bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Die Corpus Christianum in die Middeleeue
Authors: Botha S. J.
Published: January 2013

The Corpus Christianum in the Middle Ages. The origin and development of the idea of Christianity as a single society in the Roman Empire under the leadership of the state or emperor and the Church or pope is investigated. The idea developed differently in the East and the West. In the East it developed into Caeseropapismand in the West, although linked to a notion of theocracy, it developed into eccesiocracy or papalcracy: both being caricatures.
Prediking en kultuur
Authors: Dreyer T. F.J.
Published: January 2013

Preaching and culture. This paper is an attempt to define the relation between culture and preaching. The Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika frequently refers to the church as a 'peoples church' ('volkskerk'). Owing to political changes in South Africa, the qualification 'volkskerk', has created a certain amount of disturbance in the ranks of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk. This study analyses the relation between culture and preaching from different hermeneutical perspectives, namely: the cultural embedding of the biblical kerygma; the interwoveness of language and culture, and the necessity of contextuality in preaching.
Andragogie - In moontlike oplossing vir kerklike onderrig aan volwassenes in 'n multikulturele situasie
Authors: Buekes P.
Published: January 2013

Androgogy - a possible solution to the catechism of adults in a multicultural situation. Multicultural education has become a world-wide phenomenon. International communication has made the world smaller, and multicultural education has become a need which every country, nation and church has to address. A lot has happened on the political and ecclesiastical fronts in South Africa since 1990. The division between peoples due to apartheid has largely disappeared in some urban circles. Multicultural church services created a challenge to the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika as well. This article is an attempt to demonstrate that andragogy is a possible solution to the catechism of adults in such a way that neither social groups nor a specific church loses its identity.
Armoedekultuur: Die leefwereld van die Nuwe Testament en die situasie in Suid-Afrika vandag
Authors: Van Aarde Andries
Published: January 2013

Culture of poverty: The world of the New Testament then and the situation in South Africa today. In this article poverty in the world of the New Testament is explained in the  light of the social dynamics of the first century Eastern Mediterranean. The focus is on the sub-culture of the disreputable poor. Features of a culture of poverty are reflected upon from a social-scientific perspective in order to try to understand why poverty is intensifying in South Africa today. The article aims at identifying guidelines for Christians in using the New Testament in a profound way to challenge the threat of poverty. The following aspects are discussed: the underdevelopment of third-world societies over against the technical evolution in first-world societies during the past two hundred years, economic statistics with regard to productivity and unemployment in South Africa, the social identity of the disreputable poor, poverty within the pre-print culture of the biblical period, and the church as the household of God where Christians should have compassion for others.
Die belydenisuitspraak Kolossense 1: 13-20: Eenheid, struktuur en funksie
Authors: Roberts J. H.
Published: January 2013

The confessional statement Colossians 1:13-20: Unity, structure and function. Scholarly work has concentrated much effort on Colossians 1:15-20 as an early Christian hymn. In discussions with Botha (1986; 1989) and Van der Watt (1988), an attempt has been made here to prove the unity of 1 :13-20 as a confessional statement, and to determine its structural coherence and progression. The letter's macro structure is utilized to pinpoint the pericope's locality in the letter since this has bearing on the function it fulfills. The analysis of its structural composition is an attempt to help clarify my position on various details and understanding of its meaning. In view of the positions taken and of a discussion of the letter's context and its communicative thrust, the function of the confessional statement is considered to be its role of grounding the community's faith in the totally sufficient salvation by God in Christ thus opening the way for the warning against being misled on a way other than that of Christ and to hold onto him as head, which signals the communicative thrust of the letter.
Voorstellings van Batseba: Intertekstualiteit in literere kuns, beeldende kuns en werklikheid
Authors: Bezuidenhout L. C.
Published: January 2013

Representations of Bathsheba: Intextuality in literary art, the visual arts and reality. Interesting parallels between literary and visual arts exist. A text may possess visuality, while visual arts may possess textuality. In this paper, the interrelations between the literary description of the story of David and Bathsheba (2 Sm 11) and depictions of this story in the visual arts are explored. For some reason, this story possesses exceptional creative potential. Particular attention is given to the painting 'The Toilet of Bathsheba (1654)' by Rembrandt.  An analysis of this painting sheds light on the subtle dynamics of the story. Its haunting beauty succeeds in communicating the complex implications of the story. Sexuality serves as an interface between the story and reality, luring the reader into this intrigue. The reader finds himself unexpectedly in David's position. By acknowledging this kind of intertextuality, new dimensions of meaning can be explored.
Die einde is hier! Tekstuele strategie en historiese verstaan in die Judasbrief
Authors: Joubert S. J.
Published: January 2013

