{"title":"Historicist interpretation of the Olivet Discourse and the sixth seal: 1. Medieval tribulation and cosmic signs*","authors":"S. Charlesworth","doi":"10.1177/1030570X17736324","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X17736324","url":null,"abstract":"Historicist interpreters of the Olivet Discourse turn Mark 13:4 par. into a two-part question about (1) the destruction of the temple and (2) the signs heralding the parousia. In doing so they attempt to: (1) solve the crux of 13:30 par. by relating ‘this generation’ to the events of 70 ce; (2) read a medieval persecution into 13:19–20 par.; and (3) find parallel historical fulfilments for the cosmic signs in the Olivet Discourse and sixth seal of the Apocalypse. While the general sweep of the Olivet Discourse up to the parousia is not in question, the apocalyptic Jesus of the synoptic gospels taught that the destruction of Jerusalem would usher in signs in the heavens and then the parousia. Indeed, according to Matthean redaction of Mark, the greatest tribulation of all time would occur in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem and ‘immediately’ be followed by cosmic signs and the glorious return of Jesus Christ (24:29–30). Consequently, a reference to medieval tribulation in the Olivet Discourse is highly improbable, as is identification of the cosmic signs in the Olivet Discourse and the sixth seal with historical events in the 18th and 19th centuries.","PeriodicalId":82256,"journal":{"name":"Pacifica : journal of the Melbourne College of Divinity","volume":"7 1","pages":"111 - 127"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82909487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"God, the Moon and the Astronaut Jacques Arnould","authors":"Patricia Sellick","doi":"10.1177/1030570X17737099","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X17737099","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":82256,"journal":{"name":"Pacifica : journal of the Melbourne College of Divinity","volume":"14 1","pages":"195 - 196"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76013831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On not playing Jesus: The gendered liturgical theology of presiding","authors":"Bryan Cones","doi":"10.1177/1030570X17736325","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X17736325","url":null,"abstract":"The male gender of the presider at Eucharist has long been a source of theological reflection both about the Eucharist and the presider’s role within it, and about ordination, particularly in relation to the exclusion of women from ordained office across Christian churches. The relatively recent admission of women and gender minorities to orders in some churches troubles the received liturgical and theological traditions in this regard. Drawing on the legacy of the 20th-century North Atlantic liturgical movement and its recovery of the assembly as the ‘primary symbol’ of the liturgy, this article explores the possible liturgical and theological ‘adjustments’ proposed by a change in the presumed gender of the presider in relation to the ‘primary symbol’ of the assembly, and suggests changes in presidential practice that cast into greater relief the liturgical theological significance of gender diversity in the assembly.","PeriodicalId":82256,"journal":{"name":"Pacifica : journal of the Melbourne College of Divinity","volume":"63 1","pages":"128 - 145"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87158011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An ordinary gift: The work of art as theological conversation","authors":"Anne Mallaby, Libby Byrne","doi":"10.1177/1030570X17738265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X17738265","url":null,"abstract":"This case study considers the nature of making, seeing and being with art in a dialogue about the experience of Libby Byrne’s exhibition, ‘An Ordinary Gift’ in Melbourne, 2016. The article explores the nature of making, seeing and being with art as a methodological framework for theological inquiry. Bringing to bear their experiences as artist and curator, two researchers examine recorded viewers’ responses to the exhibition, as a means of understanding the nature of theological engagement and insight that was possible in the process of making, being with and seeing this public exhibition. The article acknowledges that the work of art offers an ordinary gift of containment for the ineffable qualities of our lived experience with God. A faith-ful framework of communal engagement can therefore offer an external reference point that guides and shapes the making, the seeing and even the ways in which we are able to be with art. As we transform the way we engage with theological questions and concerns we are in turn transformed by the ordinary gift of making, seeing and being with art.","PeriodicalId":82256,"journal":{"name":"Pacifica : journal of the Melbourne College of Divinity","volume":"17 1","pages":"158 - 176"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72909632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Struggle, Condemnation, Vindication: John Courtenay Murray’s Journey toward Vatican II Barry Hudock","authors":"Thomas Ryan","doi":"10.1177/1030570X17734888","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X17734888","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":82256,"journal":{"name":"Pacifica : journal of the Melbourne College of Divinity","volume":"83 1","pages":"193 - 195"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75960633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Another origin of the Theology of Hope? Moltmann’s dependence on Mircea Eliade 1","authors":"Cameron Coombe","doi":"10.1177/1030570X17737333","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X17737333","url":null,"abstract":"The influence of Mircea Eliade on Moltmann’s work has largely been overlooked in scholarship. This article seeks to address this, providing an exposition of the themes of history and historicism in Eliade’s work and demonstrating how Moltmann draws upon these to develop his concept of ‘epiphany religion’, especially in Theology of Hope but also at later stages in his career. Eliade’s scholarship also bolsters Moltmann’s claims regarding the uniqueness of promissory history in its contention that non-Judeo-Christian societies reject history in the same way that ‘Greek’ society does, allowing Moltmann to situate his polemics against Greek philosophy in a universal context, and giving Moltmann’s theological claims an air of respectability insofar