Browsing by Author "Cho, Anna"

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    Christian ethical implications of the presence of the Kingdom as God's performative action in the light of speech act theory
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) Cho, Anna; Forster, Dion Angus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis engages some Christian ethical implications of the presence of the kingdom as God’s performative action by reconsidering the role of the linguistic character of the biblical text from the perspective of the Speech Act Theory (SAT). In SAT, Christian ethics is not to be viewed simply as relating to the norms of human behaviour or moral principles that are extrapolated from the Biblical text. Rather, the performance of ethics in SAT must be considered from the perspective of God’s performative action and intent (God’s self-involving activity by illocutionary force). In particular, this points to God’s speech act in daily Christian living. In other words, it is not only aimed at reconstructing the content, or meaning of the ethics of the kingdom in Scripture, but also aims at reconstructing the Christian life as the performance of the ethics of the kingdom by God’s performative action. These ethical implications result from God’s illocutionary action which creates the perlocutionary effect or action which is the perlocutionary ethical response (PER) in the believer. Namely, it constitutes what some would consider “the norms of Christian living” or “Christian ethics”. The PER is a perlocutionary action in Christian life, which is based upon the intention of God’s illocutionary force in the Bible, creates a specific responsibility for the contemporary Christian. She or he, is to live and act in accordance with the “Word of God”. By this, it is not only meant the words of scripture, or the communicative content of the Bible, but also the illocutionary effect in the Words and their communicative intent. The living Triune God is still communicating through Scripture. This communication is not only the relaying of past events or narratives. Rather it is communication in the present to fulfil God’s will and God’s kingdom among humanity and all creation. In SAT, the work of the Triune God, in terms of God’s total speech act F(p) in the Bible, can be seen as the ethical identity of the moral agent through God’s locutionary action. The ethical purpose of the rules of behaviour in Jesus’s illocutionary action as well as the ethical responsibility from the effect of the Holy Spirit’s perlocutionary action in communication are also important and need to be considered in Biblical ethics. In other words, in Scripture, the self-involving character of the speech act involves God’s deeper performative action. This produces additional meaning in the text for the contemporary reader/hearer in accordance with the illocutionary point that is constitutive of the person of faith (e.g., specific moral conduct within a social community). Thus, God’s self as a self-communicative act, continuously addresses God’s people through Scripture, and God (the speaker) reveals God’s self through Jesus (the Word) to those are illuminated by the Holy Spirit (reception). In this regard, the Holy Spirit participates in God’s self-involving activity in the lives of believers. The Holy Spirit initiates a change in the attitudes and minds of believers to God’s will, and empowers them to act in accordance with God’s will in their private and public lives (i.e., individually and socially). Accordingly, God’s speech act F(p) in the Bible represents God’s intention which is communicated through the biblical text for the Christian life as an intended perlocutionary action (ethical response). God’s illocutionary action and its energy (power) are continuously being echoed for the Christian life with illocutionary force by what God is communicating to believers. This communicative activity and intent invites Christians to performative action in response to the Word of God operating in their daily lives – and this should be particularly important when we face moral or ethical issues. The intended perlocutionary effect faced by the Christian through the illocutionary force and power of God’s communicative act requires us to respond properly (ethically) to the Word of God in the private and public domains (e.g., individual ethics and social ethics). Therefore, if we truly face the illocutionary point (intent) in God’s communication, we should perform perlocutionary responses in our lives that respond appropriately to moral and ethical issues, in a manner that is in keeping with the content, intention, and ethics of God’s kingdom.
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    The linguistic characteristics of the language of human rights and its use in reality as the kingdom of God in the light of Speech Act Theory
    (AOSIS, 2019) Cho, Anna
    Human rights, a language that keeps public order, is realised in ordinary life by language characteristics according to social rules. Despite this fact, research that considers the linguistic features of human rights relating to its use and effects in terms of the kingdom of God in the present world seems to have not been attempted or seldom attempted. Thus, this article proposes to examine the language of human rights by means of Speech Act Theory. The approach is predicated upon the language use as performative acts. The approach shows the language of human rights with performative language by seeking to uncover the operation and effects of language of rights in real-life situations. The thrust of this article implies how we can explain the semantics of human rights and execute them in ordinary life in terms of God’s kingdom.
