Research Articles (New Testament and Related Literature)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/2559

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Contextualizing Mijikenda healthcare system in Matthew 8:1-4 Leper's narrative to procure a transformative evangelical engagement
M'bwangi, Fednand-Manjewa; Van Eck, Ernest (Africajournals, 2025)
The study attempts to pursue the shifting focus of New Testament scholarship concerns from Biblical criticism models to contextualization perspectives of bible reading that reflect African contextual and existential challenges. Scholars have conceived the leper's narrative as reflective of either application of Jesus' divine power, or manifestation of God's empire, or, a pattern of service to God and humanity, which indicates a shift of focus from traditional biblical criticism toward modern contextualization of Biblical text approach. This contextualization shift compels the use of qualitative data collection and analysis methodology comprising grounded theory informed by oral narratives and biblical theology. Thus, this research poses the question: how can we contextualize the African cultural healthcare system in biblical narratives to procure a transformative evangelical engagement that resonates with the biblical theological significance of Jesus? Mijikenda healthcare practices, often involve traditional healing methods, can in ways be compared to Christian healing such as the role of one’s faith, prayer, and the use of spiritual and physical remedies. However, there are also very significant differences, especially concerning the source of healing power and the role of intermediaries such as ancestors. The thesis proposed for this study is that contextualizing African cultural practices to procure a transformative evangelical engagement, compels the use of biblical theological-based universal significance of Jesus Christ to evaluate the uniqueness of culture. The reading of the leper's narrative in the contexts of a biblical worldview and Mijikenda cultural HCS to procure an evangelical engagement in tune with biblical theological significance of Jesus Christ, points to interdisciplinary study of religion that blends cultural perceptions with Christian Christological perspectives. This approach imparts hermeneutical skills for using biblical narratives to effect inter-cultural church missions.
A socio-rhetorical analysis of the cosmic christ : Colossians 1: 15-20 and its implications for environmental sustainability
Olajide, Michael D. (AfricaJournals, 2025)
Due to the increasing rate of environmental degradation, unfavourable climate change, destruction of the ozone layer depletion, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and the like, attention is being given to environmental discourse. Sacred texts such as Colossians serve as heritage for theological and ethical perspective for creation vis a vis environment. The objective of this study is to elicit insights from the pericope (Colossians 1:15-20) for the advancement of environmental sustainability. This objective is accomplished through the use of socio-rhetorical analysis of Colossians 1:15-20 whereby the world within the text and the world behind the text which encompasses the religious, political, socio-cultural and literary genre were examined.
When the church becomes loveless : a Nigerian reading of Revelation 2:1-7
Adewale, Olubiyi A.; Oyekan, Funke E. (AfricaJournals, 2025)
Most previous works on Revelation 2:1-7 reiterate that the message of the letter to the church of Ephesus is the leaving of her first love and the attendant warning to the church to return to the first love if she did not want her candlestick to be removed from its place. In this article, Revelation 2:1-7 was read using the typical or representative reading. This is one of the methods of reading the letters to the seven churches to examine the letter's message to the church from a Nigerian perspective. The article holds that the context of the church of Ephesus and the contemporary Nigerian church are indeed similar and that the message to the Ephesian church can be applied to the contemporary Nigerian church. In the reading, apart from the major message of the loss of love that most exegetes have brought out, this paper has brought out other messages that are of great importance to the continual existence of the church. The article supports the notion that, contrary to the calls for retaliation and or self-defence in the face of persecution, the church should persevere without ‘getting weary’. In these days when immorality reigns in the world and thus in some churches, even among church leaders, the church has to uphold discipline as the Ephesian church demonstrated and also reject the heresy of the ‘prosperity’ theology that has weakened the message of the church and promoted love of materialism the so called "prosperity gospel" or "prosperity theology" often equates faith with financial blessings and physical well-being, and can drastically distort the key message of the gospel.
