New issue of Theological Reflections was published

Dear colleagues, we would like to inform you that the 24th issue of the Euro-Asian Journal of Theology Theological Reflections was published. You may order the journal by email reflections@e-aaa.info. Previous issues of the journal can be found at http://reflections.e-aaa.info. Most articles of this issue are prepared based on the materials of the international theological conference "New and Old" (Matthew 13.52): Tradition and Renewal in Theology, Church and Education, held at the Odessa Theological Seminary on October 10-11, 2019.

M. E. Raber (Odessa Theological Seminary, Odessa, Ukraine) in the article "William A. Fetler and the Welsh Revival" provides evidence that among the factors that affected the rapid growth of the Russian evangelical movement between 1905 and 1914 was the ministry of Wilhelm (William) Andreevich Fetler (1883-1957). His spiritual life was "quickened" when he traveled to Wales to witness the revival of 1904-1905. This article suggests ways that the revival influenced his ministry in St. Petersburg from 1907 to 1914.

Vladimir Lukin (Odessa Christian University of Economics and Humanities, Odessa, Ukraine) in the article "YHWH as the Temporary Sanctuary in Ez.11:16 (miqdāš mĕʿaṭ): Discontinuity with Traditional Understanding of the Sacred Place-Space in the Book of Ezekiel" attempts to point out several theological reasons that influenced changes ideas about the sacred place-space. He also indicates the final outlines of a new, albeit temporarily modified, an ideology that identifies Yahweh with the sanctuary.

Eduard A. Sablon Leiva (Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium) in the article "The Role of Tradition in the Life of the Church according to V. N. Lossky" demonstrates that according to N. Lossky's any dogmatic definition could not fully express the Tradition of the Church. Nor could it be expressed by word per se, or even by silence – yet one could "touch" it, live in it mystically within the Church. This Tradition, as Lossky contemplated it, is something dynamic, the Holy Spirit's very life within the Church. The author also discusses how certain of Lossky's views are valuable to modern Evangelical Christians.

Sergii Sannikov (Odessa Theological Seminary, Odessa, Ukraine) in the article "Baptist Identity between Tradition and Traditionalism" discusses the concept of tradition in the context of the self-identification of a religious group using as a key study the practice of Baptist congregations. The author shows the features of Baptist traditionalism, its similarity, and differences from philosophical traditionalism. He draws close attention to the distinction between traditionalism, fundamentalism, and conservatism, and points out the characteristic features of each of these phenomena. The article analyzes the essence of the Baptist tradition, which is revealed in Christocentrism, Biblicisms, individual freedom, and separation of Church and State; in discipleship, community, and missionary orientation.

Vitalii Stankevych (Odessa Theological Seminary, Odessa, Ukraine) in the article "Renewing Discipleship in Today's Evangelical Community as a Return to the New Testament Ideal" examines the possibility of renewing the evangelical ecclesiological community through the renewal of discipleship as the New Testament model. The author demonstrates that a return to holistic New Testament discipleship is possible with a systemic reform of the evangelical Church. It is necessary to bring about a revival of empathy, which is preceded by the restoration of interpersonal relations as an indicator of valid membership in the ekklesia.

Fedir Stryzhachuk (Odessa Theological Seminary, Odessa, Ukraine) in the article "Singular, Binary and Trinitarian Creedal Formulas in the New Testament" states that scholars do not have a definite position as to whether religious formulas are contained in the New Testament. A study of the NT texts shows that there were already terms in the Church during the formation of the NT that indicated that there was an objective body of Christian teaching in the objective form. In the article used a methodology of the study of religious formulas from short and straightforward singular formulas to complex and expanded trinitarian formulas. The author concludes that singular, binary, and Trinitarian denominations reflect the core teaching of the apostles and form a prototype for the «symbols of faith» of later generations of Christians.

