Academic literature on the topic 'Church dogmatics; Sacraments'

The article examines the debate as to the direct influence of Bulgarian and Byzantine Bogomilism upon the doctrine of the Bosnian Church. The author traces some scholarly views pro et contra the presence, in the Bosnian-Slavic sources, of traces of neo-Manichean views on the Church, the Patristic tradition, and the sacraments. In analyzing two marginal glosses in the so-called Srećković Gospel in the context of some anti-Bogomil Slavic and Byzantine texts, the article attempts to establish the importance of Bulgarian and Byzantine Bogomilism for the formation of certain dogmatic and ecclesiological views in the doctrine of the Bosnian Church: the negative attitude towards the orthodox Churches, especially the Roman Catholic Church; the rejection of the sacrament of baptism and of St. John the Baptist; the rejection of the sacrament of confession, and hence, of the Eucharist. These doctrinal particularities of the Bosnian Church warrant the assertion that its teachings and liturgical practice differed significantly from the dogmatics and practice of the orthodox Churches. Without being a copy of the Bogomil communities, the Bosnian Church was certainly heretical, and neo-Manichean influences from the Eastern Balkans were an integral element of the Bosnian Christians’ faith.

The main period of development of new territories of Western Siberia that located outside the borders of the Russian Empire falls on the period from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th centuries. This is due to the Old Believers processes. It was found that the main reasons for the colonization of Western Siberia were: on the one hand, the resumption of repressive policies towards the Old Believers in Altai by the state and the official church, in connection with the transfer of the Kolyvan-Voskresensky factories under the control of the Cabinet; on the other hand, the creation of new dogmatics current of the Old Believers. The latter allowed the Old Believers to reconsider their attitude to historical events, power, and the sacraments of the church. Thus, in the study we identified three interrelated areas ofbespopov's thought: eschatology (the doctrine of the end of the world), ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church), soteriology (the doctrine of salvation). Having established that the confessional composition of the Old Believers, who were the founders of settlements in Western Siberia we came to the conclusion that the development of these territories took place for religious reasons.

Obituary of Regin PrenterRegin Prenter’s name is chiefly connected with his textbook of dogmatics, which is the most important Danish textbook in that field, and which has been translated into several languages. Beyond that, Prenter’s name is associated with his achievement as a Luther scholar.It is, however, worth maintaining that also Grundtvig’s ’View of the Church’ occupied a prominent position in Prenter’s interpretation of Christianity. Grundtvig’s importance for Prenter did not clash with the fact that in his maturing years as a scholar in the 1930s he was internationally and ecumenically oriented. On the contrary, the inspiration that Prenter received from Karl Barth in Bonn and from Anglican theology (particularly from Michael Ramsey) in Lincoln in 1935 was closely linked to his understanding of Grundtvig.Over a period of 10 years from 1935, Prenter was a clergyman until he became a professor at the newly founded Faculty of Theology of Aarhus University. He abandoned his chair in 1972 when he returned to a clerical office which he held until his retirement.Prenter became increasingly antagonistic towards the leading circles in the Danish national church. In particular, the law about ordination of women roused his indignation; on the whole, his opposition to this law and his own High-Church standpoint in ecclesiastical politics caused him to confront the way of thinking which is traditionally regarded as the church policy inspired by Grundtvig.To Prenter it was entirely unacceptable that the majority in the national church, who claimed to continue the Grundtvig heritage of latitude and spiritual freedom, neglected at the same time what was inextricably associated with Grundtvig as an .old-church. theologian.Prenter’s understanding of the theology of the church service and his understanding of the sacraments may be seen in the light of this conflict, and it should be considered on this background whether Prenter’s theology does not present significant questions for us today.Thus, Prenter’s theology does not deserve to be looked upon as marginal, but should be included in a re-consideration of Danish ecclesiastical and theological tradition as a provocative, but fruitful viewpoint.J.H. Schjørring

The article analyzes the relationship between the Anglican and Russian Orthodox churches at the very end of the 19th century. The reasons why the Anglican — Orthodox dialogue received intensive development and significant theological content during this period are considered. Significant attention is paid to the mutual visits of the hierarchs of the two Churches, during which they discussed and agreed on numerous issues related to the rapprochement of the Anglican and Russian Orthodox Churches in connection with the prospect of planned interfaith unity. Emphasis is placed on the problem of recognizing the legitimacy of Anglican ordinations, which arose both due to the historical formation of Anglicanism and in connection with the peculiarities of the Anglican doctrine of the sacraments, particularly the sacrament of the priesthood. The author investigates the reasons why Russian theologians, who have carefully studied the historical, canonical and dogmatic sides of the issue, were forced at this stage to deny the Anglicans the recognition of the legality of their ordinations. In connection with this decision, the prospect of inter-church unity was postponed indefinitely so that Anglican theological thought could finally be defined in the sacramentology of the Anglican creed. At the same time, the dialogue between the two churches was not interrupted, but rather continued fruitfully in the 20th century.