as they are supported by secular scholarship. The second part of the article critically evaluates Moltmann’s dependence on Eliade in regard to generalized claims in both of their works.","PeriodicalId":82256,"journal":{"name":"Pacifica : journal of the Melbourne College of Divinity","volume":"69 1","pages":"101 - 88"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82688486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Edith Stein: Her empathic theology of the human person","authors":"E. McClellan","doi":"10.1177/1030570X17725919","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X17725919","url":null,"abstract":"Because of her untimely death Edith Stein does not directly articulate a coherent theology of the human person. Nevertheless, can a coherent theology of the human person be discerned in her work? This article argues yes. Given this answer, what coheres this theology gleaned from her diverse work? It is argued that the answer is Stein’s phenomenological philosophy of empathy. To explain these conclusions Stein’s philosophy of empathy is first considered followed by reflections on biblical and contemporary exemplars of empathy who interested Stein. It is contended that Stein’s theory of empathy elucidates her exegesis of the kenotic mystical path of St John of the Cross. The hallmark of mystical union is the experience of divine bliss. Mystical bliss is ephemeral and not an end in itself but a transformation leaving the mystic with an enduring sense of joy. According to Stein empathic union with the triune God hypostatically frees the mystic to vicariously experience the suffering of Christ and through Christ the suffering of all humanity. In the manner of Christ, the fulfilled mystic voluntarily undertakes a selfless life dedicated to the expiatory suffering of other persons irrespective of who they are and what they have done. Such a life is both personally and cosmically salvic.","PeriodicalId":82256,"journal":{"name":"Pacifica : journal of the Melbourne College of Divinity","volume":"86 1","pages":"20 - 41"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89040821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pleasant places in the gospel according to John: A classical motif as introit to theological awareness","authors":"F. King","doi":"10.1177/1030570X17725920","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X17725920","url":null,"abstract":"This piece notes that the locus amoenus motif, common in both Graeco-Roman literature and art, may have provided a literary entry point through which non-Judaic readers might have apprehended sections of the gospel according to John. An outline of the trope is followed by an exposition of passages which might be interpreted through this lens. The study reveals that use of the motif would provide an introit, but that many further layers of meaning were present to those who read the text from a Judaic background. This holds good for explorations of place in Samaria, the Temple and Galilee. In one important respect, the gospel shifts the way in which the motif works – by presenting Jesus as the focus and shaper of the desirable place, rather than the place itself simply as a metaphor or symbol of desirable elements.","PeriodicalId":82256,"journal":{"name":"Pacifica : journal of the Melbourne College of Divinity","volume":"53 1","pages":"19 - 3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84422136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A house built on sand– waterfront views and primordial seas: Job 38, Matthew 7, coastal erosion, and beachfront development","authors":"Liam Miller","doi":"10.1177/1030570X17722800","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X17722800","url":null,"abstract":"This article begins with an examination of the state of coastal erosion at Collaroy and Narrabeen Beaches in NSW, Australia. In light of recent severe storms, which damaged the homes along the beachfront, and the increasing awareness of the coastal erosion caused by such properties there is a need to determine what lies beneath the decision to continue to develop along Australian beachfronts. Taking an ecotheological approach this article proposes that the philosophical and theological concepts of hubris and foolishness characterize these decisions, and the desire to live so close to the coast. In response to this, ecotheological readings of Job 38 and Matthew 7 are proposed to help provide an ecologically conscious and environmentally stable way forward. In Job 38 God speaks out of the whirlwind declaring that it was God who ‘shut the sea in with doors’ telling the waves ‘thus far shall you go and no farther’. By persisting with beachside development in light of our growing ecological awareness humans breach and encroach upon the natural and, perhaps, God-ordained borders between the sea and the land. In Matthew 7 Jesus compares the foolish, who refuse to act when they hear, to someone who ‘built his house on sand’. By refusing to heed and act in light of the growing ecological crisis and coastal erosion, and examples such as the $300 million Collaroy/Narrabeen coastline, beachfront developers are perhaps examples of Jesus’ fool. How might the church contribute to conversations within, and critiques of, a culture which places such a high esteem on proximity to the ocean that it would risk both human homes and non-human ecology?","PeriodicalId":82256,"journal":{"name":"Pacifica : journal of the Melbourne College of Divinity","volume":"128 1","pages":"42 - 55"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83251767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Synoptic Problem: Where to from here?","authors":"Christopher J. Monaghan","doi":"10.1177/1030570X17731796","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1030570X17731796","url":null,"abstract":"The study of the Synoptic Problem continues with a wide range of hypotheses proposed to explain the relationship of Mark, Matthew and Luke to the early Jesus tradition, and to each other. This article reviews recent developments in synoptic studies highlighting the recognition of the ongoing role of the oral tradition, the ways in which scribal compositional practices in the first century have been used to test the major hypotheses, and the methodological constraints that accompany research in this area.","PeriodicalId":82256,"journal":{"name":"Pacifica : journal of the Melbourne College of Divinity","volume":"101 1","pages":"72 - 87"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78273496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}