The discussion regarding Scriptures` inspiration is one of the major issues of the late modern Christian era. A well understanding of inspiration offers the basis for a good theological debate about the Scriptures` authority in the Christian community. The Scripture has a divine authority for the community of believers because it is inspired by a higher power of authority than humans. Inspiration is a divine act that involves all the Persons of the Trinity in establishing the truth of revelation for the community of God. As Barth said, because the Scripture is inspired by God, it has power of being for each person that encounters the Word of God in Scripture. This power of being is the certain proof that Scripture is the inspired Word of God. Barth also says that God is present in what He is saying and he is accompanying the words He is saying.
From this statement, ones conclusion could be that Scripture is inspired because of the presence of God in what He’s saying. Starting from this idea, the author of this paper tries to emphasize the spiritual presence of Jesus Christ in the act of Scripture inspiration. Scripture is inspired because of the presence of Christ, through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings Christ in the Scripture as He brought Christ in human flesh. Also, the Spirit keeps the presence of Christ active in Scripture, and this is the reason why the Word of God has power of being even today.
Karl Barth is one of the founders of a movement that came to be known as “Neo-orthodoxy,” a movement that helped to gain a renewed recognition and appreciation of the theological meaning and significance of the biblical text, after the dry historicism of higher critical studies. One of the distinctives of this movement is its view of revelation, which can be generally and at risk of over-simplification, be described as having been greatly influenced by existentialism. While neo-orthodoxy helped to recover the theological significance of the Bible, it has also been criticized by more theologically conservative scholars as being detrimental to the traditional doctrine of Scripture which emphasizes the verbal inspiration and accompanying truthfulness and accuracy of the biblical text.
This study follows an inductive approach, and tries, first of all, to accurately describe Barth’s own thought, taken from Volume I, part 2 of his Church Dogmatics, and then, secondly, to provide an evaluation.
Specifically, the study focuses on two main issues: first, the issue of the objectiveness and subjectiveness of revelation (a topic that is often subject to misunderstanding), and second, the issue of the authority of the biblical text. The evaluation examines these issues from an evangelical perspective.
This study not only examines this particular doctrine, but in doing so, will help to show the theological perspective and methodology of one of the Church’s greatest theologians.
Avec cette epreuve on nous proposons la presentation, dans la vision de la Teologie Ortodoxe, du raport ou de la etroite liaison entre la Sainte Ecriture, la Sainte Tradition et la Eglise, parce-que c’est notre devoir de disperser cette apprentissage aux ceux qui sont interesses. L’objet de la Ecriture, de la Tradition et de la Eglise est bien definit dans l’histoire, raison pour laquelle aujourd’hui on peut parler d’un raport entre elles.
Le continu appel de notre Sauveur Jésus Christ a la Eglise et a ecouter le message de l’Evangile represente la preuve de l’existence de la Sainte Tradition dans le cadre de l’Ecclessie. Toute la Teologie Dogmatique Ortodoxe a comme objet final la restauration de l’homme tombe et son soulevement a la comunion reele avec Jesus-Christ par les Saints Sacrements qu’on sait bien qu’existent dans la Eglise. L’interpretation sans tenir compte de „Predania” ou la Tradition des Saints Apotres c’est une interpretation que t’amene aux sens propres, errones et elle ne maintienne pas la verite relevee. Ce tressage entre l’ Ecriture, la Tradition el la Eglise represent un tout unitaire, la manque de une de elles rompe une partie de Jesus-Christ, la Tete de la Eglise.
On espere que avec cette epreuve cette liaison unitaire entre la Eglise, l’Ecriture et la Tradition serra meilheur entendue et nous n’avons pas autre pensee que la transmission de la verite relevee qui est Jesus-Christ, le Sauveur du monde.
The Christian denominations from nowadays are different regarding the way they see the doctrines of the Holy Trinity, sin, man, salvation, or the position of the Church in Christianity, because of the way they interpret the Scriptures and the way they see it’s authority in relation with Tradition. The scriptural Tradition is divided in three types of traditions: 1) inherited tradition, explicit truths from the Bible; 2) declared tradition, implicit truths from the Scripture and 3) constitutive tradition, revealed truths which are not in the Bible. If on the first two types of tradition all the main Christian denominations agree, regarding the third type of tradition, the Protestant don’t believe in the authority of other teachings which are not according with the Bible, while the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church built a hole theology on it, sustaining actually that this type of tradition needs to be on the same level in importance as the first two.
In this short paper, the author wants to emphasize the way the Eastern Orthodox Church sees the relation between Tradition and the Bible and how this perspective affects their interpretation of the Bible.
In this paper the author tries to make a brief outline of the main characteristics regarding the relationship between the interpretation of the Scripture and its’ authority in the Church and in Tradition, from different perspectives, more precisely, from a Catholic point of view, an East-Orthodox point of view, and an Evangelical point of view. Being influenced by his evangelical background, the author tries to emphasize, in a very objective way, the benefits of aproaching this subject by having as a starting point the right view over the absolute authority of the Scripture.
Resuming the relationship that exists between the Authority, the Bible, the Tradition, and the Interpretation, the author affirms that from an evangelical perspective, God is the ultimate authority which gives to the Bible its’ authority, hence the idea that the Bible should be repositioned on the most honourable place in Christian witness. “Scripture is interpretated by the Church, but not by the Church as an Institution, because its’ authority is assured by the Lord of the Church and not by the ecclesial existence. Scripture has authority in the Church because has authority over the Church. Without the Word, there isn’t faith, without faith, there isn’t any Church, and without Scripture and Holy Spirit there isn’t the knowledge of the Word which brings faith and salvation. This is the correct and most effective order of the divine ministry in the human world.”(Emil Bartoº, Iminenþa ºi pericolele tradiþiei creºtine, în revista „Pleroma”, anul V, nr.1, iunie 2003, Editatã de Institutul Teologic Penticostal, Bucureºti, 139).
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