Dignity, Autonomy, and Assisted Suicide: An Ecumenical Perspective on the German Context

A 2020 decision by Germany’s highest court dramatically shifted the national discussion on assisted suicide. The decision stressed the ‘right to a self-determined death’ which must ‘be respected by state and society as an act of personal autonomy and self-determination’. Moreover, it clarified the non-criminality of assistance for suicides by third parties. The reaction of the main churches in Germany to this decision reflects ecclesiological differences. Protestant positions on assisted suicide are defined by pluralism; the Roman Catholic official position remains tied to ontologically-referenced principles of natural law that prohibit assisted suicide as intrinsically evil. Thus, ecumenical efforts on bioethics are complicated by a context where many Protestant leaders prioritize autonomy and pluralism, whereas Roman Catholic leaders stress consensus and orthodoxy. Even official church guidelines on such matters are received differently in Protestant and Roman Catholic communities. For Protestant Christians, an opinion functions primarily as guideline; for Catholic Christians, there is a goal at least of reaching principles reflecting the objective order of God’s creation.

When Ghost (Gwisin) Becomes Demon

Most Korean Protestant Christians consider the traditional concept gwisin (ghost in English) as absolutely evil. This abhorrent attitude toward gwisin, I argue, has been influenced by the misuse of gwisin in Korean Protestant Bibles to identify demon/unclean spirit. Focusing on the Gospel of Mark, this paper will show gwisin cannot be conceptually equated with demon/unclean spirit, which are always evil in Mark. To substantiate the point, first, I will examine translation history of the Korean Protestant Bibles in terms of demon/unclean spirit in Mark to show that gwisin has been demonized in Korean Protestants’ minds for a long time. Secondly, I will explore the concept gwisin in Korean culture and demon/unclean spirit in Mark. By comparing the two, I argue that the use of gwisin by translators, who were mostly missionaries, to identify demon/unclean spirit was a misrepresentation.

Group Life Protestant Christian–Catholic: Study of Religious Inter-Religious Harmony in Sungai Penuh City dalam INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ISLAM AND MUSLIM SOCIETIES (ICONIS) 2019 Indonesian Civil Islam: Intertwin Among Moderatism, Conservatism, and Populism

Islam is the religion of rahmatan lil’alamin (mercy for all nature). In the Qur'an (Muslim holy book), even though it has been explained that Islam is the only religion that is blessed by Allah SWT, but in social life, Islam recognizes other religious entities and allows followers of other religions to worship with confidence each of them. According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the adopted by the Sungai Penuh City community are of various kinds, namely Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Sungai Penuh is a city with a majority Muslim community. Even reaching 99% of the Sungai Penuh City people embraced Islam. In Indonesia, the state has guaranteed religious freedom through the 1945 Constitution and Law No. 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights. In the practice of Protestant Christians and Catholic in the City of Sungai Penuh as if living in groups. The group life was marked by the existence of certain areas which became their place of residence and did not spread to various areas in the Sungai Penuh City. This research is a qualitative research with the presentation of descriptive narrative data and sociological approaches. This study aims to determine the background and cause of the group life of Protestant Christians and Catholic in Sungai Penuh City. The data collection methods used are observation, interviews, documentaries. Then after the data is obtained, analyzed using qualitative data analysis techniques. Through this research, the community can take the values contained in religious harmony and implement it in the life of the nation and state so as to create a harmonious system of community life. religions

Latin America

This chapter gives an overview of the reception of Jonathan Edwards in Latin America, particularly Brazil. In Brazil, Evangelicals and Pentecostals have especially appropriated Edwards. At first, Edwards was received as a revivalist. Protestant Christians in Brazil in the mid-twentieth century were enamoured with church growth, pietistic spirituality, and revivalism. Biographies of Edwards and his writings on these subjects (especially as they related to the First Great Awakening) were translated into Portuguese and Spanish, serving to introduce Christians to Edwards’s life and thought. More recently, Protestant Christians have begun to appreciate Edwards’s Reformed theology. A growing interest in theological education, evangelical history, and the Reformed faith has led many to Edwards. While these two movements do not account for all of the reception history of Jonathan Edwards in Latin America, they do reveal broad trends about both Latin American Protestantism and the appropriation of Edwards in Latin American contexts.

The Search for a Sound Ecclesiology: The Basic Principles of Congar’s Pneumatology Applied in his Ecclesiology

"Yves Congar’s pneumatology contains several basic principles. Two of them are as following: the Holy Spirit is revealed not directly in himself but through his work; and pneumatology has to be Christological. Furthermore, Congar also states that the Holy Spirit makes the Church one. Because Congar’s thought is very organic and many of its interconnections are only implicit, the first aim of this article is to make more explicit these interconnections in order to show that the unity of the Church reflects the inner unity of the Trinity as well as the unity of the economy of salvation. The second aim of this article is to show how Congar’s pneumatology contributes to the understanding of the Church as a mystery in which the Christological and pneumatological aspects have an equal importance. This equilibrium leads to harmony between institution and charisms, and between the memory of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit. This Christological-pneumatological understanding of the Church is useful in ecumenical discussions between Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians."