'The end is here!' Textual strategy and historical understanding in the Letter of Jude. After a brief discussion of the performative functions of persuasive discourse in general, the sociohistorical context of the letter of Jude is constructed. This is followed  by a literary analysis of the rhetorical strategies in the letter in order to persuade the intended readers to reject a group of teachers in their midst with conflicting perceptions of reality. In this regard, the author's transtextual reinterpretation and contextual application of well-known motifs, persons and groups from Jewish history, who all serve as types  of divine intervention and punishment, receive particular attention. Jude applies the principles of identification and association to villify his opponents. By hermeneutically shifting the emphasis from his present context to the past, Jude, through various textual strategies, identifies the opponents with the notorious 'archetypes of sinners' from history who defined the nature of sin and disobedience to God. But, at the same time, the present 'chaos' caused by these teachers are also related to the final eschatological events in the divine calender.
Die 'aposunagogos' se invloed op die geskrifte van die Nuwe Testament volgens Waiter Schmithals
Authors: Boshoff P. B.
Published: January 2013

The influence of the 'aposunagogos' on the writings of the New Testament according to Walter Schmithals. The essay puts the view of Schmithals' of the historical circumstances behind a great part of the writings of the New Testament. He makes 'aposunagogos' the terminus technicus referring to what happened in the background. 'Aposunagogos' refers to the exclusion of Christians, confessing Jesus as the Messiah, from the synagogue in the years following the destruction of the temple in 70 A D by the Romans. Several texts are being discussed reflecting the power of Schmithals' exegesis.
Teologiee as gevaarlike mensemaaksels: Burton Mack se evaluasie van vroeg-Christelike mites
Authors: Strijdom Johan
Published: January 2013

Theologies as dangerous human constructs: Burton Mack's evaluation of early Christian myths. After an introductory explication of the social approach to myths/theologies and a consideration of the ethical urgency for such a humanistic strategy, this article offers a systematic survey of Burton Mack's incisive criticism of early Christian mythology and its influence on Western (specifically American) civilization. His cynical reading, which claims to take its cue from deconstruction, is assessed under three headings (which are inevitably interrelated): (1) The evangelical meaning of Jesus' death: the victimization of Jews; (2) The apocalyptic myth as social nightmare: the collusion of innocence and power, and (3) From diverse origins to reduced end product and back: the decanonization of the Christian Bible as ethical necessity. As a programmatic sug-gestion of how Mack's contribution can be taken further, the essay concludes by juxtaposing Mack's myth criticism with that of a selection of scholars (Crossan, Voltaire) and Polish poets (Zagajewski, Szymborska), whose points of view may serve not only to corroborate, but especially, to critically refine Mack's perspective.
Kerkleiding in die een en twintigste eeu
Authors: Beukes P.
Published: January 2013

Church guidance in the twenty-first century. The view of church members relating to the roll of the church, roll overloading and different roll expectations have caused new thinking in the church leadership with a view on the twenty first century. This new thinking is further extended (enlarged) by the nature of post-modernism and various systems of thought. The mission of the church, the priesthood of the laity and the above mentioned factors have resulted in a specific spirituality, knowledge and various skills in regard to the church leaders with a view on the twenty first century.
Die missionere gerigtheid van die kerk
Authors: Van der Merwe J. C. , Beukes P.
Published: January 2013

The church as missionary church. Statistics show that the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika is not growing. The basic cause of this situation seems to be that the Church is not spending enough of its efforts and energy on being a missionary church, but on maintaining itself. The negative tendencies of the institutional and the preaching models seem to previal. This study is an attempt to show that church-method and being-church are indissolubly tied to each other. Being-church means, in the light of this study, being God's missionary in the worldfor the glory of God - being a missionary church.
Die oorspronge van die belydenis 'Jesus is God' in die vroegste Christendom: In Ondersoek na metodes en kriteria
Authors: Van Wyk D. J.C.
Published: January 2013

The origins of the confession 'Jesus is God' in earliest Christianity: A quest for sound methodology and criteria. In this study an argument is made for reopening the debate on one of the most central and crucial confessions of Christianity, namely 'Jesus is God'. In current Christological research there is an apparent discepancy concerning the divinity of Jesus if the results of recent historical Jesus research is compared with the Constantine Confessions (Nicea and Chalcedon). Moreover, prominent scholars today point out that there are traces of a process of development within the writings of the New Testament that can boil down to a possible 'process of divinization' of Jesus in early Christianity. No conclusions concerning these matters are drawn in this study. The research problem is identified and it is shown that the theme is highly relevant. Examples are given of multiple and discordant conclusions of scholars who dealt with this problem in the past. Against this background, it is argued that sound methodology and criteria are necessary in trying to reach a justifiable conclusion.
Belief in God among South African youth and its relation to their religious socialization and praxis
Authors: Van der Ven Jobannes A.P , Dreyer Jaco S. , Pieterse Hendrik J.
Published: January 2013

This article investigates belief in God among 538 students from standard 9 who attend Anglican and Catholic schools in the Johannesburg/Pretoria region, and relates this  belief to the students' religious socialization and praxis. The students' belief in God appears to correlate strongly with their religious praxis in the present and less so with their religious socialization. However, some elements within this religious socialization play a rather important role, namely the parents' religious modeling, communication, and transfer. Two elements do not appear to have any influence at all, namely the parents' church participation and the parents' religious steering of students in the past and present.
Implied Reader Response and the Evolution of Genres: Transitional Stages Between the Ancient Novels and the Apocryphal Acts
Authors: Price Robert M.
Published: January 2013

