Showing papers by "Protestant Theological University published in 2014"

Ricoeur and the ethics of care

Abstract: This introduction to the special issue on ‘Ricoeur and the ethics of care’ is not a standard editorial. It provides not only an explanation of the central questions and a first impression of the articles, but also a critical discussion of them by an expert in the field of care ethics, Joan Tronto. After explaining the reasons to bring Ricoeur into dialogue with the ethics of care (I), and analyzing how the four articles of this special issue shape this dialogue (II), the authors give the floor to Tronto (III). She focuses on the central issue at stake: what may be the value of a more abstract, conceptual approach for the ethics of care as a radically practice-oriented way of thinking? She argues that the four contributions too easily frame this value in terms of Ricoeur’s relational anthropology. Instead she points out that if the ethics of care is a kind of practice, it makes sense to think of such practices as necessarily building upon one another, expanding constantly the context and relationships upon which practices are built. In the final section (IV) the authors respond to Tronto’s framing of ‘practices all the way up’ by arguing that this approach need not be at odds with one inspired by Ricoeur’s conceptual thinking. Rather the two can be seen as different movements—upwards and downwards—that both contribute constructively to the shaping of the important intermediary zone between the practices and the abstract ideals.

Autonomy and Its Vulnerability: Ricoeur's View On Justice As a Contribution to Care Ethics

Abstract: We examine an article of Paul Ricoeur on autonomy and vulnerability. Ricoeur presents the two notions in the field of justice as intricately woven into each other. He analyzes their interdependence on three levels of human agency. Ricoeur’s exposition has a focus on judicial judgment. After presenting Ricoeur’s argument and an analysis of his main points, the author argues that Ricoeur’s reflection lines up with some essential intentions of care ethics. Ricoeur’s contribution to care ethics is given in a delicate balance of autonomy and its vulnerability.

Affirming Life in the Face of Death: Ricoeur's Living Up to Death as a modern ars moriendi and a lesson for palliative care.

Abstract: In his posthumously published Living Up to Death Paul Ricoeur left an impressive testimony on what it means to live at a high old age with death approaching. In this article I present him as a teacher who reminds us of valuable lessons taught by patients in palliative care and their caretakers who accompany them on their way to death, and also as a guide in our search for a modern ars moriendi, after--what many at least experience as--the breakdown of traditional religious belief in a personal afterlife. These lessons can be summarized in the following theses. 'Living up to death, one cannot experience one's own death. Therefore, never consider someone dying as moribund'. 'Though everybody is alone in dying, nobody should die alone.' 'The preparation for death is an affirmation of life'. 'Life experienced as a gift can be given up'. The plausibility of the last thesis, however, may go beyond the confines of austere philosophical thinking.

Under the Spell of the Ring : The Role of Marriage in Moral Debates among Orthodox Reformed Christians in the Netherlands

Abstract: Among orthodox reformed Christians in the Netherlands fierce debates have occurred on moral aspects of Christian life. This essay discusses three major controversial moral issues that are related to conceptions of sex, gender, and sexuality: divorce/remarriage, women’s ordination, and homosexuality. By analysing several contributions to debates on these issues, it proposes and explores a hypothesis that concerns the role of a particular understanding of marriage as characterized by a hermeneutical construct: a communal, deeply rooted and subconscious normative principle that drives our interpretations of texts and practices. This essay illustrates the problems of both the dominance of marriage within Christian communities and lived faith, as well as the modern, romantic aspects of this particular understanding of marriage.

Human rights and divine justice

Abstract: This article discusses the view of the Leiden professor Paul Cliteur that human rights are essentially secular and require rejection of God’s will as source of moral authority. Firstly, it analyses Cliteur’s reception of Kant and his claim that an exclusively anthropological grounding of human rights is the only possible one. Next, it investigates Nicholas Wolterstorff’s criticism of Kant’s grounding of human dignity in the rational capacity of mankind and his theistic grounding of human rights in God’s love by the mediating concept of human worth. Although Wolterstorff rightly believes that God’s special relationship with human beings is ultimately the best ground for human rights, his understandings of God’s love and of human worth appear to be problematic. Finally, the article explores the possibility to ground human rights directly in God’s justice by construing creation, the giving of the Ten Commandments and the justification of the sinner as central divine acts of justice in which God has given human rights to all human beings.

