331,397 research outputs found
More Jesus
No full textMORE JESUS erzählt die Geschichte des ebenso
ehrgeizigen wie charismatischen Predigers Edmund Sackey-Brown aus Ghana, der im Ruhrgebiet eine Megachurch für 5.000 Besucher/innen bauen will. Eine Mission, die vermessen und aussichtslos erscheint. Schließlich nimmt die Zahl der Gläubigen hierzulande seit den 1960er Jahren
stetig ab und Kirchen werden geschlossen. Aber
Pfarrer Edmund glaubt fest an den Durchbruch
nach Vorbild der Pfingstkirchen in den USA oder in Afrika, die teilweise bis zu 50.000 Mitglieder zählen. Edmund Sackey-Brown ist dabei Teil einer „Mission Reversed“: Immer mehr Gemeinden aus Schwellenländern, in denen das Christentum rasant wächst, senden in großer Zahl Missionare nach Europa, um die Menschen dort zu evangelisieren. Für Sackey-Brown und seine etwa 500 Gläubige zählende „Lighthouse“- Gemeinde beginnt die Re-Christianisierung
Deutschlands in einem Supermarkt in Mülheim an der Ruhr. Die Gemeinde, die vorwiegend aus
afrikanischen Migrant/innen besteht, hat das Gebäude des ehemaligen Edeka-Marktes gekauft, um es zu einem Missionszentrum umzubauen.
Die Filmemacher Hendrik Lietmann und Matthias Tränkle begleiten das Projekt von den ersten
Plänen bis nach der Eröffnung. Insbesondere
nehmen sie die religiösen Praktiken in der Gestaltung der Gottesdienste, Predigten und des Gemeindelebens in den Blick. Vieles davon mutet aus der Perspektive geordneter Verhältnisse
deutscher Zurückhaltung irritierend bis verstörend an, beispielsweise der Offensivcharakter
der Marketingstrategien zur Finanzierung des
Gemeindezentrums. MORE JESUS präsentiert
uns Einblicke in die Weltsicht eines religiösenVisionärs und wirft gleichzeitig Fragen zur Rolle von Glauben, Kultur und „Transformationsresistenzen“ in Deutschland auf
The voice of Jesus in six parables and their interpreters
No full text'Figures of speech' provide a suggestive key for approaching the question of Jesus' individual tone of voice. Apprehending a figure implies insight into an intention, and beyond intention to discern unconscious influences upon the speaker. This is the conceptual framework for a study of the 'voice of Jesus' in six parables peculiar to Luke (10:25-37; 15:11-32; 16:1-9; 16:19-31; 18:1-8; 18:9-14) and in commentaries upon them. In the premodern era commentators approached the parables with an immediacy of insight, seeking the divine intention behind the texts. Nevertheless we may hear the voice of Jesus echoing in their commentaries in morally specific tones. In the work of Jülicher 'insight', though repudiated, is still important, as he seeks the intention of Jesus through the figure of simile. Jülicher offers insight into Jesus as a passionate communicator, but goes beyond Jesus' intention in making him a propounder of generalities. More recently a concern with the intention of Jesus is replaced by a concern with how his voice was heard. The necessity of insight remains apparent in B.B. Scott's use of metaphor as an interpretative key. An impression is given of Jesus as a provocative subversive. In their context in Luke-Acts, the parables function as metonymies of the gospel, and yield an impression of the voice of Jesus as suggestively concerned with the life of this world. In the ministry of Jesus the parables function as synecdoches, offering hearers a realistic and hopeful 'part' of the world from which they must fashion a 'whole’. Against the background of Scripture the parables display a deep continuity with older forms of discourse, but also important tokens of newness. A stream of influence can be traced from the Old Testament, through Jesus and Luke, and on through their interpreters, though recently its course has been somewhat diverted
The anger 01- jesus in mark's gospel
No full textThe textual variants in Markan passages depicting the anger of Jesus coupled with Matthaean and Lukan amendments to and omissions from them, suggest that discomfort at the thought of Jesus' anger is no merely modern phenomenon. Nevertheless its possibility still strikes some as bizarre and some as impossible. However, in this thesis I argue that, far from being extraneous or peripheral. Jesus' anger is integral to Mark's presentation of the gospel First, it illustrates Mark's claim that Jesus was the son of God. Many of the themes associated with God's anger in the Old Testament are discernible also in Mark's Gospel. Furthermore, in Mark Jesus alone expresses 6prn . and, while the indignations of others are invariably condemned, Jesus' expressions of anger are always cast in a positive and even divine light. Secondly the anger of Jesus highlights the importance of the various issues which were the subject of intense debate between Christians and Jews, within Judaism itself and among his own followers. The status of the law, the nature and purpose of miracles, the meaning of suffering, the roles of children, outsiders and Gentiles are all very much to the fore in the Markan pericopae which depict Jesus' anger. His anger proclaims their seriousness and the urgency with which they should be tackled The notion of Jesus' anger involves, inevitably, some recognition of the mystery surrounding his character and his relationship with God However, one of Mark's main points seems to be that Jesus is an enigma only to the hard of heart and the blind in perception. In the six Markan passages, which are the subject of this thesis, Jesus lays down clear principles for faith, action and discipline. His anger underlines their importance and his own authority
