Marvin Sanguinetti | Roehampton University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Marvin Sanguinetti
A Critical Introduction in Defence of Easter, 2020
For centuries, Easter has been at the heart of the Christian church and its liturgy, and therefor... more For centuries, Easter has been at the heart of the Christian church and its liturgy, and therefore any infraction of its doctrinal purpose should be critically addressed. The modern claim that Easter is pagan cannot be left unchallenged, especially since some claim that to participate in its celebration is tantamount to participating in a non-Christian idolatrous practice. This paper is an exploration of the meanings for Easter. It presupposes Easter as being a biblical and Christian celebration, and argues that such can be validated by the literature. Its focus is on primary sources, or the absence of them. Primary sources are extant archived materials produced by those closest to the events being discussed. Primary sources take the form of eyewitness testimonies of the events as they happened. They offer first-hand accounts from those for whom these events were existential realities. Secondary sources are interpretations of first-hand accounts and are more prone to hermeneutical biases than primary sources. If Easter is a pagan ritual not to be practiced by the Christian church, then such should at least be evidenced in the literature. If any evidence affirming the practice of Easter by the church is found in the literature, then the argument that Easter is pagan becomes redundant. My reading of the evidence demonstrates that Easter is not only Christian and biblical, but that opposing arguments against the Easter story are reduced to philological and etymological conflation of word-meanings. My contention is that what Easter has become has forced the non-Easter celebrants to excommunicate the biblical practice altogether. I will show how this is an anachronistic mistake, and leave the readers to draw their own scholarly conclusions.1 This paper, though introductory, offers some robust proposals and do not focus on contemporary features of the Easter celebration. Rather, the paper answers the difficult question of whether Easter is pagan or not. Other issues (e.g. the day and time of the resurrection) as it relates to Easter, will be addressed in other upcoming studies, or a future addition to this one.
A Oneness Pentecostal Exegesis and The Gospel of John: A Response To Classical Trinitarian Interpretations of πρὸς τὸν θεόν , 2019
Abstract – The rationale behind this study is to offer a Oneness Pentecostal exegesis for passage... more Abstract – The rationale behind this study is to offer a Oneness Pentecostal exegesis for passages within the Gospel of John and other Johannine texts where the Greek phrase πρὸς τὸν θεόν pros ton theon occurs. Its central textual basis is John 1:1-2 but incorporates grammatical-historical analyses of the phrase used in other non-Johannine pericope as hermeneutical tools when comparing Oneness and Trinitarian theologies. The study argues that the exegetical paradigms of Oneness Pentecostals are viable for contextualising and reorienting textual traditions and ‘settled-readings’ of Johannine texts believed to affirm ‘orthodoxy’. Crucial to this discussion is the identification of common theological assertions brought to these texts by Trinitarians as subconscious controls for their meanings. Essentially, the arguments presented here is a caution to exegetes who fall into the trap of forcing 3rd – 5th century language back into the biblical corpus of the first-century Greco-Roman contexts: and it is the contention of this study that such is too frequently done.
The concepts of Christology (the study of the person and work of Jesus) and Monotheism (the worsh... more The concepts of Christology (the study of the person and work of Jesus) and Monotheism (the worship of one God only) have been central to understanding the history of the Christian tradition. The traditional understanding embodied in the concept of Christological monotheism is that the New Testament texts narrate a story about Yahweh and Jesus as in some sense two persons who share a common nature or identity understood in terms of identity descriptions. Oneness Pentecostalism takes the view that the same texts are better understood narrating a story in some sense about one person or self. Though there is an abundance of secondary sources as regards what has come to be understood as the orthodox Christian tradition affirming Christological monotheism, in my view, Oneness Pentecostalism has not responded substantively to christological concerns regarding the nature of God. This paper briefly address three aspects of christological monotheism from a Oneness perspective. Both Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostal traditions have proceeded somewhat in parallel lines, both affirming their own position independently of criticism of the other, at least academically. Crucially, studies from the respective groups examine the most substantive and persuasive case for orthodox christology and monotheism mainly in the context of apologia. This particular research-space is what this paper seeks to fill, and will focus on contemporary perspectives for Christological Monotheism but in the context of Oneness Pentecostalism.
