Theology

Trinitarian communion may seem to be far removed from the nature of church leadership. However, the renaissance experienced in Trinitarian theology has brought forward many new thoughts and asked new questions. The ontological nature of these thoughts and questions are of extreme importance to the Church, because, as will be asserted in this work, it is in the Godhead that ecclesiology derives its being. This ontology of church is seated in the nature of persons which make up the Church. Just as we endeavour to draw a link between the being of God and the being of the Church, we will be drawing a link between the nature of the Church in personhood and the nature of leadership in the Church.

The progression of Western thought plays a significant role in this endeavour as the genesis of the Trinity is discussed. The relevant current scholarship of John Zizioulas, Colin Gunton, Alan Torrance and William Atkinson will be consulted. In order to present a doctrine of the Trinity that is relevant to modern ecclesiology a “repaired” Christology/Pneumatology will be attempted. This discussion will arrive at a presentation of the personal dynamic communion
which characterises the persons of the Trinity.

It is in this “repaired” Christology/Pneumatology that the dynamic communion of the Godhead is understood, providing a connection between the divine and human persons. From here, obstacles which prevent the Church from emulating the personal dynamic communion of the Godhead are presented. The work of Nancy Pearcey is specifically consulted in this endeavour which arrives at a conclusion of individuality which is at odds with personhood. The theme of life in the Spirit is shown to be the biblical answer to reclaiming personal dynamic communion in the Church. Much of this theme is derived from the work of Gordon Fee.

Finally, Church leadership is discussed, specifically to understand how personal dynamic communion should characterise leaders in the Church. This section consults Hans Kung’s history of the office of ministry to expound on the development of leadership and authority in the New Testament. A critical look at authority in the New Testament, specifically as understood in the Pauline corpus is endeavoured with the help of Andrew Clarke. A model for leadership is seen
in the relationship of Christ with his disciples. For this, Ruth Edwards provides valuable insight into the footwashing episode in John.

The resultant conclusion is that the personal dynamic communion evidenced in the economy of salvation through the person of Christ in relationship with the Father and the Spirit is available in the Church. Through life in the Spirit church leaders are to reflect this personal dynamic communion and reveal the true nature of the Church.

Outline
1. Introduction
2. Speaking in Tongues in Luke
2.1 Transformational Roles of the Spirit in Speaking in Tongues
2.1.1 Prophetic Utterance: Acts 2:1-4
2.1.2 Sign to Believers: Acts 10:44-48
2.1.3 Evidence: Acts 19:1-7
3. Speaking in Tongues in Paul
3.1 Transformational Roles of the Spirit in Speaking in Tongues
3.1.1 Unification: 1 Corinthians 12:10, 30; 13:1, 8
3.1.2 Edification: 1 Corinthians 14:1-33
3.1.2.1 Personal Edification
3.1.2.2 Corporate Edification
4. Conclusion

We present photometry of the first reported superoutburst of the dwarf nova VSX J074727.6+065050 during 2008 January and February. At its brightest the star reached magnitude 11.4 and this was followed by a slow decline at 0.09 mag/d for 19 days, corresponding to ...

The problem of whether Arthur is a historical figure or not will never be definitively resolved unless a dateable and authenticated inscription from the sub-Roman period turns up. Hopes were raised by the 'Artognou ' find at Tintagel in 1998, but, as N. J. Higham shows in this sceptical survey of the debate on the historical Arthur, it has nothing to do with the case. Nor, in Higham's view, is there much else-indeed, anything else of any substance-that will help us. He analyses persuasively the political and cultural background of the earliest evidence, the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae, and shows why each author had reason to create an Arthurfigure. His most interesting discovery is the parallel between Joshua in the Old Testament and Arthur, which certainly offers a new framework for the account in the Historia Brittonum. He is keen on the idea of a folkloric Arthur figure, but mixing folklore and historical analysis is always difficult : none of the folklore evidence can be shown to pre-date the literary Arthur-the Historia is probably our earliest source for both-and most of it is very much later. The arguments for a folklore Arthur as the origin of a pseudo-historical Arthur rely on a high valuation of folklore as evidence. The weight of argument must still be in favour of a historical personage called Arthur, of whatever period, to whom both the history (invented or borrowed from other historical figures) and the popular fictions of folklore were attached. This apart, Higham's survey is an admirably measured and wide-ranging contribution to the ever-growing literature on the subject. Alas, it will not stem the tide of popular ' solutions' to the identity of Arthur, but it will put them firmly in their place.

