DNA in antiquity : revisiting Jesus’s birth

In order to be born fully human (Latin: vere homo) X and Y chromosomes are needed. Without the involvement of chromosomes, Jesus of Nazareth would have had no ties to humanity. Aristotelian (“On the generation of animals” / “Peri zōōn geneseōs”) and ancient Hellenistic (Galen on the Hippocratic Corpus) views on how the vere homo came into being differ much from today’s knowledge of biology. In the Hebrew Scriptures, rabbinic traditions and Graeco- Roman literature, vere homo was the result not only of a male and female contribution; the third component was divine involvement. This article revisits the textual evidence of the conception of Jesus in the New Testament. The results are compared to propositions in the Athanasian Creed (Quicunque Vult) and the exegetical and/or dogmatic/socio-cultural views of Friedrich Schleiermacher, Karl Barth and Rudolf Bultmann. The article explores the ethical and cultural relevance of the Christian belief that Jesus was both vere homo and vere Deus, and enters into critical discussion with British New Testament scholar Andrew Lincoln and his idea of “DNA in antiquity.”This article was initially presented at the NTSSA section Gender and Human Sexuality & Jesus and the Gospels subgroups, at the Joint Conference of South African scholarly societies, University of Pretoria, 11–15 July 2016.http://ntwsa.co.za/neotestamentica.html2018-11-30am2017New Testament Studie

The Spirit of God in the New Testament: diverse witnesses

The article begins with a discussion of the development of the doctrine with regard to the Holy Spirit. This development took place in three phases: from apocalypticism to the Nicene Creed to the Reformation. In the doctrine of the Triune God the Holy Spirit functions as the third persona. In the New Testament the Spirit of God should be seen against the background of intermediary and apocalyptic figures. A comparison of passages in Luke-Acts, the Gospel of John and Paul's letter to the Romans attests to a diversity of witnesses with regard to the Spirit of God. The article includes a discourse on the nature of the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit witnessed in 1 Corinthians 12. By way of conclusion, a list of recommended publications with regard to the Biblical witness of the Spirit of God is presented.Spine cut of Journal binding and pages scanned on flatbed EPSON Expression 10000 XL; 400dpi; text/lineart - black and white - stored to Tiff Derivation: Abbyy Fine Reader v.9 work with PNG-format (black and white); Photoshop CS3; Adobe Acrobat v.9 Web display format PDFhttp://explore.up.ac.za/record=b100134

The righteousness of God, begging for the poor and Paul’s apostolic mission according to his Letter to the Romans

In Romans 15:22−33 (the concluding section of Paul’s last written letter) ‘the apostle for the gentiles’ motivates his financial contribution (diakonia) to the poor (ptōchous) in Jerusalem in terms of his mission to the nations (ta ethnē). The aim of this article is to argue that Paul’s notion, ‘the righteousness of God’ (diakaiosunē tou theou), mentioned for example in Romans 1:18−3:20, not only accentuates God’s saving act (a vertical dimension) but also God’s intervention on behalf of the poor and other outcasts through the apostolic mission (the horizontal dimension). The article explains Paul’s use of the concept righteousness as a ‘virtue’ by focusing on both the Hellenistic moral philosophy and the occurrence of the term zedaqah in the Old Testament. For Paul, the revelation of God is the revelation of the righteousness of God (Rm 1:17) in, among others, the Law (e.g. Ex 22:21−24), the Prophets (e.g., Zch 7:9−10) and the Writings (e.g. Job 24:9). Those affected, are the poor without patrons, women without patriarchs, children without parentage and foreigners without a paterfamilias. The pilgrimage to the nations includes all four groups of marginalized people. Blending the concepts ‘the righteousness of God’, ‘begging for the poor’ and Paul’s apostolic mission helps us to understand why the end of Romans (15:22−33) and its beginning (1:18−2:20) come to full circle. The vertical dimension of God’s saving act merges with the horizontal dimension of God’s saving act.Paper presented at the Prestige FOCUS Conference on Mission and Ethics program, 14−16 September 2011, University of Pretoria, South Africa.http://www.hts.org.z

Perspektiewe op die interpretasie van die evangelie van Matteus

Perspectives on the interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew. The article focuses on the interconnectedness between the notion eschatology and the Jesus profile in the Gospel of Matthew against the background of Donald Hagner and David Sim’s respective views. It consists of a discussion of Matthew’s messianic interpretation of Jesus. The presumption is that the concept ‘messiah’ conveys an eschatological connotation. The article argues that Matthew’s messianism is an allusion to Second Baruch’s apocalyptic messianism. From the perspective of this implied reference, the article demonstrates the correlation between Matthew’s narration of Jesus’ genealogical list and Jesus’ commission commandment which concludes the narration – however with an open-ended appeal to the Matthean ekklēsia to overcome hypocrisy and doubt. In the article the Matthean community is located in Syria Palestine in the midst of the parting of the ways between ‘Church’ and ‘Synagogue’. The article’s thesis concludes with the view that the relatedness between Matthew’s eschatology to Jesus’ life constitutes the narration’s plot formed by the two sequences of the pre-Paschal and post-Paschal commissions and the connectedness between birth (genesis) and rebirth (palingenesia), i.e. genealogy and resurrection.Hierdie artikel is die tweede in ’n reeks. In die eerste artikel is aan ‘ensiklopediese eggo’s’ in die Evangelie van Matteus aandag gegee. Die twee artikels is verwerkings van ’n voordrag gelewer tydens die Wim Weren Konferensie by die Universiteit van Pretoria, 28–29 Januarie 2015.http://www.indieskriflig.org.zaam2018New Testament Studie