The “formation” of Jesus in the long second century : a proposal for an agenda
Van den Heever, Gerhard (New Testament Society of Southern Africa, 2025-12)
It is conventionally accepted in New Testament studies that the image of Jesus Christ and the interpretations of his significance, as represented in the canonical Gospels and epistolary literature, gained early hegemonic status and remained stable from the first century onwards. Within this framework, the concept of “Jesus remembered” functions to root the evolving Christological traditions and trajectories in a “proto-orthodox” tradition in conceptual and ideological proximity to the historical Jesus. However, a number of considerations militate against this view of Christian origins: a) the continued oral traditioning of creative Jesus stories alongside and influencing the emerging written traditions; b) a production of a wide variety of literature (including gospels, acts, and other theological treatises) often manifesting very different trajectories of Jesus interpretations complementary and simultaneous to those writings that later became canonical; c) a variety of divergent social formations constructed on the basis of these divergent Jesus traditions. Social and collective memory, as a term to encapsulate the idea of reception of Jesus traditions in the second century, highlights how various Christ-cult groups adapted and adopted continually changing Jesus traditions. These traditions were ritualised and formalised to give expression of and maintain their self-identities and self-perceptions through invented traditions. In this way a variety of suitable pasts for suitable histories was constructed. The incipient collections of paradigmatic writings started to gain traction towards the end of the second century as Christ-cult groups and social formations contested for hegemonic, definitional statuses. Those groups that gained hegemonic status got to define what the canonical version of the “remembered Jesus” would be. This paper provides an overview of the recent scholarship on the topic and raises some critical questions for further research.
Social identity and spatial inversion in Luke 16:19–31 (Lazarus and the rich man)
Van Groeningen, David R. (New Testament Society of Southern Africa, 2025-12)
The parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19–31) presents two characters in opposite situations: the rich man living in luxury and Lazarus living in squalor. In the afterlife, their fates are reversed. A synthesis of Social Identity Theory (SIT) and spatiality can explain the reversal of fortunes present in the parable. From SIT, we see who is to be counted among the descendants of Abraham, and from spatiality, we see a difference in assigned spaces to each of these social groups. From SIT, we see based on the use of wealth who is legitimately a “child of Abraham.” The spaces become inverted, and this inversion is a form of spatial justice.
Reconstructing the second century in the fourth : the curious case of Eusebius of Caesarea’s ecclesiastical history
De Wet, Chris Len (New Testament Society of Southern Africa, 2025-12)
This article examines how Eusebius of Caesarea constructs a textualised vision of second-century Christian history in his Ecclesiastical History, not simply as a recorder of facts, but as a curator of Christian memory. Rather than offering a neutral chronicle, Eusebius produces what Aaron Johnson has termed a “textualised history”—a layered and carefully assembled compilation of quotations, documents, martyr acts, apologies, and heresiological fragments that together function as a pedagogical archive. This method of historical construction serves theological, polemical, and canonical purposes, positioning Eusebius as both historian and author of a Christian ethnos defined through selectivity and strategic citation. Eusebius’s quotations did not operate merely as historical data, but as rhetorical instruments that discipline the past, instruct the present, and legitimise orthodox identity. His method aligns with broader late antique encyclopaedic trends in which knowledge is stabilised through the arrangement and canonisation of authoritative texts. In this sense, Eusebius creates a “meta-canon” of second-century Christianity—an interpretive superstructure that governs which voices are preserved, which are excluded, and how they are to be read. The article thus contends that Eusebius’s historiographical method is not merely descriptive but formative: it constructs a usable past through theological narration, biblical typology, and selective preservation. His vision of the second century becomes a didactic space wherein orthodoxy is embodied in episcopal succession, martyrdom is reframed as moral endurance, and heresy is discursively othered through demonological and ethnological language. The result is a creation narrative of Christian origins, structured by division, naming, and exclusion—echoing the very logic of Genesis. Eusebius does not simply recount Christian history; he disciplines it. His textualisation of the second century thus becomes a model of historical memory that would shape ecclesiastical self-understanding for centuries to come.
Dynamics of Christian identity : negation, delegitimisation and the epistle of Barnabas
Botha, Pieter J.J. (New Testament Society of Southern Africa, 2025-12)
Christians of the late first and early second century combined a commitment to Jesus Christ with adherence to Jewish practices in varying degrees. Several Christian leaders thought that some of these practices dangerously blurred the boundaries between Christianity and Judaism, thereby revealing a struggle about “Christian” identity. It is clear that such a struggle underlies the negative language about Israel that we find in the Epistle of Barnabas. However, in order to situate this writing we need to properly understand what Barnabas wants to achieve with his radically negative language. In this study the social-psychological model of delegitimisation is used to clarify the rhetoric and intention of this writing.
Bodies of grief : on space and affect in 2 Corinthians 7:2–16
Potgieter, Annette (New Testament Society of Southern Africa, 2025-12-01)
Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 7:2–16 unfolds within a complex interplay of spatial and affective dynamics. Beginning already in 2 Corinthians 5:11, Paul seeks both reconciliation with the Corinthians and the re-establishment of his contested authority as an apostle. The article explores how he tailors his argument to a specific cultural and emotional register. In Roman Corinth, the myth of Medea was deeply rooted in the cultural memory and monumental space, functioning as a symbol of embodied grief and a moral warning. Paul’s repeated use of λύπη is imagined to participate in a culturally embedded emotional repertoire shaped by Corinth’s monumental and mythic associations with Medea. Drawing on spatial theory and affect theory, the article explores how Paul harnesses bodies, his own, those of his co-workers and the intended audience, as spatialised sites of persuasion. Paul’s rhetoric constructs a lived “thirdspace” in which grief, comfort, and reconciliation are negotiated. This article emphasises the importance of spatial affectivity in Pauline discourses and urges greater attention to the role of cultural-emotional repertoires in early Christian epistolary discourse.
Intersectional hermeneutics in Zimbabwe's Anglican Church, Diocese of Harare (2008-2025)
Mundenda, Dzikamai (AOSIS, 2025-10-31)
The 21st century has witnessed harsh and soft criticisms on the issue of the use of contraceptives. This global argument has been ongoing in the religious sphere particularly in Christianity. The study is set to examine various views on the use of contraceptives. It also investigates Genesis 38:8-10 in its original context for proper application. Historical-critical method is employed in the study. It is discovered that whereas there are proponents of the use of contraceptives, there are others who are totally against it. The thriving force for this contention is religious faith and denominational doctrine. This has wrought some negative effects on couples, mostly Christian couples. The response of Christian faith and doctrine to this issue has not been clearly spelt out as some scholars who delved into this argument are many a time subjective in their analysis. To facilitate possible suggestion(s) and solution(s), the researchers intend to bring to bear a biblical perspective on this issue by studying Genesis 38:8-10. It is recommended that proper understanding of the texts of study would enhance better knowledge and application of contraceptives by Christian couples. CONTRIBUTION : In this study, the authors contend that adequate analysis of Genesis 1:28 and 38:8-10 would enhance proper knowledge of the texts and curb aggressive contention on the use of contraceptives particularly as regards married Christians. The application of exegetical findings would enhance human and societal development.
Church of Nigeria’s (Anglican communion) response to domestic violence against women in Nsukka local government area
Ugwu, Ndidiamaka V.; Okoye, Kanayochukwu M.; Eze, Ukamaka Uchenna (AOSIS, 2025-09-08)
Domestic violence, especially against women, has become a frequent occurrence in recent times, and most of these incidents are not reported. This study examined the response of the Anglican church to domestic violence against women, using Nsukka urban as a case study. This study is imperative as it explores the extent of domestic violence in Nsukka and the danger it poses. This study adopted a mixed research design of quantitative and qualitative research methods. A sample of 60 respondents was purposively selected for the study (18 clergymen and 42 lay people). A structured questionnaire and interview schedule were used for data collection. Data were analysed using simple percentages and frequency counts, a descriptive method. CONTRIBUTIO0N : Findings revealed that high domestic violence prevalence in Nsukka. Also, emerging from the study, the high rate of domestic violence is induced in part by substance abuse, psychological disorders, poverty and, more importantly, traditional and religious belief and practice that promote male dominance. Although the church of Nigeria provides intervention, which primarily includes counselling for abused women, these interventions were found to be inadequate in effectively addressing this challenge.
Doing as the elect do : Matthew 7:21 within Deuteronomistic and Matthean election theology
Van den Os, Arjan (AOSIS, 2026-01-21)
Matthew 7:21 is an exegetically challenging verse: it provides a complex formulation of Matthew’s election theology. Simultaneously, this text is systematically theologically challenging, due to its emphasis on doing the will of God. This article argues that Matthew 7:21 and Matthean election theology must be understood within the matrix of Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic perspectives on election. Entrance into the kingdom of God is a divine gift, which finds fulfilment in Jesus Christ. This divine and incongruous gift, however, must be accompanied by doing the will of God. Faith is not merely a cognitive matter but also an active calling to be perfect (Mt 5:48). The recipients of this election can be identified primarily as the Jews, but in Christ, the circle of the divine family is extended to include the Gentiles. Matthew’s concept of election can thus be described as Christological, complex, consonant with the Old Testament, and ethically active. CONTRIBUTION : By studying and contextualising Matthew’s election theology, this article contributes to a richer and more dynamic understanding of election in Reformed theology.
