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Volume 17, Issue 2, June 2004
Editorial
Sydney College of Divinity Twentieth Anniversay Commemorative Issue
Brendan Byrne S. J., iii
THIS ISSUE OF Pacifica celebrates the Twentieth Anniversary of Sydney College of Divinity, a corporate sponsor of the Pacifica Theological Studies Association. The leading article by the current Dean of the College, Dr Raymond Nobbs, outlines the history of the College, making clear the outstanding ecumenical achievement that its coming into existence represented – in a not always sympa-thetic environment. The remaining articles, composed by scholars across the member institutions, illustrate the range and diversity as well as the high level of theological scholarship brought by the various ecclesial and theological traditions that contri-bute to the College. As an ecumenical theological journal, Pacifica is honoured to place before the wider theological world this public record of ecumenical scholarly cooperation and Christian fellowship.
Articles
From Nowhere to Know How Sydney College of Divinity: The First Twenty Years
Raymond Nobbs, pp.121-136
Monday, 15 September 2003, marked the twentieth Anniversary of the official incorporation of the Sydney College of Divinity (SCD). To state the fact so glibly and leave it at that, would be to neglect the long period of negotiations, stretching over almost seven years, that preceded this faltering beginning, or to dismiss the context in which all of this happened. Bishop George Augustus Selwyn in response to the question of how he would like his own life to be written, replied: “Tell first of all my faults, and then tell whatever the grace of God has enabled me to do in spite of them.” That is what I propose to do in recounting the story of the SCD. Nevertheless, this article has been a necessarily selective attempt to distil and delineate the essence of the major phases of the SCD’s life. That there are omissions is hardly surprising, and for those of you who would prefer a more detailed account of the earliest years, I would strongly recommend John Hill’s definitive articles, “The Foundation of the Sydney College of Divinity”. Perhaps my treatment of events has been blemished and restricted in its charity. Some may claim that I am simply too close to the Sydney College of Divinity, having now been associated with it for exactly half of its life. All I can claim is that my intention has not been to downgrade or discount, but to affirm and advance. In presenting this paper it is also my earnest hope that, by being more informed of the past, we might more easily master the challenges and events of the present, and therefore move forward with greater confidence and with a sure hope.
Why did Josephus and Paul Refuse to Circumcise?
J. R. Harrison, pp.137-158
In AD 66-67 Josephus was commissioned to encourage the Galilean revolutionary “hot heads” to lay down their weapons against Rome (Life 29). In his autobiography (Life 113), Josephus says that he stopped some Galilean Jews from forcibly circumcising two non-Jewish nobles who had fled to him for refuge from Trachonitis. This episode is reminiscent of Paul’s refusal of certain “false brethren” who, in AD 48/51, wanted Titus forcibly circumcised at Jerusalem (Gal 2:1-5). This article explores the influence that pro-Jewish sentiment and an incipient Jewish nationalism might have exercised on the early Christians regarding the place of the “works of the law”. It marks Josephus as a singular figure in first-century Judaism who, like Paul, resisted the tide of Jewish culture in refusing the imposition of circumcision either upon Gentile asylum seekers or proselytes. It enables us to reconsider what might have been animating the “false brothers” at Jerusalem, as well as the rhetorical strategy Paul employs in combating the Jerusalem and Antioch agitators in Galatians 1-2. However, ultimately the situations faced by Paul and Josephus were different.
The Rise of Orthodoxy’s Encounter with Islam
Alexander Kariotoglou, pp.170-183
The Orthodox Church was the first to come into contact with Islam. The presence of the Byzantine Empire, and therefore of the Orthodox Church in the northern regions of Arabia, created some of the presuppositions for the Church’s influence upon the Islamic tradition, as also did the presence of Christian communities in the south The present article will examine echoes of the Orthodox Christian tradition that can be detected in the verses of the Koran.
Lutheran–Roman Catholic Agreement on Justification:Suggestions for Talking about God Today
Gerard Kelly, pp.184-196
The recent agreements between Lutherans and Roman Catholics on the doctrine of justification was hailed as perhaps the most significant breakthrough of the modern ecumenical movement. This article looks briefly at the issues at stake on both sides and how these have been addressed in the Joint Declaration. Working with comments from Avery Dulles and Jürgen Moltmann, it argues that the Joint Declaration is important for the future orientation of the doctrine, in particular as an example of discourse about God. While recognising that each ecclesial family has and will retain its distinctive way of speaking about God, it is argued that for the sake of our common humanity we also need a common discourse. In what should be a challenge to both Protestants and Roman Catholics, it is proposed that such a discourse must be a sacramental discourse.
