The Methodist theologian Christopher Morse (1935-), Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair in Theology and Eth... more The Methodist theologian Christopher Morse (1935-), Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair in Theology and Ethics at Union Seminary in New York, applies a particular methodological framework in his work of systematic theology Not Every Spirit: A Dogmatics of Christian Disbelief. In this text, he explores Christian doctrines through what he calls ‘disbeliefs’. What is meant by this is summed up in the very first line of his text: ‘To believe in God is not to believe everything’ . With this he means that by making particular statements about what one believes, there are implicit statements which are rejected as not to be believed. It is this dialectical framework that he uses throughout his text, proposing for each doctrine certain ‘objections’, commonly statements that could be made about Christianity as proposed in some circles which Morse himself refuses to accept. In summary, he lists a number of ‘denials’ or ‘disbeliefs’ – statements or beliefs which are not to be affirmed by Christian doctrine. A useful summary of this approach can be found before his disbeliefs on the topic of Christology, a topic to which we will turn presently: ‘The following … [are] positions and claims that are refused credit and credence by the commonly held affirmations of Christian Faith’ . In this instance he precedes to list twenty-three such disbeliefs of Christology and provide an analysis accordingly.
We turn now to the German Lutheran theologian, anti-fascist resistor, and Bekennende Kirche pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). We will apply Morse’s method to Bonhoeffer’s 1933 Lecture on Christology, discussing three denials arising from the text. Bonhoeffer become an intriguing interlocutor for Morse, in part due to the mutual association between both theologians and Union Seminary. Bonhoeffer spent a quizzical year at Union Seminary in 1930 , and as previously stated, Morse holds the Bonhoeffer Chairship at Union.
Bonhoeffer’s life came to an end in 1945. He had worked for the Nazi intelligence agency and used his position as a platform to aid the resistance. Ultimately, he was implicated in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, and spent eighteen months in prisons and concentration camps from Buchenwald and eventually to Flossenbürg. In a cruel irony, he was hung only weeks before the liberation of Flossenbürg by allied forces and the end of the war.
The text to which we will be applying Morse’s method are notes of Bonhoeffer’s lectures on Christology given in Summer of 1933. It was in this year that the Nazi party rose to power in Germany and set about reorganising the German Evangelical Church in line with Nazi ideals, the Deutsche Christen movement. The Confessing Church came to being in opposition to this movement in the following year with the Barmer Theologische Erklärung written to oppose the Nazification of the established church. It is amidst this context that Bonhoeffer delivered his lectures. He has much to say on the matter of Christology – it is for him the centre of all knowledge – so we will concentrate on only a small amount of the much that could be said. The following three ‘denials’ emerge from the text and will be engaged in the following paragraphs. Firstly that ‘Christ’s claim to be the Word of God is a just claim’ ; secondly that Christ is not truly present in the here and now ; and finally, that Christ’s humiliation is in opposition to his exaltation.
After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, during the war in Bosnia, in July 1995, at least 8000 Bosnia... more After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, during the war in Bosnia, in July 1995, at least 8000 Bosnian Muslim men were killed by Bosnian Serb forces with the intent to change the population to create an ethnically homogenous Serb Republic in Bosnia. Set up while the Bosnian war was still in progress, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was established to prosecute thosemresponsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide occurring in the lands formerly united as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Tribunal brought many to trial, including those responsible for the Srebrenica Genocide. It ceased operating at the end of 2017, however its legacy continues, with cases before the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals as well as domestic courts. The following essay seeks to explore the response of the Tribunal to the Srebrenica Genocide. It begins with a brief outline of the war in Bosnia and the events in and around Srebrenica in July 1995. It then outlines the individuals indicted by the Tribunal for the Srebrenica Genocide – although for many of them, Srebrenica was not the only crime for which they were prosecuted. Finally, it will discuss the response of the Tribunal to the Srebrenica Genocide, touching on the rights of the accused, the inadequacy of justice for the victims, and briefly the response internationally to the Tribunal.
