rechtfertigungstheologische Zuspitzung

03:31 Oct 4, 2014 

Thanks again to everyone, @Johanna, your rewording of the German has really helped, I was trying to do just that but ended up getting myself in knots! @Horst - not sure if this makes a difference, but it is very much about Melanchthon, his infliuences (a bit of this, a bit of that?) and influence etc. - the vague "Die Rede von" doesn't really help but has to refer to Melanchthon, as the last part of the sentence - it being limited to the 1520s - defintely does.

03:54 Oct 1, 2014 

for all the last comments, very helpful! Will have to check in again later, not much time now but think I do have a clearer sense of what its all about, thanks!

03:23 Sep 30, 2014 

“die Rede von” = die Ansicht, Meinung
http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Rede 2 a.

paraphrasiert: Die (Melanchtons) Ansicht, dass es sich bei der „philosophia christiana“ [….] um eine Engführung/ Fokussierung der paulinischen Theologie auf die Rechtfertigungslehre handelte, wurde so von ihm nur bis etwa 1520/25 vertreten
oder noch verkürzter: Nur in den Schriften, die Melanchton bis 1520 verfasst hat, versteht er die „philosophia christiana“ in erster Linie im Sinne der paulinischen Rechtfertigungslehre/theologie.

(steht die paulinische Rechtfertigungslehre bei seinem Verständnis der „philosophia christiana“ im Vordergrund)

19:07 Sep 29, 2014 

I'd hesitate, though, to think the idea is that phIlosophia christiana wold amount to a reduction of Pauline thinking to justification theology, unless that is meant as a critical note about the "Rede von'?

16:37 Sep 29, 2014 

„rechtfertigungstheologische Zuspitzung der paulinischen Theologie“:
die Zuspitzung auf die Rechtfertigungstheologie; Zuspitzung= Engführung (Zusammenführung, Fokussierung)

12:54 Sep 29, 2014 

and the term 'refinement' comes to mind. ...which was defined as a refinement of justification theology....
It's Monday afternoon and I'm swamped....

22:33 Sep 28, 2014 

all this immense erudition. However, the statement parses as a "sharpening" of Pauline theology in or through justification theology, not the sharpening of justification theology supposedly found in Pauline thinking. Its a difference worth noting.

21:10 Sep 28, 2014 

I was the one who commented on 'exacerbate'. It has negative connotations. It means to make worse. Make pain worse, make an argument worse. In what was intended to be humourful (apologies if British humour isn't your thing), it sounds to me like you are suggesting St. Paul's teachings are bad and made even worse by these people.

21:05 Sep 28, 2014 

I've a bit of time before it has to be handed in so will sleep on it and have a look again tomorrow, thanks for all the help, especially on a Sunday!

21:01 Sep 28, 2014 

I didnt make any comment about the word exacerbate, thanks for the suggestion but I'm not too sure that it fits the context.

20:35 Sep 28, 2014 

if I may Orla, your interpretation of the word exacerbate is pretty personal. This is a word that is very much used in connnection with feelings.. "to make (pain, disease, emotion, etc) more intense; aggravate"

20:21 Sep 28, 2014 

At this time on a Sunday evening (in the UK), I am definitely absenting the floor!

20:16 Sep 28, 2014 

No, I've actually been going back to some historical texts and some modern comparisons of the theologians since it has been a long time since I did any seminary work and my MA in German included a lot of this type of material which we had in the original publications at Northwestern, My wife is a Lutheran pastor, so I am surrounded by a theological library, but beyond what I've offered I don't think I will solve this and I wish the asker well and yield the floor to Helen. I don't think I have any more to offer.

19:46 Sep 28, 2014 

I would hope all of our answers are based on the context given, not just looking in a thesaurus (which I am not suggesting you did, btw).

19:43 Sep 28, 2014 

Looking at Linguee, I am now even more baffled as to the correct meaning of Zuspitzung here/ There is 'worsening, intensification, aggravation, deterioration, culmination, critical development, escalation (of a crisis), increasingly escalating, apex, etc. It think that Orla will have to determine this by context or historical context

19:14 Sep 28, 2014 

My stab at the translation: The discussion of the 'philosphia christiana,' that was determined by an intensification of of the justification theology within Pauline theology, remained, however limited in time to the first few years of the second decade of the sixteenth century. /does that help, Orla?

19:02 Sep 28, 2014 

Exactly, but then the text doesn't claim that he did. 'They' got that from St. Paul. They looked to Erasmus on the basis of his "Vorstellung eines religiös-sittlichen Lebens".

18:58 Sep 28, 2014 

Only when he had mastered Latin did he begin to express himself on major contemporary themes in literature and religion. He felt called upon to use his learning in a purification of the doctrine by returning to the historic documents and original languages of sacred Scripture. He tried to free the methods of scholarship from the rigidity and formalism of medieval traditions, but he was not satisfied with this. His revolt against certain forms of Christian monasticism and scholasticism was not based on doubts about the truth of doctrine, nor from hostility to the organization of the Church itself, nor from rejection of celibacy or monastical lifestyles. He saw himself as a preacher of righteousness by an appeal to reason, applied frankly and without fear of the magisterium. He always intended to remain faithful to Catholic doctrine, and therefore was convinced he could criticize frankly virtually everyone and everything. Aloof from entangling obligations, Erasmus was the centre of the literary movement of his time, corresponding with more than five hundred men in the worlds of politics and of thought. From ENGLISH WIKI on Erasmus. He did not believe in justification by faith/grace.

18:50 Sep 28, 2014 

Yes, that makes more sense, seems clearer without theology/theological everywhere! There are lots of references to different philosophers/theologians from Ancient Greece to German Reformers throughout the text, I definitely need to do a lot more reading...!

18:39 Sep 28, 2014 

Thanks. It doesn't really change the essential meaning though, does it? Just adds to the context. So they were looking to Erasmus for how to live a good religious life and going further than St Paul on the doctrine of justification front. I feel I need to bone up on my theological history when I read this!!

18:33 Sep 28, 2014 

I managed to leave out part of the sentence, I had removed it for my own purposes but should've included it here:

"Die Rede von der ´philosophia christiana`, die neben der erasmischen Vorstellung eines religiös-sittlichen Lebens aller Christen von einer rechtfertigungstheologischen Zuspitzung der paulinischen Theologie bestimmt war, blieb jedoch zeitlich begrenzt auf die ersten wenigen Jahre des 2. Jahrzehnts des 16. Jhdt.

18:17 Sep 28, 2014 

With your comments in mind, it reads as if the 'philosophia christiania' was characterised by a further emphasis on or extension of the doctrine of justification found in St Paul's teachings. I couldn't agree with 'exacerbation' (makes it sound like a crime) or 'intensification' (since they were adding to it or fleshing it out, not underlining it), and I believe 'bringing it to a head' is missing the point here. Does that accord better with your original ideas?

18:11 Sep 28, 2014 

@Helen - I dont know! Your suggestion sounded very plausible too!

17:49 Sep 28, 2014 

I think this is the main source of my confusion - ignoring "Zuspitzung" for a moment, I've been assuming rechtfertigungstheologische referred to Rechtfertigungstheologie (Rechtfertigungslehre) = the doctrine of justification (by faith)