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Volume 17, Number 2, June 2004 SYDNEY COLLEGE OF DIVINITY Twentieth Anniversary Commemorative Issue EDITORIAL THIS ISSUE OF Pacifica celebrates the Twentieth Anniversary of Sydney College of Divinity, a corporate sponsor of the Pacifica Theological Studies Association. The leading article by the current Dean of the College, Dr Raymond Nobbs, outlines the history of the College, making clear the outstanding ecumenical achievement that its coming into existence represented - in a not always sympathetic environment. The remaining articles, composed by scholars across the member institutions, illustrate the range and diversity as well as the high level of theological scholarship brought by the various ecclesial and theological traditions that contribute to the College. As an ecumenical theological journal, Pacifica is honoured to place before the wider theological world this public record of ecumenical scholarly cooperation and Christian fellowship. Brendan Byrne S. J. Contents, Abstracts, Notes on Contributors Articles RAYMOND NOBBS Abstract: Monday, 15 September 2003, marked the twentieth Anniversary of the official incorporation of the Sydney College of Divinity (SCD). This article is a selective attempt to distil and delineate the essence of the major phases of the SCD's life. J. R. HARRISON Why did Josephus and Paul Refuse to Circumcise? 137 Abstract: In AD 66-67 Josephus was commissioned to encourage the Galilean revolutionary "hot heads" to lay down their weapons against Rome (Life 29). In his autobiography (Life 113), Josephus says that he stopped some Galilean Jews from forcibly circumcising two non-Jewish nobles who had fled to him for refuge from Trachonitis. This episode is reminiscent of Paul's refusal of certain "false brethren" who, in AD 48/51, wanted Titus forcibly circumcised at Jerusalem (Gal 2:1-5). This article explores the influence that pro-Jewish sentiment and an incipient Jewish nationalism might have exercised on the early Christians regarding the place of the "works of the law". It marks Josephus as a singular figure in first-century Judaism who, like Paul, resisted the tide of Jewish culture in refusing the imposition of circumcision either upon Gentile asylum seekers or proselytes. It enables us to reconsider what might have been animating the "false brothers" at Jerusalem, as well as the rhetorical strategy Paul employs in combating the Jerusalem and Antioch agitators in Galatians 1-2. However, ultimately the situations faced by Paul and Josephus were different. NEIL ORMEROD The Dual Language of Sacrifice in Christian Tradition 159 Abstract: The notion of sacrifice as an explanation of the death of Jesus remains a contentious one in Christian theology. This article explores the notion through the work of René Girard, to see how his work may shed some light on the Christian tradition, in particular in dialogue with the writings of Origen and Aquinas. It argues that tf discourse in relation to the notion of sacrifice, that these modes should not be confused, and that each sheds some light on the theological meaning of the death of Jesus. ALEXANDER KARIOTOGLOU The Rise of Orthodoxy's Encounter with Islam 170 Abstract: The Orthodox Church was the first to come into contact with Islam. The presence of the Byzantine Empire, and therefore of the Orthodox Church in the northern regions of Arabia, created some of the presuppositions for the Church's influence upon the Islamic tradition, as also did the presence of Christian communities in the south The present article will examine echoes of the Orthodox Christian tradition that can be detected in the verses of the Koran. GERARD KELLY Lutheran-Roman Catholic Agreement on Justification: Suggestions for Talking about God Today 184 Abstract: The recent agreements between Lutherans and Roman Catholics on the doctrine of justification was hailed as perhaps the most significant breakthrough of the modern ecumenical movement. This article looks briefly at the issues at stake on both sides and how these have been addressed in the Joint Declaration. Working with comments from Avery Dulles and Jürgen Moltmann, it argues that the Joint Declaration is important for the future orientation of the doctrine, in particular as an example of discourse about God. While recognising that each ecclesial family has and will retain its distinctive way of speaking about God, it is argued that for the sake of our common humanity we also need a common discourse. In what should be a challenge to both Protestants and Roman Catholics, it is proposed that such a discourse must be a sacramental discourse. CLIVE PEARSON For Christ's Sake: From Expletive to Confession 197 Abstract: The common tendency in a contextual theology has been to pose the question "Who is Jesus Christ?" for a particular setting. How might a response