Christian music in scripture and tradition

Religious music has always been man's attempt to express the relationship between the Divine and the human. Through it, human nature takes part in the love of the Holy Trinity, participating in power, in prayer and in spirit, in the immanence of God. Divine revelation is easily revealed to man through theology expressed in religious music, and man, regardless of his theological knowledge, begins to feel and live in the love of God.

Revelation and the Veridicality of Narratives

On Christian doctrine, God is love; and the love of God is most manifest in Christ’s passion. The passion of Christ thus matters to philosophical theology’s examination of the divine attribute of love. But the passion of Christ is presented in a biblical story, and there are serious methodological questions about the way in which a biblical story can be used as evidence in philosophical theology. And these questions in turn raise deeper epistemological questions. How does any narrative transmit knowledge? And what counts as veridicality in a narrative? This paper deals with some of the questions for philosophical theology and then concentrates on the more general epistemological questions about narratively transmitted knowledge.

Pentingnya Disiplin Gereja bagi Seorang Pejabat Gereja dalam Sebuah Pelayanan

At this time, we often encounter many church officials who do not carry out their duties properly in a church service that the congregation has untrusted to them. In this paper I will present some reflections on the life of a church official who does not discipline himself in a church service. According to some people think that, discipline in the church is a major omission in some churches today where a leader is afraid to discipline the church to members of the congregation either to a church official, because it is considered contrary to the “love of God” which can cause division in a fellowship with in the church discipline in a congregatin & church, can cause the loss of church members who are affected from outside. Mean while, the major misunderstandings that occur in the church occur due to differences of opinion regarding the meaning, purpose, and nature of church discipline. Many see church discipline as a curse and presentation to a church official or to members of the congregation rather than to be seen as healing love. The purpose of writing this paper is to explain the correct understanding of the importance of church discipline for a church official in a church ministry today

THE GOPIBHAV, THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL STATE OF A GOPI, AS MANIFESTED IN SWAMI RAJARSHI MUNI’S HYMNS

In theology, an intense emotional expression of love towards the God or the presiding deity (Ishtdev) is called devotion or bhakti. ShrimadBhagavatmentions nine types of devotion or navadha bhakti. Of these the ninth one is self-surrender (atmanivedan) which is to have undivided love for God. In this state the devotee’s soul so completely gets drenched in the love of God that even a moment’s forgetfulness is highly disturbing. In the state of absolute selfsurrender when the devotee incessantly remembers the God, that is the highest state of devotion, the parabhakti. The Gopisof Vrajhad attained this highest state of devotion. The devotion of Gopishas the feeling of the absolute selfsurrender. It was their absolute self- surrender to the God. The Gopibhav emerges out of the inner faith of the persevering devotee bhaktiyogiwho has totally identified with the true nature of the Supreme Lord through fervent and unwavering religious practices. Gopibhav is an experiment of love to possess Lord Shyam Sunder.

The Sufi order against religious radicalism in Indonesia

This study aimed to analyse the contribution of the Sufi order in stemming religion-based violence as a form of the Sufis’ response to rampant violence, extremism and religious radicalism. This study used a qualitative method in which the data were obtained through interviews, observation and documentation. Then they were analysed by using an interactive model. This study was carried out in three Sufi communities of the Sufi order Qadariyah wan Naqshabandiyah (TQN) in Indonesia, namely in Suryalaya Islamic Boarding School, Futuhiyyah Islamic Boarding School Mranggen and Darul Ulum Islamic Boarding School Jombang. The results of the study show that the three TQN orders have the concepts of dhikr and love, which are internalised in the act of Sufism. The Sufi order has the doctrines of love of God, mutual love, discourse of moderation and tolerance towards religion and other groups as the main instruments in the fight against religious radicalism. The resistance of the Sufis to religious radicalism shows that the Sufi order is cornered from attacks by formalist groups in religion. This fact reopens the historical archive of contradictions between the two major currents of Islamic thought and movement, Salafi versus Sufi. The counter-radicalism narrated by the Sufis of the three TQN communities represents their defensive attitude towards the aggressiveness of the textual and radical Salafis.Contribution: This article contributes to prevent and reduce the rise of religious radicalism in Indonesia. The doctrines of tanbih, mahabbah, tolerance and moderatism developed by the Sufis in the three TQN communities became a source of reference and inspiration for resistance to violence and religious radicalism.