Reading Of Scripture Research Articles

Primary Causality, Providence, and Scripture

Abstract This paper brings together several issues in Aquinas’s thought on God’s primary causality, providence, and the reading of scripture. Herein I argue that God’s primary causality is to be understood in terms of His being the source of all actuality. From there I go on to integrate Aquinas’s account of providence with the account of God’s primacy. With God’s primary causality and providence in place, I then go on to address the theme pertinent to this special edition, and that is God’s response to sin in Aquinas’s reading of scripture.

Association between Jewish religious observance and mental health among Israeli adults: Findings from the Global Flourishing Study.

This study investigates the association between Jewish religious observance and several indicators of mental health and psychological well-being among Jewish Israeli adults. Data are from adult (18+) Jewish respondents in the Israeli sample (N = 2958) of the first wave of the Global Flourishing Study (GFS), a 22-nation population survey which will eventually consist of five annual waves of panel data. The GFS Israeli data were collected via a randomized, stratified, probability-based sampling design, and contained dozens of indicators of sociodemographic, socioeconomic, political, religious, health-related, and other constructs. Measures of Jewish religious observance, including religious service attendance, prayer, scripture reading, belief in God, and importance of Judaism, are statistically significant predictors of several single-item indicators of mental health (overall mental health, depression, anxiety) and psychological well-being (suffering, happiness, life satisfaction). Greater religious observance is associated with a higher self-rating of overall mental health, less depression and anxiety, less suffering, and greater happiness and life satisfaction. Nearly all results withstood adjusting for effects of several sociodemographic covariates. These results offer confirmation of prior studies using smaller samples or non-population-based designs and with fewer mental health and religious indicators. They suggest that evidence for a salutary association between religious observance and mental health or psychological well-being among Israeli Jewish adults is consistent with findings in this literature for adherents to other faith traditions throughout the world.

Rethinking a fundamentalist literalist reading of Mark 16:18 by some new prophetic churches

Some of the New Prophetic Churches apply the fundamentalist literalist reading of the biblical text in their sermons and theology because of a lack of knowledge and application of proper reading and interpretation of scripture. The fundamentalist literalist reading of scripture particularly Mark 16:18 is linked here to the abuses by some of the pastors in New Prophetic Churches. In addressing these challenges, this article proposes a proper exegetical study of Mark 16:18 that pays attention to the context of the text, the historical background and the grammar of the text. This will be achieved by giving a background to a fundamentalist literalist reading of scripture in Pentecostalism particularly as practised by New Prophetic Churches in South Africa. The article will also highlight some of the challenges posed by the fundamentalist literalist reading of scripture. The final section is an exegetical study of Mark 16:18, which is interpreted by recognising the whole passage of Mark 16:9–20 even though some New Testament scholars do not recognise this longer ending. This article reflected on this passage in response to the fundamentalist literalist reading among New Prophetic Churches not necessarily to enter the debate between the short ending and longer ending.Contribution: This article challenges fundamentalist literalist reading of scripture in New Prophetic Churches. The article proposes a thorough exegetical reading of Mark 16:18 that recognises the exegetical tools such as history, grammar and the context of the text.

Where Are My Roots? Reading Jeremiah 17:5–10 with Karl Rahner

Abstract A theological approach to reading Scripture advocates that biblical interpretation should not only shape our theological commitments but also be shaped by them. From within this hermeneutical framework, I wish to address Jer 17:5–10, a section where one can find two contrasting images. On the one hand, vv. 5–8 speak about blessed and cursed persons; their differing fates arise from the way these individuals orient their hearts. On the other hand, vv. 9–10 stress that the human heart is devious, and only God knows it. However, how can the human heart be both decisive for one’s destiny and at the same time deceitful and unknowable? While diachronic and synchronic approaches present their own solutions to this interpretative crux, I hope to contribute to the ongoing discussion by evoking the work of Karl Rahner, whose understanding of grace and truth deeply resonates with both polarities of Jeremiah’s passage. The resulting theological reading then not only amplifies the subject matter of Jeremiah’s perplexing oracles but also offers a construal of faith that honestly engages the complexities inherent in our pluralistic culture.

A March Around the Block: A Theological Basis for Action in the Realm of Choice

This essay draws a double parallel between two juxtaposed concepts. The first is between sections of modern Christianity, who use political power and force to deny people’s rights and create suffering by restricting or removing their freedom to choose, and classes depicted in the Gospel (namely Pharisees and Romans) who use power and force as a means to create barriers and domination, both of them dependent on specific, potentially flawed readings of Scripture. The second is between people such as myself, an Episcopalian lay leader in my church and supporter of a person’s right to choose an abortion, and the original followers of Jesus, who employed a ministry of action based around embracing all humanity in a drive to create a more equitable world and physically show love and acceptance to those struggling under secular domination and oppression.

