Abstract
If in the case of Jesus Christ, the devil came to tempt Him directly, in the case of Christians the same temptations can take subtle forms, often difficult to identify. Through the temptations to live by bread alone, to control God and to compromise, believers are lured to live only for the here and now, to carve their own paths and shortcuts to success, and to choose a miserable world looking only at the surface, at the mirage of its glamour.
On the other hand, Jesus’ victory over temptation is the inspiration and pattern for every believer. Jesus responds to the enticements of the devil by quoting from memory the OT Scriptures. Central to the section from which he quotes three times, Deuteronomy 6–8, is the command to love God “with all heart, soul, and strength”. The heart and mind that are surrendered wholly to God and are filled with the Word will be harder to corrupt. But the heart and mind divided between material and spiritual, success and faithfulness, obedience and independence, and between God and the world, are an easy prey to the subtle temptations of the devil.
Keywords: Gospel of Matthew; Jesus; devil; temptation; humas needs; priorities; materialism; controlling God; compromise; divided heart
Abstract
Paul is not able to heal himself, nor is he able to heal those closest to him. For John Chrysostom, these two limitations prove that the Apostle does not have absolute authority over sickness, but is merely a means through which God works sometimes, in order to heal some. The inability to heal his fellow workers, even in situations of great need, shows that Paul “could not do everything,” any more than the other Apostles of Jesus could. If he had healed all the sick people he came across, there was a risk that those who benefited from the miraculous healings or witnessed them would attribute to Paul the merit and glory due to God alone. In this way, however, God received all the glory. Furthermore, through Paul’s inability to heal himself, God’s power was revealed precisely because of and through the Apostle’s physical weakness. Thus, there was no confusion as to the source of the healing power. The Apostle who healed others but could not heal himself was clearly only a means by which the healing was done, not its source. The source of the healing was God.
Keywords: John Chrysostom; 2 Timothy; Apostle Paul; Trophimus; miraculous healings; inability to heal; cessationism; deification; glory of God
Mihail CIOPAȘIU, The Role of Place in Mission. Jurnal teologic Vol 21, Nr 2 (2022): 37-47.
Abstract
The paper aims to reflect on the question ‘what is the importance of place in mission?’. As the view for mission changed from being global to ‘glocal’ the role of place in mission became critical for understanding God’s calling for churches to involve socially in their local contexts. The mission of Jesus and of the early Church was based on the understanding of the role of place and also redefined what in place and out of place means. The mission of the church often was directed toward the marginalized, oppressed, poor and powerless people and represented a prophetic voice proposing an alternative to the structures of power of the societies.
As a study case, the paper will present the role of place in a ministry started in a poor Roma neighborhood in the 90’s in Romania. Project Ruth is a mission started by Providence Baptist Church in the Ferentari district of Bucharest 28 years ago, as a response to the needs of the Roma community. Based on ethnographical research conducted both with the church and with the Roma the paper will reflect on how the church understood its mission based on the local context.
The ‘glocal’ approach for mission is very relevant in a Romanian context and even in the Central and Eastern Europe where most on the emphasis on mission of the church was seen either as evangelization or as cross-cultural ministry.
Keywords: mission, ‘glocal’, place, urban ministry, marginalization, power
Abstract
Contemporary culture is one that brings major changes, both in terms of society and in terms of evangelization, respectively the proclamation of the Christian message. The present article presents a sociological case study regarding how Pentecostal believers understand evangelism and, also, how the Pentecostal Church in Romania chooses to communicate the Gospel to those around them. Such an approach requires an analysis from several perspectives, so the article presents, based on sociological research, the way in which the Pentecostal Church, through its members, practices evangelization, but also the way in which the members relate to this practice. In the second part of the article, an evangelistic model. applied in the local church, is suggested.
Keywords: Pentecostal Church in Romania; evangelization; sociological analysis; Gospel; proclamation; evangelistic model; contextualization
Abstract
This article focuses on a very contemporary and sensitive issue, namely the challenge of getting out of the crisis society. As we argue that political and economic efforts are not enough, we suggest that we can overcome our multiple crisis by what we call a „metaphysical watch”. Specifically, we underscore that people are spiritual beings endowed with a metaphysical vocation, culminating with God himself, which frees us from the constrains of a deterministic and materialistic world. However, as people live in a physical world, they need to capture the metaphysics of immanence by watching out for its (un)expected manifestations. Only as people capture these metaphysical realities will they be able to actualize the driving force that is able to get them out of the crisis society!
Keywords: metaphysics, metaphysical watch, metaphysics of immanence, crisis, spiritual beings, persons, society.
Abstract
In Florentine Pietà, Michelangelo inserts himself in the gospel event of John 19:38-42 identifying himself with Joseph/Nicodemus with the intent of being remembered as such. This hermeneutics of identification is unmediated and brings a particular self-understanding by becoming a presenter and protector of the sacrifice of Christ to the world.
Keywords: Michelangelo, Florentine Pietà, sacrifice of Christ, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea
