Baylor University Press
vydavateľstvo
Seeing, Knowing, Becoming
Augustine stands tall in the history of Christian thought as theologian, pastor, and philosopher in equal measure. His work, with its masterful use of language and depth of conceptualization, continues to challenge and resource the theological task. A particular mark of his brilliance lies in his appeal to the commonplace metaphor that the soul is an eye, a move that is not mere ornamentation but rather indicative of a larger, implicit schema. Tracing this schema not only yields an account of what Augustine thinks but also how he thinks. Amanda Knight presents this aspect of Augustine's thought as an entry point for his understanding of the reformation of the soul, or "psychological" reformation. To demonstrate this claim, Seeing, Knowing, Becoming divides Augustine's theory of sense-perception into three major premises or loci held up as analogs for major theological notions pertinent to psychological reformation: the ontological basis that occasions sensory pleasure or pain and the psychological states that afford delight or repulsion in the encounter with God; the psycho-physical mechanism that causes sensory pleasure or pain and the theory of action and of the will; the way in which two psycho-physical intermediaries make vision possible and the way that two epistemological intermediaries, reason and the incarnate Word of God, make the apprehension of God possible. Pushing beyond the outdated bias that Augustine's figurative language is merely rhetorical, Knight's study is consonant with current research in cognitive science indicating the centrality of metaphor to everyday thought and affectivity. Seeing, Knowing, Becoming contends that Augustine's figurative language is worth plumbing and offers a holistic account of Augustine's view of redemption, bringing together aspects of Augustine's view of personal transformation, moral psychology, ontology, and epistemology.
The Visible Word of the Unseen God
From the late first century to the end of late antiquity, three rival traditions—pagan, Jewish, and Christian—found themselves at odds over one issue in particular: the nature of the relationship between divine reality and the material world. In this context, the Evangelist John constructed his bios of Jesus as a narrative apologia addressed primarily to Jews whose objection to the worship of Jesus was essentially the same as their longstanding objection to pagan iconic worship. The Visible Word of the Unseen God argues that John wrote his Gospel for readers inclined to regard Christian claims about an incarnate Messiah as an illicit intermingling of the invisible reality of God with the visible creation. As such, the Gospel is best read as an act of scriptural reasoning that portrays the incarnation as a recapitulation of Israel's encounter with God at Sinai, where the visible appearance of God in his Word formed the basis for proscribing any attempt to contain God's presence in images. John designs his narrative to enable readers to hear the words spoken at Sinai as the life-giving words of the Logos and to see the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection as the definitive repudiation of idolatry—the climactic revelation of God's visible glory as his presence in his Word. An appreciation of this core feature of John's Gospel serves as a striking counterpoint to a reductive secularism that strips reality of all but stuff and the self-creating human words we inhabit. At the same time, John is no ally to those critics of secularism who trace its rise to Reformation-era iconoclasm. John does not offer a ressourcement for post-secular reenchantment but rather an entirely different conceptual world. As John renders the world, God is not absent from his creation but neither is his presence diffuse within it. Rather, the Creator is and always has been present in his Word. Through the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, the Word has become the sanctuary that human beings coinhabit with God and share in the life he lives and speaks.
