Abstract
Dogma’s death? Calvin’s use of the concepts dogma and doctrina In theological as well as in popular articles it has become customary to refer to “dogma” in a negative context. The trend to report negatively on the role and place of dogma in faith, religion and theology is especially obvious in reflections and studies on the sixteenth century Reformers – in particular John Calvin. There is, however, a conspicuous absence of due allowance for important aspects of the understanding and elucidation of historical texts by most authors, including researchers and journalists. The fact that almost 500 years’ history of spiritual trends and philosophical development has already developed between us and the sixteenth century is ignored to a great extent. Concepts are used as if there were no semantic and linguistic development, and this approach leads to superficial evaluation of historical texts and figures. This article points to the gap in existing research and then investigates the interaction between the concepts “dogma” and “doctrina”. It is indicated that a doctrinal treatment of the Word, or even dogmatism, was never an issue in Calvin’s thought. In research on Calvin or in translating his work it is important to be aware of the nuances and wide spectrum of possibilities he worked with when using concepts. These aspects should be considered linguistically and hermeneutically. The danger of reading Calvin eclectically, ignoring the genre and historical background, is also indicated in this article.
Highlights
This article points to the gap in existing research and investigates the interaction between the concepts “dogma” and “doctrina”
Dit is egter opvallend dat die meeste skrywers belangrike deurslaggewende aspekte vir die verstaan en verklaring van historiese tekste nie genoegsaam verreken nie
’n benaderingswyse lei meestal dan ook tot ’n oppervlakkige hantering van historiese tekste en persone
Summary
Dat kerklike dogma vandag onder verdenking staan, en by name in Protestantse kringe, is nie ’n nuwe fenomeen nie. Ook die Lutherse dogma-historikus, Bernard Lohse, het daarna verwys dat daar feitlik eenstemmigheid in kerklike sowel as nie-kerklike kringe is ten opsigte van die roepe na ’n “ondogmatiese Christendom” (Lohse, 1994:9).. Op ’n soortgelyke wyse noem Filser (2001:16) dat die begrippe dogma, dogmatiek en dogmatici in die Europese tale negatiewe assosiasies oproep. Hierdie waarneming oor sienings aangaande dogma word egter nie net in wetenskaplike studies vermeld nie. Omdat oor ’n redelike breë spektrum, en spesifiek in populêre studies, gewerk word met hierdie aanname van negatiewe persepsies oor dogma en leer sowel as oor die begrippe dogma, leerstellings en kerklike leer, en verwysings na die Reformasie ook dikwels Calvyn insluit (byvoorbeeld Van Niekerk, 2005:1), sonder dat die historiese gebruik van die begrip dogma in die sestiende eeu bewustelik gereflekteer word, kan dit die navorser baat om sestiende-eeuse bronne nader te trek. Moontlike implikasies daarvan word in ’n slotperspektief aan die orde gestel
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