Theology through Eschatological Story

Daniela Augustine’s The Spirit and the Common Good is a preachable theology because it is story – the story of the coming kingdom made present by the Spirit’s outpouring on Pentecost. Her book finds a fruitful locus of theological reflection in the former Yugoslavia’s Third Balkan War, by which she confronts the protological narrative of human violence with the counternarrative of the Scriptures, the Spirit, and the glorious transformation at the end of the age. In order to put flesh on Christian hope in the contemporary contexts, Augustine turns to hagiographical stories in the former Yugoslavia. Hagiography is not without perils for the theological task, not least in that it can downplay the sinfulness of the saints’ lives. But, as in the practice of Pentecostal testimony, Augustine’s work gives glory to God, not humans for the work of God in the world.

Prophets and Sour Grapes: Wrestling with Theological Traditions in Homiletical Theology

Homiletical Theology understands the work of preaching to be continuing the “unfinished” task of theology. Embracing a fundamentally provisional nature, homiletical theology understands its work as the continual negotiation of the message of the Gospel with the contexts into which preaching speaks. This unfinished quality raises questions for how the preacher, in their theological task, navigates the various theological traditions they encounter. Using the example of the “sour grapes” proverb found in both Jeremiah and Ezekiel, this article explores how Scripture itself wrestles with theological traditions to consider how present-day homiletical theologians might continue to wrestle with their “unfinished” task.

Judenhass und Judenmission. Das Verhältnis der Hamburger Evangelisch-Lutherischen Landeskirche zum Judentum

How does a Lutheran church behave towards Jews when its tradition cultivates deep-seated hatred of Jews, but sees the theological task of missionizing them to Christianity? Using the example of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hamburg, the essay tries to understand how the relationship with Judaism developed during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. In the Nazi era, the church welcomed racist anti-Semitism, but did not introduce the »Aryan paragraph« in the church. She partially and only secretly fulfilled her duty to protect baptized Jews and their descendants as church members. It was only in the 1950s that a changed attitude towards Judaism began and for the first time there started a dialogue.

ANALISIS TEOLOGIS MENGENAI TUGAS DAN TANGGUNGJAWAB GEMBALA YANG BAIK MENURUT YOHANES 10 : 1 – 18 DAN PENERAPANNYA BAGI GEMBALA MASA KINI

The Shepherd is a leadership call that Jesus offers to His followers. A good shepherd is a shepherd who dedicates his life to the lives of his sheep, and not looking for profits from the sheep. When there is danger threatening the lives of his sheep, trying to protect and save their sheep, instead of oppressing or destroying the peace of the flock. The shepherd is not a matter of position or position but is a calling in the duties and responsibilities that are important in the building of the body of Christ. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the theological analysis and will be linked to the current shepherd along with the application. Therefore, this journal will explain several things relating to the good shepherd that fits in John 10: 1-8 and their application to the shepherd of today. Keywords: Analysis, Theological, Task, Responsibility, Shepherd Abstrak Gembala merupakan panggilan kepemimpinan yang Yesus tawarkan bagi pengikut-Nya. Gembala yang baik adalah gembala yang mendedikasikan hidupnya untuk kehidupan domba-dombanya, dan bukan mencari keuntungan dari domba-dombanya. Ketika ada bahaya mengancam kehidupan domba-dombanya, berusaha melindungi dan menyelamatkan dombanya, bukannya malah menindas atau menghancurkan kedamaian kawanan dombanya. Gembala bukanlah persoalan posisi atau jabatan namun merupakan sebuah panggilan dalam tugas dan tanggungjawab yang penting dalam pembangunan tubuh Kristus. Tujuan paper ini adalah untuk membahas analisis teologisnya dan akan dikaitkan dengan gembala masa kini berserta penerapan yang dilakukan. Maka dari itu, dalam jurnal ini akan dijelaskan beberapa hal yang berkaitan dengan gembala yang baik yang sesuai dalam Yohanes 10:1-8 dan penerapannya bagi gembala masa kini. Kata kunci: Analisis, Teologis, Tugas, Tanggungjawab, Gembala