This article aims at elaborating on the commonly held judgment that the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles have somehow been influenced by the Hellenistic novels. It is argued that the one evolved from the other. Three stages can be traced. A first stage consists of Christian allegorizing of the novels based on the many striking crucifixion and empty tomb passages, followed by a second stage of writing Christian allegories based on the Old Testament heritage of Christianity. Joseph and Asenath being the sole surviving example. Finally, the third stage is the explicit composing of Christian versions of the picaresque romantic adventure novels, namely the Apocryphal Acts.
The end of truth?
Authors: Du Toit C. W.
Published: January 2013

As we are approaching the end of the century, many ideas, systems, and certainties, previously taken for granted, seem to be questioned, altered and rejected. One of these is the notion of truth, which pervades the very fibre of Western thinking. Rejecting the relevant critique as simply a postmodem fad, this article proceeds to give attention to the questions regarding the end of religious, scientific, and metaphysical truth. Truth and power are dealt with, as well as the narrative nature of truth. The article concludes with reference to the functioning of truth in the South African context as manifested in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
'Who is wise and understanding among you' (James 3: 13)? An analysis of wisdom, eschatology and apocalypticism in the epistle of James
Authors: Hartin Patrick J.
Published: January 2013

Three questions form the basis of this analysis of the relationship of the Epistle of James to the traditions of wisdom, eschatology and apocalypticism. What kind of traditions are involved in James? What is the world view of James? What audience or community is presupposed by this writing? Foremost is the connection that James demonstrates to the wisdom tradition evident in the Old Testament and extratestamental literature. In particular two types of wisdom tradition are noted in James: practical wisdom advice as expressed in short sayings, wisdom instructions and admonitions and reflection on the nature of wisdom (1:5-8; 2:1-7; and 3:13-18) as coming from God. Finally, the question of how much apocalyptic symbolism is evident in the eschatological world view of the epistle is addressed.
A Critical Dialogue of Structure and Reader in Romans 11: 16-24
Authors: Maartend P. J.
Published: January 2013

A critical dialogue of structure and reader interprets Paul's allegory of the 'wild olive branches' beyond functionalistic methods of interpretation. Structuralism analyses the antithetical contrasts of the 'wild' and 'cultivated' branches, faith and unfaithfulness, and the kindness and severity of God which abounds in 'double parallelisms'. Reader semiotics identifies the recipient of grace ingrafted by God as participant in salvation. Grace shows no partiality of persons. The symbolism of 'wild olive branches' leads via the 'root' to the righteous servant as interpretant. Neither the Jews nor the Gentiles, as 'wild olive branches', have a claim to any 'prerogative of salvation'. The only privilege which prevails is one of service and allegiance to the divine call. The variegated perspectives generated by this analysis contribute to the polymorphous character of the meaning of the text. The critical dialogue of literary semiotics challenges the reader of every generation to enter into the ensuing debate and interpret the text in a way which is relevant to his/her historical context.
Eindigheid, eie opstanding en die politiek van differance *
Authors: Beukes Johann
Published: January 2013

Finiteness, own resurrection and the polities of differance Employing Derrida's notion of diffirance, the author approaches the conviction of life after death (-own resurrection -) as a conviction which has been typically marginalized and even disallowed by modernity. The politics of differance, which could be regarded as a postmodern strategy for rehabilitating those aspects of reality which were marginalized by modernity, is shown to have critical consequences for the linear (modern) understanding of finiteness and death. Rather than understand finiteness and own resurrection as being in linear relation, the author appeals to the postmodern persuasion of the siclical nature of reality: death is own resurrection. Death is a life giving gift: The Self dies so that Others may live - and the Self is resurrected when it lives on in the lives of Others. Thus parting company with the empirical understanding of history, death and resurrection, the author leaves us with the tadt question: is this not the way the resurrection of Christ is to be understood? He lives on in us, as we will live on in Others. Wie dood is, is dood, en wie dood is, sallewe - Georges Bataille -
Images of Christ's Saving Work in Ps.-Epiphanius' Homilies
Authors: Stander H. F.
Published: January 2013

Images of Christ's Saving Work in Ps.-Epiphanius' Homilies. One cannot really speak of a systematic theology on the subject of atone-ment in the patristic writers. Frances Young once said that 'it is in fact impossible to categorize neatly the thought of the major patristic writers on the subject of atonement'. She adds that one cannot do justice to the range of motifs and images that are found in describing the saving and atoning work of Christ if we merely dismember 'systematic theologies' to illustrate common soteriological themes. One can only appreciate patristic views of atonement if one begins by recognizing the multifaceted unity of imagery that pervades the literature. This then is the goal of this article: to discuss the rich images which Ps: -Epiphanius uses to describe the atoning work of Christ.
Die konsep 'Seun van God' in Grieks-Romeinse en Hellenisties-Semitiese literatuur
Authors: Van Aarde Andries
Published: January 2013