A postliberal perspective on an ecclesiological modality as an ecclesiola in ecclesia – reorientation in the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa

This article represents a reworked version of a memorandum compiled at demand of the General Commission of the General Assembly of the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa. The article is dedicated to Prof. Dr James Alfred Loader, mentor of the author in Semitic Languages.This article investigates the legitimacy of a middle position between Reformed orthodoxy and critical theology. Is such a middle position the solution to the current conflict in the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa? The tension between ‘liberal’ and ‘orthodox’ is investigated by comparing these to the alleged tension between psychology and critical exegesis in Schleiermacher’s thinking. The article finds that these poles constituted a dialectic rather than a tension in Schleiermacher’s thinking. An organised middle group will lead to a greater schism in the Netherdutch Reformed Church. The argument unfolds by means of a reflection on 10 theological nuances, the most important of which are not the poles of conservative confessionalism and critical liberalism, but ethical-dialectical and critical-realistic theology. The conclusion is that reconciling diversity remains a Biblical-theological imperative rather than the organisation of an ecclesiological modality.http://www.hts.org.zaam2013mn201

Christian ethics from the perspective of neighbourly love : Rudolf Bultmann and Stoic ethics

This article consists of various sections. The first concerns a cultural-sensitive explanation of the meaning of the term ‘neighbour’. The second exemplifies Rudolf Bultmann’s understanding of the meaning of the love commandment which is found in the Jesus tradition and in the New Testament. This explanation represents a paraphrase of Bultmann’s reflection on the notion ’neighbourly love’ in Afrikaans. The article elaborates on Bultmann’s interpretation by means of expanded exegetical comments. The article also endorses Bultmann’s juxtaposition of Christian ethics with Greek Stoic ethics. This Greek heritage is described in an expanded way. The article discusses Bultmann’s understanding of neighbourly love within the context of the core values of his hermeneutics. The results are made relevant for the present-day Christian ethical perspective on the adherence to the so-called natural law, applied to the South African sociopolitical situation.This article was first published in Hervormde Teologiese Tydskrif 2(3) (2014), 27−42, titled ‘Christelike etiek vanuit die perspektief van naasteliefde: Rudolf Bultmann en Stoïsynse etiek’. It is reworked and republished in HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies with the editor’s permission.http://www.hts.org.zaam201

‘By faith alone’ (undivided loyalty) in light of change agency theory : Jesus, Paul and the Jesus-group in Colossae

This article aims to apply the model of change agent to the interpretation of Colossians. Presuming a continuity between Jesus and Paul, the article introduces the concept of ‘by faith alone’ from the Pauline letters. By this expression is meant an undivided fidelity to an inclusive approach to understanding God’s work, with concrete historical roots in Jesus’ crossing of gender, ethnic and cultural boundaries. Living in this manner requires reformation, transformation and change. The study spells out in fuller detail what is understood ‘by faith alone’ by discussing the meaning of ‘faith’ within its semantic domain embedded in the codes of 1st-century Mediterranean culture. Living in faith is both a change of one’s inner convictions and about a life in faith.This research is part of the research project, ‘Biblical Theology and Hermeneutics’, directed by Prof. Dr Andries van Aarde, professor emeritus and senior fellow in the Unit for Advancement of Scholarship at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Pretoria, South Africa.http://www.hts.org.zaam2017New Testament Studie

Regeneration and resurrection in Matthew - peasants in campo hearing time signals from scribes

The article aimed to describe the distinctive element in the use of the motif of the resurrection in the Gospel of Matthew in comparison with Mark, Luke and the Sayings Gospel Q. It argued that the distinctive element occurs where parallel texts in Luke 22:24–30, Matthew 19:27–29 and Mark 10:28–31 converge. The distinctive element pertains particularly to the meaning of the Greek expression ‘en tē palingenesia’ in Matthew 19:28. By elaborating on time as a social construct, the article showed how Matthew deals with the conception of time differently than both Mark and Luke. It illustrated that the Gospel of Matthew represents a storyline consisting of a circular movement between ‘genesis’ (Mt 1:1) and ‘palingenesia’ (Mt 19:28), where the word ‘palingenesia’ denotes the meaning ‘regeneration’ rather than ‘resurrection’. Matthew does not narrate an abrupt transition from linear time to clock time. Both co-existed in a world where illiterate peasants and literate scribes scheduled their lives in terms of motifs pertaining to a linear and a punctual conception of time.http://www.hts.org.z

Reflective perspectives on Paul

The article explores various aspects of understanding Paul. It focuses on his use of the expression ‘the gospel of God’ as the ‘good news’ that originates with God (a subjective genitive) and one that is about God (an objective genitive). The article argues that the cross and resurrection constitute the core of Paul’s message and that this message demands a new ethos because of the ‘dying and rising’ in participation with Christ Jesus. For Paul, the messianic era had already commenced. In Paul’s point of view, the heart of the gospel was the announcement of a historical happening, namely the crucifixion of the historical Jesus which is connected to another ‘event’, namely the resurrection of Jesus, which does not qualify as history. For Paul, faith is engagement with the kerygma, and not a kind of loyalty to inherited religious customs. Faith implies undivided loyalty, a personal decision and commitment to believe what is proclaimed.http://www.hts.org.zaNew Testament Studie