Genealogies and spiritualities in Genesis 4:17-22, 4:25-26, 5:1-32

The three genealogies in Genesis 4:17-22, 4:25-26 en 5:1-32 show different intentions: the first wants (amongst other purposes) to give an aetiology of the trades; the second wants to stress the importance of a new beginning; the third wants to relate Adam to Noah. Each of these approaches to genealogy has a different intent; each wants to indicate a different aspect of God’s care. Each thus evidences an own (though not unrelated) configuration of faith experienced, that is, a different spirituality

On Theodicy and Veijola’s Linkage of Genesis 22 to the Book of Job

In this brief Ideengeschichte, the cultural construct of Western(ised) questions on theodicy, namely Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s 1710 Essais de Théodicée, the Hebrew Bible Book of Job and the understanding of Timo Veijola on Genesis 22 as a precursor to the Book of Job, are brought into discussion with one another. The impossibility of extracting ourselves from our matrices of understanding makes it difficult to understand matters of holiness as anything other than as matters of theodicy

Biblical witness and economy in the writings of Klaus Nürnberger

Given the purpose of this special edition, to consider theologically the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in this contribution, the writings of one of the important yet under-appreciated South African figures in thinking from biblical theology on matters of economics, Klaus Nürnberger, are taken into review. The relationship between (1) biblical witness and (2) faith and (3) deeds stands central in Nürnberger’s theological framework. His interdisciplinarity has lasting validity because he takes seriously the disciplines involved, such as historical Bible scholarship, economic theory, social theory and the like. By his own reckoning, it is partly because of this kind of interdisciplinarity that Nürnberger’s contributions on this topic had in a sense been marginalised. For this reason too, it is important in a new era to review sympathetically and appropriate critically the significant contributions of Nürnberger on the biblical witness to economic engagement. Contribution: This research article, as a part of this themed collection, considers theologically the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution with a review of Nürnberger’s contributions on the biblical witness to economic engagement. Nürnberger’s interdisciplinarity in his contributions helps set the direction for future engagements in the dawning post-secular era

Mystifying moments in Bible interpretation: An exploration of some implied backgrounds to three kinds of unusual Bible readings

This contribution is part of a series on Methodology and Biblical Spirituality. In this, the fourth contribution, the scope is widened; more practical-analytically oriented, three thoroughly different but nevertheless all unusual kinds of interpretations of the Bible are described, characterised and contextualised. Namely: • In order to explain what are perceived as textual anomalies, some Old Testament authors have been described by US-based medical practitioners as having suffered psychiatric dysfunctions. • The Garden of Eden from Genesis 2 and further has been located by a recently diseased Nigerian scholar as having been in her home country, with a Nigerian race having been the predecessors of biblical Adam and Eve. • Rastafarians, primarily Jamaica-based, regard marijuana as a holy herb and find direct support for their religious use of this plant in the Bible. However strange such ‘mystifying’ interpretations may seem within the theological mainstreams of Judeo-Christianity, there is more to these kinds of interpretations than simple whim. Certain cultural conditions along with personal, particularly spiritual, commitments enable these interpretations, which must be taken seriously in order to come to a fuller understanding of the text–interpreter dynamic. These then can cast at least some form of reflective light on the more usual current biblical-interpretative mainstreams within Judeo-Christianity, posing in a new light the question of what constitutes legitimate interpretations, also within mainstream interpretations, as religiously inclined people try to live their lives in the light of Scripture

Spirituality: Sense And Gist. On Meaning, God And Being

The definition of spirituality is a notoriously difficult undertaking. Rather than continuingly pointing this out, two advances are suggested in this article: That the impossibility of a precise definition of spirituality is accepted, as is the case with many other important aspects of life, and that the inherently paradoxical nature of spirituality is more fully explored as a way of coming to a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. The latter is illustrated by briefly juxtaposing the concepts of God and non-God and of self-implication and estrangement. The most important books for furthering such analyses are listed