For Christ’s Sake: From Expletive to Confession
Clive Pearson, pp.197-215
The common tendency in a contextual theology has been to pose the question “Who is Jesus Christ?” for a particular setting. How might a response be made in a land down under constructing a hermeneutic out of the classical and popular cartographic principle of the antipodes? How might the confessional claim of Christ is Lord be made in a cultural location where an invocation of the name of Christ is most frequently an expletive?
Book Reviews
Genesis by John Calvin Proverbs by Charles Bridges
Alister McGrath and J. I. Packer (eds.)
Alan Moss pp.216-218
The Song of Songs
Dianne Bergant
Douglas L. Jones pp.218-220
Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross
Michael Gorman
Vic Pfitzner pp.220-222
Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching
Graeme Goldsworthy
Alice M. Sinnott pp.223-225
Faith to Faith: Christianity and Islam in Dialogue The Ornament Of The World: How Muslims, Christians, and Jews Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain
Chawkat Moucarry Maria Rosa Menocal
Gerard Hall pp.225-228
Faith and Philosophy: The Historical Impact
D. G. Leahy
Sandy Yule pp.228-230
Liturgy and Justice: To Worship God in Spirit and Truth
Anne Y. Koester (ed.)
Joseph Bush pp.230-232
The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation
Alister E. McGrath
Maurice Schild pp.232-234
Contributors
RAYMOND NOBBS is Dean of the Sydney College of Divinity and Senior Research Fellow in History at Macquarie University. Author of eight books and over thirty articles and chapters, a third volume in the Norfolk Island series, dealing with the Melanesian Mission, is due for publication later this year, while work is well advanced on a book on the Lambeth Conferences. He was co-author of Anglicans in the Antipodes (Greenwood: 1999). The article published in this issue had its origins in a paper delivered on 1 October, 2003, at the ANZATS Conference held in Sydney dedicated to the theme: “Making the Connection: Theology and Ministry”. JAMES HARRISON, a graduate of Macquarie University Ancient History Department, is Head of the School of Theology at Wesley Institute. He has contributed articles to Reformed Theological Review, Tyndale Bulletin, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Journal of Theological Studies, Vigiliae Christianae and also to New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity Volumes 8-9. A monograph, Paul's Language of Grace in Its Graeco-Roman Context, was published by Mohr Siebeck in 2003. His particular interest as an ancient historian focuses upon the social distinctiveness of the early Christians in their first-century context. NEIL ORMEROD is Academic Secretary and lecturer in theology at the Catholic Institute of Sydney. He has recently had articles published in Theological Studies and the Irish Theological Quarterly, both on trinitarian themes. He is currently president of the Australian Catholic Theological Association, and is married with four children. ALEXANDER S. KARIOTOGLOU is lecturer in Missiology and Patristics at St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College in Sydney. He studied Orthodox theology in Athens and, following postgraduate studies in Germany with Prof Adel-Theodor Khoury, was awarded his PhD in theology from the Theological School of the University of Athens, Prof Anastasios Yannoulatos, Archbishop of Albania being his supervisor. He is a member of the Committee “Islam and Europe” of the Conference of Churches in Europe, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate. His publications include: The Greek Oracular Literature regarding Islam from 16th to 18th Centuries (Athens: 1982); Introduction to the Koran (Athens: 1994); The Religion of the Sikhs (Athens: 1996), along with several articles in scholarly collections and journals. GERARD KELLY is professor of theology at the Catholic Institute of Sydney and a priest in the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Sydney. He is a member of the Lutheran–Roman Catholic Dialogue in Australia. He is the author of Recognition: Advancing Ecumenical Thinking (New York: Peter Lang, 1996). CLIVE PEARSON is Lecturer in Theology and Vice-Principal of United Theological College, North Parramatta, NSW, and also Associate Director, Research Group on Public Theology, Charles Sturt University. He is a member of the editorial boards of Ecotheology (London) and Political Theology and a co-editor of Cross-Cultural Theologies (London). His particular interests are christology, ecotheology, public and con-textual theologies and diasphoric/migrant studies. He is at present completing an anthology provisionally entitled Faith in a Hyphen: Theology in Diaspora.
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