Pensar a kenosis. Filosofia e teologia da misericórdia em Simone Weil

O Autor demonstra que a reflexão de Simone Weil sobre a kenosis de Deus coincide com o ponto central e de partida da tarefa da teologia. Ela pensa a encarnação, o sofrimento e a morte de Jesus Cristo como expressão do amor que se doa sem nada pedir em troca. A partir deste ponto ela pode – e poderá a teologia – admirar a incomensurabilidade de Deus e de sua coincidente maneira de ser: misericordiosa. A razão, perfazendo a identidade do ser humano, é sua aliada no contínuo esforço de desvendar a Deus e a si próprio, e de chegar à feliz percepção de que a plenitude do ser coincide com o amor sobrenatural revelado em Cristo.Abstract: The Author shows that Simone Weil’s reflection about the kenosis of God coincides with the main – and starting – point of the theological task. She regards Jesus Christ’s incarnation, suffering and death as an expression of the love that is given without asking for anything in return. From this point onwards she can – and so can Theology – admire God’s incommensurability and His correspondent way of being: merciful. Reason, making up the human beings’ identity, is their ally in the continuous effort to reveal God and themselves, and to arrive at the happy perception that the plenitude of the being coincides with the supernatural love revealed in Christ.

The Option for the Poor and the Phenomenology of Life

Recently, Catholic teaching and theology have given much attention to “the preferential option for the poor.” Gustavo Gutierrez, OP, who has popularized the phrase, also defines theology as a “reflection on praxis in the light of the word of God.” The praxis of the option for the poor is therefore indispensable to the theological task, for theology must always be “enfleshed” and concrete in the life of the people. This is particularly the case of Latin American theology and strongly emphasized in the magisterium of Pope Francis. The option for the poor has its foundation in who God is and how God is for the people (cf Exod 3:8-15). The option for the poor is grounded in life. Michel Henry’s phenomenology of life provides a logical approach to theological reflection on poverty, justice, and solidarity with the poor. The people of God, the Church community, live the option in concrete praxis. The God of life has a special love and concern for the poor. The poor, and those in solidarity with them, mysteriously experience the divine love and grace in their everyday lives and la lucha por la vida (the struggle for life). In the living, religious experience is intimately grounded.

In, not of: The theological task and the mission of the church

This article demonstrates how an interdisciplinary approach to thinking about mission allows for a more dynamic definition of who belongs to the Christian community. It argues that the church ought to understand its relationship to its sociocultural environment not in terms of who is “in” and “out” but in terms of the One toward whom this community is oriented, and the corresponding movement towards or away from this center. This will be done by bringing the exegesis of John 17:14–19 and Romans 12:1–2 into an interdisciplinary dialogue with Paul Hiebert’s “bounded-set” and “centered-set” models in order to show how the centered-set model provides a more theologically nuanced and faithful depiction of the church’s missional identity. Additionally, the trinitarian theologies of Thomas Torrance and Lesslie Newbigin will be added to this conversation to further demonstrate how Hiebert’s centered-set model, in partnership with a trinitarian ecclesiology which focuses upon participation, fellowship, and communion, reduces the stark divide of “in” and “out,” instead defining belonging to the Christian community with reference to the God who gathers and calls the church together.

Monastic Theology

Monastic theology emerged in the very era that saw the great patristic bishop-theologians, from Athanasius to Augustine, and the great ecumenical councils, from Nicaea to Chalcedon. Monastic theologians certainly meditated on the big picture, but more as map-makers than systematicians. The theological task, as they conceived it, was to map precisely how the individual Christian journeys to God. Ultimately, it was a mode of theology that flowed from and flowed back into the practice of mystical contemplation. This chapter traces the history of monastic theology from John Cassian (d. 435) through the Venerable Bede (673–735) and on to Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153).