Historical Theology

This paper is an exposition of St. Augustine’s account of original sin, which I argue is composed of five somewhat independent doctrines. In brief, his view is that all human beings participated in Adam and Eve’s primal sin, and thus inherit a common guilt and a constitutional fault, as well as a penalty. Augustine is not clear about how to understand human solidarity with the first couple, and he is divided in his ideas about how sin is inherited. He is confident, however, that human solidarity with the primal sin leads to a universal penalty of mortality and weakness that, though evil, is not itself sin, as well as further sin: an inborn constitutional fault that Augustine calls carnal concupiscence (meaning “disordered love”).

Se consulta manuscritos, Tárgumes y Padres de la iglesia de primeros siglos (120 citas); se hace análisis exegético de 10 pasajes y se revisa más de 20 en Anexos. Herramienta para evangelizar a arrianistas, judíos y para todo aquel que dude de la deidad del Señor.

This special issue addresses the possible connections and mutual benefits of examining together two analytic concepts – memory and periphery. These concepts receive much attention in various scholarly discussions, yet they have done so rather independently from each other. The potential applications and utilities of combining memory and periphery and the epistemic insights they provide for various disciplins are presented in the different contributions to this issue.

In this paper I sketch the emergence of transcendence and immanence to the binary pair of opposites we know today. I show that such usage doesn't stretch back beyond Kant and that its real career only takes off in the 1830s. Major influences on this development are the debate about Spinoza's 'pantheism', Hegel's idealism, and the place of religion in the modern world. In a second part, I look at some historical scholarship of the time to illustrate how the duality of transcendence and immanence began to inform the reading of earlier religious history. I end by pointing to some new contexts that are beginning to emerge at the turn of the 20th century, notably Catholic thought, and which ensured that the popularity of that duality continued to grow.

This essay was published in The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology, edited by Christopher A. Beeley and Mark E. Weedman, for the CUAP Studies in Early Christianity (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2018); this is the uncorrected proofs. Exploring the humanity and divinity of Jesus, the Son's relation to the Father, and the agency of the Holy Spirit, it is one of five essays suggesting Johannine contributions to trinitarian discussions in the early church.

This essay is an expanded version of the essay published in "John and Judaism: A Contested Relationship in Context," Resources for Biblical Study 87 (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2017) 265-311. It includes expanded sections on the Johannine situation, John's composition, and an extended bibliography.

Against the backdrop of the problem of the meaning of life as constructed in contemporary analytic philosophy of religion, this article asks the question of what the supposed meaning(s) of the biblical character of Moses' life were assumed to be. By comparing a variety of contemporary philosophical perspectives on life's meaning with what appears to be related nascent metaphysical presuppositions in the world(s) of the biblical text, the pros and cons of reading with an anachronistic philosophical-theological metalanguage are clearly demonstrated. It is concluded that what Moses' life might have meant cannot be reduced either to a singular purpose or a unified teleology. Given the complex construction of his character's personal identity over time, the point of it all remains fragmented, plural and elusive.

This essay is a Foreword by Paul N. Anderson to Ernst Käsemann's The Testament of Jesus, translated by Gerhard Krodel, The Johannine Monograph Series,  Vol. 6 (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2017) xi-xxxviii. It considers the life story of Ernst Käsemann, including his resistance to Nazi Germany and liberal theology, while at the same time analyzing critically his controversial claims in this book and the ensuing discussions among New Testament scholars over the next half century--with important implications for church leadership and Christian discipleship. Uncorrected proofs, here.

