Ernest Van Eck
Biographic Data
| ID | 409265 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ernest Van Eck |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ernest |
| FAMILY NAME | Van Eck |
| SIGNATURE | VAN ECK E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Pretoria |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3810-4190 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 34 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 12 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 34 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Grace in Second Clement
This article explores the concept of grace in the so-called Second Letter of Clement. Using John Barclay’s taxonomy as a heuristic, the article aims to challenge the notion originally advanced by T.F. Torrance that the discourse lacks any discernible and appropriate understanding of grace. Instead, the analysis reveals that the often-overlooked Apostolic Father evidences grace in at least four ways regarding the gift of salvation: Priority, incon…
An apostolic enigma? Dispelling the incoherence of Second Clement through the patron–client frame
The so-called Second Letter of Clement has long been regarded as an enigmatic text with an elusive message. This article seeks to elicit previously unforeseen coherence from the document by demonstrating how its content conforms with patron–client relationships at the discourse level. Drawing on tools from cognitive linguistics and socio-scientific reading models, a patron–client frame is constructed through which the document’s content can be or…
Christian gathering and the digital ecclesia
This article is a post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reflection on the phrase mē egkataleipontes tēn episunagōgēn heautōn [not forsaking our own gathering] in Hebrews 10:25. The writer of Hebrews warned members of his faith community against the ethos of absenting themselves from their own meetings, citing the eschatological consequences of such a habit. The author’s choice of episunagōgē, which is the object of the neglect, may have been i…
Africa platform for New Testament scholars
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies is an acclaimed journal with broad coverage that promotes multidisciplinary, religious, and biblical aspects of studies in the international theological arena. The journal’s publication criteria are based on high ethical standards and the rigor of the methodology and conclusions reported
Contextualizing Mijikenda Healthcare System in Matthew 8
The study attempts to pursue the shifting focus of New Testament scholarship concerns from Biblical criticism models to contextualization perspectives of bible reading that reflect African contextual and existential challenges. Scholars have conceived the leper's narrative as reflective of either application of Jesus' divine power, or manifestation of God's empire, or, a pattern of service to God and humanity, which indicates a shift of focus fro…
Revisiting women’s role in world Christianity
A recent study reveals that women predominantly make up global Christian congregations. However, because of religio-cultural influences – common to both the contemporary and New Testament worlds – the contributions of women often go unrealised. For instance, John 4:1–42 illustrates how Christ’s response to the Samaritan woman prevented the suppression of her contributions to Christianity. This study utilises Osborne’s theological analysis to exam…
Unhiding female characters in the parable of the sower
This article employs an unhiding reading methodology to explore the presence of women in Luke’s agrarian parables, specifically focussing on the parable of the sower. By engaging with Van Eck’s research on the realistic reading of the parables in their 1st-century socio-economic context and implementing Du Toit’s unhiding reading, the authors argue that women, although not explicitly mentioned, would have been imagined as present, active and impo…
Revelation as an apocalypse
In popular discourse, Revelation is frequently characterised as an apocalyptic text concerned with the cataclysmic end of the world. This article offers a critical overview of historically informed scholarly attempts to define and reconstruct the literary genre of apocalypse and its application to Revelation. A correct understanding of genre bears not only classificatory but also epistemological significance: the manner in which the genre of a te…
Jesus and the angels
This article examines the phrase, tosoutō kreittōn genomenos tōn angelōn (Heb 1:4a) (having become as much superior to the angels) in the exordium of the epistle to the Hebrews in the light of Ewe angelology. The article employs both comparative and mother tongue hermeneutical approaches as its methodologies. An exegetical analysis of the cosmic superiority of Christ over angels in Hebrews 1:4a was carried out to situate the text in its historica…
The received view and Revelation
This article aims to present a culturally plausible reading of Revelation 2–3. This will be done through the use of a social-scientific model focussing on the core values of honour and shame in the ancient Mediterranean world. Before describing this model, the article will present a cursory discussion on the currently received view of Revelation’s genre and Revelation 2–3. It is argued that while the received view provides valuable historical des…
