Concept Of Covenant Research Articles

Reframing covenant for nursing: From individual commitments to covenant with society.

Today's constrained healthcare environment can make it very difficult for nurses to provide compassionate, competent, and ethical care, and yet their continued commitment to care is viewed as requisite. Nurses' commitment to care of patients, enmeshed with professional identity, may be understood as heroic. A few nursing scholars have advanced the concept of a nurse-patient covenant to explain or inspire nurses' commitment to care. Covenant describes an enduring relationship characterised by mutual promises and generous responsiveness. However, recent critique has revealed a general misunderstanding and misuse of the term covenant in much of the nursing literature whereby individual nurses are improperly and impossibly idealised as holding sole responsibility in the commitment to care. Such an interpretation obscures society's responsibilities in caring for both patients and nurses and contributes to the idealisation of nurses' commitment to extend themselves to fill in healthcare system gaps. Yet, the concept of a covenant relationship, when reframed as occurring between society and the profession of nursing, may lead us toward solutions to the very problems the originally misused concept sustained. Evidence within healthcare systems globally suggests that nurses' commitments are fragile or fragmented under duress due to increasing pressure, demands, and even risks. A reframing of covenant has the common good for society and nursing at its core and, we argue, may lead to a more sustainable nursing identity. We present the results of an exploratory project, undertaken to examine the utility and suitability of covenant as a relational framework for nursing. We explore a reframing of a covenant of care as a relationship between nursing and society, which may provide a fruitful path toward a sustainable, shared commitment for healthcare. This covenant of care re-centres shared work-a joint responsibility between society and nursing-as necessary for the common good.

Human Security and Peaceful Coexistence in Islam

Abstract This article contributes to the broader debate on interreligious relations and nonviolence in Islam by examining references to the concept of covenant (ʿahd and mīthāq) in the Qurʾān and specific covenantal documents attributed to Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Covenants include solemn agreements, bonds, pledges and treaties, and are central to the Qurʾānic narrative of human existence and coexistence as well as the diplomacy of the Prophet, though they are understudied and underrepresented in discourses about Islam. Content analysis is used to identify the commands, narratives and themes concerning covenants in Islam’s primary, preeminent sources. The article shows that covenants in the Qurʾān and Sunnah establish human security and peaceful coexistence as the normative basis of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, which influenced early interreligious relations but were neglected over time. While Islamic covenants establish a principle of nonviolence, the use of armed force is permitted, in self-defence, in response to armed aggression and treaty violation that threatens peace and security. These findings have profound implications for our understanding of interreligious relations and the legitimate use of force in Islam.

Covenant and Community in Early Rabbinic Literature

AbstractThis article concerns the role of covenant in early rabbinic literature in relation to biblical and especially Second Temple-era predecessors. The first part establishes that the Qumran sectarians and earlier circles were drawn to the concept of covenant because it represented, especially through the mechanism of covenant renewal, a powerful tool for defining and supporting group identity. The second part shows that for the rabbis, the importance of covenant lay chiefly, instead, in its capacity to conceptualize the notion of Israel as a collective body defined by corporate responsibility. The third part suggests that this novel deployment of covenant arose in part to counter the individuating force of halakah as law, another innovation of the rabbis.

Covenants in the Qurʾān

Covenant (‘ahd and mīthāq) occupies a central place in the Qurʾān but has been understudied and underrepresented in discourses about Islam. This article contributes to redressing this lacuna by conducting a content analysis of the Qurʾān, specifically the terms ‘ahd and mīthāq that refer to the concept of covenant. It applies the Maqāṣid Methodology and Framework developed by Jasser Auda to examine the concepts, objectives, values, commands, universal laws, groups, and proofs associated with covenants in the Qurʾān. Reading the Qurʾān in light of covenants provides a new perspective on issues of human existence and coexistence, including interreligious relations, coexistence with non-Muslims, and conditions governing the legitimate use of armed force in Islam. The article highlights the centrality and significance of covenants in the Qurʾān and contends that the study of covenants in the Qurʾān and sunnah ought to be integrated into Islamic studies curricula.

Covenant, Constitutionalism, and Christian Liberty

This article explores how Wang Yi lays the foundation for considering a political theology based on the ways in which covenant and related ideas were transformed into concrete social and political realities manifested in the American experiment. It further explores how the concept of covenant points Wang toward embracing the Reformed tradition and constructing his Reformed political theology to tackle problems he sees with current church-state relations in mainland China. This exploration shows that Wang’s construction of political theology is based on a misreading of the covenant concept and its relation to American constitutionalism. Wang also overlooks some biblical and theological meanings of covenant and draws on a particular reading of the Bible to justify his sociopolitical arguments. This misreading indicates that Wang’s approach to political theology is questionable because it is rooted in his misinterpretation of American constitutionalism and covenant.