No scientist brings more experience from the laboratory and field, none
thinks more deeply about social issues or addresses them with greater clarity, than Jared Diamond as illustrated by Guns, Germs, and Steel. In this remarkably readable book, he shows how history and biology can enrich one another to produce a deeper understanding of the human condition."
—Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University

In the summer of 2013 at the Tibetan Center in Poolesville, Maryland the great Lama YangThang Rinpoche gave instruction on the practice of the great compassion, or as he described the practice, as being the practice of Absolute Compassion. The instruction was to extend the light of awareness into the world and into the cosmos. Extending the light of awareness into the present moment of a person, extending the light of awareness into the past time of the person and extending the light of awareness into the future time of the person. This truly is the great practice of the great compassion and everyone can practice this extension of the light of awareness. This very proactive praxis brings forth the light within us and fills us with the light of the field of awareness. It is great to practice this vast practice. Of course it takes a boldness of intention and passion of heart. Extending the light of our innermost awareness into the present of those we love, and into the past of those we love, and then extending the light into their future of those we love is self-liberating. The light of awareness illuminates experience, metabolizes experience, opens us into un-bound awareness, undoes fixated-ness, and brings forth luminous intensity. The light of awareness is pure potentiality. The same practice can be used with those whom we hate or dislike or whom disgust us. This practice of extending the light of awareness deepens our own experience of becoming aware of awareness. As we practice extending the light of awareness, awareness itself completely opens up for us and deepens our experience in depth and breath. In time we begin to experience the true secret of this praxis. Timeless awareness begins to be experienced by us and sustained by us. Timeless awareness is the

"The purpose of this article is to determine the extent, if any, of schismatic Christian influences on the Qur’an’s misunderstanding about the nature of Christ. It will identify the dissonant Christian groups present in Arabia at the time of Muhammad, as well as discuss their Christological views, the probability of Muhammad’s contact with them, and the likelihood that Muhammad borrowed from these groups in creating the Qur’anic view of Jesus. In the end, it is probable that the Qur’an partially, though not consistently, reflects some of the competing Christologies among Christian schismatics in Arabia at the time of Muhammad" (taken from the introduction).

This book explores how first- and second-century Christians read the Old Testament in order to differentiate the one God as multiple persons. The earliest Christians felt they could metaphorically “overhear” divine conversations between the Father, Son, and Spirit when reading the Old Testament. When these snatches of dialogue are connected and joined, they form a narrative about the unfolding interior divine life as understood by the nascent church. What emerges is not a static portrait of the triune God, but a developing story of divine persons enacting mutual esteem, voiced praise, collaborative strategy, and self-sacrificial love. This conversational divine story is explored as it ebbs and flows across the cosmos and through time. The result is a Trinitarian biblical and early Christian theology. While tracing this story, it is simultaneously argued that a new historical model is required for the New Testament and other early sources to explain how the doctrine of the Trinity first emerged—a model rooted in a little-known person-based ancient reading technique called prosopological exegesis. It is shown that prosopological exegesis is present throughout the earliest strata of Christian literature. This calls into question proposals that suggest Christology developed over time in the earliest church from low—Jesus as merely a messianic claimant—to high—Jesus as the preexistent Son of God. To the contrary, in agreement with Richard Bauckham’s Christology of Divine Identity (but simultaneously taking a different approach), it is argued that the earliest Christology was the highest.  Keywords:  Trinity, Christology, Christology of Divine Identity, prosopological exegesis, person, dialogue, Son of God, New Testament, Old Testament, early Christian

Published, The Bible and Interpretation, June 22, 2018
http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/2018/06/and428022.shtml
While Sessions’s appeal to biblical authorization has failed, the larger question is why. Is it that the Bible has been interpreted adequately and rejected by modern society? Or, might it be that a flawed interpretation of a Biblical text has been wielded to support a problematic ordinance, calling for a closer look this notorious passage from Romans? Indeed, the latter is the case, and here’s why.

"The purpose of this research is to investigate the legitimacy of the story of the adulterous woman in John 7:53-8:11 by examining the textual and historical evidence for its placement in Scripture.  The paper will then explore the potential oral tradition behind the story and seek to determine the pericope’s appropriateness for use at the pulpit.  In the end, an investigation into the historicity of the pericope adulterae reveals that the story is likely not original to the Fourth Gospel.  However, the evidence demonstrates that the story represents an authentic oral tradition predicated on historical fact.  Because the integrity of the text remains in doubt, Christians should be cautious about attributing divine inspiration and authority to the story.  Thus, it is best for pastors to avoid preaching from the pericope adulterae completely" (taken from the introduction).