Unhiding vulnerable voices : reading four parables in Luke as a response to gender-based violence in South Africa
Du Toit, Charel D. (AOSIS, 2026-04-17)
This article proposes an unhiding reading of the parables of Jesus, revealing the often-overlooked presence and agency of women in these narratives. Grounded in social-scientific and historical criticism, this methodology explores how first-century listeners would have imagined women as active participants in daily life, present in households, fields, roads and acts of hospitality, even when not explicitly mentioned in the text. Using four parables as case studies (the Prodigal Son, the Friend at Midnight, the Good Samaritan, and the Sower), the article argues that modern interpretations often perpetuate patriarchal silencing by failing to acknowledge these hidden women. It further connects this erasure to the ongoing crisis of gender-based violence, particularly in the South African context. By reading the parables through a lens that recognises women’s historical and theological significance, the article offers a transformative approach for biblical scholarship, churches and theological education to confront gender injustice and promote inclusive interpretation. CONTRIBUTION : This article contributes to the HTS Theological Studies special collection by proposing an unhiding reading of Jesus’ parables. Rooted in social-scientific criticism, it challenges patriarchal erasures of women in biblical interpretation. This hermeneutic offers a transformative tool for theological education and faith communities to address gender-based violence (GBV) in the South African context.
Double negatives in New Testament Greek texts and their translations in the Dangme Bible
Kuwornu-Adjaottor, Jonathan E.T.; Quaye, Ebenezer (MDPI, 2025-08-13)
The Greek negatives, μὴ and οὐk (which also appear as οὐ,and οὐx depending on the type of beginning alphabet of the word that it precedes), are variedly used in the Greek New Testament and at various instances. With all the relevance of the use of these negatives in New Testament Studies, of special attention is the appearance of the double negative as the combination of οὐ μὴ. Although the double negatives are not translated to stand on their own, their combination in English denotes not at all, in no wise or by no means. Further, this combination has both exegetical and theological significance and implications. This article, therefore, opines that as the double negative places stronger emphasis and vehement force or augments negation or prohibition, it must reflect in the Dangme Bible, Ngmami Klͻuklͻu ͻ (Holy writing), because the force is somehow silent in some of the texts used in the Greek text. It is, therefore, appropriate for biblical exegetes as well as translators to provide the needed attention to this in their attempts to bring the text alive to contemporary audience readers, practitioners and students of the biblical texts. CONTRIBUTION : This article, therefore, attempted to analyse the translation of the double negative combination in Dangme Bible, Ngmami Klͻuklͻuͻ reflecting on the implications of its usage.
Constructing a Christ-centred identity : a social identity reading of the Epistle to Titus
Momberg, Rudolph Petrus; Kok, Jacobus (Kobus) (AOSIS, 2025-11-18)
The Pastoral Epistle to Titus offers both theological insights and practical guidance for Christ-followers on the island of Crete, a context moulded by enduring public reputations and persistent negative cultural stereotypes. This article applies the Social Identity Theory (SIT) to explore how the letter to Titus intends to transform the Cretan identity through comparative fit, normative fit, salience and theological dispositions. A social-rhetorical analysis demonstrates how the epistle to Titus redefines social structures by transferring the emphasis on social categories to divine χάρις. The text challenges personal self-esteem and external prejudice by emphasising virtues that contrast the dominant vices and present a Christ-centred identity that challenges the Cretan negative prototypicality and discrimination. This article argues that the epistle to Titus presents a purposeful strategy to reconstruct the social identity within a culturally contested context. CONTRIBUTION : The contribution to scholarship lies in the integration of theological analysis with SIT, providing new insights into the dynamics of early Christ-following identity formation.
Revelation as an apocalypse : critical considerations on the literary genre apocalypse
Van Niekerk, Robert J.; Van Eck, Ernest (AOSIS, 2025-10-31)
In popular discourse, Revelation is frequently characterised as an apocalyptic text concerned with the cataclysmic end of the world. This article offers a critical overview of historically informed scholarly attempts to define and reconstruct the literary genre of apocalypse and its application to Revelation. A correct understanding of genre bears not only classificatory but also epistemological significance: the manner in which the genre of a text is identified profoundly shapes its reading and interpretation. Key developments in the definition of apocalypse as a literary genre will be examined, beginning prior to the genre-decade and continuing through its course. The influence of this decade’s research is clearly reflected in recent representative historical-critical studies of Revelation. In conclusion, the article notes both the contributions these genre studies have made towards a more responsible and culturally sensitive reading of Revelation, as well as topics that require further investigation. This article is intended as a foundational study for a series of further investigations into Revelation. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : By promoting a more precise, historically conscious and culturally sensitive understanding of the genre apocalypse, this article enables readers to engage with Revelation more responsibly. The study also identifies key areas for further scholarly investigation.
