The right doctrine from the wrong texts? – fulfilment in Matthew’s Gospel

Ever wondered why the New Testament sometimes quotes seemingly obscure texts from the Old Testament and claims that Jesus fulfilled them? Or wondered why the quotations in the New Testament are not giving the exact words of the Old Testament passage which it quotes? In what sense did Jesus in fact fulfil the Old Testament prophecies?

I’ve never really grasped this. I always had a feeling that I got it all wrong, biased by my 2oth century understanding of prophecy. I’ve done a bit of studies in this area which resulted in the paper found below. It tries to understand the quotations in Matthew in light of contemporary Jewish principles of interpretation (i.e. ‘hermeneutics). I’ve not fully grasped it but I think I’m getting closer to understading what in the world is going on in Matthew’s Gospel. Read the paper if you are a nerd – or out of curiosity

I’m writing a final paper which is related to this one. It’ll be a detailed word study on the verb “to fulfil” in the Gospel of Matthew. Let’s see what that brings of new insights …

Matthew’s use of Scripture in Matthew 2:15 and 2:23

Introduction

Matthew’s formula quotations[1] have been a considerable challenge for modern scholarship leading commentators to remarkably diverse conclusions. This fact is due to the fundamental nature of the subject, for it touches at the heart of Jewish hermeneutics and of the early Christian understanding of prophecy and fulfilment.

John Mbiti kommer til NEGST

Yeah!!! Har lige fået nyheden om at John Mbiti er hovedtaleren til graduation ceremonien i starten af juli måned. For dem af jer der ikke ved hvem Mbiti er, til jer er der kun at sige: der er noget galt i jeres opdragelse. John Mbiti er for kristendom i Kenya (faktisk for hele Afrika) hvad Grundtvig er for Danmark. Tror jeg oprigtigt kan sige at han var den største teolog i Afrika i det 20. århundrede.

Efter de afrikanske nationers uafhængighed var han den person som repræsenterede afrikansk teologi. Dengang var det en ny tanke for kristne at se afrikanske traditionelle religioner i et positivt lys, men via Mbitis antropologiske og teologiske forskning viste han at det bibelske semitiske verdensbillede er tættere på traditionelle afrikanske kulturer end på vestlige kulturer. Hans værdsættelse af afrikanske kulturer var derfor en vigtig faktor for udviklingen af en sand afrikansk kristendom.

Med annonceringen i dag kom en lille introduktion af hans teologiske karriere:

Born in Kenya, Mbiti studied in Uganda and the United States, taking his doctorate in 1963 at the University of Cambridge, UK. He taught religion and theology in Makerere University, Uganda from 1964 to 1974 and was subsequently director of the World Council of Churches‘ Ecumenical Institute in Bogis-Bossey, Switzerland.

 Nogen der er misundelige? Jeg ser i hvert fald frem til at møde ham

Nye billeder i online fotoalbum

Så er der kommet en bunke nye billeder (90 stk) i vores online fotoalbum. Det er blandede billeder fra de sidste 4-5 måneder af vores liv her i Kenya. Du kan klikke på linket i menuen til højre eller klikke HER.

I have uploadet 90 new pictures to our online photo album. They are from the last 4-5 months of our life here in Kenya. You can click on the link in the menu at the right side or you can click HERE.

Nietzsche, Lars von Trier, and Antichrist

It fascinates me that a person can have so much influence. On one hand his ideas are awful, terrible, rejected, despised by the established western world. On the other hand there is something fascinating by him, something that draws you towards him, something new and original, something which you cannot refuse to give attention. It is even more fascinating that this man saw it coming so far in advance that almost no-one understood it when he proclaimed it. He was like a prophet, not in the traditional sense of being divinely inspired, but in the sense of being an oracle of what is to come through an analysis of the season of time. He knew it by intuition, he could feel it, and he gave expression to it. Another feature of his prophetic ministry is the fact that he never saw the impact of his message. He died, but his ideas are flourishing.

Of course the only person I could possibly have in mind in the above is Friedrich Nietzsche.