The notion 'Son of God' in Graeco-Roman and Hellenistic-Semitic literature. Christians among the Greek-speaking Israelites referred to Jesus as, inter alia, 'Son of God'. The connotation of this honorific title differs from the usage of that by Israelites prior to Hellenistic influence, who in the First Testament referred to their messianic king as 'Son of God'. The new connotation was, to a Hellenistic audience, a commonality. According to Rudolf Bultmann it was 'gemeingriechische Denke '. The article aims at identifying three different types of the notion 'Son of God' in Graeco-Roman and Hellenistic-Semitic literature: the divine human as miracle worker, the pre-existent God-like figure who is paradoxically associated with human fate, and the cosmological figure who is identified as God's Wisdom. It is shown that all three types occur in the Second Testament as interpretations of the soteriological meaning of Jesus' birth and death.
Die verhouding prediking-belydenis in 'n post-moderne konteks: 'n 'Huwelik' 'saamwoon' ?
Authors: Dreyer T. F.J.
Published: January 2013

The relationship between preaching and confessions in a post-modem society: A 'marriage' or 'free love'?. This article attempts, within the tradition of the Reformation, to investigate the relationship between preaching and the confession of the church. Through the ages, this relationship altered from a spontaneous interaction to a formal, judicial contract. This role prescribed to the confession, of being a formal and dominating instrument with judicial authority, is no longer acceptable in a postmodem society. The study aims to establish the specific nature of the relationship and to seek means to organize it in a way that will accommodate the demands of our time, but in an orderly manner that will also benefit the proclamation of the gospel.
Inheemswording en inkulturasie: Implikasies vir teologie en kerk
Authors: Van der Merwe P. J.
Published: January 2013

Indigenisation and inculturation: Implications for theology and church. Although the intimate bond between Church and culture was realised quite early on, it only became a theological issue after missionaries like Xavier, Ricci and DeNobili experimented with accommodation and adaptation in the East. In the 20th century their ideas surfaced again in the concepts of indigenisation and inculturation, that is, of Church and theology amongst peoples and cultures of the Third World. This development led Western theology to realise how historically and culturally contextualised Western ecclesiastical, doctrinal and theological traditions actually were. This in tum led to a fundamental rethinking on Church and culture, and again, on contextualisation; indigenisation and inculturation as missionary principles.
Wetenschappelijk onderzoek op het gebied van het Nieuwe Testament en grensgebieden in Nederland en Nederlandstalig Belgie, 1993- 19991
Authors: De Jonge M.
Published: January 2013

Scientific research on the New Testament and related fields in the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgium, 1993-1999. The article gives an overview of recent and current New Testament research in the Netherlands and Belgium. The institutions and circumstances within which research is done, are discussed. The article points out that theological faculties function within an increasingly secularising society. In spite of this, and the problems the churches are experiencing, there still is a remarkable interest in religion and theology both within and outside of church and university circles. Research trends include a focus on the cultural environment of early Christianity, the history and literature of Christianity ater the first century and a linguistic and literary approach. The interest in Biblical theological issues is much more limited. These trends and the researchers working in the various fields are discussed in detail. The article concludes that much has been done in the field of New Testament research in the Dutch-speaking world in spite of fairly unfavourable circumstances.
Verby die geweld van die metaflsika: Die Christelike erfenis en sekularisasie
Authors: Schoeman Marinus
Published: January 2013

Beyond the violence of metaphysics: The Christian tradition and secularisation. This essay reinterprets Christian faith in terms of the contemporary philosophical discourse on nihilism and the "end" of metaphysics, especially Heidegger's ontology of "decline." If Christianity is to regain its relevance in the contemporary world, it should purge itself from remnants of the natural religions as well as metaphysical beliefs, because they are instrumental in concealing (and thereby perpetuating) the arbitrary violence on which communities and their moral systems are founded. Christianity can play a meaningful role in unmasking these beliefs, thus paving the way for a "healthy" secularism and an ethics of love and non-violence.
For whom were Gospels written?
Authors: Bauckham Richard
Published: January 2013

This arlcie challenges the current consensus in Gospels scholarship that each Gospel was written for a specific church or group of churches. It argues that, since all our evidence about the early Christian movement shows it to have been a network of communities in constant, close communication, since all our evidence about early Christian leaders, such as might have written Gospels, shows them to have been typically people who travelled widely around the churches, and since, moreover, the evidence we have about early Christian literature shows that it did in fact circulate rapidily and widely, the strong probability is that the Gospels were written for general circulation around all the churches.
The unity of Luke-Acts
Authors: Verheyden J.
Published: January 2013

