Some thoughts on the inquiry this trimester

This trimester of lessons is drawing to a close. It has been an exciting time researching and learning about the World of the Church Fathers, and the Pauline Concept of Salvation together with the students.

The socio-historical contexts of the church fathers have been very interesting--especially the big change in social and religious values and political ideology under the rule of Constantine. It is also very interesting how from Constantinian times, doctrinal issues were determined by the fad and fashion of emperors. Yet there were still dogged theologians and bishops with real theological concerns who defended the truth for the sake of it. Athanasius being one of them, as I see it. (Perhaps not everyone in scholarship today would hold such a high view of Athanaisus in view of his alleged use of violence against members of the opposite camps.)  Ultimately it is the intellectual acumen and theological integrity of real theologians (such as Athanasius and the Cappadocian Fathers) that set the stage for the reception of the Nicene formula at the council of Constantinople and beyond.

The course on Exegesis of Pauline Concept of Salvation yields interesting thoughts on Paul's use of metaphor in his teachings on salvation. Paul couches the concept of salvation in many metaphors. Until now, most teaching in church/seminaries does not distinguish between metaphors and the gist of the salvific message itself. Salvific concepts can become phantom ideas floating in the air without any real significance if one does not pay attention to what these means in their social-historical background. For example, we need to ask why and how concepts such as adoption as sons, being heirs with Christ, redemption, being set free (or ransomed), Holy Spirit as deposit, justification, etc are used in the presentation of the Christian message. It may not be easy to nail down how and why these metaphors were used, nor for that matter to distiguish between the literal and metaphorical parts of a conception. But if one does not interrogate Paul's use of metaphors, one would not really understand Paul's portrayal of Christian salvation.

These are some thoughts that I have along the way, I would love to hear yours on these topics.