Hays Moral Vision Flashcards
According to Hays, what comprises the four-fold task of NT ethics?
The Descriptive, Synthetic, Hermeneutical
and Pragmatic task
What unifying images help with the synthetic task?
The focal images of community, cross, and new creation
What procedural guidelines does Hays propose for the synthetic task?
CONFRONT THE FULL RANGE OF CANONICAL WITNESSES
LET THE TENSIONS STAND
ATTEND TO THE LITERARY GENRE OF THE TEXTS
How the the image of community function in the Biblical narrative?
Thus, the primary sphere of moral concern is not the character of the individual but the corporate obedience of the church
How does the image of the cross function in the Biblical narrative?
Jesus’ death on a cross is the paradigm for faithfulness to God in this world
What qualifications does Hays offer regarding his focal images?
That it is “dependent on the mainstream Christian tradition of canonical reading that goes back to Irenaeus”
That the sequence of the images is important
That the three images serve as a canon in the sense that they provide a rule for interpretation
That reading the diverse New Testament witnesses in light of these focal images will not automatically resolve all tensions and difficulties, nor will it end debates about how to appropriate these texts for our time
What reasons does Hays provide why love and liberation cannot serve as focal images for the synthetic task of NT ethics?
For a number of the major New Testament writers, love is not a central thematic emphasis.
For a number of the major New Testament writers, love is not a central thematic emphasis.
Love has become debased in popular discourse
love as a focal image might produce more distortion than clarity
When love and liberation are removed from the focusing power of the cross and new creation, however, they can become distorted
Why does Hays say that sola scriptura is both conceptually and practically untenable?
The interpretation of Scripture can never occur in a vacuum.
How does Hays define ‘tradition’?
Included under this heading are first of all the ancient ecumenical creeds and dogmatic definitions;
also includes the writings of individual theologians
How does tradition function in the hermeneutical task?
tradition gives us a place to start in our interpretation of Scripture; it teaches us holy to read with imaginative sympathy and an obedient spirit
What is meant by the phrase ‘Scripture is norma normans while tradition is norma normata’?
Scripture is the norming norm
Tradition is the normed norm
What is experience and how does it function as an authority for Scripture?
Its primary role is to confirm the truth of the teaching of Scripture, as it is confessed and lived out by the community.
What does Hays say about private revelatory experiences?
Private revelatory experiences may prove edifying, but they can claim normative status in the interpretation of Scripture only insofar as they are received and validated in the wider experience of the community
the private experience of an individual cannot overturn the theological authority of the New Testament.
What is meant by testimonium internum Spiritus Sancti?
Experience serves not only to illuminate the meaning of the text but also to confirm the testimony of Scripture in the hearts and lives of the community.
What narrative summary does Hays provide to encapsulate the theological implications of his three focal images?
The New Testament calls the covenant community of God’s people into participation in the cross of Christ in such a way that.the death and resurrection of Jesus becomes a paradigm for their common life as harbingers of God’s new creation.