The article contains a summary of contributions delivered at he 47th Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense (1998) held at the Catholic University, Leuven on the subject: "The unity of Luke-Acts". The opening address was delivered by J Verheyden (Leuven) on "The Unity of Luke and Acts: What are we up to?". The contributors were: J Kremer (Vienna) - "Die dreifache Wiedergabe des Damaskuserlebnis Pauli in der Apostelgeschichte: Eine Hilfe für das rechte Verständnis der lukanischen Osterevangelien"; D Marguerat (Lausanne) -"Jusqu' où faut-il parler d'une "unité". Luc-Actes? Continuity et ruptures dans I'ævre de Luc"; JDelobel (Leuven) - "The text of Luke-Acts: A confrontation of recent theories"; R L Brawley (Chicago) - "Abrahamic covenant traditions and the characterization of God in Luke-Acts"; F W Horn (Mainz) - "Die Haltung des Lukas zum römischen Staat im Evangelium und in der Apostelgeschichte"; J A Fitzmyer (Washington) - "The role of theSpirit in Luke-Acts"; M Rese (Munster) - "The Jews in Luke-Acts: Some secondthoughts"; J Taylor (Jerusalem) - "La fraction du pain en Luc-Actes"; W Radl (Augs-burg) - "Die Beziehungen der Vorgeschichte zur Apostelgeschichte, dargestellt an Lk 2:22-39; F Neirynck (Leuven) - "Luke 4:16-30 and the unity of Luke-Acts"; C M Tuckett (Oxford) - "The Christology of Luke-Acts"; O Mainville (Montreal) - "Le messianisme de Jésus: Le rapport announce/accomplissement entre Lc 1,35 et Ac 2,33"; A Lindemann (Bethel-Bielefeld) - "Form und Funktion von Reden und Wundererzählungen im Lukas-evangelium und in der Apostelgeschichte", A Denaux - The theme of divine visits and human (in)hospitability in Luke-Acts and its Old Testament and Graeco-Roman antecedents.
The magi: Gentiles or Jews?
Authors: Sim David C.
Published: January 2013

From the second century onwards the Chrisian tradition has almost without exception accepted that the magi in Matthew's infancy narrative were Gentiles, and this view also completely dominates modern Matthean studies. Yet this idenification of the magi as Gentiles is built upon a number of unconvincing arguments, which fail to stand up to closer scrutiny. A re-assessment of the evidence reveals that the evangelist did not sipulate the racial origins of the magi. They may have been Gentiles, but it is equally plausible that they were Jews.
The search for the true self in the Gospel of Thomas, the Book of Thomas and the Hymn of the Pearl
Authors: Hartin Patrick J.
Published: January 2013

At the heart of the Gospel of Thomas lies the call to achieve an understanding of one's self (Logia 67-70). This call focuses the struggle of Thomas Christians by turning it inward as a challenge to understand their own true identity. Through this struggle they come to a knowledge of the Father. The significance of this theme of the search for the true self is examined further in the context of the Gospel of Thomas (Logia 3; 58; 111). From this study, it emerges that Thomas Christians experienced that they were strangers in a hostile world. Feeling alienated, they wished to escape rom the world. The positive outcome of this experience was a deeper self-understanding. This study culminates in an examination of this theme of the search for one's self in two other writings at home within early Syrian Christianity. In the Hymn of the Pearl (Acts of Thomas 108-113) the theme emerges in the allegory of the soul's quest for self-knowledge. The path to salvation is a search that ultimately takes one rom the world. In the Book of Thomas the Contender the same search for one's identity is emphasised (138:15-20 and 145:1-15). Finally, it is argued that this search for one's true identity is appropriate to the historical and sociological context of the Syrian Church in Edessa.
Biblical perspectives on the ministry and mission of the church - with special reference to human rights1
Authors: Botha Jan
Published: January 2013

Christianity is the religion of the majority of the South African population (between 60%-70%) and has great influence within South African society. Unfortunately, as in the case of any great power and source of such tremendous influence, its efect can be ambiguous. It can not only do good but also bad. In this paper this ambiguity is addressed with specific reference to the role of the Bible in public life. It is argued that, on the one hand, the use of the Bible as well as the Bible itself can be a serious stumbling block in the way of the promotion of respect for human rights, and, on the other hand, that the Bible can play an importantrole in the promotion of a culture of human rights in South Africa. In the first part of the paper four preliminary issues are discussed, namely, (i) importan tgeneral distinctions in our understanding of human rights, (ii) the complexity of the Bible, (iii) the complexity of the contemporary interpretation of the Bible and (iv) the issue of the use of the Bible in public discourse. Following this, the paper deals with the dark side of the use of the Bible with regard to human rights issues and possible strategies to deal with this dark side. The paper concludes with a few remarks about the bright side of human rights and the Bible.
C H Rautenbach, P S Dreyer en C K Oberholzer: Hulle nalatenskap en die pad vorentoe1
Authors: Beukes Johann , Van Aarde Andries
Published: January 2013

C H Rautenbach, P S Dreyer and C K Oberholzer: Their legacy and the way ahead. This article explores the legacy of three early philosophers at the University of Pretoria (1939-1987), who contributed substantially to the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk's perspectives on the relation between (modern) theology and (modern) philosophy. The authors consider their legacy to be an essentially Kantian stabilisation of the complex and problematic relationship between reason and faith, church and society, and theology and philosophy. The article then proceeds to interpret the changes in these relationships that were brought about by the postmodern discourse.
Analogiese taal by Bultmann in die lig van die kennissosiologie1
Authors: Malan Gert
Published: January 2013