Higher Objectives (maqāṣid) of Covenants in Islam: A Content Analysis of ‘ahd and mīthāq in the Qurʾān

The concept of covenant occupies a central place in the Qurʾān but has been understudied and underrepresented in discourses about Islam. This article contributes to redressing this lacuna by applying the method of content analysis to the Qurʾān, specifically the terms ‘ahd and mīthāq that refer to the concept of covenant. The aim of this article is to identify the maqāṣid (higher objectives) of covenants in Islam and discuss their implications for education about Islam and contemporary Islamic thought. This content analysis finds that covenants in the Qurʾān provide an overarching paradigm governing human existence and coexistence across six covenantal relationship categories. Covenants establish the terms and conditions of God-human and intra-human relations for human existence on Earth in relation to the afterlife, the dissemination of the divine message, the promotion of righteousness, welfare and wellbeing, and restricting the use of armed force to self-defense in response to treaty violation for preserving peace and security. This article recommends that the study of Qurʾānic covenantal knowledge ought to be integrated into courses and discourses about Islam commensurate, with its centrality in the Qurʾān and Prophet Muḥammad’s approach to building peaceful interreligious relations between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Wondrous Exchange: The Economy of Salvation in the Reformation1

ABSTRACT The theme of “Conversion” is prominent in writings of Protestant reformers of the sixteenth century. Conversion is variously construed as a sudden reorientation of perspective, or, alternatively, as a gradual, ongoing process of readjustment of behavior. Change of religious orientation can be cognitive or habitual, passive or active, and can depend upon a range of moral ontological assumptions. A traditional antiphon in the Octave of Christmas invokes the language of exchange – “O admirabile commertium” – which is echoed by Jean Calvin in his reference to the Sacrament of the Eucharist as “mirifica commutatio”, “wondrous exchange.” This language harks back to the scriptural concept of covenant. This essay will explore the reformers’ employment of mercantile metaphors in their discourse of conversion. In addition to Calvin attention will be paid to Erasmus, Martin Luther, the Florentine reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli, the French Zwinglian Antoine de Marcourt, and to the Elizabethan divine Richard Hooker.

„Smlouva“ jako výzva k péči o stvoření

The purpose of this article is to reflect on the biblical concept of covenant in the context of a care for planet earth. The paper first introduces briefly the content of the Old Testament berít, discusses Adam’s task of cultivating and guarding the Garden of Eden, emphasizes the importance of viewing the environment as a “gift”, and reflects on the implications of this perspective for each of us. Referring to Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’, the study stresses the need for ecological conversion. It mentions St. Francis of Assisi and his profound perception of the world as a common home in which all living creatures have a place and in which the Holy Trinity is mysteriously present. The New Covenant is given over to reflections on the relationship between ecology and the Eucharist, as once presented by Ioannis Zizioulas. We believe that Orthodoxy is a precious source of inspiration for the issue of environmental protection, not only for the Orthodox and the Catholics, but also for all people of good will who are open to Christian values.

What Is the Juxtaposition between Silicon Valley and Mount Sinai? Covenantal Principles and the Conceptualization of Platform-User Relations

AbstractOver recent decades, several global tech giants have gained enormous power while at the same time generating various disputes with their end-users, local governments, and regulators. We propose that the Jewish concept of covenant can help the above parties, legal scholars, and wider society in addressing this complex legal reality. We present the challenge of disequilibrium between the above four parties against the main points of conflict: the requirement of customer consent; clear contractual provisions upon entry; options for reasonable customer exit; limitations on the platform’s ability to exercise unilateral termination; profile-based discrimination; and liability for mere intermediation. We introduce the biblical concept of covenant, and we review its unfolding in Jewish tradition. Further, we conceptualize three main covenantal principles: (1) responsibility—God and humans are both conceived as moral agents; (2) reciprocity—God as a caring law giver, open to human appeals; and (3) reasonability—divine instruction as initially intelligible. We demonstrate how the latter principle of explainability is exercised in the biblical law narratives and how the story of Balaam stresses the significance of moral agency that cannot hide behind “mere intermediary” claims. In light of this analysis, we revisit the relationship between tech giants and tech users to demonstrate how covenantality offers novel ways to conceptualize the noted conflicts between the parties.

