Remnant (Bible)
The remnant is a recurring theme throughout the
Biblical mentions
Hebrew Bible
According to the
The concept of the remnant is taken up by several other prophets, including Amos, Micah, Jeremiah and Zephaniah. In Jeremiah 39–40, the "poor people, who had nothing",[2] who remained in Judah when the rest of its population were deported to Babylon, are referred to as a "remnant".[3] The post-exilic biblical literature (Ezra–Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah) consistently refers to the Jews who have returned from the Babylonian captivity as the remnant.
New Testament
New Testament verses that refer to a faithful "remnant" (
("And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ").Church views
Church of England
The influential
Roman Catholic Church
The Old Testament notion of "the remnant" was one of the three images Karl Rahner used to set the parish into his larger vision of church in his 1956 essay "Theology of the Parish"[5] and his 1961 book The Episcopate and the Primacy, co-authored with then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI). What was significant for Rahner in the concept of "the remnant" was the idea that the whole – the universal Church – could be present in the part – the parish:[6] "the Church as a whole, when it becomes "Event" in the full sense, is also necessarily a local Church, the whole Church becomes tangible in the local Church".[7]
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The
"The universal church is composed of all who truly believe in Christ, but in the last days, a time of widespread apostasy, a remnant has been called out to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent. This proclamation is symbolized by the three angels of Revelation 14; it coincides with the work of judgment in heaven and results in a work of repentance and reform on earth. Every believer is called to have a personal part in this worldwide witness. (Rev. 12:17; 14:6–12; 18:1–4; 2 Cor. 5:10; Jude 3, 14; 1 Peter 1:16–19; 2 Peter 3:10–14; Rev. 21:1–14.)"
— Seventh-day Adventist fundamental Belief # 13[9]
Criticism
James Watts claims that some authors have given too much emphasis to the remnant theme, such as some scholars who "have considered it central to the NT message".[10] According to Watts, there are fewer occurrences of the theme in the Bible than one might expect.[10]
References
- ^ "Remnant". Anchor Bible Dictionary V:669
- ^ Jeremiah 39:10
- ^ Jeremiah 40:11
- ^ Ronald E. George, "The Faithful Remnant: Martin Thornton's Ecclesiological 'Middle Term'", Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, August 15, 2002
- ^ Karl Rahner, "Theology of the Parish", in Hugo Rahner (ed.), The Parish: From Theology to Practice, trans. R. Kress. Westminster, MD: Newman Press, 1958, pp. 23–35.
- ISBN 0-19-826955-2.
- ^ Karl Rahner and Joseph Ratzinger, The Episcopate and the Primacy, trans. K. Barker, P. Kerans, R. Ochs and R. Strachan. New York: Herder & Herder, 1962, p. 24.
- ^ Seventh-day Adventist Church: Fundamental Beliefs
- ^ Fundamental Beliefs
- ^ a b James W. Watts, "The Remnant Theme: A Survey of New Testament Research, 1921–1987", Perspectives in Religious Studies, 109–29
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