Unhiding in plain sight : reimagining the parable of the persistent widow
Du Toit, Charel D. (University of the Free State, 2025-12)
This article reinterprets the parable of the persistent widow, moving beyond its traditional focus on prayer to highlight the widow’s strategic agency. Using social-scientific and historical methodologies, the study argues that 1st-century Jewish audiences would likely have viewed the widow not as a passive victim but as a resourceful and resilient figure. Drawing on Jewish texts, rabbinic literature, and the Babatha archive, the analysis shows how the widow navigates patriarchal systems to protect her legal rights. The concept of “unhiding” is used to challenge androcentric readings, revealing the active role of women in biblical narratives. This reinterpretation reimagines the widow as an active protagonist, whose persistence showcases her ingenuity and dignity within a male-dominated society.
John the Baptist, social identity and imperial space in Luke 3:1–22
Van Groeningen, David R. (AOSIS, 2025-09-30)
This article sought to understand the presentation of social identities and spatiality in Luke 3:1-22. Here, John the Baptist preaches a sermon of repentance, warning his readers not to rely on physical descent from Abraham as their only identity marker. The article sought to understand the social identity of the Israelite people (largely with reference to Abraham) and how this relates to the space of the land of Israel. It also examined how Roman imperialism attempted to create a space of Roman imperialism inside the space of the Israelite homeland. The article examined how Israel functioned as a sacred space for the worship of the God of Israel and then analysed how the social group that was to occupy this space was affected by Roman imperial rule. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : Finally, this article sought to understand how the preaching of John the Baptist related to these social identities and their occupation of this space, and their attempts to transform the space into a more equitable space
John Chrysostom’s Interpretation of the Book of Ruth in His Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew
De Wet, Chris Len (Taylor and Francis, 2024-03-25)
This article examines John Chrysostom’s interpretation of Ruth, highlighting how he frames her as a marginal yet important figure within the late antique Christian discourse on gender, power, and ethnicity. While Chrysostom is often labelled a literalist interpreter, his reading of Ruth demonstrates a complex figurative and typological approach that aligns her with the church while associating figures like Tamar and Rahab with the synagogue. This figurative reading serves both a polemical and pedagogical function, reinforcing his broader anti-Jewish rhetoric while using Ruth’s foreignness and poverty to model Christian identity. Ironically, Chrysostom presents Ruth as an emblem of the church, despite her historical choice to embrace Judaism, showing the adaptability of biblical figures in Christian exegesis. By exploring how Chrysostom employs gendered and ethnic tropes, this article sheds light on the exegetical strategies that shaped Christian identity formation and biblical interpretation in the fourth century.
Unhiding female characters in the parable of the sower : reimagining fields and farms
Du Toit, Charel D.; Van Eck, Ernest (AOSIS, 2025-05)
This article employs an unhiding reading methodology to explore the presence of women in Luke’s agrarian parables, specifically focussing on the parable of the sower. By engaging with Van Eck’s research on the realistic reading of the parables in their 1st-century socio-economic context and implementing Du Toit’s unhiding reading, the authors argue that women, although not explicitly mentioned, would have been imagined as present, active and important participants in agricultural labour by the original hearers of these parables. Drawing on historical evidence of women’s involvement in textile production, fieldwork and harvest activities, the article challenges traditional androcentric interpretations and highlights the integral role of women in the parable of the sower, and other agrarian parables. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : An unhiding reading will be suggested at the end of this article, an alternative reading aiming to offer a more comprehensive understanding of the parables, grounded in the lived realities of a 1st-century Mediterranean audience.
‘That you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught’ (Luke 1:4) : reflections on research, certainty and spirituality from an evangelical perspective
Stenschke, Christoph (Amsterdam University Press, 2024-10)
In the Western tradition, research and sin the Western tradition, research and spirituality are often, probably in most cases, considered ‘uneasy bedfellows’. The characteristics of the former cannot and, as many insist, must not be applied to the latter. The Cambridge Dictionary defines research as ‘a detailed study of a subject, especially in order to discover (new) information or reach a (new) understanding’. In contrast, spirituality is understood to be ‘the quality that involves deep feelings and beliefs of a religious nature, rather than the physical parts of life’. So, the contrast is between detailed study and discovery of new information versus deep feelings and (mere) ‘beliefs’. are often, probably in most cases, considered ‘uneasy bedfellows’. The characteristics of the former cannot and, as many insist, must not be applied to the latter. The Cambridge Dictionary defines research as ‘a detailed study of a subject, especially in order to discover (new) information or reach a (new) understanding’. In contrast, spirituality is understood to be ‘the quality that involves deep feelings and beliefs of a religious nature, rather than the physical parts of life’. So, the contrast is between detailed study and discovery of new information versus deep feelings and (mere) ‘beliefs’.

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