Abstract
In his now classic work, Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, Franz Cumont wrote:
"... it is a fault common to all scholars, to all imbued with book learning, that they are better acquainted with the opinions of ancient authors than with the sentiments of their contemporaries and that they prefer o live in the past rather than in the world surrounding them.1"
If one takes Cumont’s statement as being somewhat reflective of the truth it would seem justified then to use the insights and results of critical, biblico-historical research and theological thinking to further illuminate the world and problems of contemporary man; to use the insights and “opinions” of the past to enlighten the present. What can one say, or for that matter, what does the biblical witness say, if anything, about the contemporary problems of: Racism; the position of women in the world; the economic and international balances of power, etc.? If, for example, it says nothing about “racism” per se, but still witnesses, one might contend, to new possibilities for existence; what are the elements or means of, the hermeneutic? That is, what contemporary analogues or terms does one use to produce an effective “translation”? Can, for example, Paul and his view of: the world, life, and Christian experience, help us at all in our contemporary life-situation vis-a-vis, let us say, Racism?