Open AccessEksegeties-teologiese ondersteuning van die Belydenis van Belhar
Author(s) -
J.N.M. Hartney
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
ned geref teologiese tydskrif
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2226-2385
pISSN - 0028-2006
DOI - 10.5952/52-1-9
Subject(s) - confession (law) , baptism , theology , new testament , philosophy , prayer , metaphor , meaning (existential) , pietism , economic justice , old testament , law , epistemology , linguistics , political science , german
In the NGTT (Section 46, numbers 3 & 4, September and December 2005) Professor
Piet Strauss of the University of the Free State’s Faculty of Theology, mentioned in an
article a few reasons why the Confession of Belhar cannot be seen or accepted as a
confession. One of the reasons is that the Confession of Belhar deals with peripheral
moral values only, and not with core Biblical values.
This contribution is an attempt to identify and analyse possible underlying Scriptural
principles of the Confession of Belhar. The Confession of Belhar is structured around
three (Biblical) concepts, i.e. church unity, reconciliation and justice. This contribution
surveys the exegetic-theological meaning of these theological concepts. This survey
reflects on:
• Church unity as portrayed by John 17, Jesus’ prayer for His disciples;
• Paul’s contribution in this regard: (a) the so called Baptism Formula, in Galatians
3:28; (b) Paul’s metaphor for the body of Christ, referring to the church;
• Reconciliation in the New Testament seen against the background of the Old
Testament and as seen by Paul and other authors of the New Testament;
• Justice described in the New Testament as seen against the background of the
Old Testament; how Paul and other authors of the New Testament describe it.
How must we interpret their contributions? The conclusion is that all New Testament
authors portray these words as core values, not only as believers experienced it in
the early church, but also as stated by the Holy Scripture. This study shows that these
facts have far reaching consequences for the church of today
Piet Strauss of the University of the Free State’s Faculty of Theology, mentioned in an
article a few reasons why the Confession of Belhar cannot be seen or accepted as a
confession. One of the reasons is that the Confession of Belhar deals with peripheral
moral values only, and not with core Biblical values.
This contribution is an attempt to identify and analyse possible underlying Scriptural
principles of the Confession of Belhar. The Confession of Belhar is structured around
three (Biblical) concepts, i.e. church unity, reconciliation and justice. This contribution
surveys the exegetic-theological meaning of these theological concepts. This survey
reflects on:
• Church unity as portrayed by John 17, Jesus’ prayer for His disciples;
• Paul’s contribution in this regard: (a) the so called Baptism Formula, in Galatians
3:28; (b) Paul’s metaphor for the body of Christ, referring to the church;
• Reconciliation in the New Testament seen against the background of the Old
Testament and as seen by Paul and other authors of the New Testament;
• Justice described in the New Testament as seen against the background of the
Old Testament; how Paul and other authors of the New Testament describe it.
How must we interpret their contributions? The conclusion is that all New Testament
authors portray these words as core values, not only as believers experienced it in
the early church, but also as stated by the Holy Scripture. This study shows that these
facts have far reaching consequences for the church of today