European Journal of Theology - Volume 30, Issue 2, 2021

This article gives a synopsis of the various perspectives which existed in Early Judaism on the attitude believers should have towards society. We look at writings from Persian, Hellenistic and Roman times and from different movements. While studying how these Jewish authors saw the required relationship to society, i.e. to people who do not belong to their own community, we understand the importance Scripture had for all these groups, but we meet divergent ways of interpreting (the rest of) the Old Testament, also influenced by circumstances. Of course, it is easy to study each writing (or even passage) as reflecting a different kind of theology, but a synthesising explanation of the differences, in spite of all uncertainties and inconsistencies, can give us insight into how participation in society and guarding the Jewish identity were combined. This insight is relevant for understanding lived religion today and therefore moves beyond the existing knowledge and relevancy of biblical and Jewish Studies.

This article is a study of the nature of the twelve new tribes restored through the Messiah and his twelve apostles in Luke–Acts. The author lays the foundation for his conclusion by tracing four elements of Luke’s narrative: Jesus’ election of twelve apostles in Luke 6:12-16; his kingdom-promise of the twelve judging the twelve tribes in 22:29-30; the inquiry after Israel’s kingdom in Acts 1:6-8; and the subsequent re-constitution of the twelve-fold apostolate over the 120 believers in 1:15-26. The author argues that fulfilment of Luke 22:29-30 is the background for both the inquiry after the kingdom, the necessity of re-installing the twelfth apostle and the numerical detail of 120 believers in Acts 1. The author then examines Luke’s broader ecclesiology and restoration programme as it pertains to the nature of the eschatological twelve tribes, before he summarises his research. In sum, the article argues on exegetical and biblical-theological grounds that the re-constitution of the twelve tribes is Christocentric in nature and that Luke’s messianic vision of the twelve-tribe restoration includes even Gentiles as full-fledged members of the eschatological twelve-tribe Israel.

Neo-Calvinism is increasingly popular in the United States, but far less so in the Netherlands where it originated. Written from the context of the Free University (Vrije Universiteit) founded by Abraham Kuyper, this article presents six elements of Neo-Calvinism which together establish it as an important and relevant worldview for our time. The first is that it attempts to create a ‘priestly’ connection between gospel and culture. Next there are Neo-Calvinism’s notion of the sovereignty of God, its conviction that humans are elected to something, and its belief that this world – even in its fallen state – is and remains God’s world. The last two elements are the trinitarian spread of its theology and the fact that it exercises the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love.

This article deals with the reception of Billy Graham and modern evangelicalism in the fragmented society of the Netherlands in 1954. It takes its departure from the stream of newspaper articles published between February and June in response to the Greater London Crusade and Graham’s first large scale rally in Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium. The analysis of the reports in different newspapers, which represent the different social groups (catholic, protestant, socialist and liberal) in Dutch society, reveals a significant shift in the way Billy Graham was perceived: from initial scepticism to mild appreciation. This change in press coverage, it is concluded, is mainly due to the different way in which Billy Graham presented himself compared with the large-scale publicity which surrounded his campaign.

The German theologian Helmut Thielicke (1908-1986), whose books were translated into many languages, is still relevant, for example because of his ideas on the essence of religion, on sin and on the value of human life. After a short biography, this article discusses Thielicke’s conservatism and his relationship to the theologies of Karl Barth and Paul Tillich. Martin Luther was most important for him and the article considers three Lutheran topics at the centre of his thinking: the doctrine of the Imago Dei (the image of God), the relation between law and gospel, and the doctrine of the two kingdoms. Thielicke advocated a close relationship between Church and theology, in particular between preaching and theology, and he saw dialogue as a ‘prolegomenon phase’ of Christian mission. During the ‘roaring 60s’ he realised that societal structures do need to be considered critically.