Gospel Birth Narratives and Historiography
Scholars today tend to view the birth narratives of Jesus as substantially less reliable than the rest of the canonical Gospel accounts. Indeed, many recent studies of the historical Jesus pass over his birth altogether or provide only scant commentary. A primary reason for this skepticism is intent oriented: ancient birth narratives (so the argument goes) were meant to be legendary, not historical, and so the Gospel birth narratives, too, should be understood as essentially legendary. Caleb Friedeman challenges this skepticism and argues that ancient birth narratives—including the accounts of Matthew and Luke—were intended to be historical. The core argument of Gospel Birth Narratives and Historiography proceeds along three lines: (1) The Gospels are ancient biographies. (2) In ancient biographies, birth narratives were not intended to be legendary but historical. (3) Therefore, the Gospel birth narratives are not intended to be legendary but historical. Part 1 examines birth material in a representative sample of ancient biographies from the works of Cornelius Nepos, Philo of Alexandria, Plutarch, and Suetonius. In each case, Friedeman demonstrates that the writer presents his birth material with historiographic intent (e.g., citing sources, noting differences between sources, evaluating the truth of sources, etc.). To show that the samples are not biased, Friedeman provides a summary chart for each author that details historiographic features in both the birth material and non-birth material of their biographies. Part 2 turns to the Gospel birth narratives to consider how the historiographic nature of birth narratives in ancient biography should shape our reading of Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2. The overarching aim of Gospel Birth Narratives and Historiography is not so much to argue that the Gospel birth narratives are historically true as that they are meant to be historically true. Friedeman thus reframes the discussion of Gospel birth narratives and historiography and in so doing opens a previously closed horizon for historical Jesus scholarship.
God's Adversary and Ours
The devil—styled by Calvin as "God's adversary and ours"—is ubiquitous in the witness of the New Testament. Yet contemporary Christian doctrine generally remains dumbfounded about what to do with him. At the same time, our present is marked by a resurgence in the language of the "demonic"—that is, invocation of pervasive, radical, and perhaps personified evil. In light of this perplexity, Philip G. Ziegler asks pointedly: Can the gospel actually be heard and understood without meaningful reference to this inimical entity? Ziegler presents certain motivations we might have for revisiting the concept of the diabolical as a first step toward a Reformed doctrine of the infernal. Starting with an exhumation of the origins of our religious and cultural reticence about the devil, this study ventures a new diabology grounded in the witness of the Gospels. The identity and activities of the devil are discerned concretely in their manifold contradiction of Christ as the "Way, the Truth and the Life." The ensuing portrait of the devil yields revisionary consequences for both theology and our conception of faithful living. Through a historical sketch of received approaches to the devil in Western Christian tradition, God's Adversary and Ours uncoils the default dogmatic architecture of diabology and reflects upon the surrounding doctrines that position, shape, and constrain its treatment. Ziegler leads us on a cautious but determined biblical-theological exploration of the identity, ontology, and agency of "that old serpent," the Enemy, whose image becomes most discernible and salient in direct contact with the person and work of the Savior. Fixing attention upon the figure of the devil in a soteriological context confronts us with what the devil does; what the devil might be trails behind. Treating diabolical temptation, demonic possession, and devilish falsehood in turn, Ziegler demonstrates what resistance to—and faithful disbelief of—these three aspects of the devil's business might mean for the shape of a Christian life.
Readings in Romans
To read a passage repeatedly, to examine its ambiguities, to probe its place in a larger text, to reflect on its relationship to other texts by the same author and its place within the canon of Scripture—all of these are acts of committed relationship. As in all committed relationships, the desire to understand is rightly characterized as love. And that desire involves more than a few moments of bewilderment along with insight. When it comes to the Epistle to the Romans, John Chrysostom's plaintive question, "What are you saying, Paul?" is an apt expression of the hermeneutical task, itself a labor of love. Readings in Romans brings together representative studies from Beverly Roberts Gaventa's years of committed relationship with Romans. From the programmatic to specifically exegetical, from those wrestling with the consequences of exegesis—questions of divine power, human freedom, and the identity of Israel vis-á-vis the church—to self-conscious engagement with theologians and writers in conversation with Romans such as Karl Barth and Simone Weil, these essays highlight the contours of Gaventa's extensive and thoughtful work on the apostle and especially his most influential letter. In this way they serve as an encapsulation of her scholarly contributions on Romans and, at the same time, a testimony of devotion to the radical understanding of God to which Paul himself witnesses. An essential companion to Gaventa's definitive commentary on Romans, this volume will assist scholars and students of the New Testament and Christian theology by gathering into one place writings scattered across myriad publications, including journals, conference proceedings, and edited works. More than that, Readings in Romans invites all students of Paul to explore the deep coherence, rich texture, and enduring challenge of one of Christianity's most defining documents.
