Christian Prophecy: The Post-Biblical Tradition PDF
Preview Christian Prophecy: The Post-Biblical Tradition
Christian Prophecy This page intentionally left blank Christian Prophecy The Post-Biblical Tradition niels christian hvidt 1 2007 3 OxfordUniversityPress,Inc.,publishesworksthatfurther OxfordUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellence inresearch,scholarship,andeducation. Oxford NewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto Withofficesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright#2007byOxfordUniversityPress,Inc. PublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress,Inc. 198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NewYork10016 www.oup.com OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise, withoutthepriorpermissionofOxfordUniversityPress. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Hvidt,NielsChristian. Christianprophecy:thepost-biblicaltradition/NielsChristianHvidt. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-0-19-531447-2 1. Prophecy—Christianity. I. Title. BR115.P8H852007 231.7'45—dc22 2006024866 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica onacid-freepaper For Elisabeth This page intentionally left blank Foreword Whatisaprophet?Aprophetisnotasoothsayer;theessentialelement oftheprophetisnotthepredictionoffutureevents.Theprophetis someonewhotellsthetruthonthestrengthofhiscontactwithGod— thetruthfortoday,whichalso,naturally,shedslightonthefuture. Itisnotaquestionofforetellingthefutureindetail,butofrendering thetruthofGodpresentatthismomentintimeandofpointingus intherightdirection.AsfarasIsraelisconcerned,thewordofthe prophethasaparticularfunctioninthatfaithisessentiallyunderstood ashopeinHimwhowillcome:awordoffaithisalwaystherealiza- tionofthefaith,especiallyinitsstructureofhope,becauseitleads hopeonandkeepsitalive.Itisequallyimportanttounderlinethat theprophetisnotapocalyptic,thoughhemayseemso.Essentially,he doesnotdescribetheultimaterealitiesbuthelpsustounderstand andlivethefaithashope. Evenif,atamomentintime,theprophetmustproclaimtheWord ofGodasifitwereasharpsword,heisnotnecessarilycriticizing organizedworshipandinstitutions.Hismandateistocountermis- understandingandabuseoftheWordwithintheinstitutionbyren- deringGod’svitalclaimeverpresent.However,itwouldbewrongto misconstruetheOldTestamentasantagonisticdialecticsbetween theprophetsandtheLaw.GiventhatbothcomefromGod,theyboth haveapropheticfunction.Thisisaveryimportantpointinmy mindbecauseitleadsusintotheNewTestament.Attheendof Deuteronomy,Mosesispresentedasprophetandhetoopresents viii foreword himselfassuch.HetellsIsrael:‘‘Godwillsendyouaprophetlikeme.’’What does‘aprophetlikeme’mean?Again,accordingtoDeuteronomy—andIthink thisisthedecisivepoint—Moses’particularitylayinthefactthathespokewith Godaswithafriend.Itendtoseetherootofthepropheticelementinthat‘face toface’withGod,in‘‘talkingwithHimaswithafriend.’’Onlybyvirtueofthis directencounterwithGodmaytheprophetspeakinmoments oftime. Revelation attained itsgoal with Christ because, inthosebeautifulwords ofSaintJohnoftheCross—whenGodhasspokeninpersonthereisnothing moretoadd.NothingmoreabouttheLogoscanbesaid.Heisamongusina completewayandGodhasnothinggreatertogiveusthanHimself,ortosayto usthanHisWord.ButthisverywholenessofGod’sgivingofhimself—thatis, that He, the Logos, is present in the flesh—also means that we must contin- uallypenetratethisMystery.Andthisbringsusbacktothestructureofhope. The coming of Christ is the beginning of an ever-deepening knowledge and ofagradualdiscoveryofwhat,intheLogos,isbeinggiven.Thus,anewwayis inauguratedofleadingmanintothewholetruth:asJesusputsitintheGospel of John, the Holy Spirit will come down. I believe that the pneumatological Christology of Jesus’ leave-taking discourse is very important to our theme, giventhatChristexplainsthathiscominginthefleshwasjustafirststep.The realcomingwillhappenwhenChristisnolongerboundtoaplaceorlimitedto abody, butwhenhecomestoallofusintheSpiritastheRisenOne,sothat enteringintothetruthmayalsoacquiremoreandmoreprofundity.Itseems cleartomethat—consideringtheentirelifeoftheChurch,whichisthetime when Christ comes to us in Spirit and which is determined by this very pneumatologicalChristology—thepropheticelement,aselementofhopeand appeal,cannotnaturallybelackingorallowedtofadeaway.Throughcharisms, GodreservesforhimselftherighttointervenedirectlyintheChurchtoawaken it,warnit,promoteitandsanctifyit.Ibelievethatthis prophetic-charismatic historytraversesthewholetimeoftheChurch.Itisalwaysthereespeciallyat the most critical timesoftransition. Niels Christian Hvidt has worked for a number of years with the theme ofChristianprophecyintheframeworkoffundamentaltheology.Thisdoctoral dissertationisthefruitofhisresearchandprovidesmanynewinsightsinthis complex but vital theme. The Fathers of the Church knew that Christianity couldnotbethefinalstageofsalvation,butanintermediaryphasebetweenthe Incarnation of Christ and his glorious Return. This realization and what it means to the very nature of Christianity needs further elaboration, and Niels Christian Hvidt provides an important contributionhereto. In the historical part of the work, Hvidt shows that the prophetic call of GodthroughtheprophetsappearsthroughoutthehistoryoftheChurch.Inhis foreword ix discussion offundamental theology, Hvidttherefore investigatesthe purpose and preconditions of Christian prophecy in light of developments in the past 50 years in Revelation theology, which have given new impetus to the dis- cussion of Christian prophecy. In this way he offers a new approach to the actualization of Revelation and to the development of tradition and dogma regarding Revelation. Prophecy proves to be operative in all areas of the ac- tualization of Revelation, especially in the very life of the Church, which so- ciological investigations show in an interesting way. Prophecy is constantly challenged by false prophecy, which alwaysrepresented the greatest threat to thetruepropheticgift.ThecriteriathatHvidtpresentsfordiscerningprophecy are therefore vital. With his discussion, Niels Christian Hvidt has trod new theological land and therewith has made important contributions to a theme that needs fur- ther thought. I wish this book many attentive readers. JosephCard. Ratzinger
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