Browsing by Author "Doedens, Jaap"

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    The Resurrection Sets the Agenda Eschatology for a Post-Modern World
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2019) Doedens, Jaap
    In this article, firstly I discuss why it is important to have an exegetically sound biblical view on the resurrection for the attractiveness of the church. To attain this, theology – in both the Catholic and the Protestant tradition – should change its approach of eschatology as focusing on “going to heaven when you die” to a view of “participating in a new creation”. Secondly, I will give some examples of how the biblical message about the resurrection thus understood can make the mission of the church strong enough to have its own relevant and attractive alternative narrative in a world of competing narratives.
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    The Fruits without the Roots? Postmodern Group-Identity in the Light of Biblical Anthropology
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2022) Doedens, Jaap
    The origins of modern western societies are indubitably rooted in Judeo-Christian values that generated a unique form of civilization over the course of almost two-thousand years. These values have as their core-belief that humans are created in the image of God. This notion deeply influenced views on human identity and on human rights. Since the rise of modernity, these religious roots of the western world-view have eroded gradually as a consequence of secularization. While society increasingly became cut off from its own roots, the fruits of the former world-view were still accepted as desirable. Howev­er, emerging post-modernity appears to be in the process of not only losing the roots, but also rejecting the fruits of Judeo-Christian values. As a consequence, human identity is evermore perceived as consisting of – often conflicting – group-identities. The aim of this study is to discover whether biblical anthropology can shed light on the functions of groups within a given society. Being aware of the fact that the way how ancient Israel dealt with minority groups and how this is reflected within the Hebrew Bible is not auto­matically applicable for present-day societies, we still might be able to glean insights for our present world. In order to attain such, this study first analyzes shortly the post-modern societal situation pertaining to group-identities. Subsequently, the focus will be on how Israel’s self-understanding as “chosen people” is approached critically by some parts within the Old Testament. Following that, the study concentrates on how concrete social and religious minority groups were viewed: the sojourners, the poor, the slaves. Within this approach also the “sons of the prophets” and the Rechabites will be reviewed. The study suggests that the Christian church might have an own alternative narrative within a postmodern world by emphasizing that identity should have a transcendent side, by seeing that the individual is the proper level of identity, and by proclaiming that individuals are called to function with responsibility within communities.
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    The Things That Mark an Apostle Paul’s Signs, Wonders, and Miracles
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2021) Doedens, Jaap
    The Acts of the Apostles describes – sometimes in rather colourful details – signs and wonders wrought by the apostle Paul. Can this portrait of the apostle be corroborated based on his own letters? Or do we have to conclude that contemporaries of the apostle paint a more or less hagiographic picture of Paul’s miraculous activities? What is the place of miracles surrounding Paul and wrought by him within the whole of his life and mission? A survey of Paul’s letters allows us to get a view of how the apostle sees the function of signs, wonders, and mighty works within the dynamics of the proclamation of the gospel. Viewed in this way, the possible difference between information based upon Paul’s own communication and that of his contemporaries about him appears to decrease. A clearer picture of the part miracles play within the whole of Paul’s mission may also help to rethink modern and post-modern world-views from a biblical perspective.