Theological Agenda Research Articles

Feminine Metaphorical Language: Platonic Resonances in Origen of Alexandria

Abstract This article explores the use of feminine metaphorical language in the works of Plato and Origen. Drawing from Hanne Løland’s definition of gendered metaphorical language, it examines how Plato and Origen both inherit and challenge the stereotypical use of feminine metaphorical language to advance their philosophical and theological agendas. While partially adhering to the stereotypical uses of gendered metaphorical language, both Plato and Origen navigate beyond them to conceptualize a fluid and multifaceted feminine continuum. By anchoring the analysis in Plato’s Symposium and Timaeus and in Origen’s exegetical works, the article demonstrates how both authors represent intellectual ascent and spiritual transformation through feminine metaphors. In this regard, the article suggests the possibility that Origen inherited this feminine continuum from Plato’s philosophy. Through this comparative analysis, the article contributes to a deeper understanding of feminine metaphorical language in ancient philosophy and theology, thus challenging a simplistic interpretation of gendered metaphorical language. Overall, the article underscores the complex interplay between cultural constructs, philosophical frameworks, and gender representations in the intellectual legacies of Plato and Origen.

The Metaphysics of Religious Diversity: From Homogenizing Theological Agendas to Conceptual Justice

An increasing number of voices have been calling for philosophy of religion to expand beyond a preoccupation with the “rationality of theism.” Religious pluralist theories of religious diversity might be expected to exemplify a broader scope; in practice, however, such theories are often hampered by theological agendas that prioritize convergence over attention to differences. Focusing on approaches to the metaphysics of religious diversity, this article distinguishes between (a) approaches that prioritize the discovery of the fundamental truth behind specific forms of metaphysical belief and (b) approaches that foreground the variety of metaphysical beliefs held by diverse religious communities. Although these approaches need not be incompatible, the former is apt to emphasize homogeneity whereas the latter encourages awareness of nuance and variegation. Taking diversity among Hindu conceptions of the divine as a case in point, the article seeks to make conceptual space for a philosophy of religious diversity that is radically pluralist and critically descriptive.

Reparation and Reconciliation

Abstract After several decades of relative silence in the Netherlands on the topic of church and racism, the Black Lives Matter Movement and the public debate on reparations for colonial enslavement have brought the issue back on the agenda of church and theology. Fuelled by the Programme to Combat Racism (PCR), previous ecumenical discussions on this topic in the 1970s provide a good starting point for reflection today. This paper first provides some basic background on the PCR and then describes three theological positions in relation to reconciliation that shaped the discussions around racism. Based on these historical insights, the article summarizes the experiences and insights of the PCR in three major points, and discusses their relevance for today’s conversation on church, diaconia, and racism. The paper argues that commitment, the transfer of power, and the value of discomfort provide important theological and practical insights for today’s debate.

Introduction and Response to Special Issue

Introduction and Response to Special Issue

The Use of Theological Terms in the De anima Commentaries of Nicole Oresme and John Buridan

Historian of science Edward Grant believed that, by counting and classifying the uses of theological terms in commentaries on some of Aristotle’s natural books, he could show that medieval natural philosophy had no theological agenda. But his broad-brush approach may not reveal differences in the way individual authors used theological terms. A census of such terms in the De anima commentaries of John Buridan and Nicole Oresme undertaken in this paper suggests that Buridan was more mindful of theological scrutiny of the Arts faculty than Oresme, perhaps because Buridan’s career began when the effects of the Condemnation of 1277 were more strongly felt than they were a generation later when Oresme began to teach.

Linguistic Colonization through Print and Translation: John Eliot’s Algonquin Bible and Writings on the Algonquin Language

Puritan missionary John Eliot, translator of the Bible into Algonquin and author of several texts related to the Algonquin language, also wrote texts that reveal a very politically minded seventeenth-century colonialist. In recent years, critics have characterized Eliot’s translations and writings on the Algonquin language as colonial and linguistic imperialism but have not adequately addressed the extent to which Eliot’s translation projects and his conscious use of the print trade inform this cultural and linguistic imperialism. Close examination of the printings and paratexts of Eliot’s “Indian Library” reveals colonial agendas, and placing Eliot’s translation projects in the context of early modern translation theories underscores Eliot’s single-minded purpose for learning Algonquin: to indoctrinate the Native Americans into Christianity. Once known as the “Apostle to the Indians,” Eliot thus becomes a colonizer subjugating the colonized with religion. Although Eliot’s missionary work likely stemmed from a sincere Christian concern for the state of Native Americans’ souls, the presentation of his texts reveals an unconscious agenda of biopolitical theology that unintentionally undermines Eliot’s genuine project as a man of God.

