Maarten Wisse

Pneumatology: Tradition and Renewal

This chapter examines how to deal with a pneumatological emphasis in specific forms of theology. A difference becomes evident over against the Belgic Confession; the inspiration of Scripture is attributed to God in general, rather than to the Holy Spirit. The chapter opens with the discussion of contemporary systematic theology concerning the so-called problem of Geistvergessenheit in the Western theological tradition. The idea of Geistvergessenheit is strongly influenced by modern theological concerns became amply clear from the discussion of a few central antecedents to Reformed orthodox pneumatology. The study of pneumatological aspects of Reformed Scholasticism turned out to be informative and sometimes even of central importance to Reformed Scholasticism, although it admittedly offered little in the way of a surprise to upset scholarship on the period. Keywords: Geistvergessenheit ; god; holy spirit; pneumatology; reformed scholasticism; theology

Tolerant because Christianity itself is a hybrid tradition: a response to Nicholas Wolterstorff’s ‘Toleration, Justice and Dignity’

In Nicholas Wolterstorff’s ‘Toleration, Justice and Dignity’, he argues for tolerance between religious traditions on the basis of human dignity. In this response to his paper, I argue that a general philosophical argument from human dignity will at best lead to indifference or mere praise, but not true tolerance. In the second part of the paper, I offer a sketch of a distinctly Christian way of arguing for tolerance towards adherents of other religions, namely on the basis of the insight that Christianity itself is a hybrid tradition.

‘Nostis qui in schola Christi eruditi estis, Iacob ipsum esse Israel’: Sermo 122, In Iohannis euangelium tractatus 7 and the Donatist and Pelagian Controversies

Sermo 122, which does not have a clear date, is a complicated sermon, like so many others. In this sermon this has to do with a high level of allegory on all sorts of levels, where it is initially not so clear what Augustine aims at. We want to propose a narrative logic for the understanding of Sermo 122 that explains the argumentative flow of the sermon, the reasons behind its allegorical moves, the meaning of these moves, and the historical background of these moves. The thesis to be defended in this article is that the main interest in the sermon circles around a phrase from John that is only introduced at the very end of the sermon: This is an Israelite, in whom there is no guile (John 1:47-51). This phrase could be taken as linked to the key Pelagian claim in the Pelagian controversy, namely that a morally perfect human being is possible (at least in theory). Taking this passage at face value, it seems as if Jesus claims that Nathanael is morally perfect. What we suggest is that Augustines main argumentative steps in the sermon are intended to reinterpret this passage in such a way as to postpone Nathanaels moral perfection to the afterlife, so that the possible Pelagian claim is effectively disarmed. Through a comparison with other places in Augustine where he discusses Nathanael (notably In Iohannis euangelium tractatus 7), we will make an attempt to situate this sermon in the context of the question of the continuity between Augustines anti-Donatist doctrine of sin and his anti-Pelagian teachings on grace.

The reception of John and the modern commentary traditionJohn through the Centuries, Mark Edwards : review article

ABSTRACT In 2004, Mark Edwards published John through the Centuries, one of the first volumes in the new Blackwell Bible Commentaries series, a series with a strong focus on the reception history of the Bible. In this review article, this commentary is taken under scrutiny in order to see how a reception-historical approach to the Bible affects the modern commentary tradition. It is argued that Edwards commentary brings to light a tension between a postmodern hermeneutics on the one hand, in which the ways in which texts have been received is seen as intrinsic to their meaning, and a modern hermeneutics on the other, in which texts are read with an eye to their meaning in the time of their origin, be they the words of the Gospel of John itself, or the meanings of the receptions of John in later times.

Doing theology through reception studies: Towards a post-postmodern theological hermeneutics

In this paper, I propose a new approach to the role of the Bible in systematic theology. I take my starting point in the contemporary clash between those who follow the Enlightenment disintegration of Scripture, and conservative attempts to do theology on the basis of Scripture as the infallible Word of God. Subsequently, I present my research project into the reception of John as a way of pursuing insights from all major stages of the history of theological hermeneutics. A deconstructive reading of pre-modern use of the Bible shows that it is much more sensitive to diverging voices in Scripture than is often assumed. Scrutinizing the reasons that pre-modern theologians have for privileging John over Paul or the other way around, brings up theological motives that become fresh material for doing theology today.