Inkulturasi Iman Kristen dalam Konteks Budaya Batak: Suatu Tinjauan Misiologis

The encounter between Christian faith and Batak culture is an important issue in mission activities. This encounter certainly faces various problems and tensions that can only be overcome by communication between cultures. This article seeks to map the experience of encounter Christian faith with Batak culture and religion. The inculturation of the Christian faith that was carried out at the beginning of the Catholic mission activities in the Batak lands was how to introduce the concept of a Christian God to the Batak people who actually have their own concept of God in their traditional religion. The process of inculturation requires the transformation of traditional Toba Batak culture through Christianity. Likewise, the transformation of Christianity through traditional culture. That is, there must be a reciprocal relationship between the Christian tradition and concrete culture in the sense of critical correlation. Reciprocal relationships will certainly bring tension. This process of inculturation is permanent and the gospel is expressed in a cultural context. The gospel is not only expressed with cultural elements, but also becomes a force capable of changing the life patterns of the Toba Batak people.Key words: inculturation, Christian faith, Toba-Batak. AbstrakPertemuan antara iman Kristen dan kebudayaan Batak merupakan isu penting dalam kegiatan misi. Pertemuan ini tentu menghadapi berbagai persoalan dan ketegangan yang hanya bisa diatasi dengan komunikasi antara budaya. Artikel ini berupaya memetakan pengalaman pertemuan iman Kristen dengan budaya dan religi Batak. Upaya inkulturasi iman Kristen yang dilakukan pada awal kegiatan misi Katolik di tanah Batak adalah bagaimana memperkenalkan konsep Allah kristiani kepada orang Batak yang sebenarnya juga telah memiliki konsep tersendiri mengenai Allah dalam agama tradisional mereka. Proses Inkulturasi membutuhkan transformasi budaya tradisional Batak Toba melalui kekristenan. Demikian juga sebaliknya transformasi kekristenan melalui budaya tradisional. Artinya, mesti ada suatu relasi timbal balik antara tradisi kekristenan dengan budaya konkrit dalam arti korelasi kritis. Relasi timbal balik tentu akan membawa ketegangan. Proses inkulturasi ini berlangsung permanen dan Injil diungkapkan dalam konteks budaya. Injil tidak hanya diungkapkan dengan elemen-elemen budaya, tapi juga menjadi kekuatan yang mampu mengubah pola kehidupan orang Batak Toba

Late Working Life Patterns in Sweden

Late working life patterns differ across different social groups and birth cohorts. The mechanisms of these participation differences and role of working life policies can be understood better by using additional working life indicators and historical perspective. This paper investigates how late working life patterns of different age, gender, education groups and birth cohorts are structured in Sweden using participation, employment type, employment break and exit trajectories of different groups. Using Swedish National Registry Data, employment trajectories of the age groups of 60-68 of the birth cohorts 1930, 1935, 1940, 1945 and 1950 are followed. Results show that for all birth cohorts, participation is higher for younger age groups, men and higher educated; leaving the working life before 61 is more common among primary educated; changing employment type in late working life is observed more among higher educated men and usage of sickness compensation is higher among primary educated and women. However, the peak age that individuals exit, and experience employment breaks differs over the years. In addition, although higher educated individuals have lower shares in usage of unemployment and sickness compensation for all birth cohorts, the structure of benefits usage of the other education and gender groups change over the years. Overall, results give important insights how changes in working life policies affect working life patterns of different groups over the years.

Memahami Efesus 5:1-21 dalam Upaya Hidup Berpadanan dengan Panggilan Orang Percaya di tengah "Serigala"

Kesadaran akan identitas sebagai orang Kristen harus dipertahankan sebab setiap orang percaya mendapat tantangan untuk mengabdi dan hidup dalam ketaatan kepada Allah. Pola hidup orang percaya juga berkaitan dengan posisi. Sebagaimana banyak orang percaya lupa akan identitas dirinya sebagai pembawa terang dan anak-anak Allah. Melalui kualitatif deskriptif dapat menemukan kajian biblikal tentang pola hidup yang berpadan dengan posisi orang percaya sebagai tujuan dari penulisan ini yang mana dapat disimpulkan sebagai berikut: Posisi sebagai anak kekasih yang diaplikasikan berjalan dalam kecintaan kepada ilahi atau berjalan dalam pengabdian kepada Allah secara terus-menerus. Kedua posisi sebagai orang kudus berarti tidak bisa disesatkan karena tidak bergaul atau berkawan untuk mengabdosi pangajaran sesat. Selanjutnya posisi sebagai anak terang dimana orang percaya berjalan dalam kehendak Tuhan sehinga orang percaya semakin mencintai Tuhan dan berdampak bagi sesama. Lalu posisi sebagai orang arif memiliki makna harus memperhatikan karakter hidup yang berjalan dengan kebenaran Tuhan. Posisi tersebut harusnya melekat kepada Orang percaya sebagai pertanggungjawaban hidup yang berpadan dengan posisi. Abstract: The awareness of identity as a Christian must be maintained because every believer is challenged to serve and live in obedience to God. The lifestyle of the believer also has to do with position. As many believers forget their identity as a light bearer and children of God. Through descriptive qualitative one can find a biblical study of life patterns that are compatible with the position of believers as the purpose of this writing which can be concluded as follows: The position as a lover's child that is applied runs in love to the divine or walks in continuous devotion to Allah. The second position as a saint means that he cannot be misled by not associating or making friends to abstain from heretical teachings. Furthermore, the position of being a child of light is where believers walk in God's will so that believers love God more and have an impact on others. Then the position as a wise person has the meaning of having to pay attention to the character of life that runs with God's truth. This position should be attached to the Believer as a life accountability that matches the position

