scholarly journals Jesus Christ, Glory and Cognition. Is Eph 1:15–23 a Judaistic and/or Hellenistic Christian Text?

Verbum Vitae ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 807-829
Author(s):  
Waldemar Linke

The paper is an interpretation of Eph 1:15-23 which is a consequence of the shorter version of Eph 1:15 (without the words: τὴν ἀγάπην). It is an attempt to answer the question of who the “saints” are in this verse and the entire pericope, what background (Hellenistic or Judaic) this concept has, and what was the character of the church community in this city in the post-Pauline period. The method used in this paper consists of historical and contextual analysis of lexicographical end ideological material used in the pericope. The first step is a study of the rhetorical structure of Eph as the instrument for interpretation of the role of the pericope in the meaning of the text. The second part of the paper is presented the binary way of exposition: in the language of Judaism and in the Hellenistic terms. From this perspective the category of “saints” is described. From this analysis it is concluded: “saints” are the group belonging to the Judeo-Christian component of the Church, the political substructure of the Church but not in terms of the separation, but of the pluralistic unity.  

2020 ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Ярослав Очканов

Статья посвящена исследованию малоизученной стороны деятельности видного русского священнослужителя протоиерея Евгения Попова, бывшего с 1842 по 1875 гг. настоятелем русской посольской церкви в Лондоне. Его служение на Английской земле совпало с углублением диалога между Русской Православной и Англиканской церквами, явившегося следствием религиозных преобразований в Англии в 1830 - 1840-е гг. Отец Евгений в рассматриваемый период фактически стал связующим звеном между русским церковноначалием и англиканами - инициаторами единения двух Церквей. Он проделал огромную работу по популяризации православия в Англии и много сделал для ознакомления русской церковной общественности с вероучением и структурными особенностями англиканства. Материалом для исследования послужили, прежде всего, письма протоиерея Евгения Попова обер-прокурорам Святейшего Синода Н. А. Протасову и А. П. Толстому. Эти документы являются своеобразными отчётами о современном состоянии Англиканской Церкви, о религиозных течениях в ней и усилиях, предпринимаемых определёнными церковными кругами в Англии по сближению с православием. Результаты его деятельности имели важное значение в последующие десятилетия, когда англикано-православный диалог вышел на церковно-государственный уровень. The article is devoted to the insufficiently studied aspects of Russian prominent cleric Archpriest Eugene Popov, rector of Russian Embassy Church in London from 1842 to 1875. His Ministry on the English soil coincided with the deepening of the dialogue between the Russian Orthodox and Anglican Churches, which was the result of religious transformations in England in the 1830s and 1840s. Father Eugene in the period under consideration actually became a connecting link between the Russian Church authorities and the anglicans-initiators of the union of the two Churches. He had done a great job by popularizing Orthodoxy in England and by familiarizing the Russian Church community with the doctrine and structural features of Anglicanism. The study, first of all, is based the letters of Archpriest Yevgeny Popov to the chief prosecutors of the Holy Synod N. A. Protasov and A. P. Tolstoy, which were original reports on the current state of the Anglican Church, it’s religious trends, and the efforts made by certain Church circles in England to get closer to Orthodoxy. The fruits of his activities were important in the following decades, when the Anglican-Orthodox dialogue reached the Church-state level.


1962 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-439
Author(s):  
José M. Sánchez

Few subjects in recent history have lent themselves to such heated polemical writing and debate as that concerning the Spanish Church and its relationship to the abortive Spanish revolution of 1931–1939. Throughout this tragic era and especially during the Civil War, it was commonplace to find the Church labelled as reactionary, completely and unalterably opposed to progress, and out of touch with the political realities of the twentieth century.1 In the minds of many whose views were colored by the highly partisan reports of events in Spain during the nineteen thirties, the Church has been pictured as an integral member of the Unholy Triumvirate— Bishops, Landlords, and enerals—which has always conspired to impede Spanish progress. Recent historical scholarship has begun to dispel some of the notions about the right-wing groups,2 but there has been little research on the role of the clergy. Even more important, there has been little understanding of the Church's response to the radical revolutionary movements in Spain.


Author(s):  
Koos Vorster

This research deals with the question of whether an ecumenical ethics can be developed in South Africa that at least will be applicable in the field of political ethics and that can assist the various ecclesiastical traditions to ‘speak with one voice’ when they address the government on matters of Christian ethical concern. The research rests on the recognition of the variety of ethical persuasions and points of view that flow from the variety of hermeneutical approaches to Scripture. However, within this plethora of ethical discourses, an ‘overlapping’ ethics based on a proposed set of minimum theological ideas can be pursued in order to reach at least an outline of an applicable ecumenical political ethics conducive to the church–state dialogue in South Africa today. The article concludes that a ‘minimum consensus’ on the role of revelation in the moral discourses is possible and is enriched by traditional ideas such as creation and natural law, the reign of God and Christology, and it can provide a suitable common ground for an ecumenical ethics applicable to the moral difficulties in the political domain in South Africa today.


