Allan J. McNicol

The importance of the synoptic problem for interpreting the gospels

Ruben Knežević

On revisions of Šarić's Bible translations

Stanko Jambrek

The Bible among the Croatian people: Translation, printing and spreading the Bible in the context of proclaiming the Gospel

Danijel Berković

The Church and the Bible in the context of the correlative relationships of power and authority

Tom Sibley

The Preacher's Challenge: to Walk the Talk

Mladen Jovanović

The Restoration Movement of the Churches of Christ

Petar Kuzmič

Time and eternity: Ethics, politics and religion

Stanko Jambrek

Christianity and New Age spirituality

Dragan Velešanov

Protestantism in Macedonia 1868.-1922.

Allan J. McNicol

This essay examines the issue of the order of writing of the four Gospels in the New Testament canon. Procedurally, it discusses the emergence of the fourfold Gospel tradition, the Synoptic Problem and how it has been approached in history. The essay argues in favor of the Clementine or Two-Gospel Hypothesis position. An analysis of Matthew 10:5-23 functions as an illustration of the value of this Hypothesis for understanding the text and seeing its value for the life of faith.

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Ruben Knežević

In this paper, revisions of Šarić's translation of the Holy Scriptures are analyzed, on the occasion of the release of the latest revision, published by the Croatian Bible Society. Following the introductory notes, the first chapter analyses points of contact between Šarić's Bible translation and preferred Protestant translation choices. In the second chapter all previous revisions of various Croatian translations of the Bible are described. In the third chapter, all revisions of Šarić's translation are presented, from the historical and translation-methodology aspect: from the revision by Luka Brajnović (1959-60) in Madrid, the revision by publisher "Caritas Croata" (1966 - 1969) in Salzburg, and the revision by Đuro Martinjak (1988), up to the most recent revision, prepared by the Croatian Bible Society (2006). In the fourth chapter, on the basis of the text of the Epistle of Jude, specific revising interventions are analyzed and compared, in all of the mentioned revisions of Šarić's translation, in relation to his original edition (1942.). The original Šarić translation and the texts of certain revisions are placed in parallel columns, together with the Greek Critical New Testament text, and the author presents his comments under every line. In the fifth chapter, it is determined, in conclusion, that the revision by the Croatian Bible Society, despite some imperfections, truly has the character of a "first revised edition," because all the former revisions mostly made corrections of a limited scope.

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Stanko Jambrek

Unfolding translations, editions and Bible distribution are underway in the context of evangelization in Croatia. The spiritual atmosphere in which the translations originated and the recognized spiritual movements from which the influences for translation sprang and whose members mainly spread individual editions of the New Testament and the whole Bible are analyzed within the framework of this paper.
The first printed New Testament among the Croatian people, translated by Stipan Konzul and Antun Dalmatin, was published in 1662-63 in Glagolitic and Croatian Cyrillic in the Bible School in Urach at Tübingen. The translation was intended for the evangelization of the peoples of southeast Europe, from Slovenia to Turkey. The first printing of Katančić's translation of the entire Bible (1831) didn't significantly influence evangelization among the Croats, but it was a significant cultural and educational accomplishment. Later, the British and Foreign Bible Society in the mid 19th century first began to distribute the Vuk-Dančić Serbian translation of the Bible, and then towards the end of the century made Croatian adaptations to the translation and intensively and successfully distributed it until the printing of the Zagreb Bible in 1968.
The Zagreb Bible, which was readily accepted by both the Catholic Church and the churches of the Reformation tradition, became the most widely accepted and most widely distributed translation of the Bible among the Croatian people. Of all the New Testament translations, the most significant for evangelization, was done by Ljudevit Rupčić and the translation by Duda and Fučak is excellent and the most widely used translation for liturgical, evangelistic and academic purposes. In the last 10 years, among the churches of the Reformation tradition, one entire Bible, six New Testament translations and one New Testament and Psalms translation have been published.

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Danijel Berković

The premise of this work is the distinction between the concepts of "power" and "authority." The author attempts to indicate the often unjustifiably synonymous use of these concepts, whether in Bible translation or in colloquial speech and the way in which they are wrongly used as alternatives. The concept of power belongs to institutions and organisations, while the concept of authority has its origin in commission, calling and (supernatural) equipping.
In the second part of this article the author considers some historical and theological connections between "power" and "authority" in relation to church power and scriptural authority, while aware that these concepts, though not synonymous, need not be mutually exclusive. Some of the many dangers, temptations and attractions of "power", with which the historical Church has been constantly confronted, are pointed out.
In the third part, the author focuses on particular biblical texts, to show where and how the concept of the authority of the Holy Scripture is found and upon what it is based. In this part, he refers in brief to textual history and the authority of Scriptures as seen both from the perspective of a systematic theologian and from biblical theology and literary contexts.
In conclusion, the author points to three possible "safety valves" by which the danger of being tempted by power might be shown and avoided, thus fulfilling the calling and commission of the Church to be salt and light and a community of hope.

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Tom Sibley

This essay affirms that clergy ethics is the resultant life and personal activity which are derived from a transformed character, developed and shaped by faithful obedience to the practical instruction concerning relational responsibilities found in the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, and integrated into a life of integrity which gives credibility to the Christian message and the viability of the New Testament Church. By sketching some the New Testaments promises of transformation as the work of God in the life of a believer and identifying a sampling of the admonitions and concrete teachings found in the Gospels and the Epistles which are to be practiced by the follower of Jesus Christ, I seek to show how the ethics of the Christian minister can attest to the validity of his message rather than be a reason to reject or ignore the Christian message. Offered as a challenge to those of us who dare to preach or teach new life in Christ and the possibility of an authentic New Testament church, this essay seeks to call preachers and church leaders to purposefully live in a way which will authenticate the Gospel for the 21st century and be a tool for contemporary evangelism.

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Mladen Jovanović

The restoration of the church of Jesus Christ is a constant need and fact. The church is alive and everything living searches for continuous restoration. The Restoration Movement isn't a short-lived movement. It began at the end of the 18th century and produced a large number of churches throughout the world that long for the return of authentic New Testament Christianity. Croatia's familiarity with the Restoration Movement and its beginning, successes and legitimacy are the themes of this article.

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