Le cours du Jourdain à travers l'Église primitive

In the history of the Church, the river Jordan has acquired a rather negative function. As a point of demarcation between life and death it took on a function similar to the Styx and other rivers, which had to be crossed in order to reach the underworld. This attribution was an accommodation to the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kate, Albertus Aemilius Seyno ten (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:French
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Published: Peeters 2004
In: Ephemerides theologicae Lovanienses
Year: 2004, Volume: 80, Issue: 1, Pages: 167-173
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Jordan / Metaphor / Church
IxTheo Classification:KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
Description
Summary:In the history of the Church, the river Jordan has acquired a rather negative function. As a point of demarcation between life and death it took on a function similar to the Styx and other rivers, which had to be crossed in order to reach the underworld. This attribution was an accommodation to the Hellenistic environment. In the earliest history of both Judaism and Christianity, however, the river had a positive function, namely that of reflecting the abundance of the messianic age (c.q. the coming Kingdom). Its earliest attestations are of liturgical origin; both in the baptismal liturgies and in the catechetic teachings, the Jordan symbolises the arrival in the Promised Land with all its benefits. The liturgical function of the Jordan should, therefore, be reappraised as the origin of the hope from which the Church lives.
ISSN:0013-9513
Contains:In: Ephemerides theologicae Lovanienses