While the early history of the Eucharist remains a complicated and contentious matter, some detai... more While the early history of the Eucharist remains a complicated and contentious matter, some details can be sketched out. The following essay will do so briefly, from the second century to the fourth. Three church fathers have been chosen, representing the span of history, geography and linguistics, one from each of the three dominant traditions of Christianity. From the Latin West we will discuss the Eucharistic thinking of Justin Martyr. From the Greek East, we will address the Eucharist in the theology of the Cappadocian Gregory of Nyssa. And finally, from the oft neglected Syriac tradition, we will discuss the Eucharist from the perspective of Ephrem the Syrian. A conclusion will be drawn that the Eucharist has been central to Christian thought for centuries, and the presence of Christ in the elements has not been at doubt. The richness of differing theologies and language used to articulate the mysteries is of great benefit to Christian communities.
This approach aids the brevity of what could easily fill several books worth of historical analysis. From the earliest time there was significant regional variance in practice, leading to what we today know as distinctive rites – Western , Alexandrian , Antiochene and East Syrian. We can sketch out an early history only in the broadest of details, and with some necessary generalities. Texts of prayers are often scant, and we are reliant on the works of fathers and mothers of the church, such as the three below.
A question arises for Christopher Morse regarding Jesus’ particularity and his universality. The ... more A question arises for Christopher Morse regarding Jesus’ particularity and his universality. The first objection in his eighth chapter states: ‘It would seem that if the existence of Christ is truly historical it cannot be ultimately and universally saving’. In other words, how can the life, death and resurrection of a first century man, a Jew living in Palestine, bring about salvation for us now in our context, and other contexts temporally and geographically? For Morse, this risks limiting Christ’s saving power: it would become available only to those who lived in Jesus’ time, or those people who are able to identify with him in his context. We will explore the ways in which this objection of Christ’s particularity is to be rejected according to Morse, and conclude that Christ is indeed universally saving for all people at all times.
“God’s Otherness is one of Communion”: The Word of God and Ontological Communion of the Godhead in the Theology of Christopher Morse, 2020
Christopher Morse describes the Godhead in no uncertain terms: ‘God's otherness is one of commun... more Christopher Morse describes the Godhead in no uncertain terms: ‘God's otherness is one of communion’. The present discussion covers what implications there might be for Morse to make such a statement, and what relation the ‘Word of God’ has to the communal Godhead. By ‘Word of God’, I am of course referring to Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, and adopting Wolfhart Pannenberg’s description of the classical Logos Christology.
The Didache (The Teaching, or The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles, or... more The Didache (The Teaching, or The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles, or simply The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles ), is a text from the very early years of the Christian church. It is mentioned in the writings of several early church fathers, where it is present in lists of texts that are to be considered edifying for the faith of the reader. There are possible quotations of The Didache in the works of writers such as Origen and Clement of Alexandria. , Until 1873, this was the only evidence that such a text even existed.
That year a Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Philotheos Bryennios, discovered what remains the only complete text of The Didache, bound in a codex with several texts of the Apostolic Fathers and other writings, in a convent in Istanbul. Its significance went unrecognised – the text of the Didache had evaded discovery on several earlier occasions, overlooked by several scholars perusing the contents of the convent’s library, and after its discovery it remained unpublished until 1883.
On examination, The Didache appears to be a composite of older texts , and itself was later re-written or compiled into texts such as the Apostolic Church Order and the Apostolic Constitutions. These are in the genre of ‘church orders’. They contain ethical guidelines and rules for how the church community should be ordered, including some early liturgical material. The precise nature of The Didache’s liturgical material is controversial and will be discussed. Due to its composite nature, The Didache is difficult to date. Scholars have proposed dates as early as 50 CE, and some as late as 150 CE. The question of dating will also be explored. It is unclear where the text originated; Syria and Egypt are likely candidates. Additionally, the relation of The Didache to biblical texts, particularly the Gospel of Matthew, warrants discussion, and will be covered below. The question of the liturgical content is particularly prescient, as there is some debate regarding whether the text describes the celebration of the eucharist, or some other church practice.