The New Covenant at Qumran

This paper discusses what the community at Qumran thought about a new covenant. It covers three manuscripts (Temple Scrolls [11Q19], The Rule of the Community [1QS, 4Q255-264a, 5Q11, 5Q13] and The Damascus Document [4Q266-273, 5Q12, 6Q15]) because they use the phrase “new covenant” and present ideas about this covenant. The proper contexts of the three aforementioned manuscripts, and the phrase “new covenant” found in the OT only once(Jer.31:31), including their theological, political and social values are discussed. In addition, the emphasis on the concept of covenant in each manuscript and how it relates them to each other is explained. This paper concludes that the Qumran community reinterpreted the concept of covenant in a new way influenced by the theological, political and social issues of its time.

Tendencies in Contemporary Baptist Ecclesiology: Paul Fiddes and the Concept of Covenant

The article proposes analysis of ecclesiological views of Paul S. Fiddes, contemporary British Baptist theologian. It focuses on the concept of “covenant ecclesiology”. The covenant ecclesiology is grounded on theology and historical practice of covenant and its contemporary reception, biblical concept of koinonia which is interpreted as participation in the life of the Triune God, and biblical image of the Church as the Body of Christ. The aggregate of these views significantly expands and enriches traditional Baptist ecclesiology. Particularly, covenant ecclesiology helps to look anew at ecclesial associations beyond local church, so called “wider ecclesial structures” (associations, unions, conventions) and to interpret them as one of the forms of being Church and visual manifestation of unity in Christ. In the concluding section the article points to the implications of covenant ecclesiology for wider ecclesial structures: theology of trust which is the basic characteristic of relations among members of the covenant; pastoral oversight (episkope), which is the result of communion or covenant; and participation in Christ’s mission as continuation of his presence and acts in the world through the Church.

Covenant in the Persian Period: From Genesis to Chronicles ed. by Richard J. Bautch and Gary N. Knoppers

Reviewed by: Covenant in the Persian Period: From Genesis to Chronicles ed. by Richard J. Bautch and Gary N. Knoppers Helen Cashell-Moran richard j. bautch and gary n. knoppers (eds.), Covenant in the Persian Period: From Genesis to Chronicles (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015). Pp. viii + 452. $64.50. This volume, as indicated in the introduction, is a collection of twenty-two essays (coincidentally the same number as characters in the Hebrew alphabet) offered by a diverse group of scholars that "explore the tremendous range of covenantal perspectives that emerge during the Persian period, and it establishes the importance of each within its religious, social, and historical context" (p. 1). During these increasingly changing time periods, the motif of covenant () proved to be important for Jewish intellectual life; however, comparatively little research has been carried out on the motif of covenant in the postmonarchic period. It is this lacuna that this collection of essays seeks to fill. In other words, scholars interested in covenant had reached an impasse, but all were agreed that "a relative lack of interest in covenant during the Persian period" is apparent. Bautch and Knoppers refer to this former view as unfortunate (p. 3) and make clear that the aim of this present collection of essays is to rectify matters and demonstrate that the reverse is the case. This collection of essays is in five parts, and it is noted in the introduction that "typically, the writer of a given chapter is a specialist on the biblical book in question and brings his or her command of the text to the study of the covenant" (p. 4). Part 1 deals with the Pentateuch and includes Jacob Wöhrle, "Abraham amidst the Nations: The Priestly Concept of Covenant and the Persian Ideology"; Andreas Schüle, "The 'Eternal Covenant' in the Priestly Pentateuch and the Major Prophets"; Wolfgang Oswald, "Correlating the Covenants in Exodus 24 and Exodus 34"; Thomas Hieke, "The Covenant in Leviticus 26: A Concept of Admonition and Redemption." Part 2 treats the (Deuteronomistic) History books and comprises Reinhard Achenbach, "'The Unwritten Text of the Covenant': Torah in the Mouth of the Prophets"; Ehud Ben Zvi, "A Balancing Act: Settling and Unsettling Issues Concerning Past Divine Promises in Historiographical Texts Shaping Social Memory in the Late Persian Period"; Cynthia Edenburg, "From Covenant to Connubium: Persian Period Developments in the Perception of Covenant in the Deuteronomistic History." [End Page 156] Part 3 explores prophecy: Dalit Rom-Shiloni, "The Covenant in the Book of Jeremiah: On the Employment of Family and Political Metaphors"; Matthew Sjöberg, "Inner-Biblical Interpretation in the Redaction of Jeremiah 33:14-26"; J. Todd Hibbard, "Breaking an Eternal Covenant: Isaiah 24:5 and Persian-Period Discourse about the Covenant"; James Nogalski, "Presumptions of 'Covenant' in Joel"; John Kessler, "Curse, Covenant, and Temple in the Book of Haggai"; Richard J. Bautch, "Zechariah 11 and the Shepherd's Broken Covenant"; Elie Assis, "The Reproach of the Priests (Malachi 1:6-2:9) with Malachi's Conception of Covenant"; Christine Mitchell, "Achaemenid Persian Concepts Pertaining to the Covenant and Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi." Wisdom literature is the subject of part 4: W. H. Bellinger Jr., "The Psalms, Covenant, and the Persian Period"; Carol J. Dempsey, "Poems, Prayers, and Promises: The Psalms and Israel's Three Covenants"; Jamie A. Grant, "'When the Friendship of God Was upon My Tent': Covenant as Essential Background to Lament in the Wisdom Literature"; Thomas M. Bolin, "Qoheleth and the Covenant: Some Preliminary Observations." Finally, part 5 looks at Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah and includes Douglas J. E. Nykolaishen, "Ezra 10:3: Solemn Oath? Renewed Covenant? New Covenant?"; Mark J. Boda, "Reenvisioning the Relationship: Covenant in Chronicles"; Louis C. Jonker, "'The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord': The Place of Covenant in the Chronicler's Theology." Space does not permit this review to engage with the full range of insights and erudition in this collection of essays; therefore two essays, picked at random, are addressed in some detail below. Hieke analyzes the topic of covenant in the third book of the Torah, Leviticus. He notes that, with the exception of Lev 2:13 and 24:8, the Hebrew term ("covenant...