A reflection on Bultmann's use of analogical language in thelight of the sociology of knowledge. Bultmann's approach to analogical language, or as he put it, mythological language, was to demythologise it. Reaction to his demythologising program was largely negative, as it seemed radical to many. This study shows that Bultmann's approach to analogical language does not differ much from the way the concept "analogical language" is used within the sociology of knowledge. It seems that disciplines which had previously been practised in isolation from each other, developed their own terminology. The result is that essentially the same issueswere referred to by different names, and that the same terms could be used todenote different issues. In this article the question whether analogical/mythological/symbolical/metaphorical language is treated in much the same way by thetwo different approaches is answered positively.
A research proposal for a new commentary on John
Authors: Landon Charles
Published: January 2013

The author offers a research proposal for a new commentary on the Gospel of John, provisionally entitled An Internal Textual Commentary on John, Part I: A Commentary on the Apparatus to NA27; Part J/: A Selective Commentary on the Apparatus to Tischendorf and Elliott & Parker. In the proposal, he responds to criticism of his previous work on Jude offered by Peter Head in Novum Testamentum 61(2) 181-185. The proposed work on John will not exemplify thorough-going eclecticism in practice, but will instead measure (1) the internal strength of three major text-types, and (2) the internal strength of two editions of the Greek New Testament, NA27 and Westcott & Hort (1881).
Besinning oor die interpretasie van die geloof wat in die belydenis van die maagdelike verwekking van Jesus geleer word1
Authors: Van Aarde Andries
Published: January 2013

Interpreting the doctrine of the virginal conception of Jesus. The aim of this article is to relect on the hermeneutical premises related to doctrinal criticism. The dogma of the virginal conception of Jesus as recorded in the Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgic Confession serves as case study. The article argues that the same historical critical exegetical principles applied to Scripture should guide the interpretation of creeds. Christian doctrine should be seen as a social demarcator, grounded in the foundational narrative of Jesus of Nazareth. This foundational narrative is interpreted by means of doctrinal criticism when doctrine is seen as the interpretation of the experience of belief and as the articulation of truth.
Are the "nations" present in Matthew?
Authors: Jackson Glenna S.
Published: January 2013

Traditionally, Matthew 28:16-20 has been placed in the context of a mandate to Christianize the world. This study attempts to ascertain if the gentile women in the geneology and the Canaanite woman near the center of Mathew's gospel constitute a precedent and a model for the mandate to bring the enemy tubes into the fold of Israel.
Vrou as beeld van God: Vanaf die Reformasie tot die twintigste eeu
Authors: Dreyer Yolanda
Published: January 2013

Woman created in the image of God: From the Reformation through the twentieth century. The purpose of this artirle is to trace how woman has been represented in the history of theology, in the period stretching from the Renaissance to the feminist movement of the twentieth century, as the image of God. The focus is on the views of Luther, Calvin, Schleiermacher, Bonhoefer, Brunner and Barth. As far as the feminist movement is concerned, attention is paid in particular to the views of Daly, Coll and Ruether. The discussion proceeds from the presupposition that, apart from the master narrative (the patriarchal-hierarchical perspective), acounter-narrative (a more egalitarian perspective) is also present in the Bible.These two perspectives form the criterion according to which woman as image of God has been traced in the history of theology. The article has been written with a view to pastoral interaction with women.
A Sitz for the Gospel of Mark? A critical reaction to Bauckham's theory on the universality of the Gospels1
Authors: Van Eck Ernest
Published: January 2013

A Sitz for the Gospel of Mark? A critical reaction to Bauck-ham,s theory on the universality of the Gospels. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the article by Richard Bauckham, in which he challenges the current consensus in New Testament scholarship that the gospels were written for and addressed to specific believing communities. The thesis that Bauckham puts forward is that the gospels were written with the intention of being circulated as widely as possible - it was written for every Christian community of the late first century where the gospels might circulate. First, a Wirkungsgeschichte of Mark's gospel in terms of the possible localities of origin and the possible theological intentions for writing the Gospel, that is, of the results of the current consensus in New Testament scholarship, is given. Bauckham's theory is then put on the table and evaluated.
The institutionalization of Jesus' charismatic authority: "Son of Man" as case study1
Authors: Dreyer Yolanda
Published: January 2013

This article argues that Jesus used the expression "son of man" not in a titular way, but genetically, meaning "humankind". This use of "son of man" developed into a titular usage in which Jesus is identified with "Son of Man". The study shows that Jesus' use of the expression "son of man" should be understood in the context of the "little tradition" which was reinterpreted in terms of the "great tradition" in a titular way. It is argued that this transition from "litle tradition" to "great tradition"can be seen as "false attribution". After Jesus' death when his followers reorganized themselves into a cultic community, they gave Jesus the position "founder of the cult". They did this by making use of honorary titles. The use of the title "Son of Man" for Jesus is interpreted in terms of the social theory of the institutionalization of charismatic authority. The focus is on the title "Son of Man" as it appears in legal sayings or church rules, wisdom sayings and prophetic and apocalyptic sayings.
Mark 14:62: Substantial compendium of New Testament Christology1
Authors: Loba Mkole Jean C.
Published: January 2013