The Interpretation of Freedom of Religion and Believe: How Do University Understand This to Society?

This paper is based on the condition of freedom of religion and belief and people's understanding of the meaning of freedom of religion and belief which is still wrong and ambiguous. In fact, as dignified beings, humans have a number of basic rights that must be protected, such as the right to life, the right to political rights, the right to assemble, as well as the right to religion and belief. Human rights values ​​teach that these basic human rights are protected and respected. Human rights teach the principle of equality and human freedom so that there can be no discrimination, exploitation and violence against humans in any form and also there should not be any restrictions and restrictions on basic human freedoms, including the right to freedom of religion. The Indonesian nation is a pluralistic nation. There are various kinds of ethnicity, race, religion, and ethnicity that cause diversity in Indonesia. Although the majority of Indonesian people are followers of Islam, however, in Indonesia there are also several other official religions recognized by the government, namely, Catholic Christians, Protestant Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucians. Therefore, every person has the right to freedom of religion or belief, that means no one may be subject to coercion that would interfere with his freedom to adhere to or embrace a religion or belief of his own choice.

Islamic Work Ethics: A Thematic Commentary Study

Veysel Bozkurt's research proved that Protestant ethics, which consists of work ethic and asceticism did not just occur to Protestant Christians. However, it also occurred in Turkish and Kyrgyz communities where the majority of the population is Muslim. Researcher reinforce Veysel Bozkurt's theory by revealing the work ethic and asceticism in the Qur'an with a thematic commentary approach. This research found that the Qur'an teaches four work ethics and two attitudes of asceticism. The four-work ethics are that work is obligatory, work must be optimal beyond basic needs, work is jihad, and work must be based on the principle of goodness. While the two attitudes of asceticism are strong spiritual and managing wealth wisely

Under the Umbrella of Custom: Harmonious Relationship between Christian and Islam in Tiga Beringin Village and Simpang Pergendangan Village, Karo

Indonesian society is a pluralistic society. The pluralism of society can be seen from the diversity of languages, ethnicities and religions. This pluralism is also reflected in the diverse Karo community in embracing religions such as Christian, Catholic, Islam and ancestral religions. Many religions are believed by Karo community, but the community's stigma still places that Karo community are Protestant Christians. Behind this stigma, there is a community of society whose entire population is Muslim. The villages are Tiga Beringin Village and Simpang Pergendangan Village, Tiga Binanga Sub-district. However, how is the relationship between the community groups well established and why there has never been a problem by the majority Christian population? This article will answer the things mentioned above which tell how the relationship between the community is harmoniously established and conflicts never occur.

Is Christ Divided?

This chapter examines the ecumenical movement. The twentieth century has sometimes been denominated by historians of Christianity as “the ecumenical century.” Narratives of the ecumenical movement typically begin with the World Missionary Conference, held in Edinburgh in June of 1910, which assembled some 1,215 Protestant delegates from various parts of the globe to devise a more effective common strategy for the evangelization of the world. Viewed with the benefit of hindsight, the Edinburgh conference has been widely identified as the birthplace of the formal ecumenical movement. Without it, there would be no World Council of Churches. Yet serious attempts to bridge divisions between Protestant Christians were already under way in India and China before 1910. Furthermore, the World Missionary Conference was precisely that—a gathering of mission executives and missionaries convened to consider questions of missionary policy. Delegates represented missionary agencies rather than churches, and discussion of questions of doctrine and church order was forbidden, in deference to the Church of England, whose endorsement would not have been given if the conference had been expected to discuss matters of faith and order with Nonconformists. The chapter then looks at the failure and success of the ecumenical movement.

MODUS DORIAN: SEBUAH ALTERNATIF BAGI PENCIPTAAN HYMN

In today's Indonesian churches there are two types of music in worship, namely: hymnal songs or hymn (which are still used in mainstream Protestant churches) and contemporary Christian songs (used in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches). Nevertheless, contemporary Christian singing began to be accepted by some Protestant Christians and its existence increasingly dominated and urged the hymn. In order for the hymn to not be easily abandoned and felt contemporary, the author offers a new alternative to the creation of the hymn that has based itself on the major-minor mode for centuries. The alternative is the use of church mode, namely the Dorian mode as the basis for the creation or arrangement of a hymn. For this reason, the author tries to present a hymn arrangement for the song "Holy, Holy, Holy" by Reginald Heber in the SATB format in Dorian mode.