The Reading Process and Reading Scripture

The Reading Process and Reading Scripture

Peran Orang Tua Dalam Membangun Fondasi Keagamaan Anak-Anak: Perspektif Teologi Pendidikan Agama Kristen

This study discusses the crucial role of parents in building the religious foundation of children, focusing on the perspective of Christian religious education theology. Parents are viewed as primary agents in shaping the faith and spiritual values ​​of children. Through a theological approach, this study explores how parents can fulfill their role as religious educators within the household. Concepts such as communal prayer, scripture reading, and other religious practices are important in building the religious foundation of children. Additionally, the study outlines the importance of parents understanding Christian theology as the basis for the religious education of their children. By considering the principles of Christian religious education theology, parents can guide their children towards healthy spiritual growth and strengthen their relationship with God. Practical implications of this study include the implementation of contextual and relevant religious education methods tailored to the needs of children, as well as parents' efforts to consistently serve as models of faith for them. Thus, a profound understanding of the role of parents in building the religious foundation of children from the perspective of Christian religious education theology can provide valuable guidance for religious education practices at the household level.

Analysis of the Implementation of Spiritual Aspects during Pregnancy and Childbirth among Pregnant Women in Bandung, Indonesia

Pregnancy and childbirth are important periods in a woman's life. This period can give rise to various emotions, such as happiness, anxiety, and fear. Spiritual aspects can play an important role in helping pregnant women face this period more positively and calmly. This study aims to analyze the implementation of spiritual aspects during pregnancy and childbirth among pregnant women in Bandung, Indonesia. Data was collected through a survey of 100 pregnant women in Bandung. The results showed that the majority of pregnant women (85%) had strong spiritual beliefs and they implemented various spiritual practices during pregnancy and childbirth. The most common spiritual practices are prayer (95%), reading scriptures (70%), and meditation (55%). Pregnant women experience spiritual benefits during pregnancy and childbirth, such as inner calm (80%), mental strength (75%), and self-confidence (70%). This research shows that spiritual aspects play an important role in helping pregnant women face pregnancy and childbirth more positively and calmly.

Subject and Scripture: Exploring Existential Moments in the Ordinary Reading of Scripture

Scripture reading is not only a means of extracting meaning from sacred texts, but also a way to attain certain spiritual experiences. In the Islamic tradition, reading the scriptural text, such as the holy Quran, can lead readers to certain spiritual experiences that may fundamentally alter their awareness and understanding of reality. These experiences are accessible not only to readers with certain modalities but also to ordinary readers. This study analyses how ordinary readers can experience these existential moments. Data was collected through a literature review and documentation of the experiences of ordinary readers who have had spiritual-existential moments while reading scripture (the holy Quran). Data was analysed using Heidegger’s phenomenological hermeneutics. The results of the study indicate that readers of scripture, such as the holy Quran, have the same potential to experience existential moments that can alter their awareness and perspective on the meaning of life. These existential moments are moments of revelation of the meaning and divine guidance within oneself, allowing the reader to gain spiritual experience. The nature of scripture and the role of God as the author who is continuously present throughout the reading process allows even ordinary readers to experience existential moments that can alter their awareness and their way of being in the world.

In Search of Chronology: Narratives of Qur’anic Evolution in Western Academia 1

Since the nineteenth century, Orientalist scholars have been preoccupied with recovering the original order of the Qur’an. In the past fifty years, the question appears to have reached an impasse with no sign of an emerging consensus. Divergences over the anchoring in space and time of the Qur’an have contributed to the diagnosis of “crisis” in (Western) Qur’anic studies. What do the project of determining Qur’anic chronology and its failure tell us about Qur’anic studies in Western academia? What do the current impasses reveal about the nature of the Qur’an as a text and as a theological object? This study analyses disagreements over the Qur’an’s space and time by drawing on tools from literary theory and hermeneutics. It argues for a shift from a positivist to an interpretative paradigm. Moving away from the question of the actual historical order of the Qur’an, this article examines the making and the workings of diachronic readings of the Muslim scripture, with a particular focus on the works of two of the most prominent scholars in the field, Angelika Neuwirth and Nicolai Sinai. The aim of the exercise is double: first, to perform a critical reflection on the networks of meaning that we construct or inherit in our engagement with the Muslim scripture; and second, to apprehend better the nature of the Qur’an as an “open text” (Eco 1962) whose textual characteristics make it particularly prone to a number of interpretations.