Justice and reconciliation in Luke 19
This article endeavours to offer an anti-imperial interpretation of the micro-narrative of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1–10, portraying it as a model for justice and reconciliation in post-apartheid South Africa. This analysis stems from the perceived shortcomings of the outcomes of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) negotiations and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) efforts in nation-building, particularly in the realm …
Redefining love
Both the Johannine and Akan cultures are described in scholarly literature as collectivistic communities that value love as a communal value. Nonetheless, a scholarly analysis of the Akan concept reveals that Akan proverbial tradition promotes love motivated by the expectation of reciprocation. Thus, the article aimed to provide a biblical response to these challenges for Akan Christians, who hold love as both a traditional and theological value.…
The logos Christology in the fourth gospel (Jn 1
This article interprets the logos Christology in the fourth gospel within Ewe-Ghanaian cosmic setting. The article employs a combination of the exegetical and mother tongue biblical hermeneutics as its methodologies. The article compares the concept of the logos in John 1:1–5, 14 with a similar concept in Ewe cosmology with the aim of finding their points of convergence and divergence. The article also identifies linguistic and theological gaps i…
Building a united community
From the 1960s, African theologians sought to decolonise biblical scholarship, calling for a hermeneutical approach that pays attention to the African sociocultural context – inculturation. One of the undergirding principles of inculturation is that there are African sociocultural questions that the Bible can address through the appropriate interpretative methodology. Thus, this culminated in the application of inculturation on different levels. …
Solitude in the multitude
Verbum et Ecclesia is a theological research journal that challenges traditional discourses within and between the fields of biblical, religious, social and human sciences as well as the constructive engagement with the natural sciences. It is an instrument of engagement between theological disciplines, on the one hand, and theology and other disciplines, on the other
The true vine and the branches
An exploration of the Johannine narrative reveals that John addresses the problem of the relational dimension of a believing community as one of its ‘authorial intentions’. With its concomitant emphasis on communalism, the characterisation of community in John 15:1–16:3 makes it legitimate to propose that it is one of the narratives that address this problem. Therefore, the article aimed to contribute to the discussions on the Johannine community…
Πάτερ, ημων ο εν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς (Mt 6
This article seeks to interpret the phrase Πάτερ, ημων ο εν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς in the invocation of the Lord’s Prayer in the light of Ewe-Ghanaian cosmology. The article employs a combination of the historical-critical and indigenous mother tongue biblical hermeneutical approaches to explore the implication of the invocation for Ewe-Ghanaian Christian spirituality today. The article firstly discusses the various theological and hermeneutical positions…
The Johannine prologue
As John wrote to a community grappling with incarnating its communalistic values, he furnishes readers with remedies for addressing such sociocultural maladies. However, to appreciate the Johannine response to colossal cultural failure, we must begin from the Johannine prologue because the narrative develops the enigmatic constructs it postulates. Therefore, this article aimed to contribute to the ongoing discussions on the major themes in the Jo…
A holistic homiletical approach to preaching based on ancient and modern texts
This article proposes a homiletical model as an alternative to traditional homiletical approaches in response to the recent membership decline in evangelical churches in Korea. While socio-economic and sociocultural aspects may contribute to the membership decline, the article considers evangelical preaching and its alternative. Evangelical churches have been struggling with the decline of church membership since the early 2010s. While the Korean…
African Biblical Interpretation of Matthew 20
After the colonial era in the early sixties, the practice of employing and paying workers in Cameroon both in the civil service and in the private sector became very crucial, considering the fact that the situation of unemployment is so endemic to Cameroon as a paradigm for Africa’s unemployment. From an economic perspective, Cameroon has a booming labour force, but this robust manpower has been underutilized due to the provocative unemployment t…
The land is mine
The parables told by Jesus the Galilean, when read from a realistic perspective, can be seen as a window to the exploitative socio-economic, political and religious situation of the peasantry in first-century Roman Palestine. The Galilean’s parables picture this exploitative world, and also speak of ways to address the societal ills of his day. In an agrarian world, land meant life. For most of the peasantry, however, this was not the case anymor…