The Socio-cultural and Historical Basis for the Double Rite of Passage in the Nomiya Church in Kenya

This paper explores the socio-cultural and historical background that gives rise to the unique practice of the double rite of passage in the Nomiya Church (NC) in Kenya. The NC as the first African Initiated Church (AIC) in Kenya started among the Luo people, a community that traditionally did not practice circumcision. Circumcision and baptism as religious rites of initiation are simultaneously performed on the male infant on the eighth day after birth. The double rite of passage is evidently a reversal of the decision of the first Church Council of AD 49 at Jerusalem (Acts 15) which settled for baptism rather than circumcision as the Christian initiation rite. The conceptual framework here called 'appropriation dialogue' is the biblical concept of covenant. Covenant entails mutual reciprocity whereby God seeks relationship with human beings, who respond in obedience as they appropriate the gifts from God. The NC theology is grounded on God's calling of Prophet Johana Owalo. The pillars of the NC are in her rejection of the doctrine of Trinity and in her denial of the divinity of Christ. The NC embraces African practices like polygamy and levirate marriage. In the NC worship are several aspects of Islamic worship. This study has endeavoured to answer the question on the continued relevance of circumcision to the theology of the NC if baptism in Christianity is the sign of the new covenant. The double rite of passage is at the core of the NC theology.

Teoria polityczna Thomasa Hobbesa a teologia reformowana

Thomas Hobbes’ Political Theory and the Reformed Theology
 The purpose of this article is to show the relationships of Hobbes’ political philosophy in Leviathan with the Reformed Theology, including the Covenant Theology. It is reasonable to claim that this philosophy was inspired by religious elements of Calvinism. Although Hobbes is classified as contractual thinker, however, in Leviathan he used the concept of covenant, but defined it as a contract. The concept of covenant is strongly associated with a moral sphere. In the political theory of Hobbes the covenant faithfulness is the basis for policy. The secular nature of Hobbes’ theory, in fact, is based on the moral ground.

The contextual Jesus and the covenant as continuous challenges to ethnicity

This contribution deals with the themes of the contextual Jesus and the covenant under the heading of the inclusiveness-exclusiveness dilemma. The intention of the emphasis on the contextual Jesus can never be to restrict him to a specific culture. Jesus can only be “at home” in a specific culture if he also, simultaneously, transcends that culture. This transcendence has everything to do with the recognition that there are important features in the contextual Jesus that transcend that specific context as well. In Reformed theology, covenant, prophetism, and kingdom belong together. The covenant does not lead to the striking of a bargain with God in favour of nationalist or ethnical self-interest, but it is “a strategic covenant” aimed at the application of the norms of the kingdom of God. The exclusiveness of the covenant, agreed upon in a specific situation with a selected group, does not exclude but includes so-called “outsiders”. This element of inclusiveness belongs to the very essence of the biblical concept of covenant.