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    The Presence of the Kingdom in the light of the Speech Act Theory (SAT) : an ethical inquiry
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-12) Cho, Anna; Forster, Dion Angus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis relates Christian ethics to the presence of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ sayings and to its real meaning and application by reconsidering the religious language of the kingdom of God from the perspective of the Speech Act Theory (SAT). In SAT, the Christian ethical approach to the presence of the kingdom in Jesus’ sayings is not only aimed at reconstructing meanings of the ethics of the kingdom in the form of a propositional morality theme. It also aims at reconstructing the Christian life as the performance of the ethics of the kingdom in daily life, that is, in terms of the presence of God’s kingdom in Jesus’ utterances and its witness. Christians do not merely assert certain facts about God’s sovereignty or God’s kingdom; they address God in the act of committing themselves to God’s kingdom and applying their minds to its righteousness. Since Christian ethics depends on the message of the kingdom proclaimed by Jesus, the essence of interpretation in Christian ethics is therefore to recognize the illocutionary act in the Bible. In SAT, only illocution is able to determine meaning and to act. It also creates the perlocutionary act as an appropriate response in the believer such as trust or obedience. The living Triune God is still speaking to us through Scripture – not in past stories but in the present in order to fulfil God’s will and God’s kingdom. This indicates that Jesus’ preaching about the kingdom of God focuses on what we should do or how we should live as Christians. The Bible is not supposed to be interpreted only in an academic context but should also be performed by the people of God. Consequently, the Christian community should try to discover the momentum and function of the text in order to build up the people of God to live in the world and to participate in the activities of the kingdom of God, not as spectators but as active participants in the present world. It also tells us who God is, and how we ought to live in relation to that God. Christian communities are called to institute policies that alter the settings in which the interpretation of Scripture takes place. In this way, Christian ethics can map out a new moral sensibility and specific directions through the presence of the kingdom of God in the light of SAT.
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    The religious linguistic characteristics of the presence of the Kingdom in the light of Speech Act Theory : Christian ethical implications
    (Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Theology, 2017) Cho, Anna; Forster, Dion
    This article presents a novel Biblical ethical hermeneutic approach that emerges from an understanding of the presence of the kingdom of God in the Biblical text. The approach is predicated upon the use of speech act theory (abbreviated as SAT) in relation to ‘kingdom language’ in the Biblical text. The approach shows how the notion of kingdom language, as God’s divine activity, is elicited in the contemporary Christian’s life by allowing it to operate beyond the world of the Biblical text. In other words, this approach establishes a Biblical-ethical hermeneutic bridge be-tween the text (and its context) and the context of contemporary readers of the text. The alternative linguistic epistemology in SAT considers the principle of the kingdom of God in the past (locution level), the present (illocutionary level) and the future (perlocutionary level). The dynamic equivalences of the past, present and future of the kingdom of God based on an SAT approach to the Biblical text can inform Christian ethical theory and moral action in the present world. It can also provide a new moral sensibility in relation to God’s sovereignty and the respon-sibility of Christians in contemporary society.
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    Revelation as a discourse of language through speech act theory
    (AOSIS, 2021-02-16) Cho, Anna
    Systematic theology regards revelation as a divine discourse between God and us. However, it seems that it does not fully explain how God’s divine discourse transforms our life and what implications it has. Therefore, this article suggests investigating ‘revelation as a discourse of language’ in the light of speech act theory (SAT). If we illuminate revelation as a discourse of language as a SAT, the following three hermeneutical contributions to revelation are expected: firstly, revelation is a ‘communicative act’ between God and believer as a ‘discourse of language’ of God; secondly, it shows how the language of revelation bridges the gap between ‘divine language’ and ‘human language’ in terms of revelation as a discourse of language, and thirdly, it confirms how God’s Word (revelation) is real in the lives of believers.