TA 1/2007 (112. vuosikerta)

The Historical Significance of the Story of Ezra — There is not much to be said about the historical Ezra, but the story of Ezra provides valuable information on the context of its writers in the era of the Second Temple, specifically in the 5th to 3rd centuries BC. Because the story has evolved through several redactions, using it as a historical document requires that these stages be separated using methods of literary criticism and redaction criticism. The earliest variant describes Ezra, a scribe well versed in the Torah, arriving from Babylon to reinstate the Torah in Jerusalem. Underlying this story is the dynamic development in the Jewish community in Babylon that led to the emergence of a law-based religion. It is apparent that a major portion of the Torah was actually written in Babylon. The later literary development of the story of Ezra reflects a more general trend in Judaism in the 4th to 3rd centuries BC. The later writers were particularly interested in priestly and cult subjects. Ezra changed from a scribe into a priest managing the transportation of temple vessels to Jerusalem. This development shows how a tradition originally based on a nomistic theology later acquired priestly influences. We have reason to believe that the priestly influence in Judaism gradually increased in the 5th to 3rd centuries BC. This is apparent in the use of the Torah too. The earliest variant only refers to Deuteronomy, but later writers increasingly made reference to the priestly portions of the Pentateuch.

At the Roots of Scholasticism: Anselm, Lanfranc and the Eucharist — In current research literature, it is assumed that Lanfranc’s (d. 1089) use of logic in the Eucharistic treatise De corpore et sanguine domini (= DCSD) had a positive impact on Anselm of Canterbury (d. 1109) and his development into the Father of Scholasticism. The article questions the conventional view on two grounds. Firstly, the conventional view is based on a misinterpretation of DCSD, which proves to be a clever but dishonest rhetorical attack against Berengar of Tours. Secondly, a case can be made for the view that Anselm was involved in the composition of DCSD. For these reasons, the relationship between Anselm and Lanfranc needs to be re-evaluated.

Luther’s Confirmation and the Basis of Lutheran Admission to Communion — In the research project on confirmation theology conduct-ed by the Lutheran World Federation (1957–1963), it was realized that Luther’s confirmation was not a confirmation at all, but an examination of admission to communion based on the Mediaeval confession examination, unlike the Reformation confirmation. Luther rejected not only the scholastic confirmation but the evangelical confirmation too. For him, the Reformation confirmation was based on the obviously strained theological thinking represented by those who designed the confirmations. Luther considered catechesis as the admission proper, since baptism was not just a point of initiation but also a process where catechesis performed the function of integration into the faith. Confirmation focused on baptism, but Luther’s examination focused on communion. Communion was not available to everyone who was baptized. This was due to Luther’s dynamic conception of baptism, but also to his doctrine of communion. The admission examination was repeated again and again with the aim of integrating the communion-goer into the congregation and its faith. The present Lutheran conception of admission, baptismus est admissio, must be described more specifically, with support from Luther, as baptismus et cathecesis admissio est.

Trust as a Philosophical and Theological Question — The article introduces some epistemological and moral philosophical themes linked with the concept of trust. Also, some remarks on trust in a theological framework are made. It is suggested that if social practices are construed on the basis of trust, this is dependent on the question of what one considers to be a human being. A human being can be regarded either as a selfish agent or a person feeling fellow-feelings. In the epistemological context, sceptical arguments are not relevant from the point of view of common sense. In the theological framework, Augustine’s si fallor, sum argument is a historically important notion associated with the theme. Particularly in the Lutheran tradition, religious faith has been interpreted in terms of trust (fiducia), and such an interpretation sheds light on trust as a psychological question rather than an argumentative one.