AbstractMany of Barth's most faithful and devoted interpreters have taken issue with his unapologetically non-sacramental account of baptism in CD IV/4 and his attendant rejection of infant baptism. While many questions have been raised concerning the veracity of the exegesis that Barth produces in support of his position, little attention has been paid to the way in which Matthew 28.18-20, when systematically considered, relates to his account of baptism. Taking the themes of authority, mission and institution as analytic tools, this paper examines the role played by the Matthean passage throughout the Church Dogmatics period, and considers how these themes relate to Barth's rejection of infant baptism. It is suggested in conclusion that understanding baptism as the 'sign of the gospel' allows us to move beyond Barth's rejection of infant baptism without abrogating his concern for mission.

Grundtvig’s »The Rejoinder of the Church« - in a Modem Perspective By Theodor Jørgensen The article maintains the view that the most profitable approach to a reading of Grundtvig is to take him seriously as a true 19th century man. In that case, his conflict with his own time will be a great deal more relevant for our own approach to the present and its problems. Four views, typical for the present, are adduced as crucial for Grundtvig, too, and thus also profitable when considering Grundtvig’s polemical pamphlet from 1825 in a modern perspective, in which he presents his ‘church view’.The four views are: 1. Faith must be a matter of experience, 2. Faith must be a matter of certainty, 3. Faith needs to have criteria for its Christian identity, and 4. Theology, of course, plays an essential role in the clarification of these issues, but which one?By way of introduction, the occasion and aim of the pamphlet is explained, and it is made clear that two views of the church clash, that of Professor H.N. Clausen, which is founded on a doctrinal idea of the church, and Grundtvig’s own, which invokes the evidence of history, i.e., the concrete historical experience of the individual. After that the pamphlet is analyzed from the four points of view mentioned.Re 1. Grundtvig’s emphasis on faith as experience serves a two-fold purpose: The immersion of faith in supra-individual contexts of life, here above all history, on one hand, and faith as the most fundamental act of life of the individual, on the other. Experience has truth on its side, because truth is always given in advance, and thus only accessible to experience. It must be sensed, heard. Grundtvig’s concept of experience is closely linked with his view of man, according to which man is a divine experiment of dust and spirit. To Grundtvig, the heart is a manifestation of this unity of the physical and the spiritual, just as human speech is a unity of sound and meaning. True experience is the experience of the heart, as different from that of reason. Grundtvig’s defence of freedom in the individual’s experience of God through faith is a defence of the autonomy of the heart, meaning every single individual’s immediate relationship to God.Re 2. The immediacy of the relationship through faith is its certainty. But the message which faith relates to, is always received through intermediary communication, and the process of historical communication is as such of a relative character. In the consciousness of the present, the certainty of faith is thus endangered. This is seen in particular in the relativism which the Scripture as canon has been exposed to through the exegetic sciences. In fact, Grundtvig abandons the Scripture as the basis of communication and rule of faith. Instead he substitutes the Apostolicum, understood as the promised divine Covenant Word and Baptism and Communion. From the beginning of Christianity they have been distinctive signs of the true church of Christ. With their central place in the church service, these words and sacraments have the resurrected Christ Himself as their subject. In other words: In His living presence in the word of faith and the sacraments in the church service, Christ is Himself the communicator, and thus the immediacy, so indispensable for the certainty of faith, is secured. Christ Himself is thus regula fidei.Re 3. Hence, according to Grundtvig, the Christian service is the criterion of Christian identity, as it is the place where one meets the living Christ. Unlike Clausen’s theologically doctrinal and thus intellectual criterion, Grundtvig’s has been deduced from historical experience, that of the individual and that of Christendom. Grundtvig’s view is elucidated by means of a comparison with the criteria of Christian identity proposed by S.W.Sykes in his .The Identity of Christianity which correspond to Grundtvig’s.Re 4. Grundtvig’s ‘church view’ must necessarily lead to the conclusion that the importance of exegetic and dogmatic theology for the origin of faith becomes relative. In comparison with the living presence of Christ in the word of faith and the sacraments, theology will naturally take second place. It cannot create faith. What it can do, however, according to Grundtvig, is to enlighten faith and the life of Christ in faith, partly by interpreting the New Testament as the evidence of faith of the first Christian congregations, partly, in the context of the present, by throwing light on Christian life and its interchange with everything human. When it is understood like this, theology, of course, does not belong in the church, but in the .church school.. Evidently, theology can only accomplish its task in freedom and it must necessarily contain differences like life itself.The conclusion points out that the applicability of Grundtvig’s .church view. in our day is in question because the church service is alien to many people and is consequently celebrated by few. Thus the foundation of experience for the free choice of faith is missing. In present-day theology, two paths stand out as typical in the face of this challenge. One way to go is to make the liturgical and sacramental experience comprehensible, partly in order to motivate people to make that experience themselves, partly in order to help the church to celebrate its service in greater agreement with its content. G. Wainwright and S.W.Sykes represent this attitude. The other way to go is to distinguish consciously between the church as a community of faith and Christianity as a view of life, and to accept fully that the relationship between faith and view of life is reversed on the conditions of modernity. By arguing for the view of life, it is thus attempted to create a convincing foundation for the choice of faith. W.Pannenberg represents this approach.

