God's Praise and God's Presence

A Biblical-Theological Study

Gabriele G. Braun

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781532655067, 9781532655074
• eBook ISBN: 9781532655081
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

The main aim of this book is to provide an answer to the question: is there a connection between God's people's praise and God's presence? The central argument is that Scripture in both Testaments testifies to a correlation between human praise and divine presence. This hypothesis has been investigated in the light of contemporary Christian worship culture and the ensuing need for further biblical studies, which represents the background for this investigation. The study achieves the above aim by applying biblical theology as a discipline and canonical and intertextual models as a method.

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Introduction

Studies in the Anglophone world in the past few decades have explored the impact of contemporary pop culture and charismatic culture on Christian mainstream worship. Contemporary Christian praise seems to imply a correlation between human praise and divine presence. In view of these influences, the need for further biblical studies in that domain becomes evident. This worship scene and its needs represent the real-world setting for our question: God’s praise and God’s presence—is there a connection?

And so, the main aim of this book is to attempt to provide an answer to the question whether the Scriptures intimate such a connection between God’s people’s praise and God’s presence. The central hypothesis is that Scripture in both Testaments testifies to a correlation between human praise and divine presence which can be reciprocal at times. This argument has been tested in the light of contemporary Christian worship culture and its need for further biblical studies as background for our project. We will achieve the above aim by employing biblical theology as a distinct discipline and a canonical-intertextual model as a method to meet five specific objectives.

First, the need for further biblical studies will be demonstrated by testing existing approaches to a biblical theology of worship with regard to an interaction between human praise and divine presence.

Second, it will be established that biblical theology as a a distinct discipline and a canonical approach combined with an intertextual model as a method serve our purpose to explore texts from both Testaments regarding a bond between human praise and divine presence.

Third, the above argument will be corroborated in narratives from the Hebrew Bible, i.e., the First or Old Testament: God’s glory filling his new temple prompts his people’s praise and vice versa (1 Kgs 8 and 2 Chr 5–7); additionally, God’s people’s praise instigates manifestations of divine presence (Josh 6 and 2 Chr 20; 1 Sam 16 and 2 Kgs 3).

Fourth, the argument will be verified in texts from the Greek Bible, i.e., the Second or New Testament: God’s Holy Spirit filling his new people prompts their praise (Acts 2 and 10/11); additionally, God’s people’s praise instigates their refilling with Holy Spirit and/or other manifestations of divine presence (Acts 4 and 16; Eph 5).

Fifth, support will be offered for these results from a biblical theology perspective which reveals three intertextual themes: the connection between divine presence and human praise, the divine indwelling, and the divine-human covenant relationship.

In sum, the central argument of this investigation is that Scripture in both Testaments testifies to a connection between God’s people’s praise and God’s presence. It is suggested that at times, there is even a reciprocal correlation between these two elements which can be regarded as a dynamic process of divine-human interaction within a holy covenant relationship. In connection with that, the fundamental line of reasoning sustains that the praise of God’s people as an expression of their worship extends beyond their doxological activity in a worship service and involves a corresponding life of worship.

Therefore, the above issue will be raised from different angles of view, whether from an Old Testament or a New Testament perspective, a biblical theology perspective or a systematic theology point of view, to finish with a philosophical excursus. The main aim is to attempt to provide an answer to this overarching question whether, in general, there is a connection between God’s people’s praise and God’s presence and whether, in particular, there is a reciprocal correlation between both.

Accordingly, in the second chapter, we will test to what extent the two elements of human praise and divine presence play a part in approaches to a theology of worship. Some of the representative ones will be reviewed, which come mostly from the UK and the USA, but also from the German scene. The question asked of them is: To what extent do these approaches to a theology of worship contribute to an answer to the question about a potential link between human praise and divine presence?

To begin with the above-mentioned influences of charismatic culture and contemporary pop culture on Christian praise and worship, the reviews by Neil Hudson and James Steven, as well as Philip Greenslade will be introduced.1 These scholars have tasted and tested “doxological spices growing in Pentecostal and charismatic lands.” The need for going back to the biblical roots of worship was taken up early by scholars such as I. Howard Marshall who in his exegetical treatises tackles the issue of worship and worship service in the context of their terminology.2 Then, David Peterson and Peter Wick apply biblical theology as a discipline, each resulting in a comprehensive monograph on biblical worship:3 Peterson is one of the first scholars to offer an approach to a biblical theology of worship. Wick investigates the origins and development of temple, synagogue, and house worship of the early church and early Judaism including their terminology; his understanding of worship is mainly seen against the background of worship services, but is not limited to that. The approach by Daniel Block of recovering a biblical theology of worship concentrates on the ethical aspect of a corresponding life-setting and involves a pastoral-liturgical view.4 Fairly close to the theme of this project comes the illuminating analysis of evangelical worship by John Jefferson Davis who keeps in view both the role of human praise and divine presence or rather absence in worship and praise.5 Last but not least features a more recent study on youth culture in the church in Germany focusing on the so-called “generation praise” by Tobias Faix and Tobias Künkler.6

These critiques of contemporary Christian worship culture expose similar characteristics which can be perceived at international and interdenominational levels. Furthermore, the above studies reveal an important phenomenon in our contemporary world, namely the merging of cultural and Christian categories, which requires a clear distinction between cultural and biblical aspects. A careful exegesis of both lay a sound foundation towards that goal. Therefore, the exegesis of Scripture and of Christian worship culture has been the concern of a biblical theology of worship and its contributions.

Nonetheless, these few existing approaches towards a biblical theology of worship point to a twofold need: first, an increased demand for studies in the area of a biblical theology of worship; second, some of these studies refer to the two elements of God’s presence and God’s people’s praise individually, but most of them do not explore a potential connection between them, which may not have been their purpose.

Hence, the above arguments make clear the essential need to explore in both Testaments a potential relationship between God’s people’s praise and God’s presence. This need and challenge represent the main rationale for this book. The present investigation is naturally situated in the domain of biblical theology, which encompasses the First and the Second Testament. Still, biblical theology has not always and everywhere been recognized as an independent theological discipline, at least not at present in Germany. In contrast to that, in Anglophone countries, biblical theology saw a renaissance during the second part of the twentieth century up to now, which however, has triggered much debate.

Consequently, in the third chapter, the development and history of biblical theology as a discipline in i...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• List of Charts and Tables
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: God’s People’s Praise—Approaches Towards a Theology of Worship
• Chapter 3: Biblical Theology—a Distinct Discipline and Its Methods
• Chapter 4; God’s Glory-Presence in the Praises of His People in the Old Testament
• Chapter 5: God’s Spirit-Presence and God’s People’s Praise in the New Testament
• Chapter 6: Results from a Biblical Theology Perspective: Three Intertextual Themes and Related Issues
• Chapter 7: Conclusion and Outlook
• Bibliography