In popular thinking this is also known as postmodernism even though it is difficult to describe this phenomenon as a unified movement. There are many variances of postmodernism, but I still think it is fair to say that there are common features. One of them is that they can all be traced back to Nietzsche’s philosophy a century (!) ago. It is simply fascinating that a person who lived a century ago can have such an all-encompassing influence on society and popular belief.

I have not seen Lars von Trier’s movie and I don’t think I’ll get the opportunity in the nearby future. I doubt that anyone here in Kenya would understand the movie, even less that they would show it in the cinemas or sell it in the stores. But I can tell from the descriptions, reviews, and interviews what to expect. This is postmodernism in is extreme form.

I was immersed into my own cultural and philosophical milieu. I’m a product of my own time, hence I cannot deny that I’m truly fascinated when I read about the movie. Rejection of relativism and embracement of relativism is a popular trend, but few have been ready to go all the way. At certain points, particularly times of crisis, the popular understanding is inherently unstable because it lacks consistency. Most people display evidence of an absolute foundation when it counts, either Christian, humanistic/atheistic, Muslim, Eastern religious, etc. Denying that an unsupported, presuppositional foundation exists is therefore to live in a state of denial.

Nietzsche – and Lars von Trier - take the postmodern critique of the Cartesian (i.e. from René Descartes) philosophy to its logical and necessary conclusion: nihilism. I can tell from the reactions on the movie that this point has been reached, both through the descriptions of it, but also by the very fact that some people walked out in protest against it. The philosophical conclusion was simply unbearable to them. It was too outspoken. It offended them.

It is not a surprise that von Trier received inspiration for the movie from his own depression. The romantic denial of fear, anger, lust and desire, is replaced with acceptance, indeed fascination and promovation of these elements, for they are essential parts of what it means to be human. His philosophical world is guided by themes about the cosmos, the ur-person, the foundational desires and feelings - the “Antichrist”! In the art of making movies such expressions can be caught by means of extreme slowmotion. By so doing, he is able to create a sense of static sorrow, static anxiety, static paranoia (“statisk sorg, statisk angst, statisk paranoia”, interview with Lars von Trier).

Now, I have lived in a different culture than my own for some years now and as an outsider I can see how people have difficulties in distinguishing between culture and Christianity. They claim (sometimes American) cultural elements to be Christian because their cultural identity is so much mixed up with their Christian identity. This is true of Christianity in every culture. Why would we then claim that it is any different in the West? However, Lars von Trier opposes all religion as evil:

I have always seen Protestatism as the great brute, but religion is some crap altogether, I’m sure about that (Jeg har jo altid set protestantismen som det store udyr, men religion er i det hele taget noget lort, det er jeg sikker på). Interview with Lars von Trier.

I think I understand him quite well (apart from his absolute certainty!). In this he is not any different from Nietzsche, his great inspirator:

I have had Nietzsche’s Antichrist on my table since I was 12. You know, this is his great encounter with Christianity (Jeg har haft Nietzsches Antichrist liggen på mit bord, siden jeg var 12. Det er jo hans store opgør med kristendommen). Interview with Lars von Trier.

I’m have sympathy for his intention, but, as I have written elsewhere on this weblog,  he and Nietzsche fail to distinguish culture from Christianity.

What Descartes was for modernism, Nietzsche wasa for postmodernism. In his famous parable, The Madman, the Madman was not claiming responsibility for killing God, but prophesied the inevitable outcome of what the philosophical establishment had done implicitly and unknowingly. Enlightenment Christianity had erroneously maintained that the infinite God can be comprehended by finite human reasoning. Such a claim, however, is blasphemy and idolatry, because it rejects the qualitative difference between Creator and created humans. What Nietzsche did not realize was that his proclamation was not directed towards Christianity per se, but towards the Cartesian paradigm, two systems which at that time were inextricably bound together (Postmodern Christian Theology).

Lars von Trier’s attack on Christianity is, as is Nietzsche’s, misplaced because it assumes that the culture of modernity is itself Christianity. But that’s a faulty claim. Therefore, I do not as a postmodern Christian feel attacked by him.