Isaac multiplex: Genesis 22 in a new historical representation

In this paper, a new interpretation of the Genesis 22:1-19 account is offered. Based on the new view of biblical historiography as anecdotal (Frykenberg), and drawing on the author's own recent studies on the historical problems related to, and historicallysensitive narratological interpretative possibilities of, this Genesis text, a new meaning and a new dating for Genesis 22:1-19 are concluded to. This text, namely, reflects the end of a struggle for dominance between the different tradents of the patriarchal traditions, in which the Abraham tradents finally subjugate, with this Genesis 22*-text, the Isaac tradents. This occurs late in the compositional history of the Pentateuch, namely between 400 and 250 BCE. HTS Theological Studies Vol. 64 (2) 2008: pp. 907-91

Why the fuss over Brown’s The Da Vinci code? The dynamism of 'icons' and the in/stability of meaning

Dan Brown’s book, “The Da Vinci code” (2003) and the sub-sequent motion picture by the same title (2006), have created a considerable stir within, but not limited to, Christian circles. The cause of the controversy is that, despite Brown’s overt pre-sentation of this work as fiction, it draws on figures, events and themes regarded in religious circles as sacred – most par-ticularly in Christian circles. Holy figures, events and themes are sensitive matters to believers: the meanings attached to them are regarded as essentially fixed, with connotations of perma-nence and eternity. Literature of many kinds, however, reinter-pret set meanings, loosening their perceived inflexibility, thus opening up a dynamism quite foreign to popular notions of definite meaning

Hide and Seek. Aspects of the dynamics of bible translation 1

Art may be viewed as fetish, in that it forces meaning on a chaotic world — a dynamic which is briefly illustrated in this article by means of Pablo Picasso’s famous painting, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Similarly, translations of the biblical texts, which result from very complex processes, may be viewed as fetishes. Translation thus requires a process of deducing and reducing meaning from relative chaos. A proper view of the nature of the Bible text and the theoretical load of exegetical and translation activities must becultivated among lay translation users, particularly in our age of rising fundamentalisms. To this end, five suggestions are offered. This view affords Bible translators a more balanced status, namely one of humanity with dignity, than is at times found in some popular circles which regard Bible translators with severe suspicion

The strange case of the patriarchs in Jeremiah 33:26

Jeremiah 33:26 presents a number of interpretational questions, including the relationship of the Jeremiah 33:23-26 pericope with its textual surroundings; the compositional integrity of this pericope; the possible intentions of this passage, and the curious reference to the patriarchs – also with the name of Isaac spelt unusually. The unexpected reference to the patriarchs, in this instance, is of particular concern, since it has direct bearing on a new understanding of the patriarchs in history and text that the author has been developing. Why would the Old Testament patriarchs, so rarely referred to outside the Pentateuch, surface in this particular prophetic text? This article explores these issues, also as they relate to the author’s theory-indevelopment on the patriarchs of Israel

Analysing the tax agreements of the exchange of information that exists between the South African government and other government authorities around the world

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce (Specialising in Taxation)South Africa had entered into 97 double taxation agreements (at the time of this study in 2014) with other countries which generally contain an article which authorises the exchange of information between South Africa and the treaty partner. The 2008 global financial crisis re-emphasized the increase in tax planning structures as a result of globalisation to avoid or evade taxes and this highlighted the need for a more transparent tax information sharing platform. Since the 2008 economic crisis, one of the key themes has been the attempts to co-ordinate reform of the global financial system in the pursuit of greater international transparency. Since 2012 Treasury started entering into agreements with various other countries to enhance the transparency of taxes paid by entering into exchange of information agreements: these includes the Bilateral Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) and the Multilateral Mutual Administrative Assistance (MAA) Agreements and the agreement entered into with the United States of America known as the FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) agreement, signed 9 June 2014. This will support the Double Tax Agreement already in place to enhance the information sharing regime. Government Notices 508 and 509, Gazette number 37778, were published on 27 June 2014 in order to facilitate FATCA compliance in terms of the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011 (TAA) sections 26, 29 and 30. As FATCA is a new agreement, there is a limited overview of the impact of this exchange of information agreement. This report is to gain insight into the reasons for implementing these agreements, an overview of these agreements and the implications of these agreements, with a specific focus on the newest agreement, FATCA