Given that the Johannine "I-Am" sayings of Jesus are distinctive in their form, this raises questions as to their origin--was it the historical ministry of Jesus or the theological construct of the evangelist? Given that all nine of the I-Am metaphors in John are present in the Synoptic accounts of Jesus' teachings, it cannot be said that the Johannine paraphrase of Jesus' words is truncated from the Jesus of history on that basis. This is a draft of the article published in the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 9 (2011): 139-206.

" Those machines whose output was so great that all men might be clothed; those new methods of agriculture and new agricultural implements, which promised crops so big that all men might be fed—the very instruments that were to give the whole community the physical basis of a good life turned out, for the vast majority of people who possessed neither capital nor land, to be nothing short of instruments of torture. " (Mumford 1922, pp. 115-116, emphasis added) We grew corn at the xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm gardens this year, and while the corn stalks grew to be over eight feet high they were barren. The corn grew tall, but it was unable to bear fruit because of the northerly environment it grew in. Similarly, we grew a strain of tobacco that was gifted to the gardens by a company from the US, and while the tobacco grew tall, had big, beautiful leaves, and even began to flower, it did not mature to the point of bearing its seed pods. The tobacco grew tall, but it was unable to bear fruit because of the northerly environment it grew in. Post-Industrial society can be likened to such a plant, which grew tall from the seed—from the utopian myth—of industrial society but failed to bear the fruits portended by these myths because of the environment (the Paternalist Worldview [Barnesmoore 2017a; Barnesmoore 2017b; Barnesmoore 2017c]) it grew in.

In his extant letters and speeches, Emperor Constantine often referred to God. However, these references were seldom theological elaborations on the concept of God. Instead, they were usually limited to the use of certain ambiguous titles of God. Accordingly, this article examines the emperor’s concept of God with the help of the so-called title-theology. Arguably, Constantine’s understanding of God developed from inclusive “pagan” henotheism to a qualified Christian monotheism, yet so that it retained the promise of accommodating various views of God. Vagueness in theological matters served the purpose of establishing the widest possible religious consensus in the Roman Empire. At the same time, this calculated vagueness also enabled different interpretations of Constantine’s theological utterances and perhaps contributed indirectly to the Trinitarian controversies within the Christian church. A comparison between Constantine’s concepts of God and that of Nicaea shows both a significant agreement and the existence of different underlying incentives.

The question that arises is did the “miraculous” spiritual gifts continue within the early church or did they cease as part of the establishment of the church? This paper will first define spiritual gifts, examine the debates over miraculous gifts within the early church, and then seek to explore whether the miraculous gifts continued within the post-apostolic church.

The term Glagolitic/Glagolitism is understood differently by different authors, and Josip Hamm, a prolific author on the issue, defines it as “a movement named by the Glagolitic script, a type of syllabic Macedonic alphabet, a medium which had played an important role in the epochal struggle led by the Medieval Macedonic popular movements against the foreign domination and foreign clergy. With the Macedonian Bogomils movement it was the powerful tool in the fight against the Romeians and the Constantinople clergy, with Czechs and the Moravians against the Germans and the German clergy, with the Croats against the Romance people and the Latin clergy, with Bosnian Bogomils/Patareni it was a tool in the fight between Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.  The first person to explain Glagolitic/Glagolitism in this manner was Vatroslav Jagić” (Hamm, 1965).

Like every early alphabet the Glagolitic is an abstract graphic system, compiled by syllable signs that visually represent the elements (voices) of one, in this case the Old Macedonian language. Beside its deeply symbolic paleography, Glagolitic script is unique literary language based primarily on the Macedonian dialects, but not identical in all its features with the speech of any particular area. It was the “Latin” of the Eastern Europe, expanding its cultural impact from Macedonia to the far-east Asia and to the west until the coasts of Atlantic Ocean.  It was also the sacred scripture of the eastern “orthodox” church in the Middle Ages...

