New Testament Theology in a Secular World: A Constructivist Work in Philosophical Epistemology and Christian Apologetics

220 Pages·2012·21.7 MB·English

by  Peter Lampe

NEW TESTAMENT
THEOLOGY
SECULAR WORLD
A Constructivist Work in Philosophical Epistemology
and Christian Apologetics
New Testament Theology in a Secular World

New Testament Theology
in a Secular World
A Constructivist Work
in Philosophical Epistemology and
Christian Apologetics
Peter Lampe
Translated by Robert L. Brawley
from the German edition, with substantial
subsequent revisions and augmentations
by the author
A
t&t dark
Published by T&T Clark International
A Continuum Imprint
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© Peter Lampe, 2012
Peter l.ampe has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be
identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Translated by Robert L. Brawlcy from the German edition, Die Wirklichkeit als
Bild: Das Neue Testament als ein Grunddokument abendländischer Kultur im Lichte
konstruktivistischer Epistemologie und Wissenssoziologie (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener,
2006), with substantial subsequent revisions and augmentations by the author.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
elSBN: 978-0-567-01900-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by Free Range Book Design & Production
For Margaret, my beloved wife
Possessing only the five senses, we note only those
properties of an apple that we can perceive, while other
properties... perhaps exist.
(Sextus Empiricus, Pyrrhoniae Hypotyposes 1.97)
No human has power over the wind to restrain the wind...
Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really find
it out... As you do not know the path of the wind..., so
you do not know the work of God.
(Ecclesiastes 8:8, 17; 11:5)

Contents
Abbreviations ix
I Introduction: Indicating the Problem 1
II Stages in the History of Thought on the Way to Constructivism 5
1 Between Naive Realism and Ontological Idealism 5
2 On the Concept of Truth 15
III The Brain as a Designer 28
1 Neurophysiological Reasons for Constructivism 28
2 Does an External Ontic Reality Exist? 34
3 The Other’, the ‘Self, and the Freedom of the Will
as Realities Constructed by the Brain? 37
4 Gaps between Scientific and Everyday-Knowledge
Constructs of Reality 41
IV Objectivity as Intersubjectivity: The Interface with Sociology
of Knowledge 45
V A Constructivist Sociology of Knowledge Model 49
VI Implications for Theological Discourse 67
1 On the Non-Absolute Character of Theological Speech 67
2 Human Interaction with a Cognitive Model of God? 70
3 Ontological Equality of Diverse Designs of Reality as a
Prerequisite for Intercontextual Dialogue and Competition 72
VII Application of the Model to Early Christian Examples:
The New Reality of the Early Christians 79
1 The Resurrection of Jesus 79
2 The Irrelevance of Worldly Distinctions 90
3 The ‘New Creation’ of Human Beings 98
4 The Eucharist 104
5 New Orientation of Behaviour 114
Vlll Contents
6 A Look Back: Jesus of Nazareth’s Proclamation of
God’s Kingdom in Words and Works 120
7 Prospects 129
VIII Rather intellectus intellectui concordat than eus intellectui
concordat? Normative Reflections on the Concept of Truth
and on Intercontextual Competition in a Pluralistic Society 135
IX The Prospect for a Constructivist Theory7 of Historiography 147
1 Emic Constructs: Second-Order Constructs of Past
Constructions of Reality 148
2 Necessary Additions and Omissions as well as Critical
Assessments when Dealing with Historical Sources 150
3 Etic Constructs of a Second Order: Consciously
Deviating from the Understanding of the Past People,
Reading the Sources ‘Against the Grain’ 151
4 The Relationship between Emic and Etic Constructs 152
5 Historiography as an Integral Part of the Historian’s
Construction of Present Reality 153
6 Conclusion 157
Appendix: Life after Death in Selected Texts of Ancient Judaism 158
1 General Resurrection of the Dead 158
2 The Taking up of Righteous Individuals 161
3 Summary of Jewish Elements of Knowledge from the
Time of Early Christianity 164
Selected Bibliography 167
Index of References 185
Index of Subjects 195
Abbreviations
RAC Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, /-XX (ed. Th. Klauser er
al.; Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1950-2004).
TRE Theologische Realenzyklopädie /-XXXV/ (ed. G. Krause and G.
Müller; Berlin: de Gruvter, 1977-2004).