One of the main postulates of the reformation movement, apart from the theological questions, was a proposal of the internal reform of the church institution. The Father of the Reformation,as Rev. Martin Luther is called in the source literature, raised the questions concerning the mission of the Church, its role in the magisterium, and also and perhaps above all its hierarchical structure and about the role of the clergy in the process of the eternal salvation. As a result of his reflections and probably his observations and his own experiences Luther undermined in succession different dogmatic, theological questions as well as those regarding the organization of the Roman Catholic Church. Slogans of renewal and reforms of the church structure spread very rapidly through the territory of German Reich, gaining numerous supporters among European nations. One of those for whom the Reformation ideas became the main field of activity was French man John Calvin. That well-rounded, well educated and well-read lawyer, knowing the main works of the German monk, acquired his principal theses postulating the changes in the functioning of the Church. Additionally, Calvin made a division of the Church between the earthly – the visible and the heavenly – the invisible one, and the person who bonds it, guarantees its unity and permanency, the indivisibility is the only and the highest Priest – Jesus Christ. In the work of his life Institucio Religionis Christianae Calvin embodied a full picture of the Christian Church as, in his opinion, it should be. Analysing particular issues regarding the function of the clergymen, the pope, celebrating the sacraments, penance and conversion, and also the eternal salvation, we are given the basic compendium of knowledge concerning the ecclesiology by John Calvin. His teaching about the Church, although in some points different in from the preaching of Rev. Martin Luther, however oscillates within the principal slogans of Reformation: Sola Fides –the man is saved solely by faith, Sola Gratia – God’s grace is necessary for salvation, Sola Scriptura – the only source of faith is the Holy Bible. He also added the idea: Solus Christus – only Christ saves, He is in the centre of The Church, we can observe Calvin’s Christ centred attitude in his preaching and in building ideological basics of the reformed denomination.

This article is an initial attempt to bring the subject of baptism and to a lesser extent infant baptism in particular, as demonstrated in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics, into a conversation with the practice of this phenomenon in African Reformed churches in South Africa, specifically the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Whilst the Roman Catholic and Reformed traditions regarding the sacraments differ significantly in the understanding of this subject, this article will examine Barth’s understanding of baptism. This is done by critically examining key themes in his Church Dogmatics. The praxis of the sacraments and especially that of baptism continue to be a praxis that is highly venerated in African Reformed theological circles. This is so because it is believed that symbolism continues to occupy centre stage in African Reformed churches. In a sense therefore it seems that the African Reformed Christian leans more towards a Roman Catholic understanding of this sacrament. Is that perhaps true? Essentially this conversation will explore the relationship of faith to baptism and how this impacts on infant baptism for instance.

The Catholic Church believes in the intrinsic and inseparable bond of the Holy Eucharist and the Church. In reference to its dogmatic Constitution, Lumen Gentium paragraph 11 (LG 11) the Church professes that the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Jesus Christ, is “the source and summit of Christian life.” Each of these two sacraments effects and builds each other. This implies that as the church celebrates the Eucharist, the members as they partake in the Holy Communion manifest concretely their unity and become one body of Christ. This article seeks to underscore the indissoluble reciprocal causality of the Eucharist and the Church, while it stresses on the Eucharist as the origin, the being, and the destiny of the Church. The study drums home critically the idea that the Eucharist builds the Church, and the Church makes the Eucharist. These are but two complementary terms, the Body of Christ, the Church which lives and continuously builds itself up through the Eucharist, Body of Christ. This great theological theme is one of the central points of a deeper interest in Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican ecclesiology. However, the paper examines critically the reciprocal causality between the Church and the Eucharist from the Catholic perspective as proposed by H. de Lubac, a French theologian. It finally treats the interpenetration of the Eucharist as the Body of Christ and the Church as the Body of Christ from the perspective of sacramental theology.