be made in a land down under constructing a hermeneutic out of the classical and popular cartographic principle of the antipodes? How might the confessional claim of Christ is Lord be made in a cultural location where an invocation of the name of Christ is most frequently an expletive? Book Reviews ALISTER MCGRATH AND J. I. PACKER (eds.), Genesis by John Calvin Proverbs by Charles Bridges Alan Moss 216 DIANNE BERGANT, The Song of Songs Douglas L. Jones 218 MICHAEL GORMAN, Cruciformity: Paul's Narrative Spirituality of the Cross Vic Pfitzner 220 GRAEME GOLDSWORTHY, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching Alice M. Sinnott 223 CHAWKAT MOUCARRY, Faith to Faith: Christianity and Islam in Dialogue MARIA ROSA MENOCAL, The Ornament Of The World: How Muslims, Christians, and Jews Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain Gerard Hall 225 D. G. LEAHY, Faith and Philosophy: The Historical Impact Sandy Yule 228 ANNE Y. KOESTER (ed.), Liturgy and Justice: To Worship God in Spirit and Truth Joseph Bush 230 ALISTER E. MCGRATH, The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation Maurice Schild 232 GWILYM BECKERLEGGE (ed.), From Sacred Text to Internet Herbert R. Swanson 234 MARK L. Y. CHAN AND ROLAND CHIA (eds.), Beyond Determinism and Reductionism: Genetic Science and the Person Bernard Teo 237 F. DEAN LEUKING, Let's Talk Marriage: A Guide for Couples Preparing to Marry. Danielle Mann 239 PETER MILLAR, Finding Hope Again: Journeying Through Sorrow and Beyond Maryanne Confoy 241
RAYMOND NOBBS is Dean of the Sydney College of Divinity and Senior Research Fellow in History at Macquarie University. Author of eight books and over thirty articles and chapters, a third volume in the Norfolk Island series, dealing with the Melanesian Mission, is due for publication later this year, while work is well advanced on a book on the Lambeth Conferences. He was co-author of Anglicans in the Antipodes (Greenwood: 1999). The article published in this issue had its origins in a paper delivered on 1 October, 2003, at the ANZATS Conference held in Sydney dedicated to the theme: "Making the Connection: Theology and Ministry". JAMES HARRISON, a graduate of Macquarie University Ancient History Department, is Head of the School of Theology at Wesley Institute. He has contributed articles to Reformed Theological Review, Tyndale Bulletin, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Journal of Theological Studies, Vigiliae Christianae and also to New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity Volumes 8-9. A monograph, Paul's Language of Grace in Its Graeco-Roman Context, was published by Mohr Siebeck in 2003. His particular interest as an ancient historian focuses upon the social distinctiveness of the early Christians in their first-century context. NEIL ORMEROD is Academic Secretary and lecturer in theology at the Catholic Institute of Sydney. He has recently had articles published in Theological Studies and the Irish Theological Quarterly, both on trinitarian themes. He is currently president of the Australian Catholic Theological Association, and is married with four children. ALEXANDER S. KARIOTOGLOU is lecturer in Missiology and Patristics at St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College in Sydney. He studied Orthodox theology in Athens and, following postgraduate studies in Germany with Prof Adel-Theodor Khoury, was awarded his PhD in theology from the Theological School of the University of Athens, Prof Anastasios Yannoulatos, Archbishop of Albania being his supervisor. He is a member of the Committee "Islam and Europe" of the Conference of Churches in Europe, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate. His publications include: The Greek Oracular Literature regarding Islam from 16th to 18th Centuries (Athens: 1982); Introduction to the Koran (Athens: 1994); The Religion of the Sikhs (Athens: 1996), along with several articles in scholarly collections and journals. GERARD KELLY is professor of theology at the Catholic Institute of Sydney and a priest in the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Sydney. He is a member of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue in Australia. He is the author of Recognition: Advancing Ecumenical Thinking (New York: Peter Lang, 1996). CLIVE PEARSON is Lecturer in Theology and Vice-Principal of United Theological College, North Parramatta, NSW, and also Associate Director, Research Group on Public Theology, Charles Sturt University. He is a member of the editorial boards of Ecotheology (London) and Political Theology and a co-editor of Cross-Cultural Theologies (London). His particular interests are christology, ecotheology, public and contextual theologies and diasphoric/migrant studies. He is at present completing an anthology provisionally entitled Faith in a Hyphen: Theology in Diaspora. |