Introduction

The debate between Luther and Erasmus was basically about to what degree, if any, a sinner can freely prepare him/herself for the reception of divine grace. When rejecting the bull of Pope Leo X, Luther had used an exaggerating deterministic or necessitarian theological language which alarmed Erasmus. Erasmus concentrated on the application of God’s grace into the human situation “from below”; Luther, on the contrary, focused on the theocentric nature of grace “from above.” Erasmus promoted the commonly accepted rational view of Late Medieval Catholic soteriology: “to those who do what they can God does not deny his grace,” God’s justice requires that he necessarily grant grace to anyone who freely prepares him/herself to receive it, while Luther spoke the language of Biblical realism: Although human will is free in relation to the natural world, the human being is captivated by the overwhelming power of unfaith, sin, and Satan, being incapable of changing his/her ultimate psychic orientation. In his criticism Luther rehabilitated Augustine’s teaching on the radical limits of human freedom and on the Pneumatological dynamism of divine grace, the view neglected in Medieval theology. Research on Luther’s The Bondage of the Will has not recognized the strong Pneumatological and Trinitarian accent of his theology. Instead, the contradiction between Luther and Erasmus has been explained in philosophical terms such as free will, determinism, necessity, and predestination; this has not revealed the true nature of the profoundly theological conflict between the two “forms of Christianity.” The work at hand makes critical comments on Luther research of the last hundred years and launches the task of a detailed and thorough systematic-theological analysis of the major treatise of Luther.

Introduction

This chapter lays out a historiography of the role of religion in the civil rights struggle and introduces the concept of lived theology. It describes the book’s setting in Americus, Georgia and the special role that town played in the conflict over racial justice in the American South. The Introduction argues that to truly understand the theological conflict inherent in the racial struggle, scholars must engage ideas, arguments and tactics as they existed in community.

JOB’S WIFE

Internal textual evidence, as well as external evidence drawn from behavioural patterns in the ancient Near East, shows that the book of Job contains not only a theological conflict between man and God, but also one between man and the society to which he belongs. Job’s physical affliction (שחין רע ) made him into a social outcast because of fear of contagion. The role of Job’s wife has to be understood within this context. In particular, this paper is focused on the speech of Job’s wife in the Prologue (2:9), allusions to her in 19:17, 30:12–13, 17–18, 31:1, 10, and her absence from the Epilogue. These sources suggest an image of Job’s wife that is at variance with the negative character usually ascribed to her.

Philosophy, Heresy, and Kabbalah's Counter-Theology

The role philosophy played in the rise of new Jewish esoteric traditions in the Middle Ages has always been a critical question for kabbalah scholarship. Many scholars have contributed to our understanding of kabbalah's relationship to Greek, Christian, and Jewish philosophy, Neoplatonic and Neo-Aristotelian traditions alike. In this article I wish to contribute to this vast scholarly discussion by enlightening some aspects of theosophical kabbalah's innovation in light of its dialogue with philosophical ideas. This dialogue is complex, and the extent of kabbalah's interaction with philosophy is difficult to evaluate. My assumption in the following is that such a dialogue is best apprehended where conflict can be detected. Consequently I will study different cases of theological conflict between theosophical and philosophical conceptions—cases of heresy, where a theological tension can be identified. These tensions will help us to evaluate the nature of the theosophical innovation in question. The framework of this article rests on the assumption that theosophical kabbalah shares with different philosophical traditions some important theological structures but also that it maintains important conceptual differences. In order to evaluate the theological tensions involved I will analyze different cases of theological heresies, both philosophical and theosophical. I hope with this analysis to clarify theosophical kabbalah in light of its theological renewal, a renewal that was not merely the result of the acceptance of or resistance to philosophical ideas but also of the emerging of what I propose to call counter-theology.

