NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 72, Issue 2, 2018

Summary In this article, examples of liberating and oppressive usage of slavery metaphors in Paul and the Pauline tradition, respectively, are discussed. Concerning Paul’s use of such metaphors in 1 Cor 7:22, I argue that the apostle consciously avoided to call slave members of the community ‘slaves of Christ’, using ‘freedpersons of the Lord’ as a context-induced new metaphor instead. The early reception of Paulin Read More

Summary This article portrays Dale Martin’s Slavery as Salvation (1990) as a ‘key text’. In his landmark study Martin characterises the Pauline metaphorical expression δοῦλος Χριστοῦ (slave of Christ) as a designation for salvation and leadership. A short survey of previous scholarship on this phrase will illuminate the challenging character of Martin’s work. The presentation of Martin’s book will be followed by a short evalu Read More

Summary Every year during Passover Jews commemorate the liberation of their ancestors from Egypt. It was God who ‘broke the bars of their yoke’ and who ‘made them walk erect’ (Lev 26:13). Elsewhere, however, the Torah seems to suggest that the redemption from Egypt’s service was not so much a release from slavery, as it was a change of master (cf. Ex 4:23 and Lev 25:42). This paradoxical way of thinking about sla Read More

Summary This article sheds light on Luther’s early attitude towards Jews and Judaism. My point of departure is the famous tract on Christian freedom from 1520, with its paradoxical talk of Christian freedom in faith and servitude to the Other in love. ‘Jewish servitude’ was a central category to define the position of the Jews in society. The category was used by the highest authorities in the Church and secular society Read More

Summary This article analyses the depiction of the biblical king David in M. Luther’s and early Lutheran political thought. Luther drew his images of David primarily from the exegesis of various psalms. For Luther, David’s faith made him the prime Biblical model of a monarch. Lutheran sermons shaped David into an example of good administration. They admonished Lutheran magistrates and princes to support the church and to Read More

Summary This essay examines the interplay of politics, science and theology in the debates over ‘Protestant freedom’ that took place in mid-nineteenth century Germany. It begins by tracing how rival factions of conservative, liberal, and radical clergy sought to mobilize the tradition of ‘Protestant Freedom’ during the period of ferment preceding the Revolution of 1848. The essay then turns to the 1860s to explore how c Read More