The story of the feeding of the five-thousand is situated firmly at the centre of the Gospel of J... more The story of the feeding of the five-thousand is situated firmly at the centre of the Gospel of John’s so-called ‘Book of Signs’, which makes up the first half of the Gospel. This paper takes the majority view that the Gospel was written likely in the years 90 to 95 CE. The author is thus most likely not the apostle John, which view has been adopted by tradition and is still held by some. Matters of authorship are not particularly relevant to this paper, except to note that by convention the author will be referred to as ‘John’, by which we do not mean the Apostle necessarily, but whoever composed the text – either individual or group.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand is a well-known miracle story, and one of five miracles of Jesus feeding multitudes attested in the canonical gospels. It is found in all three synoptic gospels also and is paralleled by a miracle of the feeding of the four thousand in the gospels of Matthew and Mark. In the Fourth Gospel it is surrounded by miracles and teachings, and notably it is set before the ‘Bread of Life’ Discourse later in the chapter. The image of the feeding of the five thousand with bread becomes a temporal link to the spiritual bread that Jesus refers to in his discourse. The echoes of eucharistic imagery are difficult to ignore , and may reflect a more developed church structure. It is certainly possible that this shows the beginning of a solidifying of cultic and ritual practices in the late first century. The text by itself is a marvellous story of Jesus’ spiritual power. Just as the five thousand were well fed-on earth, with an abundance of leftover food, so too will the faithful be well-fed in the Kingdom. The people whom he has fed see something of this in Jesus, forcing him to escape to avoid being made king. His time to rule is not yet here, yet the feeding is a symbol of the abundance that is to come.
The message of the miracle is a profoundly Christological one on several levels, and the following paragraphs will make the argument that John wants his readers to identify Jesus as a kingly figure and a Mosaic figure. John’s Jesus is unlike any other king, and is greater even than Moses. He can feed the hungry with an abundance of food. However, the bread that feeds the multitude and sustains their mortal life is an earthly, corporeal symbol of the heavenly food that will sustain their eternal life. Greater even than the provision of bread is his provision of the Bread of Life – his own body, through which the faithful gain eternal life.
The Methodist theologian Christopher Morse (1935-), Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair in Theology and Eth... more The Methodist theologian Christopher Morse (1935-), Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair in Theology and Ethics at Union Seminary in New York, applies a particular methodological framework in his work of systematic theology Not Every Spirit: A Dogmatics of Christian Disbelief. In this text, he explores Christian doctrines through what he calls ‘disbeliefs’. What is meant by this is summed up in the very first line of his text: ‘To believe in God is not to believe everything’ . With this he means that by making particular statements about what one believes, there are implicit statements which are rejected as not to be believed. It is this dialectical framework that he uses throughout his text, proposing for each doctrine certain ‘objections’, commonly statements that could be made about Christianity as proposed in some circles which Morse himself refuses to accept. In summary, he lists a number of ‘denials’ or ‘disbeliefs’ – statements or beliefs which are not to be affirmed by Christian doctrine. A useful summary of this approach can be found before his disbeliefs on the topic of Christology, a topic to which we will turn presently: ‘The following … [are] positions and claims that are refused credit and credence by the commonly held affirmations of Christian Faith’ . In this instance he precedes to list twenty-three such disbeliefs of Christology and provide an analysis accordingly.
We turn now to the German Lutheran theologian, anti-fascist resistor, and Bekennende Kirche pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). We will apply Morse’s method to Bonhoeffer’s 1933 Lecture on Christology, discussing three denials arising from the text. Bonhoeffer become an intriguing interlocutor for Morse, in part due to the mutual association between both theologians and Union Seminary. Bonhoeffer spent a quizzical year at Union Seminary in 1930 , and as previously stated, Morse holds the Bonhoeffer Chairship at Union.