![Research paper thumbnail of Book Review-David Bernard' The Oneness of God [Oneness Pentecostalism and Trinitarianism]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/34967189/thumbnails/1.jpg)
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A Critical Introduction in Defence of Easter, 2020
For centuries, Easter has been at the heart of the Christian church and its liturgy, and therefor... more For centuries, Easter has been at the heart of the Christian church and its liturgy, and therefore any infraction of its doctrinal purpose should be critically addressed. The modern claim that Easter is pagan cannot be left unchallenged, especially since some claim that to participate in its celebration is tantamount to participating in a non-Christian idolatrous practice. This paper is an exploration of the meanings for Easter. It presupposes Easter as being a biblical and Christian celebration, and argues that such can be validated by the literature. Its focus is on primary sources, or the absence of them. Primary sources are extant archived materials produced by those closest to the events being discussed. Primary sources take the form of eyewitness testimonies of the events as they happened. They offer first-hand accounts from those for whom these events were existential realities. Secondary sources are interpretations of first-hand accounts and are more prone to hermeneutical biases than primary sources. If Easter is a pagan ritual not to be practiced by the Christian church, then such should at least be evidenced in the literature. If any evidence affirming the practice of Easter by the church is found in the literature, then the argument that Easter is pagan becomes redundant. My reading of the evidence demonstrates that Easter is not only Christian and biblical, but that opposing arguments against the Easter story are reduced to philological and etymological conflation of word-meanings. My contention is that what Easter has become has forced the non-Easter celebrants to excommunicate the biblical practice altogether. I will show how this is an anachronistic mistake, and leave the readers to draw their own scholarly conclusions.1 This paper, though introductory, offers some robust proposals and do not focus on contemporary features of the Easter celebration. Rather, the paper answers the difficult question of whether Easter is pagan or not. Other issues (e.g. the day and time of the resurrection) as it relates to Easter, will be addressed in other upcoming studies, or a future addition to this one.
A Oneness Pentecostal Exegesis and The Gospel of John: A Response To Classical Trinitarian Interpretations of πρὸς τὸν θεόν , 2019
Abstract – The rationale behind this study is to offer a Oneness Pentecostal exegesis for passage... more Abstract – The rationale behind this study is to offer a Oneness Pentecostal exegesis for passages within the Gospel of John and other Johannine texts where the Greek phrase πρὸς τὸν θεόν pros ton theon occurs. Its central textual basis is John 1:1-2 but incorporates grammatical-historical analyses of the phrase used in other non-Johannine pericope as hermeneutical tools when comparing Oneness and Trinitarian theologies. The study argues that the exegetical paradigms of Oneness Pentecostals are viable for contextualising and reorienting textual traditions and ‘settled-readings’ of Johannine texts believed to affirm ‘orthodoxy’. Crucial to this discussion is the identification of common theological assertions brought to these texts by Trinitarians as subconscious controls for their meanings. Essentially, the arguments presented here is a caution to exegetes who fall into the trap of forcing 3rd – 5th century language back into the biblical corpus of the first-century Greco-Roman contexts: and it is the contention of this study that such is too frequently done.
The concepts of Christology (the study of the person and work of Jesus) and Monotheism (the worsh... more The concepts of Christology (the study of the person and work of Jesus) and Monotheism (the worship of one God only) have been central to understanding the history of the Christian tradition. The traditional understanding embodied in the concept of Christological monotheism is that the New Testament texts narrate a story about Yahweh and Jesus as in some sense two persons who share a common nature or identity understood in terms of identity descriptions. Oneness Pentecostalism takes the view that the same texts are better understood narrating a story in some sense about one person or self. Though there is an abundance of secondary sources as regards what has come to be understood as the orthodox Christian tradition affirming Christological monotheism, in my view, Oneness Pentecostalism has not responded substantively to christological concerns regarding the nature of God. This paper briefly address three aspects of christological monotheism from a Oneness perspective. Both Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostal traditions have proceeded somewhat in parallel lines, both affirming their own position independently of criticism of the other, at least academically. Crucially, studies from the respective groups examine the most substantive and persuasive case for orthodox christology and monotheism mainly in the context of apologia. This particular research-space is what this paper seeks to fill, and will focus on contemporary perspectives for Christological Monotheism but in the context of Oneness Pentecostalism.