Recent Patristic and Medieval scholarship regarding Trinitarian theology has been critical of many of the major voices working in the "Trinitarian renaissance" of the 1980's and 90's regarding the faulty nature of their historical narratives.  Typically absent among these criticisms is the name of T.F. Torrance who is much more detailed and cautious regarding his understanding of the history of Trinitarian doctrinal development.  Nonetheless Patristic scholarship has not stood still since Torrance wrote his works, and so this essay intends to look at Torrance's account of the history of Trinitarian doctrine and compare it to recent developments and opinions.

The doctrine of the Trinity is central to mainstream Christianity. But insofar as it posits “three persons” (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), who are “one God,” it appears as inconsistent as the claim that 1+1+1=1.

Much of the literature on “The Logical Problem of the Trinity,” as this has been called, attacks or defends Trinitarianism with little regard to the fourth century theological controversies and the late Hellenistic and early Medieval philosophical background in which it took shape. I argue that this methodol-ogy, which I call “the Puzzle Approach,” produces obviously invalid arguments, and it is unclear how to repair it without collapsing into my preferred methodology, “the Historical Approach,” which sees history as essential to the debate. I also discuss “mysterianism,” arguing that, successful or not, it has a different goal from the other approaches. I further argue that any solution from the Historical Approach satisfies the concerns of the Puzzle Approach and mysterianism anyway.

I then examine the solution to the Logical Problem of the Trinity found in St. Gregory of Nyssa’s writings, both due to his place in the history of the doctrine, and his clarity in explicating what I call “the metaphysics of synergy.” I recast his solution in standard predicate logic and provide a formal proof of its consistency. I end by considering the possibilities for attacking the broader philosophical context of his defense and conclude that the prospects for doing so are dim. In any case, if there should turn out to be any problem with the doctrine of the Trinity at all, it will not be one of mere logical inconsistency in saying that “These Three are One.”

The doctrine of the image of God has received a lot of attention throughout the history of Christianity. Though the texts which affirm this doctrine are very minimal, and the exact meaning of the phrase " image and likeness of God " is often obscure, this affirmation is central to crucial anthropological affirmations. The purpose of this paper is to trace the interpretation of the imago Dei in Christian theology, looking first at the three dominant approaches (the substantialist, the relational, and the royal functional approaches), then the other noteworthy interpretations as a way of introducing the reader to the various approaches to this doctrine. Thus, the intention is not to interpret the imago texts but to highlight the various proposals given. Therefore, this paper is exploratory in nature. It does not critique the various views but presents them as they are for purposes of references for readers who are looking for relevant literature or key figures of each view. The presentation is not chronological but thematic. The paper explores seven views of the image of God that have been proposed.

Among the many practicalities and the all-too-worldly demands of lay and ordained ministry, Christian leadership is fundamentally theological in its source, substance, and ends. Drawing on the great pastoral theologians of the early church, St. Gregory of Nazianzus and St. Augustine of Hippo, along with exemplary leaders in later Anglican and other traditions, this essay outlines the basic prìnciples of pastoral and lay leadership. Special attention is given to the relationship between theology and the many practicalities of leaders' work, the ministry of the word, the doctrine of the Trinity, the spintual or pastoral interpretation of Scnpture, and the importance of regular study for the work of Christian leadership.

The immemorial timeworn creation myths of the world, of the Supreme Creator-God from the sky, the Great Mother-Goddess of the Earth, the birth of the young Sun-God, myths of the Moon that gets to the earth and turns into a cow, conception of the months as divine creatures, etc., gave us the notion of the beginning of the time, the emergence of the order from the chaos, which have central role in each nation collective conscience. In that unknown epoch when the ancestors of the Macedonians were still united with the mythological Belasgians (lat. Pelasgians), they were worshipers of the primordial gods of nature, animals and woods, members of the ancient Aryan Pantheon. These primordial myths have deep roots that stretch back to the prehistoric times. They have survived numerous conquerors and influences of various religions, showing sturdy vitality, which is engraved deeply into the subconscious collective memory and traditions of the people.

The third printing of The Christology of the Fourth Gospel (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2010) updates my first Johannine monograph with five outlines of new paradigms comprising my overall theory: the Dialogical Autonomy of the Fourth Gospel (pp. xxxv-lxxxix).