Toivo Pilly (International Baptist Theological Training Center, Amsterdam, Kingdom of the Netherlands) examines the Awakening on the West Coast of Estonia in the 1870s and 1880s in "Awakening on the West Coast of Estonia in Retrospect: The Bible as a Tool for Interpretation of the Change", and its traits: conversion, ethical lifestyle and joyful, practical discipleship. Awakening was rooted in a fresh reading of the Bible that helped believers explain independent worship, justify and balance the emotional phenomena that characterized awakening, and interpret the persecution that awakened new communities suffered from traditional churches and royal officials.

In addition to conference materials, the issue also includes the following articles.

Eduard Borysov (Kyiv Theological Seminary, Kyiv, Ukraine) in the article "The Pattern of Primogeniture Reversal as an Evidence for the Unified Nature of Genesis" presents a piece of evidence for the unity of the book of Genesis as a literary unit. To demonstrate this the author traces the pattern of primogeniture reversal throughout the whole book. Arguably, the five main pairs reflect six narrative features. These are parents' expectations, God's election, a threat to the younger heir, resolution, promise to the older son, departure of the older brother. This pattern's consistent usage leads to the conclusion that the author/editor of Genesis carefully constructed the whole book's plot, not merely incorporating diverse materials.

Dobrydnik Nadia (National Pedagogical Dragomanov University, Kyiv, Ukraine) in the article The "Lexical Syntactic Features of the Creation Narrative of Genesis 1:1-3 in the Context of the Ancient Near East" examines several lexical-syntactic features of the narrative of the creation of the world, as exemplified in the first verses of Genesis. The emphasis is placed on the ancient Near East's literary monuments since it is impossible to dismiss the fact that the biblical narrative has many features in common with contemporary texts.

Kateryna Buchko (University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria) in the article "School, Religion and Autism: Understanding Inclusion from Within" presents the inclusion paradigm in theory and school practice and attempts to exhibit its importance in education, its value as communication and as a dynamic process. The concept of inclusion as communication is applied to an example of autism to learn what this means for those who have the biggest problems in communication and social interaction.

Under "Reviews," you can read the following reviews.

Stanislav Stepanchenko's review of The History and Practice of the Christian Gathering. By Valeriy Alikin. St. Petersburg: SPbCU Publishing House, 2019.

Alexander Belyaev's review of the Mystery of God's People: Intertextual commentary on the Book of Revelation. By Yaroslav Vyazovskiy, Andrey Pavlyuchik, Sergey Sergey Udalyev. Minsk: Y. Kolas Polygraph plant, 2019.

Valeriy Alikin's review of the Signs of the Presence: Baptism in the Context of Baptist Sacramentology. By Sergii Sannikov. Kyiv: Spirit and Letter, 2019.

Vyacheslav Khalansky's review of the Christianity and Fear: A Study in History and in the Psychology and Hygiene of Religion. By Oskar Pfister. Moscow: Eksmo, 2019.

Inna Golubovich and Anna Golubitskaya's review of the Childhood as Epiphany; The Civilization of the Child. By Vladimir Zelinsky. Moscow: Nicaea, 2019.

Rostyslav Tkachenko's review of the Urban Ministry: The Kingdom, the City, the People of God. By the Harvie M. Conn's and Manuel Ortiz. Cherkasy: Colloquium, 2019.

Elvira Zheyds's review of the In Other Words: Masterpieces of Lutheran Spiritual Poetry in Historical-Theological Context. By Anton Tikhomirov. Moscow: BBI Publishing House, 2020.

Vitaliy Maryash’s review of the Mensonge Romantique et Vérité romanesque. By René Girard. Moscow: New Literary Review, 2019.

Volodymyr Lavrushko's review of the Ancient Greek Grammar for the Study of the New Testament. By Heinrich von Siebenthal. Peter Lang Ltd, International Academic Publishers, 2018.

Denys Kondyuk's review of the That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation. By David Bentley Hart. Yale University Press, 2019.

You may order the journal by email reflections@e-aaa.infoPrevious issues of the journal can be found at http://reflections.e-aaa.info.