CHAPTER 1. By the Fall and Revolt of Adam the Whole Human Race Was Delivered to the Curse, and Degenerated from Its Original Condition; the Doctrine of Original Sin CHAPTER 2. Man Has Now Been Deprived of Freedom of Choice and Bound Over to Miserable Servitude CHAPTER 3. Only Damnable Things Come Forth from Man's Corrupt Nature CHAPTER 4. How God Works in Men's Hearts CHAPTER 5. Refutation of the Objections Commonly Put Forward in Defense of Free Will. CHAPTER 6. Fallen Man Ought to Seek Redemption in Christ. CHAPTER 7. The Law Was Given, Not to Restrain the Folk of the Old Covenant Under Itself, but to Foster Hope of Salvation in Christ Until His Coming CHAPTER 8. Explanation of the Moral Law (the Ten Commandments) CHAPTER 9. Christ, Although He Was Known to the Jews Under the Law, Was at Length Clearly Revealed Only in the Gospel CHAPTER 10. The Similarity of the Old and New Testaments CHAPTER 11. The Difference Between the Two Testaments CHAPTER 12. Christ Had to Become Man in Order to Fulfill the Office of Mediator CHAPTER 13.

This paper looks at several key motivations behind the prisoner of time objection and a view against which it is leveled, the Oxford School of divine temporality, with respect to the Christian God. Shared between these opposing views are concerns for divine freedom and sovereignty. While the objection, coming from divine atemporalists, has in its background a concern for the creator–creature distinction, the Oxford School prizes the authenticity of temporal God–talk in the Scriptures and the coherency of human God–talk more generally. By following these motivations closely in conversation with M–theory discussions about the nature of time as a dimension of spacetime, I propose a new model of God’s relation to time called transcendent temporality. In it, God is transcendently present in our temporal dimension, so that he is temporal but experiences our time differently than we do. Moreover, God has his own time which is distinct from but correlated to our time. God, on this view, is temporal, but in a way that he can experience succession in different ways than our one–directional and linear experience of succession. I conclude by unpacking some implications of this model and addressing possible objections.

One view of theological anthropology that might benefit from engagement with psychological sciences is relational theological anthropology. Studies in social psychology show that humans develop personal identity through sharing in group identity. I will explore how human beings share mental states when participating in groups. This will be used to explain how Christians in the body of Christ come to share in the mind of Christ. In sharing in new identity in Christ, the community of God in the Church shares in the mind of Christ together. This new identity is shared between its members without eradicating the individual identity of each member.

Recent events have given rise to considerations of systemic sin and how the church should respond to it. This article looks at passages in the Hebrew Bible which demonstrate the communal character of sin and atonement. God holds the whole nation responsible despite righteous individuals, often for the sins of individuals. Paul develops this relation between individuals and groups in his ecclesiology. I argue from this development that responsibility for sins, individual or systemic, is placed on the whole community. Thus, there is for the church a corporate responsibility for reconciliation, demanding group agency in rectifying systemic sins like racism.

This paper, following on from previous work on free will and group psychology, approaches the potential threat to theologies of belonging posed by traditional understandings of free will and moral responsibility. If the human creature can only flourish in belonging to others in community, then our freedom and autonomy appear to be at least partially compromised by the social constraints of belonging. If this is true, then human beings are incapable of moral responsibility. By drawing on the resources of developmental psychology, I will offer an alternative account which holds that belonging, rather than undermining moral responsibility, actually increases the degree to which an individual can be morally responsible. When we belong to others, we take on certain responsibilities for their actions which in no way decreases normative conceptions of personal responsibility.

In this paper, I argue for an extension of relational accounts of the imago Dei which includes a kind of priestly relation to the created order. In this relation, humanity is intended to ensure the independent flourishing of creation in a way reflective of the kind of communion we ought to have with one another. Through an analysis of the brokenness of these relationships, I argue that human oppression of other humans and the ravaging of creation are born of the same brokenness in such a way that they contribute to one another as distortions of human teleological communion. By drawing on Social Identity Approach in group psychology, I can offer an account of shared human identity out of which humanity acts in distorted ways as a group. By describing oppression and ravaging in terms of broken communal telos and group action, I offer a way forward for relating humanity to the created order in a way that neither instrumentalizes creation, nor flattens the distinctiveness of human creation in the image of God.