Structuring Early Christian Memory: Jesus in Tradition, Performance, and Text
No full textSocial memory research has complicated the relationship between past and present as
that relationship finds expression in memorial acts (storytelling, music- and image-making, textproduction,
and so on). This relationship has emerged as a dialectic in which the phenomena
'past' and 'present' are mutually constitutive and implicating. The resultant 'messiness' directly
affects the procedures and products of 'historicaI Jesus' research, which has especially depended
upon the assumption that we can neatly and cleanly separate 'authentic' (past) from
'inauthentic' (present) traditions. This thesis establishes some problems that attend to this
assumption and attempts to establish a 'historical Jesus' programme that is more sensitive to the
entanglement of past and present. Social memory research has especially identified 'reputation' .
as a vehicle of this entanglement in the memory of specific historical persons. Therefore, Jesus'
reputation' plays a key analytic role in this project.
Another consequence of social memory research has been the emphatic insistence that
all memorial acts are culturally and socially conditioned; the meaning of 'memories', the
products of memorial act? emerges from the relationship of memorial acts and their social
contexts. One aspect of the gospels' social context that has been underappreciated in most New
Testament research is the contextualisation ofour written gospels within the vibrant and fluid
oral traditional milieux ofJesus and Israelite communities. This project examines and applies
the poetics of oral traditional narrative, including the textualisation of oral tradition, to our
written gospels.
The resultant theoretical perspective dramatically affects gospels and 'historical Jesus'
research. Since both these fields are too vast to encompass here, this project focuses its attention
on We appearance of Jesus' healing and exorcistic praxis in the sayings tradition. Afterwards, we
will suggest a few areas in which critics might fruitfully pursue future research in the gospels and
on tile historical Jesus
Disability and the Way of Jesus Holistic Healing in the Gospels and the Church
No full textWhat does healing mean for people with disabilities? Bridging biblical studies, ethics, and disability studies with the work of practitioners, Bethany McKinney Fox examines healing narratives in their biblical and cultural contexts. This theologically grounded and winsomely practical resource helps us more fully understand what Jesus does as he heals and how he points the way for relationships with people with disabilities.Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication Page -- Contents -- Foreword by John Swinton -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1 Bridging the Gap -- 2 The First Century Context of Jesus the Healer -- 3 Physicians Interpret the Gospels' Healing Narratives -- 4 Honoring the Lived Experience of Disability in the Gospel Healing Narratives -- 5 Pastors Discuss Their Churches' Healing Practices and the Healing Activity of Jesus -- 6 The Seven Marks of Healing in the Way of Jesus -- 7 The Seven Marks of Healing in Action -- Author Index -- Subject Index -- Scripture Index -- Praise for Disability and the Way of Jesus -- About the Author -- More Titles from InterVarsity PressWhat does healing mean for people with disabilities? Bridging biblical studies, ethics, and disability studies with the work of practitioners, Bethany McKinney Fox examines healing narratives in their biblical and cultural contexts. This theologically grounded and winsomely practical resource helps us more fully understand what Jesus does as he heals and how he points the way for relationships with people with disabilities.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
What Led Jesus to be Called the Son of God? An Historical Investigation of how an Appellation of Alexander the Great and of the Roman Emperors came to be used of Jesus.
No full textAbstract of a Master of Letters Degree, Durham University
The Reverend Canon William Ernest Lionel Broad M.A., Durham University
By 100 CE the principal appellation of Jesus of Nazareth had become ’Son of God’; a title of such importance to his followers that one of their principle activities for the succeeding 350 years was to define its meaning. Yet this dissertation maintains that widespread belief that the title originates in the Hebrew Scriptures is misplaced. Investigation of Jewish literature leads to the discovery that the title ‘Son of God’ was seldom used in it and never in such a way as to justify it becoming Jesus’ most significant appellation. The aim of my thesis is to examine where else in the ancient world the appellation ‘Son of God’ was used, and, when it was used, to see if it could provide the basis for describing Jesus by this title. The objective of the dissertation is to establish that the use of this title by Greeks and Romans provided the model for Jesus of Nazareth to be called ‘Son of God’.
