Showing papers in "Theology in 1976"

Judaism and Christianity: The Same and Different

Abstract: of describing God in essentially human terms without falsehood, which were held on to in the teeth of the evidence, and refined almost unbearably by constant prophetic denunciation of almost every conceivable expression of them as a new idolatry. The analysis of the relationship between God and man at which Israel had arrived is extraordinary in its subtlety, and in its insistent holding together of apparently contradictory truths which the history of the nation had forced on its attention: but the contradictions reach no final resolution. Israel's religion 'hangs' in Austin Farrer's words 'suspended between incarnation and idolatry': possessing any number of images in which to represent God's presence with his people, and anxious never to deny it, yet unable to affirm the images too wholeheartedly for fear of tying him down, making him a mere idol, a projection of human desires. To say that Christ fulfils the hopes and needs of Israel is to say that in him the dilemma is resolved by the taking of a human life into God, so that the images may be affirmed and denied at once with equal fierceness, and no anxiety; that monotheism may at last become fully personal, and particular election may no longer compromise divinity. Christianity both springs from and replaces the ancient Jewish tension. The contradictory hopes for a future king, who should be more than a king, inside history and yet outside it, merely human yet a true type of God's rule over his people, begin to find their resolution. There is a rabbinic saying that wherever in Scripture you find reference made to the greatness of God, there you \"till also find mention of his humble condescension; as it says in Isaiah 'I dwell in the high and lofty place-with him also that is of a lowly and contrite heart'. The irony here is almost painful for the Christian who cannot but feel-and God save us from pride-that he has seen what many rabbis and wise men desired to see but did not: God dwelling among men, and becoming obedient even to death on a cross.

The Use of Evidence in New Testament Studies

Abstract: The variety of current interpretations of the New Testament is truly remarkable. It is probably greater than in any other field of academic study, and much greater than is realized by most laymen; even ordinands and clergy, nurtured in only one school of interpretation, are often unaware of the immense diversity that obtains in other traditions. There is an enormous range, from those who regard every statement in the New Testament as literally true, to those who think most of the material in the four gospels was made up in the Church after the death of Jesus. Even between these extremes there are many controverted issues on which a great variety of views is held. Why is this so? Because many scholars, instead of first examining the evidence and seeing where it leads them, start with a preconception and then interpret the evidence in accordance with it. This is true of conservative and radical critics alike. They think it sufficient to show that the evidence is capable of interpretation in accordance with their hypothesis; they do not think it necessary (indeed it is usually impossible) to prove that the evidence must be so interpreted. Expositors acquire confidence because human ingenuity is such that a plausible explanation can be found for almost any interpretation, and once a hypothesis is firmly believed in, any explanation that fits it will be gladly accepted, while the evidence that does not fit can be quietly ignored. Thus for instance those who believe in the inerrancy of Scripture can easily explain different accounts of the words of Jesus by assuming that both versions were uttered, but on different occasions. If Matthew

The Holy Trinity and the Corrupted Consciousness

Abstract: Forsooth, brethren, fellowship is heaven, and lack of fellowship is hell; fellowship is life, and lack of fellowship is death; and the deeds that ye do upon earth, it is for fellowship's sake that ye do them; and the life that is in it, that should live on and on forever, and each one of you part of it, while many a man's life upon the earth from the earth shall wain. Therefore, I bid you not dwell in hell but in heaven, or while ye must, upon earth, which is a part of heaven and forsooth, no foul part.