William Tyndale on Covenant and Justification

This article offers a fresh interpretation of William Tyndale’s doctrine of justification with particular reference to his concept of covenant. It resists past scholarly attempts to resolve the apparent tension in his theology between faith and works in favour of either solifidianism or legalism. Instead, a close examination of Tyndale’s publications suggests that he maintained the gracious nature of justification without adopting justification by faith alone in the style of Martin Luther. Tyndale emphasized love for divine law as the essence of Christian righteousness. The gradual development of reciprocity in his concept of covenant came to undergird this formulation. Greater clarity with regard to Tyndale’s own theological position exposes misplaced comparison between Tyndale and Luther whilst encouraging the identification of views shared with Erasmus and the Swiss reformers consistent with certain trends in late-medieval theology.

Christian Doctrine and Free Church Ecclesiology: Recent Developments among Baptists in the Southern United States

AbstractThe main substance of this article is an extended review of a recent book by a Southern Baptist historical theologian, Malcolm Yarnell, entitled The Formation of Christian Doctrine, which aims to root the development of doctrine in a free-church ecclesiology. This review offers the opportunity to examine a spectrum of ecclesiologies that has recently emerged among Baptists in the Southern region of the United States of America. Four 'conservative' versions of ecclesiology are identified, which are named as 'Landmarkist', 'Reformed', 'Reformed-Ecumenical' and 'Conservative Localist'. Four 'moderate' versions are similarly identified, and named as 'Voluntarist', 'Catholic', 'Moderate Localist' and 'World-Baptist'. While these categories are not intended to be mutually exclusive, the typology is useful both in positioning Yarnell's particular thesis, and in making comparisons with recent Baptist ecclesiology in Great Britain, which has focussed on the concept of covenant. Yarnell's own appeal to covenant is unusual in Southern Baptist thinking, and means that he cannot be easily fitted into the typology suggested. Though he belongs most evidently to the group named here as 'Conservative Localists', and is overtly opposed to any concept of a visible, universal church except in an eschatological sense, it is suggested that his own arguments might be seen as tending towards a more 'universal' view of the reality of the church beyond its local manifestation. His own work thus offers the promise that present polarizations among Baptists in the southern United States might, in time, be overcome.

Podpisana i przypieczętowana. Apoteoza umowy w purytańskiej teologii federalnej

What is the Federal Theology, born in the 17th century in New England? The authoress presents the characteristics of the Puritan Federal Theology, emphasising the significance of the concept of Covenant, which binds a man to God and God to man, in the constituting of a community. The covenants entered into by people are acts of mutual debt raising and of undertaking a mutual obligation to discharge it. It is because a covenant ob-liga-tes that it brings forth a league.

Accountants and a religious covenant with the public

Abstract This paper encourages accounting professionals to consider adopting the Biblical concept of covenant when representing their clients and reporting financial information to the public. Covenant is introduced as an ideal, something to strive for, that could improve an accountant's perception of his/her work. It might also improve the public's perception of the accounting professional's role in society. Establishing a covenantal relationship with the public could foster a concern for those most in need of professional services and least able to obtain professional representation.

Michael Walzer, Menachem Lorberbaum, Noam J. Zohar, editors. The Jewish Political Tradition. Volume One: Authority. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. lvii, 578 pp.

That the Jewish people has a distinct political tradition should not at all be surprising. Yet, it has been only about thirty years since the process of its recovery has begun. Major political thinkers, including Leo Strauss, Aaron Wildavsky, and especially Daniel Elazar, have made significant contributions to understanding the major impact that Jewish political thought has had on the Western political tradition. With the increasing secularization of political thought since the seventeenth century, there had been a marked reluctance to understand the Bible as a resource for political discussion. However, it has been demonstrated that the consent/contract basis of authority is derived directly from federalist theology of the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries in Western Europe. “Federal,” after all, is derived from the Latin, foedus, which means covenant.1 Protestant churches searching for a basis of polity that was not based on Catholic hierarchical sacramental authority returned to the Hebrew Bible. Their clergy studied Hebrew with rabbinic tutors who most probably emphasized the Jewish mutual concept of covenant over the Christian unilateral covenant theory.