Spiritualiteit in het Lucasevangelie. Verwacthing en Volharding

This article focuses on Luke’s expectation of the parousia. The intended readers live in the time after the destruction of Jerusalem, but before the coming of the Son of Man. The isomorfism of these events is important for the impact of the gospel to its readers. In Luke’s view Jerusalem’s rejection of Gods liberation has led to the destruction of the city. In a similar way the positive or negative response of the intended readers will determine whether they will or will not experience liberation at the coming of the Son of Man. A positive reaction is characterized by perseverance, prayer and faith. Luke’s gospel is part of a tradition initiated by the transition of the eyewitnesses to the servants of the word. In the last chapter of the gospel this transition is realized completely. The transformation of the disciples is also the transition to Acts.Full Article in Afrikaan

Spiritualiteit in Het Lucasevangelie: Geschiedenis en Bevrijding

This first article of a series of three is about the spiritual nature of the gospel of Luke as a historiography. Luke presents his work as a history guided by God in which the reader of his book participates. God takes initiative in history to liberate the people of God and each of its members. The liberating character of this divine initiative is revealed in the ministry of Jesus as a Davidic king and as a prophet. At the same time the texts about Jesus as a prophet show the consequences of accepting or refusing the offer of God. In addition it becomes clear that the prophet who announces the divine liberation risks his life. The last section describes the semantic content of liberation as a theme in the gospel of Luke: it is about liberation from death and threats to life, from illness and demonical possession, from social and economic marginalization, from oppressive sabbatical laws, from everything that obstructs the alliance with God and traps one in the snares of Satan.Article text in Afrikaan

Spiritualiteit in Het Lucasevangelie: Verscheidenheid en Gemeenschap

The themes in the Gospel of Luke connected to building up the community are important for the intended readers who, in the last quarter of the first century, were part of Christian communities which comprised various groups. Among them there were differences in social and economic positions and in cultural and religious origins. For these intended readers the themes of poverty and wealth were of great importance. Poverty and wealth relate in the first instance to economic positions. But they could also denote spiritual openness or spiritual closeness. While the poor are oriented towards God, the rich are oriented toward themselves and focused on preserving their future. Jesus’ contact with tax collectors and sinners, and the Pharisees’ and scribes’ opposition towards this behavior, mirror the social contact with people who have hardly or no prestige in the Christian community. Table companionship in which everyone, whatever his or her position, is allowed to participate is not only realized in Jesus’ relationship with real people, it is also an image of the eschatological realization of the Kingdom of God. For the Christian communities with their many groups at the end of the first century, the liberating initiative of God becomes concrete in a community spirituality with its concern for the poor, the lowly, the not esteemed and the oppressed. This spirituality is messianic and prophetic. It is rooted in the orientation on God who has solidarity with the poor and the oppressed. At the same time this community spirituality is eschatological. For those who accept the announcement of liberation this liberation is completely realized in the coming of the Son of Man.Article text is in Afrikaan

The word that moves

This essay investigates the role of the Bible in spirituality by looking at the relationship between academic exegesis and spiritual reading, mysticism and language, Bible reading as an event in the relationship between God and human beings and liturgy as a mystagogical process

Exegetical analyses and spiritual readings of the story of the annunciation (Luke 1:26-38)

In this paper, four readings of Luke 1:26-38 are presented, together with evaluations regarding their possibilities for spirituality. The first reading is that of Lohfink. In his approach, the focus falls mainly on Jesus. Hardly any attention is accorded to the other characters: God, Gabriel and Mary. The second reading offers analyses in terms of which Mary is viewed as a prototype of liberation spirituality. This reading is informed by semiotic analysis and the sociology of literature. The third reading, which is based on narrative criticism, focuses on what happens to the characters of the story. The fourth reading is an intertextual one, which shows how the quotation of Gen 18:14 becomes an expression of one of the specific topics relating to the spirituality of the Gospel of Luke. The conclusion is that it is not the use of a specific method that is decisive for spirituality, but rather the openness of the researcher

Contours of Biblical spirituality as a discipline

Three approaches are used for coming towards a definition of Biblical spirituality. The first approach is from lived spirituality. We see always a bipolarity of text and reader. The reader attributes meaning to the text guided by the data of the text. The second approach is the analysis of literature discussing Biblical spirituality. There are many spiritualities both in the Bible and in its readers, influenced by their contexts. The third approach is the discussion of the composing terms. A definition is given: Biblical spirituality is about the divine human relational process in the Bible and about the Bible in the divine human relational process. A dialogue of spirituality and exegesis is needed. For doing research a threefold competence is needed: in exegesis, in spirituality and in the integration of these two. The final section is about intertextuality. Intertextuality may help to understand the spiritual process in reading biblical texts

Spirituality in the Gospel of Luke

There is a big congruence in materials and construction of the synoptic Gospels. In spite of this congruence the attention for each Gospel has revealed that each of them is pervaded with a specific spirituality. Already in the nineties of the previous century some attention was paid to the way Mark introduces his readers to the mystery of the identity of Jesus and to a way of life that exists in unselfish love. This article will direct its attention to some characteristic features of the spirituality present in the Gospel of Luke. The point of departure is the description of spirituality in the classical work of Kees Waaijman. He calls spirituality the divine-human relational process of transformation.peer-reviewe

Leading "Around Scripture"1

The article discusses the Carmelite programme “Around Scripture” as a recent development in the Order, in particular the leadership of the programme. It explains the kind of activity “Around Scripture” entails and the best approach to it. It investigates the capabilities a leader needs to guide the sharing within a group, in particular his/her reading competence and exegetical capabilities. Because reflection in “Around Scripture” also relates to spirituality and the spiritual way (both in the Biblical text and in the participants) and because it also concerns processes of appropriating spirituality, the article considers the leader’s knowledge of spirituality and analyses his/her mystagogical capabilities. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the leader’s unselfishness.  Find full abstract in the full tex