The confession in Mark 14:62 seems to be the most comprehensive Christological compendium of a very early Christian community. This passage reveals Jesus' identity as the Christ, Son of God and Son of man. It has a performative meaning that operates not only for Jesus' earthly life and death, but also for his resurrection and parousia: "You will see" (Mark 14:62b). Some theologiansportray Jesus Christ as Ancestor or African King. The purpose of this study is to show how far the African concepts of "ancestor" and "king" can be relevant and legitimate in the light of the Christology of Mark 14:62.
Gabriel Marcel se lewe en werk as agtergrond van sy nadering tot God, Deel 2
Authors: Wolff Ernst
Published: January 2013

Gabriel Marcel,s life and work as background of his approach to God, Part 2. Having descibed Marcel's biography and the character of his thought, Part 2 of this essay continues by expounding the main themes of his philosophy. Firstly the nature and limits of human thought in relation to existence and being are explained. Secondly, closer attention is paid to participation. In the third section elements of Marcel's approach to God are sketched. The essay concludes with some critical comments.
Wanneer klop jy jou pyp op jou velskoen uit? Oor stories en kultuurkritiek
Authors: Wolff Ernst
Published: January 2013

At what moment do you knock out your pipe on your velskoen? On stories and cultural criticism. This essay proposes a frame of reference in which the culture critical introspection of a community can be understood. A critical exposition of elements of the philosophies of Jeismann, Kuhn, Gadamer and Lyotard is developed with reference to their value for a narratological perspective. The author proposes a narrative understanding of a community and its members, their documents and the relation between community, members and documents. Two elements in relaion to which stories of any community in South Africa could be read - racism and nationalism - are also examined.
The value and extent of religious participation of members of the South African Police Service (SAPS)
Authors: Joubert Yvonne , Grobler Anton
Published: January 2013

The objective of this research was to determine the extent to which the employees of the South African Police Service participate in religion, and their opinion regarding the value it added to their lives. The range of religions and the various Christian denominations represented was determined. No sampling strategy was used, as all available employees were included in the study (N = 37 816). The survey instrument was administered by Employee Assistance Services professionals. The results of the study indicated that religion played an important role at individual, group, organisational and community level. The majority of the participants in the study (79.4%) were Christian, 15.9% followed by African spirituality, 0.9% were Hindu, and 0.4% were Muslim. An analysis was conducted of the distribution of the religions represented within the nine provinces of South Africa (and Head Office as a collective), and across the four race groups. The Christian denominations best represented in the study were the Dutch Reformed (12.7%), Methodist (6.0%), Roman Catholic (5.8%) and Anglican (5.0%).
Balloon Dilation in Sporadic Inclusion Body Myositis Patients with Dysphagia
Authors: Murata Ken-ya , Kouda Ken , Tajima Fumihiro , Kondo Tomoyoshi
Published: January 2013

Here, we describe balloon catheter dilation at the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) in three sporadic inclusion body myositis (s-IBM) patients with dysphagia. Initially, we performed IVIg therapy, and, three months later, switched to balloon dilation therapy. A 12-Fr balloon catheter was inserted from the mouth under fluoroscopy and the balloon inflated at the UES. The catheter was pulled back and re-inserted several times. We examined videofluoroscopy (VF) and pressure at the oropharynx, hypopharynx and UES using computed pharyngoesophageal manometry (CPM). Before both therapies, the VF study revealed a very small amount of barium paste passing through the UES. After balloon dilation therapy, as well as IVIg, subjective complaints of dysphagia disappeared and the VF study revealed an increased amount of barium paste passing through the UES. We conclude that balloon dilation therapy is a complementary method for conventional dysphagia therapies in s-IBM patients with dysphagia.
On the Morse–Sard property and level sets of Sobolev and BV functions
Authors: Bourgain Jean , Korobkov Mikhail V. , Kristensen Jan
Published: January 2013

We establish Luzin

N

and Morse–Sard properties for

\mathrm{BV}_2

functions defined on open domains in the plane. Using these results we prove that almost all level sets are finite disjoint unions of Lipschitz arcs whose tangent vectors are of bounded variation. In the case of

\mathrm{W}^{2,1}

functions we strengthen the conclusion and show that almost all level sets are finite disjoint unions of

\mathrm{C}^1

arcs whose tangent vectors are absolutely continuous along these arcs.
Relating the Freiheitssatz to the asymptotic behavior of a group
Authors: Lasheras Francisco F. , Roy Ranja
Published: January 2013

We are concerned with the implications of the Freiheitssatz property for certain group presentations in terms of proper homotopy invariants of the underlying group, by describing its fundamental pro-group. A finitely presented group G is said to be properly 3-realizable if it is the fundamental group of a finite 2-dimensional CW-complex whose universal cover has the proper homotopy type of a 3-manifold. We show that if an infinite finitely presented group G is given by some special kind of presentation satisfying the Freiheitssatz, then G is semistable at infinity and properly 3-realizable. In particular, this applies to groups given by a staggered presentation.
Phase space localization of Riesz bases for $L^2(\mathbb{R}^d)$
Authors: Gröchenig Karlheinz , Malinnikova Eugenia
Published: January 2013

