. For Adamo, these traditional resources have helped to elucidate the Bible and make its message meaningful for its average reader in Africa. Employing African cultural elements in the interpretative process should however be done with some measured caution.

Biblical Portrayal of Ethiopia as a Challenge to Western Perspectives of Africa

Africa has been presented as underdeveloped and backward until the adventure of colonial architects. Archaeological remnants and structures, some of which are still standing to date, portray a different reality seemingly echoed by the biblical account. The endowment of Africa with natural resources, evidence of processing abilities and references to established kingdoms occasionally used as instruments of divine punishment of Israel or provision of refuge suggests a much more advanced situation than has been routinely presented by historians. The biblical record which has been proven for its reliability and historicity provides us with the impetus to re-analyse key texts in order to re-examine the views that have been posited. The Western tendency to undermine Africa's advancements is well known. This article therefore considers the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch as a point of reference to African realities reflected throughout the biblical text.

Interpreting the New Testament as a Sacred Text

While a convincing case can be made about the sacredness of the New Testament through its proclamation of Jesus Christ and its guidance on the nature of Christian life, this does not mean that over time, or at any particular time, all Christians understand the message of the Scriptures in the same way. This brings us to the question of “interpretation” of the New Testament. How do we accurately understand the message of a particular New Testament book? How would we describe the meaning of the New Testament for Christian life today? How do we understand, from a doctrinal point of view, the identity of Jesus portrayed in the ensemble of the New Testament writings? What do we understand to be the defining characteristics and structures of the Christian community derived from the diverse books of the New Testament? Additionally, who has the authority to determine what is an authentic or valid answer to such questions? And what are the proper methods of extracting contemporary meaning from these ancient texts? This chapter traces in broad strokes the diverse ways the Christian community has approached the meaning of the New Testament over the centuries, with particular attention to the impact of modern methods of interpreting the biblical text.