African Christians put emphasis on creation and deliverance from hardship, while European Christians put emphasis on sin and salvation. These differences show up in death rituals and funerals. The early Church suffered political persecution. Freedom from slavery saw redemption as the main form of freedom. The early Medieval Church (4th-11th centuries) was more concerned about freedom from the power of the devil after Augustine had emphasized the concept of original sin. The early Scholastic theologians like Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) put less emphasis on the ransom from the devil. Adam had disobeyed and dishonored God. Christ has saved us by being the second Adam, the so-called satisfaction theory. Order and honor were more important. The Third world today sees redemption as something else. Christian redemption is the same reality, but there are different interpretations of what it means to be redeemed.
reality
Pantheism
Pantheism is close to polytheism, but goes one step further. Pantheists proclaim that the transcendent God is imminent in everything. Everything is divine, since there is no separation between all reality and God. God is everywhere and in everything. This is a long way from the monotheism mentioned earlier.
The New Testament language
The New Testament is important for any further Christian theological development. Twentieth century linguistic analysis has shown the importance of communicative word structures to express realities. Words are human expressions about reality, but words convey meaning and feeling only within an understandable shared grammatical linguistic social structure. The authentic meaning of an utterance does not lie in a dictionary, but within the mind of the expression’s originator. Words exist in a specific historic time and place. However, some words endure and transcend spatial temporal limitations, while other words get lost in a particular misunderstood context. We now know the importance of the post-biblical history of the scriptural texts, the Wirkungsgeschichte, the reception and the interpretation of the biblical texts within a historical context with their varied meanings.
The division of the land by tribes (Ezek 47:21-47:21)
“Thus,
You shall divide
This land
Among you,
According
To the tribes
Of Israel.”
Now that the boundaries of the country of Israel were established, it remained to distribute the land to the various tribes of Israel. Like the boundaries of the country, it sounded easier in theory than in reality. Much of this had been laid out in Numbers, chapter 34, and Joshua, chapters 13-19.
The wicked ruler (Prov 28:14-28:17)
“Happy is one who is never without fear.
But whoever is hard hearted
Will fall into calamity.
Like a roaring lion
Is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
Like a charging bear
Is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
A ruler who lacks understanding
Is a cruel oppressor.
But one who hates unjust gain
Will enjoy a long life.
If someone is burdened with the blood of another,
Let that killer be a fugitive until death.
Let no one help him.”
The wicked ruler is a reality. However, if you always have fear, you will be happy. Remember that fear of Yahweh was the beginning of wisdom. If you are hard hearted then things will go bad for you. The wicked ruler is like a roaring lion or a charging bear. Do not get in his way. If he lacks understanding he will be a cruel oppressor. If you are willing to not accept an unjust gain, you will enjoy a long life. However, if you killed someone, you are a fugitive for life. No one will help you.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 