False Sincerity: College Students' Ritualistic Praise from the Perspective of Interactive Ritual Chains

In the modern society where the pressure of interpersonal communication is increasing, the ritualistic interactions represented by mutual praise reinterprets the interpersonal communication behavior of youth groups to some extent. In traditional interpersonal interaction, the connotation of sincerity, affirmation and identification represented by "praise" has been deprived and replaced. According to the needs of social interaction and individual emotional needs, college students have given new connotation to "praise", showing a changing trend from sincere praise to deliberate flattering. Based on this, this paper puts forward the concept of "ritualistic praise", and analyzes the causes and influences of this phenomenon from the perspective of interactive ritual chains, to get a glimpse of the emotional life patterns of young people in the context of modern interpersonal communication.

Revitalization Education in Problem Areas as a Tool for the Implementation of Social Welfare

Achieving social well-being in problem areas requires social and economic activation, which is made possible by a change in the attitudes and behavior of the area’s inhabitants. In this systematic review article, the author points out that in order for current public interventions for people at risk in problem areas to be effective, the use of available research by neurobiologists is required. To this end, the author: (1) made a synthetic characterization of problem areas in the world, with particular emphasis on social challenges; (2) reviewed both the available research written by neuroscientists and their subsequent conclusions, which may contribute to better explanations of the social consequences of transformation; (3) on this basis, the author formulated conclusions and recommendations for decision makers. In addition, a review of available research by neuroscientists will help to understand why efforts so far targeting marginalized social groups have been ineffective or insufficient. Revitalization education is defined as all the processes and interactions that aim to change the attitudes and behaviors of people, in particular children and adolescents, in order to contribute to the integration and inclusion of people at risk of social exclusion, and thus improve their well-being. Revitalization education should be directed at people who are caught up in a negative loop of social patterns. Since their fate is shaped by the influence of parents and teachers, the method used for reconstructing positive life patterns towards prodevelopment skills and competences should also be directed at these groups. The article discusses: social problems of marginalized areas; the impact of neuroscience on economic decision making; and recommendations formulated for educational activities.

Maddulo Kamu: traversing the social life patterns of the Ibanags

The purpose of this research is to discover, characterize, and analyze the social life patterns of the Ibanags in Nassiping, Gattaran, Cagayan. The descriptive case study approach was utilized, which included current information regarding the nature or status of this cultural group, as well as other phenomena. 100 clients were chosen from conception until death or burial based on their understanding of facts and information about Ibanag beliefs, traditions, and rites. The participant-observer technique, in which the researcher participated in the practices, rituals, and other ceremonies while simultaneously observing and seeing them, necessitated her staying among the people for several months. The researcher also studied reference materials or documents, as well as other demographic data on the community and its population. Farming and fishing are the most common jobs, however, some of them also work in carpentry and have their businesses. The Ibanag people have traditional beliefs and habits that are at variance with what teachers teach in schools from conception to death. On the other side, the problem of value conflicts can be solved by shifting unfavorable ideas and practices to more favorable ones, which can be attributed to people's education and willingness to change

Analysis of reality of the work and artistic communication as a way to elucidate the essence of art

The article covers the two main topics: the characteristics of three key stages of studying art by the author, and a brief summary of the original concept of art proposed as a result of this study. Leaning on the concept of art of L. S. Vygotsky, the author offers the own approach towards studying art. Firstly, art is viewed in comparison with dreams, communication and play, analyzing the role of these processes and semiotic means played in relation to ordinary life. The article introduces the idea of artistic reality, which manifests as a continuation of ordinary life, allowing to realize in a semiotic form the desires (psychic programs) that are blocked in ordinary life; and such realization suggest living through the events set by the specific semiosis of art and conditionality. Secondly, the author describes the results of the genesis of art. In the course of analysis, emphasis is place on the three central topics:: 1) establishment of the semiosis of art based on the semiosis formed in ordinary life; 2) formation of recreation sphere, within which art is being formed; 3) philosophical “conceptualization” of art in the antique culture, which characterizes art as an independent sphere of life, unlike other spheres. Thirdly, art and artistic reality are viewed as a peculiar type of communication. The author believes that both, the artist (writer, composer) and the viewer (reader, listener), on the one hand, create and reconstruct artistic reality (and there is not always a coincidence), while on the other hand, to one or another extent, they take into account each other's communicative abilities and competencies. The conclusion is made that art is determined by conceptual space, the coordinates of which indicate the representations of artistic reality, artistic communication, life patterns in art, conceptualization of art and its development.