Διακρίνειν als Leseaufgabe: Petrus und Kornelius zwischen ungeschriebenem Gesetz und unzuverlässiger Erzählung

The Cornelius incident (Acts 10.1–11.18) has traditionally been read as a narrative marking the abolition or transgression of Jewish food and purity laws in early Christianity. Strong halakic statements made by Peter himself and by some of his opponents in fact seem to claim that halakic norms have been abrogated or violated. The article suggests however that these statements should not be read as accurate descriptions of facts, but instead as examples of ‘unreliable narration’: using this technique, a narrator deliberately introduces misjudgements and distorted perceptions of reality on the side of his main character in order to temporarily mislead his readers, only to unmask the deception in the later course of his narrative. It turns out that Peter's refusal of food offered in a vision as well as his halakic judgements on the ‘impurity of gentiles’ and the prohibition of table fellowship are misconceptions, based not on biblical pretexts or Jewish halakah, but purely on social convention. The narrative therefore does not describe the abolition or transgression of halakic boundaries, but invites the reader to make a proper distinction between halakic boundaries (which are to be kept) and social conventions (which in this case need to be transgressed).

Interaktion mit dem Fremden. Grenzen und Möglichkeiten der Tischgemeinschaft anhand von Daniel und Ester

Most recent publications dealing with the question of table fellowship between Jews and gentiles in Early Judaism stake the assumption for granted that there is a common discourse behind the available sources. Thus, the relevant Jewish narratives (Dan, Est, Jdt, JosAs, Tob, Arist) are mutually used for explanation. In contrast, Ruben A. Bühner uses the Daniel and Ester narratives to exemplify that the texts present complex discourses that must be distinguished from one another and that testify to different lines of reasoning, which cannot be reduced to a uniform discourse.

Making mega-space for others: Towards theology of mega-friendship from the table fellowship story according to Luke 5:27–32

The purpose of the article is to interpret the story of the table fellowship in the Gospel of Luke 5:27–32 and construct the theology of mega-friendship with the Other in the context of a pluralistic society. What is happening in the present is that human communities should be living together and facing the fact of differences in the races, ethnic groups, cultural entities or religious communities. In this context, there is a kind of global fear of strangers, rejection of others and conflict or violence against those who differ. By interpreting the text, I argue that Christianity is called to participate in the mega-friendship created by God by making mega-space and befriending the Other. Mega-friendship in the table fellowship is to sustain life in love, equality, compassion, peace and transformation. The theology’s construction begins by explaining the socio-historical context of the table fellowship story, exposing the meaning of the story and constructing the theology of mega-friendship in the context of a pluralistic society.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This research has interdisciplinary implications. It departs from New Testament studies to constructive theology by using a pluralism perspective. By interpreting the table fellowship story in Luke 5:27–32, there is a meaning of the text on theology of friendship and its relevance as a sign of Christian presence in the pluralistic society of the Indonesian context.

Incorporating Queer, Housing Insecure Perspectives into Eucharistic Theology

This paper uses queer systematic theology and theological anthropology to argue that the Christian Eucharistic tradition is one of radical table fellowship rooted in desire for intimacy with the margins. Including queer people, the issues facing the community, and queer theory at the Eucharistic table therefore requires that we take homelessness seriously and consider alternative approaches to economic justice.

The Adoption and Use of the Word ἘΚΚΛΗΣΊΑ in the Early Christ-Movement

This article engages with two recent monographs and three shorter publications to offer a fresh approach to the origin and some aspects of the use of the word ἐκκλησία in the Christ-movement of the first century ce. It argues that the word was first used as a collective designation by mixed groups of Greek-speaking Judean and non-Judean Christ-followers who were persecuted by Paul. Their intimate table-fellowship (especially of the one loaf and one cup of the Lord’s Supper) was regarded as involving or risking idolatry and thus imperilling the ethnic integrity of the Judean people. These Christ-followers adopted the word ἐκκλησία from instances in the Septuagint where it meant not ‘assembly’ but ‘multitude’ or ‘group’, most importantly of all in 1 Sam. 19.20. As Paul founded new communities in the cities of the Eastern Mediterranean that were recognisably similar to Greco-Roman voluntary associations, the word acquired new connotations that reverberated with the role of ἐκκλησίαι as civic voting assemblies in the Greek cities. Paul’s groups were not anti-Roman, nor did he believe that the Christ-movement would replace ethnic Israel, but rather that the two would co-exist until the End. The Pauline view on this matter finds theological endorsement in a 2015 document from the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with Jews.

Feast as Resistance

This paper takes the concept of black joy as a corporate practice of resistance against evil and extends it to apply to liturgical feasting as resistance against evil— through ritualized corporate worship (Eucharist) and table fellowship (eating a meal together). The proposal connects current discussions in analytic theology and black theology to propose an account of how the Church can help resist evil. After demonstrating how feasting in both the Eucharist and table fellowship help resist evil, the paper names two challenges to liturgical feasting and presents solutions to both problems by drawing upon the understanding of the human gaze as presented by child psychologist Vasudevi Reddy and upon theologian Eleonore Stump’s work on shame. The paper demonstrates how liturgical feasting as Eucharist and table fellowship helps to anchor and reinforce each other and provides a setting for the sharing of gazes and stories, the defeating of shame, and the forming of a collective memory that helps a community in its resistance of evil.