We prove a strong uncertainty principle for Riesz bases in

L^2(\mathbb{R}^d)

and show that the orthonormal basis constructed by Bourgain possesses the optimal phase space localization.
Lowest uniformizations of compact Klein surfaces
Authors: Hidalgo Rubén A.
Published: January 2013

A Schottky group is a purely loxodromic Kleinian group, with a nonempty region of discontinuity, isomorphic to a free group of finite rank. An extended Schottky group is an extended Kleinian group whose orientation-preserving half is a Schottky group. The collection of uniformizations of either a closed Riemann surface or a compact Klein surface is partially ordered. In the case of closed Riemann surfaces, the lowest uniformizations are provided by Schottky groups. In this paper we provide simple arguments to see that the lowest uniformizations of compact Klein surfaces are exactly those produced by extended Schottky groups.
Impacts of transported background pollutants on summertime western US air quality: model evaluation, sensitivity analysis and data assimilation
Authors: Huang M. , Carmichael G. R. , Chai T. , Pierce R. B. , Oltmans S. J. , Jaffe D. A. , Bowman K. W. , Kaduwela A. , Cai C. , Spak S. N. , Weinheimer A. J. , Huey L. G. , Diskin G. S.
Published: January 2013

Abstract. The impacts of transported background (TBG) pollutants on western US ozone (O3) distributions in summer 2008 are studied using the multi-scale Sulfur Transport and dEposition Modeling system. Forward sensitivity simulations show that TBG contributes ~30–35 ppb to the surface Monthly mean Daily maximum 8-h Average O3 (MDA8) over Pacific Southwest (US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9, including California, Nevada and Arizona) and Pacific Northwest (EPA Region 10, including Washington, Oregon and Idaho), and ~10–17 ppm-h to the secondary standard metric "W126 monthly index" over EPA Region 9 and ~3–4 ppm-h over Region 10. The strongest TBG impacts on W126 occur over the grass/shrub-covered regions. Among TBG pollutants, O3 is the major contributor to surface O3, while peroxyacetyl nitrate is the most important O3 precursor species. W126 shows larger responses than MDA8 to perturbations in TBG and stronger non-linearity to the magnitude of perturbations. The TBG impacts on both metrics overall negatively correlate to model vertical resolution and positively correlate to the horizontal resolution. The mechanisms that determine TBG contributions and their variation are analyzed using trajectories and the receptor-based adjoint sensitivity analysis, which demonstrate the connection between the surface O3 and O3 aloft (at ~1–4 km) 1–2 days earlier. The probabilities of airmasses originating from Mt. Bachelor (2.7 km) and 2.5 km above Trinidad Head (THD) entraining into the boundary layer reach daily maxima of 66% and 34% at ~03:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), respectively, and stay above 50% during 09:00 a.m.–04:00 p.m. PDT for those originating 1.5 km above California's South Coast. Assimilation of the surface in-situ measurements significantly reduced the errors in the modeled surface O3 during a long-range transport episode by ~5 ppb on average (up to ~17 ppb) and increased the estimated TBG contributions by ~3 ppb. Available O3 vertical profiles from Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and THD sonde identified this transport event, but assimilation of these observations in this case did not efficiently improve the O3 distributions except near the sampling locations, due to their limited spatiotemporal resolution and/or possible uncertainties.
Source apportionment of ambient fine particle from combined size distribution and chemical composition data during summertime in Beijing
Authors: Liu Z. R. , Wang Y. S. , Liu Q. , Hu B. , Sun Y.
Published: January 2013

Abstract. Continuous particle number concentration and chemical composition data were collected over one month during summertime in Beijing to investigate the source apportionment of ambient fine particles. Particle size distributions from 15 nm to 2.5 μm in diameter and composition data, such as organic matter, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, chlorine, and gaseous pollutants, were analyzed using positive matrix factorisation (PMF) which indentified eight factors: cooking, solid mode exhaust, nucleation mode exhaust, accumulation mode, secondary nitrate, secondary sulfate, coal-fired power plant and road dust. Nearly two-thirds of particle number concentrations were attributed to cooking (22.8%) and motor vehicle (37.5%), whereas road dust, coal-fired power plant and regional sources contributed 69.0% to particle volume concentrations. Local and remote sources were distinguished using size distributions associated with each factor. Local sources were generally characterised by unimodal or bimodal number distributions, consisting mostly of particles less 0.1 μm in diameter, and regional sources were defined by mostly accumulation mode particles. Nearly one third of secondary nitrate and secondary sulfate was transported from the surrounding areas of Beijing during study period. Overall the introduction of combination of particle number concentration and chemical composition in PMF model is successful at separating the components and quantifying relative contributions to the particle number and volume population in a complex urban atmosphere.