Spiritual practices among elderly, prevalence, pattern and associated factors: a community-based study from rural Bengaluru, India

Introduction: Need for spiritual solace increases with aging due to fading health and wellbeing. Modern medicine has realized the influence of spirituality on positive health. There is a paucity of evidence on spiritual practices among the elderly from rural parts of India.Objectives: To find out the prevalence, pattern, and associated factors of spiritual practices among the elderly population.Methods: This was a community-based study conducted for a period of one year. A total of 1000 elderly from three primary health centre (PHC) areas of Bengaluru Urban district, were selected by cluster sampling technique. Data regarding sociopersonal characteristics were collected through house visits and the elderly were screened for depression using the Geriatric Depression Scale 15 (Kannada Version). History pertaining to the intensity and frequency of spiritual practices was also collected. Data were analysed using PASW Statistics version 18.0.Results: The prevalence of spiritual practices was 97.4%. The most prevalent spiritual practice among the subjects was daily prayer (92.9%). Practices like visiting places of worship, attending religious meetings and meditation were more prevalent among females, whereas performing daily prayers, reading scriptures and chanting were more prevalent among males. However, none of these associations were found to be statistically significant (p>0.05). Lower prevalence of disturbed appetite, disturbed sleep, substance use, average/poor self-perceived health status, adverse life events and depression was found among elderly involved in spiritual practices. However, none of these associations were found to be statistically significant (p>0.05).Conclusions & Recommendations: The prevalence of spiritual practices among the elderly was high. The most prevalent spiritual practice among them was daily prayer and those involved in spiritual practices, though not statistically significant, had a lower prevalence of disturbed appetite, disturbed sleep, substance use, average/poor self-perceived health status, history of adverse life events and depression. The beneficial effects of spiritual practices on health needs to be explored further in studies involving large and representative samples.

MENGKAJI PEMAHAMAN UMAT TENTANG LITURGI SABDA DALAM PERAYAAN EKARISTI DI PAROKI SANTO YOSEPH NAIKOTEN KEUSKUPAN AGUNG KUPANG

The celebration of the Eucharist is central to all Catholic life. There are four parts to the celebration of the Eucharist: the Opening Rites, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the Closing Rites. In the Liturgy of the Word there are readings of Scripture, psalms, homilies and prayers of the people. People believe that Christ Himself speaks through His Word. In this research the author uses a qualitative research method using content analysis in which problems or findings in the field are verified with empirical data. Researchers use a descriptive level of explanation, so that they hear more input from informants as a data source in order to find the root of the problem. The results of this research show that the people do not properly appreciate the celebration of the liturgy of the Word because the main inhibiting factor is the absence of catechesis or socialization about the Liturgy of the Word and also the lack of awareness within the people about the Liturgy of the Word in the Eucharist Celebration. So, from the results of this research, it is hoped that the parish can provide outreach regarding the liturgy of the Word for the people.

Narrative review : strengthening students’ self-identity through Christian values-based guidance and counseling services

Adolescence is an important stage for self-identity discovery. Thus, effective guidance and counseling strategies are needed in shaping students’ self-identity. One of them is by integrating Christian values in guidance and counselingservices. This article is aimed to analyze the shaping of self-identity through guidance and counseling services based on Christian values. Narrative review is used to compile several published articles and research studies from Google scholars with the key words “guidance and counseling services based on Christian values” and “integration of Christian values in counseling and psychology”. Hence, 80 journals from 54 national and 26 international journals are collected, with 7 national journals selected with the PRISMA model. The result of this article covers 4 key areas in guidance and counseling service with Christian values :1) Guidance and counseling services can be applied through prayer and Scripture reading that are suitable for students’ needs, 2)Guidance services are conducted to help students to be independent and discipline, 3)Counseling services can be done through pastoral counseling and discipleship,4)School counselor has an important role to instill Christian values in shaping students’ self-identity.

