Die werkende woord en die wêreld

Abstract

The rediscovery of the Word of God in the 16th century was in a real sente the rediscovery of its power. The living God, who stands behind his powerful Word, has shown his mercy in a par­ ticular way to the church during the Reformation period by speaking clearly and loudly to his people. The reformers, partic­ ularly Zwingli, were aware of this, and expected the renewal of the church and society from the Word. This conviction of the re­ formers is shown to be in line with the testimony of Scirpture itself, which attributes the faith creating fruit of the Word to the triune God. The world of our day, in which the Word exerts its power is a world which seems to be dominated by a "neutral" scientific enterprise (which is not neutral), by scientific "facts" (which are quite often only hypotheses and theories) and by "objective" sci­ entists, who are sometimes bound by superstition. This is illus­ trated with reference to i.a. Newton and Jung and the synthesis of science and the occult in the New Age movement.