Unidade e diversidade na Antiguidade Tardia: a atuação do imperador Teodósio II na controvérsia em torno da natureza do corpo de Cristo entre Cirilo de Alexandria e Nestório de Constantinopla (428-450 d.C.) * Unity and diversity in the Late Antiquity

<p><strong>Resumo:</strong> Esse artigo analisa a atuação do imperador Teodósio II (408-450) no conflito teológico que emergiu durante o seu governo e ficou conhecido pela historiografia como Controvérsia Nestoriana. Tal conflito foi protagonizado pelos bispos Cirilo de Alexandria e Nestório de Constantinopla, que divergiam acerca do relacionamento estabelecido entre as naturezas divina e humana do Cristo encarnado. Uma vez que formulações teológicas dessa natureza, na Antiguidade Tardia, serviam de suporte para formulações ideológicas de sustentação e unidade do poder imperial, pretendemos destacar o papel de centralidade do imperador como mediador desse conflito.</p><p><strong>Palavras-chave:</strong> Antiguidade Tardia – Conflito político-religioso-administrativo – Controvérsia Nestoriana.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> This article analyzes the performance of the Emperor Theodosius II (408-450) at the theological conflict that emerged during his government and got notorious by historiography as Nestorian Controversy. Such a conflict was led by the bishops Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius of Constantinople, who diverged about the relationship established between the divine and human natures of the incarnate Christ. Since theological formulations of such nature were used in Late Antiquity to support ideological formulations of sustaining and unity of the imperial power, we aim to highlight the role of centrality of the Emperor as a mediator in this conflict.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> Late Antiquity – Political, religious and administrative Conflict – Nestorian Controversy.</p>

Becoming A Fulfilled Jew: An Ethnographic Study of a British Messianic Jewish Congregation

This paper discusses the findings of ethnographic fieldwork among a congregation of British Messianic Jews. After a description of the history and theology of the movement, it describes various themes expressed by informants who have come to accept Yeshua as the Messiah: An ethnic as opposed to a spiritual religious identity; dissatisfaction with Judaism; the influence of family and social networks outside the home; a religious search; a process of intellectual resolution; the importance of personal religious experience; dealing with crises; social support provided by members of the congregation; and the perceived importance of Messianic Judaism giving them a close relationship with God or Yeshua. The importance of religious experience and theological conflict are emphasized. The findings are discussed in relation to the conversion process described by Lewis Rambo.

Hosea's (In)Fertility God

This paper challenges the prevailing view of Hosea's concept of God as a deity wholly other than and opposed to the fertility deities of Canaan. This view depends upon the dominant reading of Hosea's sexual metaphors in which "adultery" with the baalim is understood as a critique of popular fertility religious practices. This paper argues that the theological conflict Hosea addresses is not one of fertility religion verses faith in a "God of History," but rather of localized and/or nationalized concepts of deity verses the prophet's vision of YHWH as a high god who incorporates into Himself all the powers of all the gods, including the powers of fertility.

AUGUSTINO LAIKO SAMPRATOS ONTOLOGINĖS IR TEOLOGINĖS YPATYBĖS

Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos Augustino laiko sampratos filosofinės bei teologinės prielaidos ir padariniai remiantis Išpažinimų XI knyga. Kritinė šio teksto analizė parodo esminę Augustino laiko sampratos problemą – laiko ir amžinybės supriešinimą, kylantį iš neoplatonizmo filosofijos ontologinių prielaidų įtakos. Teigiama, kad šis laiko ir amžinybės dualumas implikuoja teologinį konfliktą tarp Kūrėjo ir kūrinijos, pasireiškiantį žemiškojo gyvenimo nuvertinimu amžinojo gyvenimo naudai. Straipsnyje taip pat teigiama, kad toks Augustino laiko interpretavimas nuvertina pagrindinę krikščioniško tikėjimo tiesą – inkarnacijos įvykį – kaip Dievo meilės aktą, jeigu laiko funkcija Augustinui išsisemia tik savo žemiškosios kaip laikinosios būties beprasmiškumo patyrime.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: Augustinas, laikas, amžinybė, teologija, Dievas. ONTOLOGICAL AND THEOLOGICAL ISSUES OF AUGUSTIN’S CONCEPT OF TIMETomas Kiauka SummaryThe article deals with the philosophical and theological assumptions and consequences of Augustin’s concept of time in his Confessions book 11. Critical analysis of this text shows an essential issue of Augustin’s concept of time: the confrontation of time and eternity, which emerges from the influence of ontological assumptions of Neoplatonist philosophy. It maintains that this dualism of time and eternity implicates a theological conflict between the Creator and creation and that this conflict diminishes temporal life for the sake of eternal life. The article also maintains that such interpretation of time by Augustin diminishes the main truth of Christian faith –the event of incarnation as the act of God’s love – if the function of time limits itself within the experience of an earthly being as a temporal and meaningless one.Keywords: Augustin, time, eternity, theology, God.