Bonhoeffer’s life came to an end in 1945. He had worked for the Nazi intelligence agency and used his position as a platform to aid the resistance. Ultimately, he was implicated in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, and spent eighteen months in prisons and concentration camps from Buchenwald and eventually to Flossenbürg. In a cruel irony, he was hung only weeks before the liberation of Flossenbürg by allied forces and the end of the war.
The text to which we will be applying Morse’s method are notes of Bonhoeffer’s lectures on Christology given in Summer of 1933. It was in this year that the Nazi party rose to power in Germany and set about reorganising the German Evangelical Church in line with Nazi ideals, the Deutsche Christen movement. The Confessing Church came to being in opposition to this movement in the following year with the Barmer Theologische Erklärung written to oppose the Nazification of the established church. It is amidst this context that Bonhoeffer delivered his lectures. He has much to say on the matter of Christology – it is for him the centre of all knowledge – so we will concentrate on only a small amount of the much that could be said. The following three ‘denials’ emerge from the text and will be engaged in the following paragraphs. Firstly that ‘Christ’s claim to be the Word of God is a just claim’ ; secondly that Christ is not truly present in the here and now ; and finally, that Christ’s humiliation is in opposition to his exaltation.
After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, during the war in Bosnia, in July 1995, at least 8000 Bosnia... more After the dissolution of Yugoslavia, during the war in Bosnia, in July 1995, at least 8000 Bosnian Muslim men were killed by Bosnian Serb forces with the intent to change the population to create an ethnically homogenous Serb Republic in Bosnia. Set up while the Bosnian war was still in progress, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was established to prosecute thosemresponsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide occurring in the lands formerly united as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Tribunal brought many to trial, including those responsible for the Srebrenica Genocide. It ceased operating at the end of 2017, however its legacy continues, with cases before the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals as well as domestic courts. The following essay seeks to explore the response of the Tribunal to the Srebrenica Genocide. It begins with a brief outline of the war in Bosnia and the events in and around Srebrenica in July 1995. It then outlines the individuals indicted by the Tribunal for the Srebrenica Genocide – although for many of them, Srebrenica was not the only crime for which they were prosecuted. Finally, it will discuss the response of the Tribunal to the Srebrenica Genocide, touching on the rights of the accused, the inadequacy of justice for the victims, and briefly the response internationally to the Tribunal.
While the early history of the Eucharist remains a complicated and contentious matter, some detai... more While the early history of the Eucharist remains a complicated and contentious matter, some details can be sketched out. The following essay will do so briefly, from the second century to the fourth. Three church fathers have been chosen, representing the span of history, geography and linguistics, one from each of the three dominant traditions of Christianity. From the Latin West we will discuss the Eucharistic thinking of Justin Martyr. From the Greek East, we will address the Eucharist in the theology of the Cappadocian Gregory of Nyssa. And finally, from the oft neglected Syriac tradition, we will discuss the Eucharist from the perspective of Ephrem the Syrian. A conclusion will be drawn that the Eucharist has been central to Christian thought for centuries, and the presence of Christ in the elements has not been at doubt. The richness of differing theologies and language used to articulate the mysteries is of great benefit to Christian communities.
This approach aids the brevity of what could easily fill several books worth of historical analysis. From the earliest time there was significant regional variance in practice, leading to what we today know as distinctive rites – Western , Alexandrian , Antiochene and East Syrian. We can sketch out an early history only in the broadest of details, and with some necessary generalities. Texts of prayers are often scant, and we are reliant on the works of fathers and mothers of the church, such as the three below.
A question arises for Christopher Morse regarding Jesus’ particularity and his universality. The ... more A question arises for Christopher Morse regarding Jesus’ particularity and his universality. The first objection in his eighth chapter states: ‘It would seem that if the existence of Christ is truly historical it cannot be ultimately and universally saving’. In other words, how can the life, death and resurrection of a first century man, a Jew living in Palestine, bring about salvation for us now in our context, and other contexts temporally and geographically? For Morse, this risks limiting Christ’s saving power: it would become available only to those who lived in Jesus’ time, or those people who are able to identify with him in his context. We will explore the ways in which this objection of Christ’s particularity is to be rejected according to Morse, and conclude that Christ is indeed universally saving for all people at all times.