Chapter 1 examines the religions of Persia, Egypt and Greece and finds that, in the world of mythology, Greek heroes were born as a result of intercourse between a god and a human being and were called sons of the gods. Chapter 2 examines the career of Alexander the Great and especially his visit to the shrine at Siwa and finds that he was there proclaimed a son of god. It establishes that this proclamation transformed the appellation ‘Son of God’ from a mythological to a historical title and led to Alexander’s deification. Chapter 3 examines the Hebrew Scriptures and other Jewish literature with the results described above. Chapter 4 examines the use of the title ‘Son of God’ in the New Testament and discusses the development of this title in the unfolding history of the first century church. It finds that the title was first used of Jesus in Greece during Paul’s ministry to the gentiles and that it provided the motif for Mark’s Gospel. Chapter 5 assesses the use of ‘Son of God’ in post apostolic literature and establishes that, though this literature shows a development of the appellation, it provides no further clue as to it origin. Chapter 6 investigates the effect that the titling of Augustus and subsequent Roman emperors as sons of god had on the way Jesus was portrayed by the evangelists. In particular, it finds that Augustus, originally called a ‘Son of God’ because his father was deified on his death, is portrayed as a figure of such excellence that he was deified during his lifetime.
Chapter 7 concludes the thesis. It shows that Alexander, a person whose historical doings more than justified his being described as ‘the Great’ and who was surrounded by fabulous legends, provided a precedent for a human being to be called a ‘Son of God’ and hence for Jesus of Nazareth to be so described. It indicates how events at Siwa were a precursor of the baptism of Jesus, how one of the temptations was clearly modelled on Alexander’s experiences at Siwa and how Jesus’ reported age at his crucifixion was perhaps chosen because it was Alexander’s age when he died. It also shows how the widespread titling of Roman emperors as sons of gods seriously influenced the way Jesus was perceived as ‘Son of God’. Three appendices examine the birth stories of Alexander, the Messiah as ‘Son of God and some of the titles of Augustus that are relevant to the thesis
Matthew’s Emmanuel Messiah: a paradigm of presence for god's people
No full textThe motif of divine presence is a clear phenomenon within the Gospel of Matthew. The modern critical means for assessing the ancient biblical text have multiplied to the point, some claim, of disparity. This study employs both narrative and redaction criticism in an attempt to respond authentically to the structural, historical and theological dimensions of Matthew's Gospel. This study begins with the presumption of the wholeness and integrity of Matthew's narrative, and assumes the gospel story to have an inherently dramatic structure which invites readers to inhabit imaginatively its narrative world and respond to its call. But since we are concerned with the role of both reader and author, this study also assumes a text with an historical author and context. The introduction focuses on the meta-critical dilemma facing New Testament students - what is the text and how do we read it? - and seeks some balance in terms of Krieger's analogy of the text as both window and mirror. Proposed is a narrative reading of Matthew's presence motif alongside a redaction critical assessment of it. In Chapter 2 the elements of narrative theory are introduced and relevant terms defined: the structure of narrative, the function of the narrator, points of view. Chapter 3 becomes an exercise in narrative reading, with Matthew's presence motif providing the focus, and the implied reader’s interaction with the story being predominant in interpretation. Characters, rhetorical devices, and points of view are discussed, to understand the motif's development throughout the story's progress. The thrust of Chapter 4 is thereafter to examine divine presence as a dominant motif within Matthew's most important literary context: the Jewish scriptures. Here the primary paradigms of divine presence provided by the Patriarchs, the Sinai experience, and the Davidic-Zion traditions are assessed. Chapter 5 follows with a more detailed examination of the OT "I am with you/God is with us" formula and its µeo' vµwv/ηuwv language, so strongly connected to Matthew's presence motif. Chapters 6-8 build on these investigations with a closer analysis of the three critical "presence passages" of Mt 1:23. 18:20 and 28:20. The passages and their contexts are probed from a redaction critical perspective, guided by the narrative investigation of Chapter 3, and the background from Chapters 4 and 5.The three major "presence passages" examined in Chapters 6-8 are also complimented by a number of secondary issues: worship, wisdom, the Spirit and the poor in Matthew, and their relation to Jesus' divine presence. These are discussed in Chapter 9. Chapter 10 summarizes and looks briefly at some implications. Matthew' presence motif proves to be an important element of the Gospel’s rhetorical design, redactional strategy and Christology. The presence of Jesus, the Emmanuel Messiah, exhibited in his risen authority, becomes the focus of his people's hopes and experiences in the post-Easter world. What the presence of Yahweh was to his people. Jesus now provides in a new paradigm for his people - his followers, the little ones, the poor and the marginalized, from all nations
Seeing and believing: spiritual discernment and response in john's gospel: a study of encounters with Jesus, with special reference to the story of the man born blind.