God nearby and God far away − Stephen Charnock on divine attributes

Abstract: This article evaluated the way the Puritan theologian and pastor Stephen Charnock describes the attributes of God in his book titled Discourses upon the existence and attributes of God . On the one hand, the book displays a clear testimony to God’s highness, ‘God far away’, which helps us overcome earthly conceptions of God’s majesty. On the other hand, the book pays particular attention to the significance of experiential knowledge of God’s attributes such as his omnipotence, holiness and goodness regarding the life of faith. This way, Charnock endeavours to preach ‘God nearby’. The main question of research in this article is whether or not Charnock succeeded in establishing a connection between the attributes qualifying God as ‘God far away’ and those that depict him as ‘God nearby’. Did he bridge the gap between these two approaches? God nabij en God ver weg − Stephen Charnock (1628–1680) over de eigenschappern van God. Dit artikel evalueert de wijze waarop de Puriteinse theoloog en pastor Stephen Charnock in zijn boek Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God de eigenschappen van God bespreekt. Enerzijds is het boek een helder getuigenis van de grootheid van God, ‘de God van verre’, waardoor we geholpen worden om aardse voorstellingen van Gods majesteit te overwinnen. Tegelijkertijd geeft dit boek bijzondere aandacht aan de betekenis van de bevindelijke kennis van Gods eigenschappen, zoals zijn almacht, heiligheid, goedheid enzovoorts, in het leven van het geloof. Op deze wijze zet Charnock zich in om ‘de God van nabij’ te verkondigen. De belangrijkste vraag die dit artikel wil beantwoorden is in hoeverre Charnock erin slaagt een brug te slaan tussen deze beide benaderingen.

My father’s tobacco-jar, Church Square Pretoria and Freedom Park : an autoethnographical exploration

Abstract: Julian Muller, in his advocacy of a narrative theology, has called for an autobiographical theology. In addition to Julian Muller’s plea, the author turned to what may be seen as the liturgical and ritual variant of this method, namely autoethnography. Thus he would honour Julian Muller and his tireless commitment to Practical Theology. Autobiographical and autoethnographical theology do not start from well-ordered and systematically arranged knowledge, but from a life as it has developed and as it is developing in its connections with others. Difference is therefore a keyword in the method. Others and other worlds evoke the consciousness of differences, incite reflections on the cracks, fractures and fissures that show themselves to the self and provoke negotiations with the otherness of the other. Never in his existence as a theologian had the author experienced this process more intensely than in his contacts with colleagues and religious practices in South Africa. It was described in the article how the author became acquainted with South Africa and, more particularly, with its liturgical rituals and visual arts since 2001. The different experiences of successive visits to Church Square in Pretoria functioned as a point of reference in the article. It was shown how the self re-negotiated its position in the world through the confrontation with a totally ‘other’ – in this case, South African liturgical rituals and visual arts. This re-negotiation focused on the Western academic position of the self when confronted with African epistemologies and ontologies.

Euthanasia, Ethics and Theology: A Dutch Perspective

Abstract: Abstract In 2002, the Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia and physician- assisted suicide. What does the Dutch euthanasia practice look like? What are the insights gained from twelve years of experience in regulating and reviewing euthanasia cases? In this article, some observations about the practice and the backgrounds of euthanasia are made from the perspective of a theological ethicist.

Rev Pungula Wellington Dingani : leadership in the Corinthian Church in Phepheni, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Abstract: Local leadership is crucial in Africa. This article focuses on leadership in African Independent Churches, more specifically on the leader of a local congregation of the Corinthian Church, Rev Dingani in Phepheni, Eastern Cape. The article is composed of two parts. The first part is a portrait of Dingani, mainly from an emic (inside) point of view. After a biographical sketch, his ministry and liturgical leadership are outlined, followed by a portrait of Rev Dingani as a theologian. The second part, which mainly takes an etic (outside) stance, places this portrait in a wider context of leadership in African Independent Churches and sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. After indicating some general features of African leadership, the article focuses more specifically on two leadership styles: 1. The humane-oriented and charismatic/value-based style. 2. The participative and autonomous style. By distinguishing this emic and etic positions, we confront Western and African epistemologies, without reconciling them in advance.