“God’s Otherness is one of Communion”: The Word of God and Ontological Communion of the Godhead in the Theology of Christopher Morse, 2020
Christopher Morse describes the Godhead in no uncertain terms: ‘God's otherness is one of commun... more Christopher Morse describes the Godhead in no uncertain terms: ‘God's otherness is one of communion’. The present discussion covers what implications there might be for Morse to make such a statement, and what relation the ‘Word of God’ has to the communal Godhead. By ‘Word of God’, I am of course referring to Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, and adopting Wolfhart Pannenberg’s description of the classical Logos Christology.
The Didache (The Teaching, or The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles, or... more The Didache (The Teaching, or The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles, or simply The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles ), is a text from the very early years of the Christian church. It is mentioned in the writings of several early church fathers, where it is present in lists of texts that are to be considered edifying for the faith of the reader. There are possible quotations of The Didache in the works of writers such as Origen and Clement of Alexandria. , Until 1873, this was the only evidence that such a text even existed.
That year a Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Philotheos Bryennios, discovered what remains the only complete text of The Didache, bound in a codex with several texts of the Apostolic Fathers and other writings, in a convent in Istanbul. Its significance went unrecognised – the text of the Didache had evaded discovery on several earlier occasions, overlooked by several scholars perusing the contents of the convent’s library, and after its discovery it remained unpublished until 1883.
On examination, The Didache appears to be a composite of older texts , and itself was later re-written or compiled into texts such as the Apostolic Church Order and the Apostolic Constitutions. These are in the genre of ‘church orders’. They contain ethical guidelines and rules for how the church community should be ordered, including some early liturgical material. The precise nature of The Didache’s liturgical material is controversial and will be discussed. Due to its composite nature, The Didache is difficult to date. Scholars have proposed dates as early as 50 CE, and some as late as 150 CE. The question of dating will also be explored. It is unclear where the text originated; Syria and Egypt are likely candidates. Additionally, the relation of The Didache to biblical texts, particularly the Gospel of Matthew, warrants discussion, and will be covered below. The question of the liturgical content is particularly prescient, as there is some debate regarding whether the text describes the celebration of the eucharist, or some other church practice.
The story of the feeding of the five-thousand is situated firmly at the centre of the Gospel of J... more The story of the feeding of the five-thousand is situated firmly at the centre of the Gospel of John’s so-called ‘Book of Signs’, which makes up the first half of the Gospel. This paper takes the majority view that the Gospel was written likely in the years 90 to 95 CE. The author is thus most likely not the apostle John, which view has been adopted by tradition and is still held by some. Matters of authorship are not particularly relevant to this paper, except to note that by convention the author will be referred to as ‘John’, by which we do not mean the Apostle necessarily, but whoever composed the text – either individual or group.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand is a well-known miracle story, and one of five miracles of Jesus feeding multitudes attested in the canonical gospels. It is found in all three synoptic gospels also and is paralleled by a miracle of the feeding of the four thousand in the gospels of Matthew and Mark. In the Fourth Gospel it is surrounded by miracles and teachings, and notably it is set before the ‘Bread of Life’ Discourse later in the chapter. The image of the feeding of the five thousand with bread becomes a temporal link to the spiritual bread that Jesus refers to in his discourse. The echoes of eucharistic imagery are difficult to ignore , and may reflect a more developed church structure. It is certainly possible that this shows the beginning of a solidifying of cultic and ritual practices in the late first century. The text by itself is a marvellous story of Jesus’ spiritual power. Just as the five thousand were well fed-on earth, with an abundance of leftover food, so too will the faithful be well-fed in the Kingdom. The people whom he has fed see something of this in Jesus, forcing him to escape to avoid being made king. His time to rule is not yet here, yet the feeding is a symbol of the abundance that is to come.
