Enkele aspekte van Skrifbeskouing

Abstract

View of Scripture: Some aspects This essay deals with the relation between God’s work and man’s actions in the world as the basic problem in connection with our view of the origin and form of the Bible. The position assumed is that in the Old Testament there are at least two different ways of looking at the problem: In literature with a polemic tendency (especially in books from the time of the Babilonian exile) the omnipotence and predestination of God is stressed. In wisdom-related literature the more prominent view is that man was free to choose for himself although the outcome was always in the hand of God. It is argued that, due to the fact that they were in a polemic situation, the first option was dominant in the theological reflections of orthodoxy. The thrust of the essay is that, regarding different aspects of our view of Scripture, the possibilities of the second option must by exploited.