Debutanten Jesus

This article analyzes an important but overlooked topos in the study of ancient Greco-Roman biographies and New Testament gospels: the main character’s debut. In the bioi/vitae, the debut or first public appearance often functioned as a display window of the main character’s persona, as a programmatic episode, and as an ideological and literary miniature of the whole biography in which it occurred. The article employs these insights to identify and analyze the debut summaries and debut scenes in the New Testament gospels (Mark 1:14–15, 21–28; Matt 4:17–25; 5–7; Luke 2:40–52; 4:16–30; John 2:1–11, 12–23). As biographers of a kind, the evangelists accommodated the debut of Jesus to their own ideological, literary, and theological agendas with the consequence that each of the four gospels contains a distinct debut of Jesus.

The Function of “Spirit” in German Christian Theology and the Volkstestament

Abstract The German Christians (Deutsche Christen) were a factional group within the German Evangelical Church who incorporated völkisch and National Socialist ideology into theology and Church life. Throughout the 1930s until the close of the Second World War, German Christian leaders would express a robust theological agenda in a plethora of monographs, policy statements, and speeches. Much of this theology has a strongly Christological emphasis, especially as this concerned the crafting of Germanic Jesus. Accompanying this was a frequent evocation of the “Spirit” as a way of imbuing the National Socialist revolution with religious significance. The following article traces such uses of Spirit language within German Christian proclamation and explores how this had distinct implications for the Christian doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

An agenda for evangelical theology for 2022

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The Work of Community in Raposa's Theosemiotic

The Work of Community in Raposa's Theosemiotic

Delimiting Religion

Delimiting Religion

Schleiermacher's Plato by Julia A. Lamm

Reviewed by: Schleiermacher's Plato by Julia A. Lamm F. C. C. Sheffield LAMM, Julia, A. Schleiermacher's Plato. Boston: Walter De Gruyter, 2021. vii + 255 pp. Cloth, $94.99; eBook, $94.99 The contention of this book is that Schleiermacher "changed how we understand Plato." Schleiermacher translated the entire corpus of Plato during a "philological renaissance" in late eighteenth-century Germany that concerned itself with careful translations of classics texts and a historical-critical method. The book shows how that act of translation informed the interpretive principles laid out in his "General Introduction," which proved revolutionary for Platonic studies and informed Schleiermacher's own philosophical and theological work. The book lays out the method clearly, exploring its novelty against the backdrop of Schleiermacher's contemporaries. Four themes emerge. First, there is the "internal method," a philological task informed by historical understanding of the linguistic, literary, and conceptual background. Its significance is set against the backdrop of late eighteenth-century applications of the historical-critical method, which had begun to reject dogmatic commitments, theological agendas, and philosophical systems, in favor of internal evidence and textual interpretation. [End Page 821] Second, where the internal method rejected systematizing dogma, be this in the form of Neoplatonism or "unwritten doctrines," the second emphasized Plato's artistry, which rejected a "piecemeal approach" focused on isolated dialectical arguments. This artistry was the "interpretive key" that exposed the unity of Plato's thought. Following the Phaedrus, a work must be understood as an organic whole; what is scattered must be collected and divided into its natural parts to expose the "natural sequence and necessary relation" in the works. This is applied not just to individual works but to the entire corpus: The dialogues are essentially connected and lead naturally and necessarily from one to the other. So, this came with the commitment that Plato had in mind the full body of material that was to be communicated. Third, Schleiermacher attended to the philosophical significance of Plato's literary brilliance by drawing attention to the relationship between form and content. This rehabilitation of the dialogue form, his most enduring legacy, captured the essentially dialogical, social, and communicative nature of Plato's philosophy. Finally, these principles are deployed to determine the order of the dialogues—by tracing the "pedagogical progression of ideas," which is structured by two series: ethics and physics, of which the Republic and the Timaeus are the culmination. This gave rise to one of the most controversial of Schleiermacher's views: the early dating of the Phaedrus, which contained the seeds of all Platonic doctrines. Though the consensus today largely rejects the early dating, struggling with the difficulties of the Phaedrus was instrumental to Schleiermacher's entire approach and provided clues to the interpretation of the canon. How to read a dialogue was suggested by the image of a logos as a living body, the impulse to philosophy was specified as eros, the method by dialectic, and the ultimate purpose is the kind of communication that brings the student to knowledge, namely, the form of dialogue (whether written or spoken). The suspicion of writing was taken to support Schleiermacher's claim that dialogical form was the essential medium for written texts, offering a model of "truly living instruction." After arguing that these principles shaped a new form of Platonism, the second part of the book turns to how Plato informed Schleiermacher's own work. Lamm takes the Christmas Dialogue first, showing how it manifests the "impulse and method" of philosophy, with "joy" replacing eros as impulse and living, reciprocal, conversation as the method to be celebrated. The Platonic influences are found in formal features, most notably in the overall structure of the Dialogue, which mirrors Schleiermacher's interpretation of the structure of Plato's corpus. Analysis of the second edition of Speeches on Religion (1806) shows how central topics, such as being and existence, opinions versus knowledge, and the association of knowing and acting, were informed by Schleiermacher's decade of engagement with Plato, which motivated fundamental changes to his main argument about "the essence of religion." The Sophist is central: Both the notion of being as generative [End Page 822] and the understanding of...

Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur’ān in Western Academic Writings: A Case Study of Andrew Rippin

The contemporary western Qur’ānic scholarship is flourishing swiftly with the manifestation of diverse and multifaceted approaches. At present, the western averments of studying the Quran with objectivity and impartiality cannot be overlooked. Yet, despite this, many contemporary scholars. Muslims and non-Muslims link the western tradition with the norms of oriental scholarship. The present article endeavors to trace whether the contemporary western scholarship approaches the Quran with the pure academic and neutral spirit that separates it from the epistemological hierarchy or it still follows the polemical theological agenda. For this purpose, the work of a renowned contemporary western scholar Andrew Rippin is selected on the theme of the foreign vocabulary of the Qur’ān. The critical analytical approach is selected to investigate his work. Rippin has contributed thoroughly to exploring the classical Muslims’ dealing with the subject while adding his etymological source theories. However, it is concluded that despite a few variances perpetuated by Rippin, the gross foundation does not go beyond the demarcation set by his predecessor Arthur Jeffery in the field of the foreign vocabulary of the Qur’ān that indicates a lack of academic approach.

Psychedelic Mystical Experience: A New Agenda for Theology

When the link between psychedelic drugs and mystical states of experience was first discovered in the 1960s, Huston Smith challenged scholars in religion and philosophy to consider the implications. Very few took up his challenge. Beginning in 2006, hundreds of studies have linked psychedelics not just to mystical states of experience but to potential treatments for many mental health disorders. Regulatory approval for therapies is on the horizon, and hundreds of millions of people worldwide could be treated. Research findings challenge the underlying rationale of the War on Drugs, leading to decriminalization of specific psychedelic drugs or to authorization of their use in mental health contexts. Religious institutions are slowly adapting, with some referring to psychedelics as sacraments or as pathways to deeper spirituality. Religious leaders are also beginning to speak out publicly in support of careful use of these drugs, and some are training to become “psychedelic chaplains” to work alongside mental health professionals administering these drugs. Scholars in theology and religion are encouraged to engage these trends, to explore challenging philosophical and theological issues surrounding mystical states of experience in general, and to consider the long-term cultural impact of the most recent psychedelic research.