The lame man at the pool of Bethesda
In any research of the biblical themes in Scriptures, the exegete must exercise discipline in strictly adhering to an exegetical process wherein the text is permitted to speak for itself in the context of the passage. This article therefore explored the literary traits and analysed characterisations in the story of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda as portrayed in John 5 through a ‘narratological and exegetical’ approach, considering literary,…
Καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν … the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6
This article examines the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew in the light of Ewe-Ghanaian conflict management model. Theoretically, the article employs a combination of the historical-critical and indigenous mother tongue biblical hermeneutical approaches to explore the implication of the petition for Ewe-Ghanaian Christian spirituality. The main theme of the petition in both Matthew and Luke’s renditions of the petition is forgivenes…
John’s prologue
This article presents a literary exegetical analysis of the prologue (John 1:1-18) of the Johannine narrative with special attention to the author’s (narrator’s) point of view. The author sets the tone of his gospel and writes with literary beauty while showing his theological points of view that will be seen throughout his narrative to follow. He presents Jesus as the eternal λόγος of God, and thus provides a unique point of view toward the Son …
The parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge
This article proposes an alternate way of reading the parable of Jesus with special emphasis on Luke 18:1–8. The goal of this contextual reading is the search for the liberation of the violated and disenfranchised widows in independent Zimbabwe. In the reading of the parable, the sociocultural and historical context of Luke is used for an informed reading and analysis of the characters and the plot of the parable. This reading is then compared wi…
When patrons are not patrons
This article presents a social-scientific interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-26). It first examines the history of the parable's interpretation and its integrity and authenticity. Then, it offers a social-scientific reading based on the parable's strategy and situation. The parable is interpreted against the backdrop of an advanced agrarian (aristocratic) society where patronage and clientism were prominent. The…
Unhiding female characters in the parable of the sower
This article employs an unhiding reading methodology to explore the presence of women in Luke’s agrarian parables, specifically focussing on the parable of the sower. By engaging with Van Eck’s research on the realistic reading of the parables in their 1st-century socio-economic context and implementing Du Toit’s unhiding reading, the authors argue that women, although not explicitly mentioned, would have been imagined as present, active and impo…
The Johannine prologue
As John wrote to a community grappling with incarnating its communalistic values, he furnishes readers with remedies for addressing such sociocultural maladies. However, to appreciate the Johannine response to colossal cultural failure, we must begin from the Johannine prologue because the narrative develops the enigmatic constructs it postulates. Therefore, this article aimed to contribute to the ongoing discussions on the major themes in the Jo…
When patrons are not patrons
This article presents a social-scientific interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-26). It first examines the history of the parable's interpretation and its integrity and authenticity. Then, it offers a social-scientific reading based on the parable's strategy and situation. The parable is interpreted against the backdrop of an advanced agrarian (aristocratic) society where patronage and clientism were prominent. The…
A prophet of old
In this article the argument is put forward that Jesus’ parables portray him as a social prophet, as many of the issues addressed by Old Testament prophets (such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea) are common themes in Jesus’ parables. As proof for and further elaboration on the abovementioned argument, two of these themes from Jesus’ parables, religious inclusivity and social injustice, are discussed. It is concluded that if public theology is …
Die pastor se hantering van trauma na analogie van Jesus se helings en eksorsismes
The pastors handling of trauma analogous to Jesus healings and exorcisms The pastor s handling of trauma analogous to Jesus healings and exorcisms, studied from a cross-cultural perspective, can be understood as acts of relocation or cope-healings. Special attention is given to the way in which Jesus healed, the results of his healings and how those who where healed and witnessed Jesus healings reacted. It is argued that the way in which Jesus he…
Die verhouding tussen Christologie en etiek in Kolossense praxis vir die postmoderne gelowige en kerk
The relationship between Christology and ethics in Colossians praxis for the postmodern believer and church In Colossians, there is a close relationship between Christology and ethics. This relationship provides answers to the many questions that face the postmodern believer and the church in the current secular world. Believers constantly battle to apply their faith in a practical way. The reason for this is that believers do not have a referenc…
