NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 55, Issue 1, 2001

The classic article of faith of Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand of God is elucidated and evaluated in light of the relevant biblical data, with special attention to the Old Testament. It is argued that the concept of Jesus Christ as God’s only intimate, representative, and co-regent, is intended to show God’s entering in a new relation with man and world. By giving Jesus Christ a seat at his right hand God has extended himself in a new form to provide man with a very special intercessor. In this way he turned the care for and the protection of his people into a task by itself, promoted by a special minister of his government. It became part of a new strategy in his battle against chaos from the beginning, aimed at the control of and the final victory over the powers who are after man’s life and the world’s destruction.

In this article a review is given of the development of the sociology of religion on the basis of the areas of research. The review is preceded by a short description of the position and meaning of the discipline as such. In the beginning, research has been concentrated on the churches and the Christian religion. In the course of time the conception of religion becomes broader, with the result that the area of research becomes broader too. Parallel to the changes in religious life, the object of research has moved from religion in the traditional sense to meaning systems. The whole development of the sociology of religion can be characterized both by alteration, as well as by continuity.

In line with Paul Ricoeur’s phenomenologically inspired hermeneutical philosophy this essay explores the possibilities of an hermeneutical philosophy of religion. The difference between philosophy of religion and ‘religious philosophy’ is stressed. In the present-day context we need a triangular conversation between philosophy, theology, and the sciences of religion. Finally, Lessing’s maxim ‘nur wer auszulegen weiss, versteht’ is applied to his own famous parable of the ring. The conclusion is drawn that the contemporary predicament of growing plurality asks for an hermeneutical approach, which is based on reciprocity.

The author distinguishes a detached talk about God and an existential talk of God. This existential way of speaking from God is the characteristic language of the Christian community that understands itself primarily as being constituted by Gods agency and secondarily as an institution. The form of life of the Christian community as a locus of Divine agency presents the relational context to the individual believers that helps them to define their personal identity in relation to their fellow believers and, finally, to God. The talk of God in this Christian form of life is of a personal nature which implies the appropriateness of a personal concept of God. The author discusses alternative immanentist concepts of God (the model of Braun and that of Fichte) and Nietzsches non-realist argument against the usefulness of the Christian concept of God. An alternative to these traditional arguments is found in an application of a remark of Wittgenstein on religious belief. It is possible to understand the nature of Christian tradition in terms of an ongoing interaction between its members which started with the interaction between Jesus and the early community of believers. It is argued that existential talk of God is a form of a performative continuation of the first performative act of Christ which created the community of believers.