Homosexuality and homophobia in South Africa exist side by side. Homophobia is very common in communities and churches. Biblical texts, traditional cultures and politics partner to dismiss, discredit or disqualify homosexuality, but historians and anthropologists have evidence that homosexuality has been around within African cultures for many ages. Christians are divided into two camps. There are those who openly oppose gay rights with citations from biblical texts, claiming that homosexuality is forbidden by God. Others claim that this is poor biblical scholarship and a cultural bias read into the Bible. To these, the Bible says nothing about homosexuality as an innate dimension of personality; as a sexual orientation, it was not understood in biblical times. Despite a progressive constitution and affirming legislation, sexual and gender minorities experience discrimination in South Africa. The church expresses homophobic tendencies by excluding homosexual people from the sacraments, liturgy and ordination. Theology is invited to embark on a journey of dialogue with communities and homosexual people in order for it to be meaningful and relevant and contribute towards social, political and economic empowerment. Through dialogue with the homophobic community, theology can journey out of the continuous hermeneutic circle spanning biblical text, dogmatic traditions and the present, ever-changing historical context. This journey is taken, applying the ethics of faith, hope and love.Contribution: The article invites further research on theological grounds for exclusion of same-sex orientation people from ecclesial rights such as ordinances, liturgy, confessions and ordination.

Marriage is an institution found in every society, culture or religion in the world. The Catholic Church has maintained most of her seven Sacraments including that of marriage. The Church of Sweden, an established Evangelical Lutheran faith, born out of the 16^th century Reformation has two Sacraments excluding marriage. This field study was carried out in Gävle, Sweden in spring 2009. A comparative study of marriage in the Catholic Church and the Church of Sweden and the reason each church alludes to based on scripture and tradition was to help me, an African Catholic, understand differences between the respective churches and also understand why the Church of Sweden accepts same sex marriages. This was my motivation for writing this paper. I hope this paper will serve as a study guide to new people who come to Sweden from other cultures to enable them understand why the “Modus Operandi” regarding church marriage in Sweden is different from the church marriage in their native countries.

This chapter traces the theology of the sacraments of perhaps the greatest Protestant theologian of the twentieth century, the Swiss Reformed theologian and pastor Karl Barth. Regarding Baptism and Eucharist as addressed in Barth’s magnum opus, Church Dogmatics, sacraments, along with preaching, are deemed the two primary ways the church proclaims Jesus Christ as the Word of God. Barth emphasizes sacraments as signs of the “secondary objectivity of God,” signs of receiving the self-giving God. While linking Christian baptism with the baptism of Jesus, fascinatingly, Barth eventually argues that baptism is not an actual sacrament. In fact, ultimately Barth actually denies any sacrament except Jesus Christ. Thus, when it comes to sacramental theology, Barth “acts as a healthy foil to those tempted to inflate the role of human institutions and practices.”

Widely recognized as the leading Scottish theologian of the twentieth century, Thomas F. Torrance (1913–2007) was noteworthy as a dogmatic theologian for his influential explication of Trinitarian doctrine as it was developed by Nicene theologians. He was also a prominent figure in ecumenical theology, notably working with Eastern Orthodox theologians towards agreement on the doctrine of the Trinity. Torrance contributed greatly to ecumenical dialogue among Reformed, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics, with his innovative and substantive understanding of the Church and sacraments, as well as nature and grace. Torrance’s expertise was not limited to dogmatics as he was also one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century to publish extensively on the relationship between science and theology. Torrance’s influence is indicated by the increasing number of doctoral dissertations devoted to his theology, the existence of a scholarly society formed to discuss and disseminate his ideas in critical dialogue, and the volume of secondary literature devoted to his thinking.

The article examines the Evoplia fidei catholicae romanae historico-dogmatica (The Historical-dogmatic Armour of the Roman Catholic Faith), a book which was published in Rome in 1694 by a Maronite, Faustus Naironus (b. 1628, d. 1708–1712). This Eastern Christian wrote several books in his own name, and spent his entire career in Rome, but failed to enjoy much of a reputation as a scholar during his own lifetime. Published by the Congregation of Propaganda press, the Evoplia was a controversial anti-Protestant book, where Naironus presented the Syrian Christians’ contribution to the Catholic cause: according to him, Eastern Christians, regardless of their Church, adhered to the Roman Catholic Church’s position on the seven sacraments and the main dogmas. I chart the gestation of the book, and explore the reasons – some confessional, some scholarly – why this work elicited little response, both among Protestant and French Catholic scholars.