The message of the miracle is a profoundly Christological one on several levels, and the following paragraphs will make the argument that John wants his readers to identify Jesus as a kingly figure and a Mosaic figure. John’s Jesus is unlike any other king, and is greater even than Moses. He can feed the hungry with an abundance of food. However, the bread that feeds the multitude and sustains their mortal life is an earthly, corporeal symbol of the heavenly food that will sustain their eternal life. Greater even than the provision of bread is his provision of the Bread of Life – his own body, through which the faithful gain eternal life.
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Drafts by Timothy Gray
We turn now to the German Lutheran theologian, anti-fascist resistor, and Bekennende Kirche pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). We will apply Morse’s method to Bonhoeffer’s 1933 Lecture on Christology, discussing three denials arising from the text. Bonhoeffer become an intriguing interlocutor for Morse, in part due to the mutual association between both theologians and Union Seminary. Bonhoeffer spent a quizzical year at Union Seminary in 1930 , and as previously stated, Morse holds the Bonhoeffer Chairship at Union.
Bonhoeffer’s life came to an end in 1945. He had worked for the Nazi intelligence agency and used his position as a platform to aid the resistance. Ultimately, he was implicated in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, and spent eighteen months in prisons and concentration camps from Buchenwald and eventually to Flossenbürg. In a cruel irony, he was hung only weeks before the liberation of Flossenbürg by allied forces and the end of the war.
The text to which we will be applying Morse’s method are notes of Bonhoeffer’s lectures on Christology given in Summer of 1933. It was in this year that the Nazi party rose to power in Germany and set about reorganising the German Evangelical Church in line with Nazi ideals, the Deutsche Christen movement. The Confessing Church came to being in opposition to this movement in the following year with the Barmer Theologische Erklärung written to oppose the Nazification of the established church. It is amidst this context that Bonhoeffer delivered his lectures. He has much to say on the matter of Christology – it is for him the centre of all knowledge – so we will concentrate on only a small amount of the much that could be said. The following three ‘denials’ emerge from the text and will be engaged in the following paragraphs. Firstly that ‘Christ’s claim to be the Word of God is a just claim’ ; secondly that Christ is not truly present in the here and now ; and finally, that Christ’s humiliation is in opposition to his exaltation.
homogenous Serb Republic in Bosnia. Set up while the Bosnian war was still in progress, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was established to prosecute thosemresponsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide occurring in the lands formerly united as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Tribunal brought many to trial, including those responsible for the Srebrenica Genocide. It ceased operating at the end of 2017, however its
legacy continues, with cases before the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals as well as domestic courts. The following essay seeks to explore the response of the Tribunal
to the Srebrenica Genocide. It begins with a brief outline of the war in Bosnia and the events in and around Srebrenica in July 1995. It then outlines the individuals indicted by the Tribunal for the Srebrenica Genocide – although for many of them, Srebrenica was not the only crime for which they were prosecuted. Finally, it will discuss the response of the Tribunal to the Srebrenica Genocide, touching on the rights of the accused, the inadequacy of justice for the victims, and briefly the response internationally to the Tribunal.
Papers by Timothy Gray
This approach aids the brevity of what could easily fill several books worth of historical analysis. From the earliest time there was significant regional variance in practice, leading to what we today know as distinctive rites – Western , Alexandrian , Antiochene and East Syrian. We can sketch out an early history only in the broadest of details, and with some necessary generalities. Texts of prayers are often scant, and we are reliant on the works of fathers and mothers of the church, such as the three below.
That year a Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Philotheos Bryennios, discovered what remains the only complete text of The Didache, bound in a codex with several texts of the Apostolic Fathers and other writings, in a convent in Istanbul. Its significance went unrecognised – the text of the Didache had evaded discovery on several earlier occasions, overlooked by several scholars perusing the contents of the convent’s library, and after its discovery it remained unpublished until 1883.