"This paper will first examine the book’s stylistic disunity, historical context, and Cyrus notations.  The second section will present arguments for unity, which include tradition, manuscript evidence, and support from the New Testament.  In the end, arguments against a unified Isaianic authorship contain anti-predictive suppositions, which undermine biblical claims of a single writer.  Likewise, textual evidence supports the historical tradition that Isaiah was written in the eighth century by one author" (taken from the introduction).

In this essay, I will explore Jonathan Edwards’ theodicy and his response to those who criticized his doctrine of freedom of the will. Critics claim that Edwards’ doctrine of freedom of the will makes God the author of sin. Edwards argued that God was not the author of sin, but that he sought good even in the fall of humanity. He offers ten different arguments which I will examine chronologically over the course of this paper. He provides arguments in relation to patristic theology, medieval theology, and Reformed theology. I will expound on the historical background of his argumentation. My conclusion is that Edwards’ theodicy regarding the fall is well grounded in Christian tradition and offers a sound theological view for this issue.

One of the more astounding books produced by Bratslav Hasidism is Liqquṭei tefilot (1822–1827), composed by R. Nathan Sternhartz of Nemirov, which established a whole new genre in Bratslav literature. This article discusses the book's genesis, publication, and primary goals, as well as the controversy it generated. The new Bratslav theology that emerged after the death of Rabbi Naḥman led to disputes, both internal and external, over the role and character of R. Nathan. Examining this particularly obscure chapter in the early history of Bratslav Hasidism sheds light on the movement as it exists today in all its diversity, both ideological and social. Keywords Bratslav Hasidism – Hasidism – Jewish mysticism – Kabbalah

Full Article
http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/1477285x-12341269;jsessionid=1n5j66dblsols.x-brill-live-03

The relation between Mark and John, the Bi-Optic Gospels, is one of the most difficult and most important subjects in biblical studies. Upon correct inferences of this set of intratraditional and intertraditional relationships many other judgments falter or stand. Seeking to make an advance over monodimensional source- and redaction-critical theories, an overall theory of Markan-Johannine interfluentiality identifies at least six stages in the developments within and between these two traditions, seeking to make the best sense of their textual similarities and differences. Along the way, several advances are argued over prevalent critical approaches, leading to an assessment of John’s relation to Mark as being interfluential in the oral stages of their traditions, augmentive and corrective to Mark in John’s first edition as “the second gospel”, and harmonizing - in that the final edition of John tends to reconcile itself with the other Markan Gospels. As the final Markan interpolation includes Johannine content, interfluentiality indeed continues. In service to an overall theory of interfluentiality stands Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of polyvalent dialogism, applicable to historical narratives as well as fictive ones, wherein answerability within the cognitive experience of authors seeks to reconcile disparities between life and art. In that sense, an ongoing history of dialectical engagement between these bi-optic renderings of Jesus’ ministry inform also a broader understanding of John’s distinctive relations to the Lukan, Q, and Matthean traditions, and most importantly to their common subject: Jesus.

In the revival of Trinitarian theology in the 20th century, several tropes were used: the distinction between Eastern and Western Trinitarianism, Rahner's Rule, and the West's "substance" ontology.  Yet our paper argues that not only were these categories wrong when used to map the tradition, they themselves have a particularly history that can be traced back to certain strands of neo-Thomism that in a variety of ways affected thinkers as diverse as John Zizioulas, Karl Rahner, Catherine LaCugna, Jurgen Moltmann, Vladimir Lossky, and many others.  As such a variety of historiographical tenets of the Trinitarian revival are undermined, not only opening the way back to a charitable engagement with the tradition.  But many of the constructive moves made in Trinitarian theology must be called in to question insofar as they are solutions to fake histories.

While the author cannot speak for churches of Christ, common among them are unique ways of understanding holy scripture, believed to have been written by apostles and prophets of the Lord before the destruction of Jerusalem (70 A.D.) and circulated among the early Christian communities, then collected as a volume by the self-identified Christian community of the second century A.D. or earlier, e.g. the list of Marcion (140 A.D.).