Abstract
This study is focused on the Christian doctrine of justification by faith, comparing the Eastern Orthodox perspective, represented by the theological thinking of the Romanian theologian Dumitru Stăniloae, with the Protestant Reformed perspective, represented by the French theologian Jean Calvin. The main purpose of such a comparison is to find a common ground for the future inter-confessional theological dialogue. The main core of the study analyzes the two perspectives and finds that both theologies jointly develop the doctrine of justification by faith and the doctrine of sanctification without separating them radically. On the contrary, justification by faith is in the same time a declarative divine act in favor of the believer, and a human process in becoming like God. Such a conclusion eliminates initial suspicions and creates a more promising context for future dialogue, especially in developing the participative dimension of justification by faith in Christ.
Keywords: justification, sanctification, Christology, Reformation, Orthodoxy, Calvin, Stăniloaie
FODOREAN, Daniel. ‘Biserica Emergentă și reinventarea teologiei. / The Emerging Church and Reinventing the Theology.’ Jurnal teologic Vol 15, Nr 2 (2016): 33-50.
Abstract
Today, one thing is certain that the Church of the XXI century is acting in a culture that has changed, and in this time, there are changes among evangelicals, changes in thinking, even at the level of theology, but also as regards its ecclesiological practices. Thus have emerged different models of churches that claim to be somehow an appropriate response to a postmodern culture. These churches named themselves Emerging churches. Although the emerging church movement seems uniform, a careful analysis of the movement reveals a diversity of groups, revealing, according to leaders of the movement, three main groups: Relevant, Reconstructionist, and Revisionist. Emerging Relevant Churches saw the need for changes in the form of expression of the church so that the church should become relevant for this generation. Emerging Churches Reconstructionist thinks there is not enough to change just the form or the expression of the church in order to have an impact in this postmodern culture, but we need a structural change, opting for a church that functions organic than a church which functions institutional. Emerging Revisionist Church wants a deeper change, some kind of reform carried to the end, which proposes changes and theological level. This article focuses on this approach of emerging movement, that of revision of theology.
Keywords: Postmodernism, Emerging Church, Theology, Emergent Culture, Emergent, conversation
RUSU, Timotei. ‘Metafora „Israelul lui Dumnezeu” și implicațiile ei pentru conducerea bisericii. / The Metaphor „Israel of God” and its Implications upon Church Leadership.’ Jurnal teologic Vol 15, Nr 2 (2016): 51-68.
Abstract
What is the relationship between the Church and the Kingdom of God? Is the church a parenthesis in history? Is the leadership of the church similar to the secular leadership? In this article we study the metaphor “Israel of God” and discover the answer of such questions.
Keywords: Leadership, Kingdom, Authority, Church
SABOU, Sorin. ‘După virtute şi moralitate. / After Virtue and Morality.’ Jurnal teologic Vol 15, Nr 2 (2016): 69-108.
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to analyze MacIntyre’s solution to the problem of modern morality; it is a critical evaluation of MacIntyre’s Aristotelianism. The thesis of the project is that MacIntyre’s Aristotelian ethics in After Virtue is conceived in such a way that it does not land in a very different place than that of his emotivist partners in the debate. Aristotle’s ethics has a metaphysical grounding in that the Unmoved Mover, as the external main factor in the world around us, is the ultimate good and aim of the whole universe and the human race. If the human good is understood only in terms of practice, narrative unity, and tradition, the backbone of Aristotle’s ethics is dismantled in such a way that it will not lead to the solution MacIntyre claims.
Keywords: morality, ethics, teleology, metaphysics, virtue, MacIntyre, Aristotle