The Actuality of Sacrifice: Past and Present

Abstract: Archaeology and the Hebrew Bible Louise A. Hitchcock, Conspicuous Destruction and the Economy of Sacrifice in the Bronze and Early Iron Age Dorothea Erbele-Kuester, Reading as an Act of Offering: Reconsidering the Genre of Leviticus 1 David Frankel, The Death of Moses as a Sacrifice of Atonement for the Sins of Israel: A Hidden Biblical Tradition New Testament and post-Biblical Judaism Eric Ottenheijm, 'So the Sons are Free': The Temple Tax in the Matthean Community Lawrence Schiffman, Sacrifice in the Dead Sea Scrolls Adelbert Denaux, Jesus Christ, High Priest and Sacrifice according to the Epistle to the Hebrews Joshua Schwartz, Sacrifice without the Rabbis: Ritual and Sacrifice in the Second Temple Period according to Contemporary Sources Early Christianity and Rabbinic literature Riemer Roukema, Sacrifice in 'Gnostic' Testimonies of the Second and Third Centuries CE Marcel Poorthuis, Sacrifice as Concession in Christian and Jewish Sources: The Didascalia Apostolorum and Rabbinic Literature Alberdina Houtman, Putting One's Life on the Line: The Meaning of he'erah lamavet nafsho and Similar Expressions in Rabbinic Literature Michael Swartz, Sacrifice and Society in Yerushalmi Yoma Thoughts on Sacrifice in the High Middle Ages Harm Goris, Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacrifice of Christ: Thomas Aquinas against Later Thomist Theology Alexander Even Chen, On Purifying Sacrifice in the Philosophy of Don Isaac Abravanel Sacrifice in Jewish and Christian Liturgy Gerard Rouwhorst, Which Religion Is Most Sacrificial? Reflections on the Transformations of Sacrifice in Early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism David Golinkin, The Restoration of Sacrifices in Modern Jewish Liturgy Sacrifice in Modern Philosophy Yossi Turner Sacrifice and Repentance: The Religious Thought of Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, and Joseph B. Soloveitchik Renee van Riessen The Subject as Sacrifice: Levinas's Confusing Critique of the Idealistic Subject Philosophy Simon Simonse Can We Be at Peace without Sacrifice? The Connection between Sacrifice and Crisis in the Work of Rene Girard Sacrifice in Art and Culture Shula Laderman Interaction between Judaism and Christianity in Artistic Representations of the Sacrifice of Isaac Rachel Berger 'From the Blood of My Heart': Christian Iconography in the Response of Israeli Artists to the Holocaust Judith Tydor Baumel-Schwartz The Iconography of Gendered Sacrifice: Women's Army Corps Memorials in Israel and Great Britain Judith Frishman On Sacrifices, Victims, and Perpetrators: Israel's 'New Historians', Critical Artists, and Zionist Historiography Frank Bosman Tarkovsky's Sacrifice: Between Nietzsche and Christ

Philosophical anthropology against objectification. Reconsidering Ricoeur’s Fallible Man

Abstract: In this article I reconsider Ricoeur’s early philosophical anthropology in Fallible Man by probing its force in a current discussion on anthropology in the ethics of care. This discussion shows similarities with the intentions behind Ricoeur’s project. They are both dissatisfied with existing philosophical conceptions of human beings, in particular with their objectifying and fixing character. However, the ethics of care is a practice oriented approach while Ricoeur’s is an abstract philosophical one. In this article I will examine whether Ricoeur’s philosophical approach may be of value for such a practical approach. For this purpose I analyse three aspects of Ricoeur’s approach that seem to be akin to the ethics of care: (1) his ‘passion for the possible’ that inspires a critique of objectification; (2) his methodological reflections that highlight the relation between philosophy and the pre-philosophical; and (3) fragility as central anthropological category. Taking into account these aspects will give...