Eutychianorum furor! Heresiological Comparison and the Invention of Eutychians in Leo I’s Christological Polemic


 This essay examines the use of heresiological rhetoric in the letters and tractates of Leo I (bishop of Rome, 440–461) written in defense of the Council of Chalcedon (451). In these texts, Leo claimed the Constantinopolitan monk Eutyches and his supporters, the Eutychians, were an existential threat to the faith. However, Leo’s Eutychians were a heresiological confabulation. Heresiology employs polemical comparison and hostile classification to demarcate the boundaries of authentic Christianity. Because heresiology understands heresy genealogically, contemporary error could be described and condemned thanks to its affiliation with previous heretical sects. This was largely a taxonomic exercise; naming heresies allowed their supposed errors to be categorized and compared, especially with its (imagined) antecedents. Leo employed precisely this kind of comparison to associate Eutyches with earlier heresiarchs. He then reduced all opposition to Chalcedon to ‘Eutychianism,’ the error named for Eutyches, or else to its opposite and equally incorrect counterpart ‘Nestorianism’—both of which were, according to Leo, part of the same diabolically inspired misunderstanding of Christ. In short, Leo transformed Eutyches, the man, into a ‘hermeneutical Eutychian,’ a discursive construct intended to advance Leo’s own theological agenda, especially the creation of an orthodox identity coterminous with adherence to Chalcedon.

מנהיגים חרדים קנאים וההיבדלות מהמפעל הציוני: בין אידאולוגיה לאתגרי המציאות

High on the ideological and theological agenda of extreme Haredi groups is the delegitimization of the Zionist enterprise, its institutions, and the State of Israel, and the subsequent expectation of their rank-and-file to thoroughly isolate themselves from them. Based on existing scholarship and previously undiscovered primary sources, this article traces the conduct of extremist Haredi leaders vis-à-vis Zionist institutions during the British mandate in Palestine and after the establishment of the State. As we shall see, some extreme Haredi leaders elected to implicitly recognize the Zionist enterprise and its institutions. The specific circumstances surrounding the different cases enable us to understand the general phenomenon and to advance some preliminary observations.

Barth on Divine Simplicity and the Attributes of God: A Theological Agenda for Christian/Muslim Dialogue

Abstract This article examines the theological concepts of divine simplicity and the attributes of God. The purpose of this inquiry is to explore the significance of these themes for Christian/Muslim dialogue. In this sense the article is an overture to a public theology undertaken through aspects of the doctrine of God foundational for Christians and Muslims. An introduction identifies the somewhat marginal significance of theological dialogue in Christian-Muslim encounter. In doing so it considers what contribution Karl Barth might have to make to Christian-Muslim reflections on the doctrine of God. The main focus of the article examines Barth’s treatment of divine simplicity and the attributes of God. In this respect the article highlights the importance of Barth’s ethical transposition of the doctrine of divine simplicity and its implications for inter-religious engagements in the world. The article argues for a public theology which takes more seriously the relationship between theory and practice in inter-religious dialogue.

Psalms and Interpretation in Milton's Nativity Ode

Psalms and Interpretation in Milton's Nativity Ode

I’m Not a Fruit which Fell from a Tree: Migrants’ Discourses of Resistance in the Context of Dehumanization and Economic Exploitation in Southern Africa

This discussion highlights how some African foreign migrants living in South Africa articulate resistance to exploitative and corrupt tendencies in what emerges as life affirming and death denying developmental discourses. This article triangulated data collected from a Module PRT112 – an Introduction to Missiology – with data which emerged from a study designed to interrogate the lived experiences of foreign migrants in Johannesburg South Africa. Framed within the postcolonial paradigm, the contribution is premised on the idea that the discourses of African migrants are a viable hermeneutical optic for a theological and developmental agenda which legitimises marginal voices of the poor. At the heart of this critical discussion is a statement; ‘I am not a fruit which fell from a tree,’ which emerged as a response to ward off and rebuke corrupt public officials who often demand bribes from foreign migrants as a way to keep them intimidated and confined to liminal working conditions in the informal South African economic sector. By interrogating the radical response ‘I am not a fruit’ alongside data which reflect hostility towards migrants, the study highlights religious resistance to economic exploitation and life denying practices. These articulations are located within the postcolonial resistance discourses which counter neoliberal and dehumanizing tendencies and the study concludes by drawing on Bosnian and Rwandan examples to caution against dehumanization of migrants as it sets parameters for catastrophic genocide and other forms of violence perpetrated in the past.

Early Christian Readings of Genesis One: Patristic Exegesis and Literal Interpretation

Early Christian Readings of Genesis One: Patristic Exegesis and Literal Interpretation