On examination, The Didache appears to be a composite of older texts , and itself was later re-written or compiled into texts such as the Apostolic Church Order and the Apostolic Constitutions. These are in the genre of ‘church orders’. They contain ethical guidelines and rules for how the church community should be ordered, including some early liturgical material. The precise nature of The Didache’s liturgical material is controversial and will be discussed. Due to its composite nature, The Didache is difficult to date. Scholars have proposed dates as early as 50 CE, and some as late as 150 CE. The question of dating will also be explored. It is unclear where the text originated; Syria and Egypt are likely candidates. Additionally, the relation of The Didache to biblical texts, particularly the Gospel of Matthew, warrants discussion, and will be covered below. The question of the liturgical content is particularly prescient, as there is some debate regarding whether the text describes the celebration of the eucharist, or some other church practice.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand is a well-known miracle story, and one of five miracles of Jesus feeding multitudes attested in the canonical gospels. It is found in all three synoptic gospels also and is paralleled by a miracle of the feeding of the four thousand in the gospels of Matthew and Mark. In the Fourth Gospel it is surrounded by miracles and teachings, and notably it is set before the ‘Bread of Life’ Discourse later in the chapter. The image of the feeding of the five thousand with bread becomes a temporal link to the spiritual bread that Jesus refers to in his discourse. The echoes of eucharistic imagery are difficult to ignore , and may reflect a more developed church structure. It is certainly possible that this shows the beginning of a solidifying of cultic and ritual practices in the late first century. The text by itself is a marvellous story of Jesus’ spiritual power. Just as the five thousand were well fed-on earth, with an abundance of leftover food, so too will the faithful be well-fed in the Kingdom. The people whom he has fed see something of this in Jesus, forcing him to escape to avoid being made king. His time to rule is not yet here, yet the feeding is a symbol of the abundance that is to come.
The message of the miracle is a profoundly Christological one on several levels, and the following paragraphs will make the argument that John wants his readers to identify Jesus as a kingly figure and a Mosaic figure. John’s Jesus is unlike any other king, and is greater even than Moses. He can feed the hungry with an abundance of food. However, the bread that feeds the multitude and sustains their mortal life is an earthly, corporeal symbol of the heavenly food that will sustain their eternal life. Greater even than the provision of bread is his provision of the Bread of Life – his own body, through which the faithful gain eternal life.
We turn now to the German Lutheran theologian, anti-fascist resistor, and Bekennende Kirche pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). We will apply Morse’s method to Bonhoeffer’s 1933 Lecture on Christology, discussing three denials arising from the text. Bonhoeffer become an intriguing interlocutor for Morse, in part due to the mutual association between both theologians and Union Seminary. Bonhoeffer spent a quizzical year at Union Seminary in 1930 , and as previously stated, Morse holds the Bonhoeffer Chairship at Union.
Bonhoeffer’s life came to an end in 1945. He had worked for the Nazi intelligence agency and used his position as a platform to aid the resistance. Ultimately, he was implicated in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, and spent eighteen months in prisons and concentration camps from Buchenwald and eventually to Flossenbürg. In a cruel irony, he was hung only weeks before the liberation of Flossenbürg by allied forces and the end of the war.
The text to which we will be applying Morse’s method are notes of Bonhoeffer’s lectures on Christology given in Summer of 1933. It was in this year that the Nazi party rose to power in Germany and set about reorganising the German Evangelical Church in line with Nazi ideals, the Deutsche Christen movement. The Confessing Church came to being in opposition to this movement in the following year with the Barmer Theologische Erklärung written to oppose the Nazification of the established church. It is amidst this context that Bonhoeffer delivered his lectures. He has much to say on the matter of Christology – it is for him the centre of all knowledge – so we will concentrate on only a small amount of the much that could be said. The following three ‘denials’ emerge from the text and will be engaged in the following paragraphs. Firstly that ‘Christ’s claim to be the Word of God is a just claim’ ; secondly that Christ is not truly present in the here and now ; and finally, that Christ’s humiliation is in opposition to his exaltation.