I must say that Lars von Trier is fascinating. Whether you like it or not, at least he is closer to being consistent than pop-philosophical, shallow claims that will not last when seriously challenged. I would have loved to watch the movie, not so much because I think I fully agree with him – though I think much of it would resonate within me – but rather because I sense that this is the final test for me to see if I really understand and feel postmodernism.

If you want to explore further on Christian postmodernism, you can see my earlier post on postmodern Christian theology HERE (though dealing mostly with it from a philosohical/epistemological/theological perspective). You can read about the movie HERE (in Danish) and interviews HERE (some in Danish, some in English).

Definition of rhythm

Cool definition of rhythm:

If you got it, you don’t need no definition. And if you don’t have it, ain’t no definition gonna help (Duke Ellington).

Preaching prohibited!

Preachers are found in various types and places. Some of them are quite ok, and some are worse than terrible. The most annoying are the ones that take the bus and start preaching without even asking the passengers beforehand. If you are unlucky – and you usually are – he’ll preach all the way to town, which is almost one hour.

Fortunately, it seems that the public busses have implemented a new policy concerning the preachers. But still, I thought it was a bit funny that it is necessary to put a sign so as to avoid such people on the bus! I wonder how people would react if there were such signs on the public busses back in Denmark …!

I got a picture of the sign as you can see below

Weekend på Whistling Thorns

Sidste weekend var mid-term, dvs. en forlænget weekend midt i terminen så folk kan få mulighed for lige at få et lille afbræk fra hverdagens læsning. For de fleste betyder weekenden dog blot at der er undervisningsfri så de kan få mulighed for at indhente hvad de er bagud med skolearbejdet.

Charlotte og jeg tog en tur til Whistling Thorns, en hollandsk ejet ranch, som er blevet til et slags hotel med tilhørende campingplads. Stedet ligger ca 2 timers rejse med matatu fra hvor vi bor i sydlig retning (dem som vil kigge på Google Earth kan kigge ca 13 km syd for byen Kiserian, som ligger sydvest for Nairobi). Hermed et par billeder fra weekenden:

På campingområdet var der en vogn med borde som man kunne spise i, hvis man havde lyst. Der var også en banda (i baggrunden) hvis man ville sidde et sted udendørs hvor der var overdækket: 

Aftensmad i vognen (hvis nu Ertbøllerne læser med, så er gaslampen på bordet fødselsdagsgaven fra jer ):

Frokost (og lidt skolearbejde) i vognen:

Swimmingpoolen og udsigt til Ngong Hills:

Mange træer og buske blomstrer for tiden, så der var godt med farve i haven:

Charlotte slapper af i skyggen:

Terassen og restauranten:

Alt ialt et rigtig lækkert sted at slappe af – og perfekt afstand fra hvor vi bor for en weekendtur.

Hvordan man ikke skal klodse en bil op :D

Billede fra en parkeringsplads lige undefor Kibera. Billedet er taget sidste sommer af min faster, Jonna.

Postmodern Christian Theology

Sometimes I hand in a paper that I am actually satisfied with. Last term I wrote a paper entitled “Transcending Epistemology: Towards a Postmodern Theology”. As I know some of you may be interested in the subject, I have decided to post the paper in full. Though it’s a rather short paper, it may seem to be a bit of a reading. For those of you who don’t feel as enthusiastic about reading such stuff I fully understand

Introduction

“The philosophical quest for unfailing presuppositions is not Christian; it is outright paganism”[1]. This outburst from Carl Raschke is typical for the shift in theology that has taken place throughout the 20^th century.

New pics on Flickr – nye billeder på Flickr

Det er længe siden jeg sidst har uploadet billeder til vores online fotoalbum, så jeg tænkte at nu var det tid. Billederne er fra de sidste 4 måneder: Lamu-Mombasa-Zanzibar med familie og en af vores venner i juli/august, weekendtur til Mwanza i oktober, og nogle få billeder her fra skolen. KLIK HER for at se dem.

It’s been a long time since I last uploadet pictures to our online photo album, so I thought now was the time. The pictures are from the last 4 months: Lamu-Mombasa-Zanzibar with family and a friend in July/August, weekend trip to Mwanza in October, and a few pics from campus. CLICK HERE to see them.