Becker K F
Z Gerontol. 1984 Jan-Feb;17(1):32-8.
Firstly, the considerable cultural-historical efficiency of the biblical belief is shown in its influence upon the status and the self-comprehension of elderly people. The Old Testamental monotheism leads to the disenchantment of man and a sober judgement of age, free of superstition. The theology of grace in the New Testament teaches the old to look upon the Lord hopefully, despite all deficits of life, instead of ending in a desperate balance of life. In the course of ecclesiastical history the basic biblical positions have mainly been kept till the 19th century with social efficiency, despite a certain narrowness by patriarchalism. Industrialisation however, was accompanied by a theological development, which did rather follow philosophical fashions of that time than social requirement. In connection with empirical Gerontology some Protestant theologians have tried a new concretisation of the fourth commandment for our time and conditions of life for more than one decade.
首先，圣经信仰在相当大的文化历史层面上的功效体现在其对老年人地位和自我认知的影响上。《旧约》中的一神论导致了对人的祛魅以及对年龄的清醒判断，摆脱了迷信。《新约》中的恩典神学教导老年人，尽管生活存在种种不足，但仍要满怀希望地仰望主，而非以绝望的人生平衡告终。在教会历史进程中，尽管受到父权制一定程度的局限，但圣经的基本立场在19世纪之前主要保持着社会效力。然而，工业化伴随着一种神学发展，这种发展更多地是追随当时的哲学潮流而非社会需求。在与实证老年学相关的研究中，一些新教神学家在过去十多年里一直尝试根据我们这个时代的生活状况对第四条诫命进行新的具体阐释。