The Hermeneutical Competence: How to Deal with Faith Issues in a Pluralistic Religious Context?

Abstract: Most of the faith-based schools in the Netherlands are either Protestant or Roman Catholic, although there are some Islamic faith-based schools. These schools operate in a complex system inherited from the typically Dutch ‘pillar system’. In this chapter, I explore some answers given by specialists in the field of religious education (RE) to the question how RE could contribute to the education of young people who are self-confident citizens in a multicultural, multi-religious society. First, I give a sketch of the Dutch educational system and some of the public debates about this system. Then, I give a brief overview of some trends in the formation of the religious identity of the younger generation; I here focus on young Muslims in the Netherlands. In the Dutch context, RE is sometimes seen as teaching into religion, sometimes as teaching about religion and sometimes as teaching from religion. In the last part of the chapter I focus on the context of schools with a Christian confessional background that struggle with the fact that they have to cater to a much more multi-religious school population.

On the Fullness of Salvation: Tracking theosis in Reformed Theology

Abstract: This essay addresses the need for a fuller, more integral and embodied understanding of salvation in Protestant, especially Reformed theology. Specifically, it makes a case for retrieving the early Eastern Christian notion of theosis/deification for contemporary Reformed theology. After reviewing classical formulations of theosis and other notions of salvation in the broader Christian tradition, it considers conventional Reformed objections to theosis. Then it explores new directions in Calvin research indicated by Carl Mosser, J. Todd Billings, and Julie Canlis, as well as the constructive theology of incarnation presented by Wendy Farley, with a view to determining their potential to assist in this retrieval. In the end, the author formulates some ‘grammar rules’ for articulating theosis in a Reformed-ecumenical, gender-sensitive discourse.

Tarenskeen’s LUTHER : Allowing for New Forms of Sacrality

Abstract: This article explores the dynamics of sacrality in contemporary culture through the performance of LUTHER, a work by Dutch composer Boudewijn Tarenskeen. By means of reinterpreting the person and texts of Martin Luther, Tarenskeen created a performance in which different dynamics of the sacred were at play. The analysis regards the performance of this piece during the annual arts festival Musica Sacra Maastricht, a festival that is concerned with exploring the notion of the sacred in religious and secular music.

The Ashkar-Gilson Manuscript: Remnant of a Proto-Masoretic Model Scroll of the Torah

Abstract: The article provides a first publication of the Ashkar-Gilson manuscript, describing its main features. It argues that this manuscript, along with another, better preserved manuscript (the so-called London Manuscript), is the remnant of a 7th or 8th-century Torah scroll of exceptionally high quality. Several unique details suggest that the scroll was consulted by the Tiberian Masoretes when they developed their project of producing model codices of the Bible.

We is Plural: Identity Construction in Hymn Book Editorial Meetings

Abstract: Even before they started the editorial board of the new Dutch hymnal was blamed for being too elitist. The fact that they had been selected on the basis of their expertise made them vulnerable for such criticism. Subsequently the position of the editors has been a point of continuous reflection. In this contribution, we will argue that this image of editors as dissociated from users of the hymn book is only one among several available identity repertoires. In order to answer the question which ‘identities-in-relation-to-users’ do the editors construct in the meetings of the board and how do they value these identities?, we will use a broad definition of identity and focus on positions performed in social interaction. The interaction in question concerns seven selected meetings of the editorial board, all of which were audio-taped and transcribed. Looking closely at the identities that were constructed during those meetings, we distinguish six positions, ranging from a great to no distance between editors and users: editors, professionals, experienced, vanguard, pleasers and equals.

Kun je overbehandeling zien aankomen

Abstract: Overbehandeling staat in Nederland prominent op de agenda. Er moet een einde komen aan behandelingen die niet op hun plaats zijn. Maar hoe doe je dat, ‘overbehandelen’ vermijden? Vaak kun je toch pas achteraf zeggen of iets overbehandeling is? In dit artikel gaan we op zoek naar signalen vooraf die erop wijzen dat een behandeling bij een kwetsbare oudere maar beter nagelaten kan worden.