Alleen voor mannen? Het patriarchale rudiment in de reformatorische ambtstheologie

Arguments for excluding women from church office are often grounded in the theologies of creation and ministry. Creation theology rightly preserves the differences between male and female, as does scientific reflection on the dynamics of gender identity. Reflection on gender issues and ministry in New Testament texts, however, provides strong arguments against headship as the core element of ministry and as the divinely intended destiny of a baptized male. This essay argues that Galatians 3:28 does not preserve but transcends identity differences in the new community of love in Christ. That is, the Bible’s patriarchal thought should be understood from within its own socio-cultural context, and the church’s ministry should express this anti-patriarchal characteristic of the body of Christ.

Suitable Alliances

Girolamo marries off all five daughters to Friulian nobles—three to feudal lords, two to wealthy city dwellers—thus strengthening the family network of alliances. Alvise and Giovanni become priests, the latter destined to follow his uncle Michele into high church office. Girolamo’s oldest son, Sigismondo, seeks his fortune in service of the Hapsburgs. His first marriage brings him the feud of Spessa, complete with castle, in Gorizia, and a son and heir, Carlo, named after the archduke. A second marriage into a collateral Della Torre line based in imperial territory ties him ever more firmly to the Hapsburgs. Girolamo expands the castle at Villalta, grafting a seigneurial Renaissance country villa onto the medieval fortress, the complex becoming a metaphor for a feudal family that now embraces Venetian republican values. Michele is featured in Paolo Paruta’s Della perfezione della vita politica (1579), a treatise celebrating politics as civil discipline.

Ampsherstel as ’n bedienaar van die Woord – ’n Gereformeerd-kerkregtelike benadering

The restoration of a preacher or minister in church – a Reformed approachThe article is looking into the history and present practice in reformed churches with a connection to the Dutch Reformed Church of the 16th and 17th century, on the restoration of deposed preachers or ministers in the church office. Out of the Dutch Reformed history comes a tendency to list certain sins in church orders as serious enough to make it impossible for the relevant church assemblies to restore someone in office, regardless of the specific context. This list prevents assemblies from using their own discretion when a matter of restoration as a minister is attended to. It thereby kills the pastoral-judicial character of church affairs. Against this stoned approach, writers and churches opt for room for the said assemblies to decide in their own pastoral orientated discretion over matters of restoration in the office as a minister. A room to which a certain framework of broad guidelines is applied.

Ritual and Emerging Church Hierarchy

Tradition and scholarship have often assumed that early Christian ritual authority coincided with church office. More recent scholarship raises questions about the uniformity of ancient practices and the extent to which ritual authority was concentrated in the offices of deacon, presbyter, or bishop. This chapter assesses writings of the first and second centuries to discover what kinds of ritual authority they indicate and whether they locate ritual authority in a particular office. Drawing on ritual theory, the chapter argues that language describing baptism, eucharist, and other meal rituals points to the establishment of ritual hierarchies through the enactment of the rites. However, the early texts also leave open the identity and office of the ritual specialists. Many early Christians—male and female, of varying offices or without any office—likely assumed these ritual roles.

Die vorming van ‘n eietydse ampsbegrip: Jesus se oproep tot dissipelskap

The forming of a contemporary understanding of church office: Jesus’ calling to discipleship This article aimed to examine the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika’s (NHKA) understanding of church office, and measure it against ‘office’ or ministries in the New Testament, and more specifically against Jesus’ calling to discipleship in Mark 8:34. The relevance of the historical Jesus for contemporary church theology is indicated by the ‘essential’ (Sache) continuity that exists between the historical Jesus and the church today. The article concludes that Jesus’ calling to discipleship in Mark 8:34 implies a certain understanding of office. The essence of this calling is servitude based on self-denial, the taking up of one’s cross, and the following of Jesus.Subsequently, a few remarks are made on the NHKA’s understanding of church office, as described in the NHKA church ordinance. The aim is for these remarks to serve as a guideline for the NHKA to form a contemporary understanding of church office. The concluding remarks have been derived from the results of the study on Jesus’ calling to discipleship, with the aim of ensuring that the NHKA serves and works in correspondence with the Word of God. This service occurs in a world very different from the one in which Jesus lived and served.

The Ministerial Priesthood and Liturgical Anamnesis in the Thought of Edward J. Kilmartin, S.J.

[The article explores the possibilities for a constructive theology of priesthood drawn from the work of Edward J. Kilmartin, S.J. (1923–1994). Placing Kilmartin's direct treatment of church office within the context of his larger theological project, the author names the unstated thesis guiding Kilmartin's approach: the ministerial priesthood serves the memory of Christ. The article concludes that Kilmartin's understanding invites reflection on the ministerial priesthood in light of Jesus' life, pneumatology, faith, and the category of priesthood itself.]