Under the Olive Tree
"If Jesus were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble of Gaza." This powerful statement of Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac captures the physical and spiritual landscape of Palestinian Christians. Under the lived realities of occupation and struggle, Palestinian theologians attempt to construct their national-political identity in response to three groups: the Palestinian people, the global Christian community, and Western Christianity's view of Judaism. This complex identity is shaped through scriptural interpretation and the development of a religious, national-political discourse rooted in the local context of Palestinian Christians as indigenous people of the Holy Land living under occupation. In Under the Olive Tree, Maayan Raveh offers a glimpse into the heart of Palestinian Christian Theology (PCT) and its contribution to the struggle against oppression. Palestinian theologians emphasize that Palestinians share with the Jewish people the mythical past of the Old Testament as an integral part of their heritage, and assert that Palestine has the same political right to national sovereignty as Israel. Raveh analyzes the writings of indigenous pastor-theologians from a range of Protestant and Catholic denominations, exploring how Palestinian theologians invoke the concept of "witness" both as a theological reflection of suffering—echoing Christ's own passion—and as a historical presence: a community that has lived continuously in the land where Jesus was born, lived, and died, bearing witness not only through faith but also through place and memory. The book delves into pivotal questions that have long intrigued scholars and believers: the divine election of the Israelites, the promise of the Promised Land, and the complex relationship between biblical history, faith, and contemporary identity. Theology enables communities to interpret the religious past and eschatological future in ways that shape their understanding of the national-political present. Under the Olive Tree presents Palestinian theology as part of a broader conversation about the power of faith to form identity and speak across historical and religious divides. Raveh invites readers to consider how theology, in both local and global contexts, becomes a language through which communities articulate—and at times compete over—the search for meaning, memory, and hope amid conflict.
Theology on the Run
Writing a study in apocalyptic pastoral theology may sound like an exercise in "performative self-contradiction." But such an endeavor reminds us that the imminent expectation of the Lord's return, a pervasive hope in the first generation of the Jesus movement, is not an embarrassing, superfluous doctrine of little value to ordinary Christian life. Against the assumptions of many in the guild of New Testament studies, it was not Paul but Jesus himself who first gave Christian theology its apocalyptic urgency. From its very beginnings, then, Christian theology was "theology on the run." This was true for Paul, who penned his correspondence to Thessalonica while literally "on the run" from the city. Joining a long line of readers of these letters, Jamie Davies explores how Paul's eschatological conviction, together with convictions about epistemology and cosmology, constituted his "apocalyptic DNA," shaping every aspect of his thinking and practice. Through study of these contours of Paul's apocalyptic thought, Theology on the Run brings forward Paul in pastoral mode as he addresses the challenges of life in the "real world" of the fledgling Thessalonian church. A consideration of what Paul's apocalyptic thought might mean for his work as a practical and pastoral theologian in first-century Macedonia, concerned with planting and sustaining faithful churches in tumultuous times, presents a compelling argument for how and why those engaged in the ministry of the church today, and those who teach them, need an appreciation of Paul's apocalyptic pastoral theology in our own efforts to do "theology on the run." Readers of Paul often cite Ernst Käsemann's maxim that apocalyptic eschatology was the "mother of Christian theology." To this Davies adds another: "Christian ethics is lived-out eschatology." At the center of any account of ethics, of which pastoral theology is part, is the question of metaphysics—what is the "real world"? In the Thessalonian letters we see Paul bringing the apocalyptic reality of the new creation to bear on the pastoral situation in Thessalonica, facing challenges of grief, work, sex, truth, power, and oppression—enduring challenges for the church today. Paul meets these challenges by reframing them according to his apocalyptic gospel. As such, he demonstrates a pastoral theology that challenges us to think beyond Christian glosses on human philosophic traditions or social-psychological practices through the unbreakable relationship between this apocalyptic gospel and ministerial practice.
Vypredané
46,99 €