WHERE IS OUR HOME?

Early Christians considered themselves strangers in the world. This view was deeply rooted in the forgoing Jewish tradition. The Torah begins with human beings who are not at home; they had been driven away from the garden of Eden. The patriarchs dwelled as sojourners in Canaan. Later, Israel ended...

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Main Author: B van de Beek
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2018-12-01
Series:Acta Theologica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/3682
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author B van de Beek
author_facet B van de Beek
author_sort B van de Beek
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description Early Christians considered themselves strangers in the world. This view was deeply rooted in the forgoing Jewish tradition. The Torah begins with human beings who are not at home; they had been driven away from the garden of Eden. The patriarchs dwelled as sojourners in Canaan. Later, Israel ended with the diaspora. According to the New Testament, Christians are strangers even more, because their home is in heaven with Christ. Consequently, they can be at home everywhere, since they are at home nowhere. Therefore, nationalism or striving for an ideal society should be alien to Christians. They only support the well-being of the country in which they live, as far as that is possible in a world where human beings are never really at home – a situation of which Christians are fully aware. It is precisely by this attitude that they contribute most to the well-being of other people.
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spelling doaj-art-1a3ab558fc504c9d9515ad7eb93c03112025-02-11T09:48:16ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Theologica1015-87582309-90892018-12-0138210.38140/at.v38i2.3682WHERE IS OUR HOME?B van de Beek0University of Stellenbosch Early Christians considered themselves strangers in the world. This view was deeply rooted in the forgoing Jewish tradition. The Torah begins with human beings who are not at home; they had been driven away from the garden of Eden. The patriarchs dwelled as sojourners in Canaan. Later, Israel ended with the diaspora. According to the New Testament, Christians are strangers even more, because their home is in heaven with Christ. Consequently, they can be at home everywhere, since they are at home nowhere. Therefore, nationalism or striving for an ideal society should be alien to Christians. They only support the well-being of the country in which they live, as far as that is possible in a world where human beings are never really at home – a situation of which Christians are fully aware. It is precisely by this attitude that they contribute most to the well-being of other people. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/3682Christian lifeDiognetusStrangers
spellingShingle B van de Beek
WHERE IS OUR HOME?
Acta Theologica
Christian life
Diognetus
Strangers
title WHERE IS OUR HOME?
title_full WHERE IS OUR HOME?
title_fullStr WHERE IS OUR HOME?
title_full_unstemmed WHERE IS OUR HOME?
title_short WHERE IS OUR HOME?
title_sort where is our home
topic Christian life
Diognetus
Strangers
url https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/3682
work_keys_str_mv AT bvandebeek whereisourhome