The parable of the Feast (Lk 14
The parable of the Feast (Lk 14:16b–23) is perhaps the example par excellence in the New Testament that addresses spatial justice and reconciliation. In the parable, Jesus advocates for the eradication of all boundaries linked to the social–economic status of the marginalised. The parable argues, from a social justice perspective, that there is no such thing as privileged space; priviliged space, on the contrary, builds boundaries. The reading of…
Life in its unfullness
The aim of this chapter is twofold. Firstly, the chapter presents a comprehensive study of the meaning of the term ἀναίδειαν in extant papyrological evidence. The conclusion reached is that the term, as is the case in early Jewish and patristic writings, the LXX, Graeco-Roman literature and in early Christian writings, always carries a negative and pejorative meaning. This meaning of the term is then used to interpret the occurrence of ἀναίδειαν …
Reading Hebrews through Akan ethnicity and social identity
The Akan people of Ghana have concepts of ethnicity and social identity which are similar to those found in the Mediterranean world, which find expression in the issues addressed in the letter to the Hebrews. This similarity makes the reading of Hebrews in light of Akan ethnicity and social identity possible, giving one the expected meaning from the perspective of those concepts as within the original context of the audience. This article therefo…
Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον (Mt 6
This article seeks to reconstruct the phrase τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον (Mt 6:11; Lk 11:3) in the light of an African predicament with the Ewe-Ghanaian context in focus. The article posits that the various interpretations of the phrase throughout the epochs of Christianity have arisen as a result of the ambiguity associated with ἐπιούσιος and the quest to make the Lord’s Prayer in general relevant to the life situation of the recipient communit…
A theology of marriage
This article argues that the contemporary mainline understanding of marriage (theology of marriage), especially in the local South African denominational context, is not ‘based on the Bible’, but rather on a cultural construct. Moreover, this construct is not based on Judeo-Christian values and norms; it is the result of early Christianity’s enculturation into the world of the Roman Empire. It is also argued that a definition of Christian marriag…
African Biblical Interpretation of Matthew 20
After the colonial era in the early sixties, the practice of employing and paying workers in Cameroon both in the civil service and in the private sector became very crucial, considering the fact that the situation of unemployment is so endemic to Cameroon as a paradigm for Africa’s unemployment. From an economic perspective, Cameroon has a booming labour force, but this robust manpower has been underutilized due to the provocative unemployment t…
The land is mine
The parables told by Jesus the Galilean, when read from a realistic perspective, can be seen as a window to the exploitative socio-economic, political and religious situation of the peasantry in first-century Roman Palestine. The Galilean’s parables picture this exploitative world, and also speak of ways to address the societal ills of his day. In an agrarian world, land meant life. For most of the peasantry, however, this was not the case anymor…
The lame man at the pool of Bethesda
In any research of the biblical themes in Scriptures, the exegete must exercise discipline in strictly adhering to an exegetical process wherein the text is permitted to speak for itself in the context of the passage. This article therefore explored the literary traits and analysed characterisations in the story of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda as portrayed in John 5 through a ‘narratological and exegetical’ approach, considering literary,…
Καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν … the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6
This article examines the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew in the light of Ewe-Ghanaian conflict management model. Theoretically, the article employs a combination of the historical-critical and indigenous mother tongue biblical hermeneutical approaches to explore the implication of the petition for Ewe-Ghanaian Christian spirituality. The main theme of the petition in both Matthew and Luke’s renditions of the petition is forgivenes…
John’s prologue
This article presents a literary exegetical analysis of the prologue (John 1:1-18) of the Johannine narrative with special attention to the author’s (narrator’s) point of view. The author sets the tone of his gospel and writes with literary beauty while showing his theological points of view that will be seen throughout his narrative to follow. He presents Jesus as the eternal λόγος of God, and thus provides a unique point of view toward the Son …
The parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge
This article proposes an alternate way of reading the parable of Jesus with special emphasis on Luke 18:1–8. The goal of this contextual reading is the search for the liberation of the violated and disenfranchised widows in independent Zimbabwe. In the reading of the parable, the sociocultural and historical context of Luke is used for an informed reading and analysis of the characters and the plot of the parable. This reading is then compared wi…
Πάτερ, ημων ο εν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς (Mt 6
This article seeks to interpret the phrase Πάτερ, ημων ο εν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς in the invocation of the Lord’s Prayer in the light of Ewe-Ghanaian cosmology. The article employs a combination of the historical-critical and indigenous mother tongue biblical hermeneutical approaches to explore the implication of the invocation for Ewe-Ghanaian Christian spirituality today. The article firstly discusses the various theological and hermeneutical positions…
The Johannine prologue
As John wrote to a community grappling with incarnating its communalistic values, he furnishes readers with remedies for addressing such sociocultural maladies. However, to appreciate the Johannine response to colossal cultural failure, we must begin from the Johannine prologue because the narrative develops the enigmatic constructs it postulates. Therefore, this article aimed to contribute to the ongoing discussions on the major themes in the Jo…
A holistic homiletical approach to preaching based on ancient and modern texts
This article proposes a homiletical model as an alternative to traditional homiletical approaches in response to the recent membership decline in evangelical churches in Korea. While socio-economic and sociocultural aspects may contribute to the membership decline, the article considers evangelical preaching and its alternative. Evangelical churches have been struggling with the decline of church membership since the early 2010s. While the Korean…
Redefining love
Both the Johannine and Akan cultures are described in scholarly literature as collectivistic communities that value love as a communal value. Nonetheless, a scholarly analysis of the Akan concept reveals that Akan proverbial tradition promotes love motivated by the expectation of reciprocation. Thus, the article aimed to provide a biblical response to these challenges for Akan Christians, who hold love as both a traditional and theological value.…
The logos Christology in the fourth gospel (Jn 1
This article interprets the logos Christology in the fourth gospel within Ewe-Ghanaian cosmic setting. The article employs a combination of the exegetical and mother tongue biblical hermeneutics as its methodologies. The article compares the concept of the logos in John 1:1–5, 14 with a similar concept in Ewe cosmology with the aim of finding their points of convergence and divergence. The article also identifies linguistic and theological gaps i…
Building a united community
From the 1960s, African theologians sought to decolonise biblical scholarship, calling for a hermeneutical approach that pays attention to the African sociocultural context – inculturation. One of the undergirding principles of inculturation is that there are African sociocultural questions that the Bible can address through the appropriate interpretative methodology. Thus, this culminated in the application of inculturation on different levels. …
Solitude in the multitude
Verbum et Ecclesia is a theological research journal that challenges traditional discourses within and between the fields of biblical, religious, social and human sciences as well as the constructive engagement with the natural sciences. It is an instrument of engagement between theological disciplines, on the one hand, and theology and other disciplines, on the other
The true vine and the branches
An exploration of the Johannine narrative reveals that John addresses the problem of the relational dimension of a believing community as one of its ‘authorial intentions’. With its concomitant emphasis on communalism, the characterisation of community in John 15:1–16:3 makes it legitimate to propose that it is one of the narratives that address this problem. Therefore, the article aimed to contribute to the discussions on the Johannine community…
Jesus and the angels
This article examines the phrase, tosoutō kreittōn genomenos tōn angelōn (Heb 1:4a) (having become as much superior to the angels) in the exordium of the epistle to the Hebrews in the light of Ewe angelology. The article employs both comparative and mother tongue hermeneutical approaches as its methodologies. An exegetical analysis of the cosmic superiority of Christ over angels in Hebrews 1:4a was carried out to situate the text in its historica…
The received view and Revelation
This article aims to present a culturally plausible reading of Revelation 2–3. This will be done through the use of a social-scientific model focussing on the core values of honour and shame in the ancient Mediterranean world. Before describing this model, the article will present a cursory discussion on the currently received view of Revelation’s genre and Revelation 2–3. It is argued that while the received view provides valuable historical des…
Philosophy (28 works) · Biblical Studies and Interpretation (24 works) · Theology (24 works) · Christian Theology and Mission (19 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Philosophy (15 works) · Epistemology (12 works) · History (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Political science (11 works)