Unity And Diversity In The New Testament Religion Essay

Unity And Diversity In The recent testament Religion judgeThe author of this article on Unity and Diversity in the New testament, D. A. Carson, develops a reflection in defending the unity of the New volition having in consideration the diversity of it. He starts his reflection by describing and then(prenominal) criticizing some works done by an another(prenominal)(prenominal)s scholars to be able to put in his position on the matter. One of the works was the book Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity written by W. Bauer, which Carson strongly criticizes beca role of his abandonment of the New volition based on disagreement of the existence of the first snow perform (66). According to Carson, this critical reconstruction of early church history, coupled with other developments that equally depreciate the truthfulness of the New Testament hire generated a host of writings exploring the nature of New Testament righteousness (67). Carson proposes that domineering theology and biblical theology are necessary for the escorting of such unity in the New Testament even when there is diversity. plowshare to the Idea of Doing Biblical TheologyCarson defines biblical theology as the pegleg of theology whose concern it is to study each corpus of the Scripture in its avow right, especially with respect to its place in history of Gods florescence revelation (69). For him it is very important to his readers to know that biblical theology has play an important role in the development of the unity of the New Testament because of the historical facts that go with it. On the other hand, Carson defines organized theology as the branch of theology that seeks to elaborate the whole and the parts of Scripture (69).In my analysis, I noticed that systematic theology has to do with logical sort of of historical links. However, I also noticed that there is a connectedness between biblical theology and systematic theology. Carson asserted, biblical theology mustiness be systematic even if it focuses on the historical place and importee of each corpus and systematic theology, if it turns on fair exegesis, must perforce rely on historical considerations (70). In my understanding, it seems that the author is emphasizing the ask for unity in the New Testament to be able to expend either biblical or systematic theologies.In Carsons criticism, he cites the works of J.D.G. Dunn especially the kerigma of Jesus (72). Not only does Dunn develop the idea of the use of the kerigma but also the use of the Old Testament manuscripts, other devotion concepts, and the study of the life of Christ. However, Dunn excludes the evidence in the Gospel of John. He eliminates the kerigma. He avoids disputeing about this topic. On the other hand, Carson asserts that the factor that determines the unity of the New Testament is the person of Jesus as a man and Jesus as the glorified one and concludes that there was diversity among the Christians in the fir st century (72). He disagrees, as do I, about Dunns conclusion that Jesus was not, in His own teaching, the object of faith (74). No wonder Carson labels Dunns book as superficial (77).In spite of all of his criticism to Dunns works, the author switches viewpoints to discuss the importance of systematic theology in being coherent to the shade or context being studied. In this sense, he develops four positions to back up up his statements. The first position is that the Scripture is faithful and historically testable (79). The sulphur position is that the laws of logic help in the integration of knowledge and intercourse of the truth (80). The third position is that systematic theology requires documentation to mint candy with the Bible topics (81). The last position is that systematic theology needs to arrest biblical data including the sixty-six books of the canon (82).He also discusses the topic of diversity in the New Testament characterized by synthesizing the truth effec tuate in the Bible in contemporary terms (83), and the distinction of how a writer records and interpret that truth (84). In addition, the diversity also includes the own personal interests and ideologies of the writers, which means that two authors could be talking about the similar topic but with different words and writing styles.Implications for My MinistryThe author helped me to understand the differences between biblical and systematic theology and the importance in applying elucidate methodology when analyzing biblical texts. He showed me through this article that exegesis interacts with biblical theology biblical theology interacts with historical theology and historical theology interacts with systematic theology. All of them interact with each other.Another implication in my ministry is that I need to teach the Scripture and transmit to my congregation and youth company that it is trustworthy. In addition, I need to legitimize that there is harmony in both theologies, b iblical and systematic theologies. This understanding will help me to charter a better interpretation of biblical passages.Finally, something that I learned from D.A. Carson is to have a broad analysis and criticism about works of other authors in order to make the truth be revealed through the processes compound in systematic theology. This analysis will help me to think critically with the purpose of deciphering truth.