Where Scripture and Tradition First Meet: How the Field of the Early Reception of the New Testament May (Re)Shape the Academic Dialogue between Evangelicals and Orthodox—Romania as a Case Study
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Romanian New Testament Evangelical Scholarship—General Background
3. Romanian Evangelical New Testament Scholarship and Patristic Literature—Before and after 1998
3.1. Scripture vs. Tradition: 1920–1998
3.2. Beginnings and Transition: 1998–2009
3.3. Development and Climax: 2009–2023
4. The Romanian Exegetical Commentary Series (SCER) and Orthodox New Testament Scholarship—A Comparison
the election of Christians represents an act of God’s eternal love that calls upon its recipients to lead lives of holiness: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (1.4). Through Jesus Christ, the elected are embraced as children of God through adoption, revealing yet another facet of God’s love, with the aim of salvation and redemption: “In love, He predestined us to adoption as children through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will” (1.5). Therefore, the rationale behind this choice lies in God’s “predestining” Christians to become His children. However, the concept of “predestination” relates more to WHAT will happen, rather than to WHO will be elected. In other words, the predetermined destiny of Christians is that ALL of them will become fully entitled children in Christ Jesus, not just a select few. Hence, the “divine predetermination” mentioned in the text doesn’t pertain to any confessional interpretation, such is the teachings about predestination in Protestant theology.(Tofană 2006, p. 53; author’s translation).
The verse conveys a profoundly positive message that should be appreciated as such, without misinterpreting its message. God elects a people for Himself from among all humanity… Although certain commentators may be concerned about God’s selective election (some are chosen, some are not), we should focus on the positive way Paul presents this truth. Ephesians 1 does not portray God as the One who rejects, but elects… The purpose of the election is that all Christians would be holy and blameless. The NTR and EDCR versions of the Bible [the New Romanian Translation and Dumitru Cornilescu Revised Edition are Romanian Evangelical versions—a.n.] use the phrase “in order to”, the Greek text uses the stronger infinitive of purpose einai. God elects with a purpose… In his sermon on Ephesians 1.4, Chrysostom writes the following about the purpose of being elected to be holy: “You have been chosen to be holy and blameless before His face. He Himself has made us holy, yet we are called to remain holy…”(Baban and Williams 2024; author’s translation).
5. Where Scripture and Tradition First Meet—Could Evangelicals and Orthodox Finally Meet There?
6. Conclusions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
1 | The modern state of Romania was founded in 1918, when the regions of Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Transylvania were added to the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. |
2 | Although their request was rejected by the Romanian government, it shows that in 1924 there were enough Pentecostal churches to establish a confessional association. Also, in 1924, the first Pentecostal confession of faith was published in Romania (Bălăban 2022, p. 43). |
3 | However, the Pentecostal Theological Seminary has functioned unofficially and intermittently since 1948 (Bălăban 2016). |
4 | The announcement regarding the new series, Early Christian Writers: A Commentary Series, is available on the Gorgias Press website: https://www.gorgiaspress.com/early-christian-writers-a-commentary-series. URL (accessed on 4 September 2023). |
5 | Stelian Tofană is the current president of the Union of the Biblical Scholars in Romania. |
6 | While scholars of other denominations might also interpret Ephesians 1.4–5 in this way, this is the first time that Evangelical scholars in Romania read the text in a way that is compatible with the Orthodox view. |
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Drimbe, A. Where Scripture and Tradition First Meet: How the Field of the Early Reception of the New Testament May (Re)Shape the Academic Dialogue between Evangelicals and Orthodox—Romania as a Case Study. Religions 2023, 14, 1323. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101323
Drimbe A. Where Scripture and Tradition First Meet: How the Field of the Early Reception of the New Testament May (Re)Shape the Academic Dialogue between Evangelicals and Orthodox—Romania as a Case Study. Religions. 2023; 14(10):1323. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101323
Chicago/Turabian StyleDrimbe, Amiel. 2023. "Where Scripture and Tradition First Meet: How the Field of the Early Reception of the New Testament May (Re)Shape the Academic Dialogue between Evangelicals and Orthodox—Romania as a Case Study" Religions 14, no. 10: 1323. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101323
APA StyleDrimbe, A. (2023). Where Scripture and Tradition First Meet: How the Field of the Early Reception of the New Testament May (Re)Shape the Academic Dialogue between Evangelicals and Orthodox—Romania as a Case Study. Religions, 14(10), 1323. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101323