No full textIn this study I have set out to explore what I would see to be the central significance of the theme of "Seeing and Believing" in the Gospel of John, with special reference to the story of the healing of the man born blind in chapter 9, to consider that man's encounter with Jesus alongside other encounters recorded by John and the various responses to Jesus which we find in this Gospel, and to explore some of the issues and questions raised by any such study of the way in which individuals come to encounter Jesus and see - or not see - who he really is. After a preliminary chapter introducing the theme and glancing briefly at some encounters with Jesus recorded by John, and a second chapter considering the possible relevance to such a study of some recent critical approaches to this Gospel, especially those adopting a "historical-critical" or "literary" approach, I have looked in greater detail at two encounters with Jesus to place alongside that of the man born blind. Chapter 3 explores the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus, focusing on the three passages in which Nicodemus is seen in this Gospel, and chapter 4 turns to Pilate’s meeting with Jesus and his response to Jesus, the prisoner brought to him. Chapter 5 brings us to the central story for this study, the narrative of John 9 in which the man born blind encounters Jesus and comes to make a response of faith. The final chapter of the study focuses again on the central theme of "coming to see who Jesus really is", and takes up again those questions which have been discussed throughout the study: the question about whether faith is a gift, and the more "Johannine" question about the validity of what might be considered "inadequate" or "partial" faith responses
Jesus: En lidande och stridbar trickster Jesus: A suffering and fervent trickster
No full textStudy of the mission of Jesus in his political age as depicted in the Swedish translation Bible 2000 for ”a common reader” without theological, historical, or exegetical expertise . Jesus is approached as a literary character and the Biblical text is analuýsed as a literary work. Methods of the study are response aesthetics and rhetorics. Overarching issues are: What might the printed text tell a modern secular Swedish reader, reading attentively? More precisely: What image of Jesus and his mission is presented; how is it narrated, and what does the narrating imply about his mission? what kind of reception do the texts prepare? what didactic and rhetorical techniques does Jesus hinself use to present himself and his message for his audience within the text? The result of the analysis is 1) that Jesus uses a special didacticism, including a strategic rhetoric of offense, confronting the prejudices of his audience and forcing them to reflect anew ; 2) that Jesus presents himself as a divine saviour from sin and death, and not as a political activist. Nevertheless, his message of love of the neighbour, the importance of equality before God, and caring for the outcast and contempted implies a politics of solidarity, justice, and social welfare for everyone
Blind injustice : Jesus' prophetic warning against unjust judging (Matt 7:1-5)
No full textThis dissertation seeks to provide a plausible alternative to the consensus interpretation of Jesus' "do not judge" teaching in Matt 7:1-5. While the overwhelming majority of recent interpreters understand "do not judge" (7:1) and its concurrent sayings such as "take the log out of your own eye" (7:5) to promote a non-judgmental attitude, this monograph seeks to situate this block of teaching within a Jewish second-Temple judicial setting. To this end, an overview of the judicial system during the second Temple era is provided, after which it is argued that Matt 7:1-5 is the Matthean Jesus' halakhic, midrashic comment upon the laws for just legal judging in Lev 19:15-18, 35-36 by which he prophetically criticizes unjust legal judging. Jesus' brother James takes up this teaching in Jas 2:1-13, using it to exhort Jewish Christian leaders who judge cases within Diaspora synagogues/churches. Such an alternative interpretation of Jesus' "do not judge" teaching in Matt 7:1-5 matches well other passages in Matthew which likewise speak of judicial, brotherly conflict such as 5:21-26 and 18:15-35. Some early Christian writers who quote or allude to Matt 7:1-5 reflect a judicial understanding of these verses as well, often relating Matt 7:1-5 to Lev 19:15-18, 35-36 and/or drawing parallels between Matt 7:1-5 and one or more of the NT judicial texts which, this thesis argues, is related to it (Matt 5:21-26, 18:15-35; Jas 2:1-13)
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