1974 ◽  
Vol os-24 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Jean Skuse

Let us recognize at the outset that we are talking about a complex picture. Any generalization about “all missionaries” or “missionaries as a whole” is likely to be erroneous. We would also recognize that the role of mission is changing, and is constantly being re-examined in the light of new understandings and challenges. We would also admit that it is unlikely that there is a single motivation - that what drives people in different directions depends on so many of life's circumstances. And yet we need to examine our motives very carefully, to identify some as clearly being the wrong motives and to ask the question which was submitted to me for this paper: “How can we get ‘turned-on’ to do God's work today? Why is a Christian compelled to share what he/she knows of what God has done in Jesus Christ?” A motive, of course, is any consideration which moves the will, that which drives us to certain actions, and directs us towards particular goals. Motivation depends so much on the goal and vice versa. The two are almost inseparable. “Mission” or “missions” refer to the special task to which an individual or groups is destined. The usual connotation in the Christian Church involves being sent out by God or the church charged with responsibility for such functions as preaching the gospel, teaching the Word, healing the sick, proselytizing the heathen, and introducing the appropriate rites and ceremonies to accompany these functions. These are the traditional tasks of mission. We talk too of partnership in mission, sharing Christian communities, of involving ourselves in the secular processes. Our missionary motivation is intimately bound up with our understanding of what mission is all about. If we see mission as extending the Christian Church this will call forth one kind of motivation. If it is to be involved in the raising of the level of humanness of all God's creatures the motivation will be different.


Author(s):  
David Carroll Cochran

Using Charles Taylor’s A Catholic Modernity? as its starting point, David Cochrane explores the evolving role of Catholicism in Ireland over the last half century and concludes that the disentangling of the Church from the dominant political and cultural institutions of society has paradoxically extended many of the very values Catholicism celebrates. Due to the severing of its close traditional connection to the State, the Church has rediscovered its original mission to provide a prophetic spiritual voice, especially in favour of the poor, and to align itself more closely with the concerns of its founder, Jesus Christ.


2020 ◽  
pp. 17-28

This chapter looks into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that was labeled “Salem Witchcraftism,” “hocus pocus,” and “superstition” in its first decade. It analyzes the political dissent against Mormonism, which shared an antipathy with anti-Shakerism that purported superstition and magic. It also mentions Ann Lee, the Shaker founder, who was referred to as a “fortune teller” and Joseph Smith Jr. who was branded as “very expert in the arts of necromancy.” The chapter explores the propensity of critics to accuse Mormons of superstition and magical practice and associate that accusation with an enmity toward republicanism. It talks about the so-called alternative religions of the early republic routinely faced charges of being both superstitious and dangerous to democracy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon O. Ademiluka

The Hannah narrative bears close affinities to the African context with respect to the problem of barrenness. Hence, employing the exegetical approach and contextual analysis, this article examines the narrative in relation to the attitude of the church in Nigeria towards the problem of barrenness among its members. The suffering of Hannah resonates with the travails of childless African women; yet, beyond the weekly or monthly prayer services for them, the church has not exploited these similarities enough to assist its barren members. This article states that the church can organise regular programmes to address issues such as causes of barrenness as well as the role of male and female cells in the conception process. It also needs to teach the right attitude of friends and relatives towards childless couples so as to reduce the psychological effects of childlessness particularly on the women. The church can also identify with childless couples by introducing them to the practices of child adoption and surrogacy when all efforts to have children by the natural process fail. As there will always be childless persons in spite of all efforts to have children, the church has the responsibility to make its members accept the fact that children are a gift from God, and that matrimony must not necessarily end in parenthood. Finally, the church in Nigeria needs to assure childless members that they can live happy and fulfilled lives despite their situation of childlessness.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This research involves the disciplines of the Old Testament and Christian Ethics. It examines 1 Samuel 1:1–20 in relation to the attitude of the church in Nigeria towards its childless members, stressing that the church can do more in identifying with them.


Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 256
Author(s):  
Daniel H. Olsen ◽  
Scott C. Esplin

For centuries, people have traveled to sacred sites for multiple reasons, ranging from the performance of religious rituals to curiosity. As the numbers of visitors to religious heritage sites have increased, so has the integration of religious heritage into tourism supply offerings. There is a growing research agenda focusing on the growth and management of this tourism niche market. However, little research has focused on the role that religious institutions and leadership play in the development of religious heritage tourism. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of religious leaders and the impacts their decisions have on the development of religious heritage tourism through a consideration of three case studies related to recent decisions made by the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


Exchange ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-126
Author(s):  
Teddy Chalwe Sakupapa

Abstract This contribution explores the interaction between religion and politics in a religiously plural and ethnically multidimensional Zambian context. Given the political salience of both religion and ethnicity in Zambian politics, this research locates an understudied aspect in the discourse on religion and politics in Zambia, namely the multiple relations between religion, ethnicity and politics. It specifically offers a historical-theological analysis of the implications that the political mobilisation of religion has for ecumenism in Zambia since Edgar Chagwa Lungu became the country’s president (2015-2018). Underlining the church-dividing potential of non-theological (doctrinal) factors, the article argues that the ‘political mobilisation of religion’ and the ‘pentecostalisation of Christianity’ in Zambia are reshaping the country’s ecumenical landscapes. Accordingly, this contribution posits the significance of ecumenical consciousness among churches and argues for a contextual ecumenical ecclesiology.


Author(s):  
Christiane Tietz

Christology stands at the centre of Bonhoeffer’s theology because God has revealed Godself in Jesus Christ and made himself approachable, though not manageable, for human beings. For Christians today, the encounter with Christ takes place in the church-community. It is Christ as the mediator between God and humankind that places Christians at a distance from the world, allowing them to engage with it critically. To live as a Christian means to follow Christ, yet today this is qualified differently than in the times of the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth.


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