The Geneva Bible: How Reformed Refugees Shaped Renaissance Reading of Scripture

“Geneva Bible” is an umbrella-term for two New Testaments and two Bibles: an inaugural New Testament (1557), followed by a study Bible (1560), provided vernacular Scripture in English for believers under duress in Britain; then each was later refined, in 1576 and 1599 respectively.1 The first translators and publishers were English-speaking Reformed refugees from persecution under Mary Tudor, who brought their expertise and industry to a flowering of international biblical scholarship in 1550s Geneva, alongside fellow refugees from other repressive European contexts. This article explores how they and their successors progressively resourced readers to engage with Scripture via sophisticated peritextual aids. KEYWORDS: Genesis 1, Geneva, Junius, Matthew 1, peritextual material, readers and reading, refuge(e), Revelation, Tomson, Whittingham

The Human Being as the Mystery of Kun Fa Kān: An Engagement with Shoaib Ahmed Malik’s Islam and Evolution: Al-Ghazālī and the Modern Evolutionary Paradigm

ABSTRACT The theory of evolution has supposedly displaced human beings from their lofty positions as unique special creatures and placed them within a process of evolution where they are nothing more than a species that has evolved from primitive ones and will be eclipsed by more superior ones. In this article, I engage with Malik's book using a plain sense reading of Islamic scripture. I single out “human exceptionalism” as the optimum view that fits a plain sense reading of scripture as well as one that has the potential to pacify Muslim concerns about evolution.

Interiorization in Scriptural Reading: An Exploration in Biblical Spiritual Hermeneutics

The paper explores interiorization as a method in Scriptural reading. The reader looks into the movement in the scriptural text as one pays attention to the interiorization of God’s reality in the human person. However, it is not an unidirectional inward movement but a receptivity that leads to responsiveness and responsibility. The movements, moments, and layers of interiorization unfold through the examination of Hebrew terms - Shema, Hesed, Hakkadosh, Hineni, Emunah, Teshuvah, Yirah, and Tamim.
 The paper provides the visual representation and translates the dynamics of interiorization in the reciprocal spiritual relation into Scriptural Reading through frames of questions. Through the phenomenological method and dialogic reading, the paper intends to broaden the understanding of interiorization and its application within the framework of Biblical Spiritual Hermeneutics.

The Institutional Origins of the Ming and Qing Imperial Examinations􀆳 Special Classics Examination Model, the Separation of Scripture Reading and the Reform of Accumulated Disadvantages

Confucianism has always been the main content of the ancient imperial examinations, and the types and scope of the examination of classics have had a significant role in inducing scholars to study the classics. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial examinations adopted the mode of selecting one of the five classics as the special classics examination, which not only had a long institutional origin and historical evolution, but also produced the system of marking the classics in the implementation of the operation. In order to better select officials and maintain the feudal rule, based on the numerous disadvantages derived from the long-term operation of the special scripture test, the Qing court adopted the reform. of the mode of trying classics, changing the special scripture test for the five classics and test. This reform. and adjustment of this trial mode has an important and unique historical mirror value for promoting the comprehensive reform. of the college entrance examination in the new era.

Pembahasan Injil Harian dalam Komunitas Virtual Awam

This study seeks to provide an initial understanding of how lay Catholics in Indonesia engage with and interpret the texts of the Holy Scripture within virtual spaces. Specifically, it examines the WhatsApp group GEMA Kotabaru using netnography as a research method to explore the group's interpretation of the Gospel passage Luke 17:1-6. The findings reveal two distinct patterns of interpretation: symbolic and literal. Symbolic interpretation involves members connecting the text to metaphors of faith and religious practices, while literal interpretation focuses on extracting the precise meaning of the text, including the significance of the mustard seed. These findings highlight that lay Catholics in the WhatsApp group tend to center their Scripture readings around religious practices and strive to comprehend the text in a manner that resonates with their daily lives.

Praying through the Lord’s Prayer with Meaning and Significance: Mother-tongue Theological Hermeneutical Study of Mathew 6:9-13

The Lord’s Prayer seems to be the best-known prayer among Christian communities. In liturgical contexts, it appears to be the most memorized and recited text of the New Testament. The popularity of the Lord’s Prayer, on one hand, indicates its significance within Christianity. On the other hand, its popularity implies that many people recite it without reflecting on its theological meaning and significance. The main purpose of this work was to read the Matthean text of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) from the perspective of the Akan mother-tongue theological hermeneutics. The paper thus joins with a contemporary few selected voices in the African exegetical enterprise to suggest that a mother-tongue theological hermeneutical reading of scripture contributes to an enhanced understanding of biblical texts which is of ecumenical relevance in the contemporary glocal (global and local) contexts. Keywords: The Lord’s Prayer, Mother-tongue, Theological Hermeneutics, Akan, Matthew 6:9-13

People of the Screen: How Evangelicals Created the Digital Bible and How It Shapes Their Reading of Scripture. By John Dyer. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2023. 259 pp. $29.95 hardback, $19.95 Kindle.

People of the Screen: How Evangelicals Created the Digital Bible and How It Shapes Their Reading of Scripture. By John Dyer. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2023. 259 pp. $29.95 hardback, $19.95 Kindle.