Articles varia
- ROUVIERE Frédéric - La croix dans le langage du droit : retour sur la théorie de la rançon
- GROSCLAUDE Jérôme - « Je ne consentirai jamais à ce qu’ils m’appellent “évêque” ». Pastorat et épiscopat dans le méthodisme britannique de John Wesley à nos jours
- BRAGHI Gianmarco - « Confessioni vestrae nonnulla visum est addere, perpauca vero commutare ». L’approbation de la Confession de foi des Églises réformées de France, mai 1559
- SINGER Christophe - « La vraie théologie est pratique » Réflexions à partir d’un aphorisme luthérien
The cross in the language of law: return on the theory of ransom
The ransom theory of atonement teaches that the death of Jesus was a ransom paid to the satan. Nowadays, it is considered obsolete. The theory of satisfaction or criminal substitution is preferred; it posits that Jesus took the divine punishment in our stead. All of these theories are based on a crucial intuition: the cross and the law are closely related. Turning to the question from the specific point of view of the legal categories, the author wishes to show that the legal interpretation of the ransom is not only possible but also legally better founded than satisfaction or substitution. The aim is not to assert the supremacy of the ransom theory over all other forms of interpretation of the cross, but over those that claim to be in legal categories. Through legal hermeneutics, the ultimate objective is to renew reflection on the theory of ransom and to show that it deserves better than the relative contempt in which it is nowadays confined.
“They shall never by my consent call me ‘Bishop’.” Pastorate and episcopate in British methodism, from John Wesley until today
This article deals with the place and the form of Episcopal authority in British Methodism from its birth in the 1730s to the present day. Born after a de facto schism from the Church of England (which maintains the threefold ministry), British Methodism never adopted the episcopate, contrary to what happened in the United States. British Methodists however have considered since the end of the XVIIIth century that episcope (or episcopal oversight) is duly exercised among them by ordained ministers (or presbyters).
Approval of the Confession of faith of the French reformed churches, May 1559
In this article, the author analyses the approval of the Gallican Confession during the so-called first national synod of the French Reformed churches, held in Paris in May 1559. The established consensus is that Calvin had a starring role in the adoption of the Confession by the pastors assembled in Paris. The latter are believed to have modified and promulgated the Gallican Confession based on a draft that the former had authored and sent to the synod. This paper will test the hypothesis that Calvin never sent any draft to Paris for approval in May 1559 and that a 1557 Parisian document – the letter-confession Au Roy – was used as the basis for the text of the Gallican Confession. In May 1559, Calvin was not opposed to the promulgation of a confession of faith but to its untimely disclosure and/or publication in print. This article offers a different interpretation of the relationship between Geneva and the brethren assembled in Paris at this crucial stage, and suggests that the categories of agreement/disagreement between Calvin and some French pastors, normally applied to this event, might not be appropriate.
“True theology is practical.” Reflection on a Lutheran aphorism
The practical claim of theology, or the injunction to make this claim, reveals the common thought of postmodern societies. Theology however has pre-empted this injunction: it has always been in a dynamic of practical conversion, but maybe not in the usual sense of the adjective. The author posits a theological thinking of practical conversion through the relationship between the Lutheran aphorism “True theology is practical” and a Rudolf Bultmann text on real practicality in theology.