homogenous Serb Republic in Bosnia. Set up while the Bosnian war was still in progress, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was established to prosecute thosemresponsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide occurring in the lands formerly united as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Tribunal brought many to trial, including those responsible for the Srebrenica Genocide. It ceased operating at the end of 2017, however its
legacy continues, with cases before the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals as well as domestic courts. The following essay seeks to explore the response of the Tribunal
to the Srebrenica Genocide. It begins with a brief outline of the war in Bosnia and the events in and around Srebrenica in July 1995. It then outlines the individuals indicted by the Tribunal for the Srebrenica Genocide – although for many of them, Srebrenica was not the only crime for which they were prosecuted. Finally, it will discuss the response of the Tribunal to the Srebrenica Genocide, touching on the rights of the accused, the inadequacy of justice for the victims, and briefly the response internationally to the Tribunal.
This approach aids the brevity of what could easily fill several books worth of historical analysis. From the earliest time there was significant regional variance in practice, leading to what we today know as distinctive rites – Western , Alexandrian , Antiochene and East Syrian. We can sketch out an early history only in the broadest of details, and with some necessary generalities. Texts of prayers are often scant, and we are reliant on the works of fathers and mothers of the church, such as the three below.
That year a Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Philotheos Bryennios, discovered what remains the only complete text of The Didache, bound in a codex with several texts of the Apostolic Fathers and other writings, in a convent in Istanbul. Its significance went unrecognised – the text of the Didache had evaded discovery on several earlier occasions, overlooked by several scholars perusing the contents of the convent’s library, and after its discovery it remained unpublished until 1883.
On examination, The Didache appears to be a composite of older texts , and itself was later re-written or compiled into texts such as the Apostolic Church Order and the Apostolic Constitutions. These are in the genre of ‘church orders’. They contain ethical guidelines and rules for how the church community should be ordered, including some early liturgical material. The precise nature of The Didache’s liturgical material is controversial and will be discussed. Due to its composite nature, The Didache is difficult to date. Scholars have proposed dates as early as 50 CE, and some as late as 150 CE. The question of dating will also be explored. It is unclear where the text originated; Syria and Egypt are likely candidates. Additionally, the relation of The Didache to biblical texts, particularly the Gospel of Matthew, warrants discussion, and will be covered below. The question of the liturgical content is particularly prescient, as there is some debate regarding whether the text describes the celebration of the eucharist, or some other church practice.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand is a well-known miracle story, and one of five miracles of Jesus feeding multitudes attested in the canonical gospels. It is found in all three synoptic gospels also and is paralleled by a miracle of the feeding of the four thousand in the gospels of Matthew and Mark. In the Fourth Gospel it is surrounded by miracles and teachings, and notably it is set before the ‘Bread of Life’ Discourse later in the chapter. The image of the feeding of the five thousand with bread becomes a temporal link to the spiritual bread that Jesus refers to in his discourse. The echoes of eucharistic imagery are difficult to ignore , and may reflect a more developed church structure. It is certainly possible that this shows the beginning of a solidifying of cultic and ritual practices in the late first century. The text by itself is a marvellous story of Jesus’ spiritual power. Just as the five thousand were well fed-on earth, with an abundance of leftover food, so too will the faithful be well-fed in the Kingdom. The people whom he has fed see something of this in Jesus, forcing him to escape to avoid being made king. His time to rule is not yet here, yet the feeding is a symbol of the abundance that is to come.
The message of the miracle is a profoundly Christological one on several levels, and the following paragraphs will make the argument that John wants his readers to identify Jesus as a kingly figure and a Mosaic figure. John’s Jesus is unlike any other king, and is greater even than Moses. He can feed the hungry with an abundance of food. However, the bread that feeds the multitude and sustains their mortal life is an earthly, corporeal symbol of the heavenly food that will sustain their eternal life. Greater even than the provision of bread is his provision of the Bread of Life – his own body, through which the faithful gain eternal life.