Scribd Logo
Importer

Bienvenue sur Scribd !

  • Unity & Diversity in NT Theology

    Transféré par

    Nathan Parker
    63 vues3 pages
    The dominant view today is that there is much more discontinuity than continuity between the New Testament documents. There certainly does exist diversity among the new testament documents. They were written by several different authors and along with whoever wrote who lived in different places and wrote to address different situations and audiences. In it seems to me that there is a great deal more unity than particularly for such a large group of documents.

    Description originale:

    Copyright

    © Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)

    Formats disponibles

    PDF, TXT ou lisez en ligne sur Scribd

    Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

    Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

    Signaler ce document
    The dominant view today is that there is much more discontinuity than continuity between the New Testament documents. There certainly does exist diversity among the new testament documents. They were written by several different authors and along with whoever wrote who lived in different places and wrote to address different situations and audiences. In it seems to me that there is a great deal more unity than particularly for such a large group of documents.

    Droits d'auteur :

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Téléchargez comme PDF, TXT ou lisez en ligne sur Scribd
    Signaler comme contenu inapproprié
    63 vues3 pages

    Unity & Diversity in NT Theology

    Transféré par

    Nathan Parker
    The dominant view today is that there is much more discontinuity than continuity between the New Testament documents. There certainly does exist diversity among the new testament documents. They were written by several different authors and along with whoever wrote who lived in different places and wrote to address different situations and audiences. In it seems to me that there is a great deal more unity than particularly for such a large group of documents.

    Droits d'auteur :

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Téléchargez comme PDF, TXT ou lisez en ligne sur Scribd
    Signaler comme contenu inapproprié
    sur 3

    NathanM.

    Parker NTTheology ReflectionPaper#1

    UnityandDiversityinNewTestamentTheology Formuchofthefirsttwothousandyearsofchurchhistory,itwaspractically

    assumedthatunityexistedbetweenthetwentysevenbooksthatcomposetheNew Testament.Thoughtherewerecertainlydiscontinuitiesthatneededtobeaddressed,itwas generallyagreedthattheyputforwardasingle,coherentmessage.Butwiththeriseof modernscholarship,itseemsthatthetableshaveturned,andthedominantviewtodayis thatthereismuchmorediscontinuitythancontinuitybetweentheNewTestament documents.Infact,manywouldarguethatwereallycantspeakofNewTestament theologyatall,onlyNewTestamenttheologies(i.e.Johanninetheology,Paulinetheology, Lukantheology,etc),andthatanyquestforaunifiedNewTestamenttheologyisfutile. TherecertainlydoesexistdiversityamongtheNewTestamentdocuments.They

    werewrittenbyseveraldifferentauthors(Luke,Matthew,Mark,John,Paul,Peter,Judeand James,alongwithwhoeverwroteHebrews)wholivedindifferentplacesandwroteto addressdifferentsituationsandaudiences.Theyrepresentmanydifferentgenres, includingletters,sermons,apocalypticliteratureandGospels(whichverycloselyresemble theGrecoRomanbiography).Becausetheywrotetodifferentaudiences,theauthorshave differenttheologicalemphases.Atfirstglance,itactuallycanseemthatthediversity scholarsmightberight.Canthesetwentysevendocumentsactuallyproduceacoherent, unifiedtheologicalpicture? ItisverycommonamongthosewhoseegreatdiversityintheNTtopitJesusagainst

    Paul.TheysaythatPaulcorruptedtheteachingofJesus,transformingJesusJewish

    teachingforaHellenisticcontext.WhileJesuspreachedtheKingdomofGod,Paulpreached justificationbyfaith.TheynotethatPaulveryseldomquotesfromorreferstoJesus teachinginhisletters. InallfairnesstothosewhoseeinsurmountableobstaclestofindingacoherentNT

    theology,wemustconcedethatdiversitydoesexistintheNT,thoughwewoulddisagreeas tohowmuchdiversitythereis.Infact,itseemstomethatthereisagreatdealmoreunity thandiversity,particularlyforsuchalargegroupofdocuments.Whetherimplicitlyor explicitlystated,alloftheNTauthorsworkfromthesamebasicmessage:thatJesusisthe fulfillmentofOTpropheticexpectation(Davidspromisedheir);thatthenewagehasbeen inauguratedwithhiscoming;thathehasdiedforsins,hasrisenagainonthethirdday,has beenexaltedtotherighthandofGod,andwillonedayreturntojudgetheworld,raisethe deadandmakeallthingsnew.SounddoctrineisamajorconcernthroughouttheNT,and variantstothismessagearerejected. AnotherillustrationoftheunityoftheNTisthattheauthorsallclaimcontinuity

    withandfulfillmentoftheOThopeandexpectationoftheMessiah.Theyclaimthatthe promisesmadeintheOTtoAbraham,toIsraelandtoDavidarefulfilledinJesusperson andwork.Farfrombeingacollectionofdiverseandunrelateddocuments,theNT documentsalongwiththeOTtellaunifiedstorythatclimaxeswiththecomingofJesusas typesandshadowsgivewaytotheirantitypeandultimatereality. TheinspirationoftheHolySpiritisafurtherillustrationoftheunityoftheNT,as

    manypassagesclaimdivineinspiration(esp.Acts2:14;2Tim3:1617;2Pet1:1921; 3:16).Ifthisistrue,thentheNTistheproductofdualagency(bothhumananddivine

    authorship),andthesamedivineAuthorultimatelystandsbehindthetest.Totakethis claimseriouslycausesustoseeaunitytotheNT(andfinallytotheentireBible). Inallofthis,wemustnotforgetthewitnessandrecognitionoftheearlychurchwho

    collectedandorganizedthesedocumentsintoacanon,ascribingtothemauthoritative status.Theearlychurch,thoughrecognizingdiversity,sawaunifiedmessage communicatedthroughthesewritings,andtheyexcludedwritingswhosemessagewas antitheticaltotheoverarchingmessageoftheseauthoritativedocuments.Westandina longlineofmenandwomenwhodidntbelievethattheNTwasjustarandomcollectionof writingsbutonethatcommunicatesaunifiedmessageaboutJesus. SoisthereunityordiversityintheNewTestament?Thesimpleansweris,ofcourse,

    yes!Bothunityanddiversityexist,thoughitseemsthatinthemostimportantareas(esp. thebasicmessageofeachauthor)thereisoverwhelmingunity.

    Vous aimerez peut-être aussi