Moltmann’s theology in dialogue with liberation theologians revives the role of Black Theology in democratic South Africa

The theme for Liberation Theology has always been about concerns for the marginalised masses and socio-political liberation for the economically disadvantaged. Its mandate is to seek to guide towards the discovery of being human without references to historical divisions between the haves and have-nots created by socio-economic imbalances promoted by political regimes. Moltmann’s content of theology, its revision, its innovation rather than the theological method has marked his restless imagination. His method of exploration in doing theology has brought him into dialogue with philosophers and theologians of different persuasions. In this study, he is evaluated in his dialogue with the liberation theologians. The focus is on Moltmann’s theological approach to ecumenism, built around the Kingdom of God concept, and ecclesiastical analysis and political theology. These three areas are the transitional arguments on how Moltmann enters into dialogue with the liberation theologians. The argument moves on to point how Liberation Theology has exerted itself as Black Theology in South Africa during the apartheid time. Black Theology is a theology of liberation because of its resistance and endeavours of eradication of all forms of oppressive systems. The two injustices (socio-cultural misnomers) in the democratic South Africa are discussed as a calling for Black Theology’s voice. These are corruption and human rights abuses. Black Theology brings religion into the secular world as a way of aborting all forms of discrimination based on race, sex and economic class.Contribution: Black Theology is invited to revisit Moltmann’s ecumenical, ecclesiastical and political theological understanding, as a way of reviving itself back to the centre stage of prophetic role within the corrupt and human rights and dignity abuse society.

Liberation Theology in Latin America

Liberation theology is a critical reflection on the workings of God in the history of humankind that emphasizes the active, divine redemption (liberation) of humans from the sinful bonds of political and economic oppression. The biblical Exodus narrative became the core metaphor for the theological understanding of liberation and freedom. The Latin American bishops, during their second meeting at Medellín, Colombia, in 1968, coined a signature tenet of liberation theology: “the preferential option for the poor.” Liberation theology emerged formally among theologians in South America in response to rising expectations produced by two key external factors: the successful Cuban revolution (1959) and the ecumenical zeitgeist associated with Vatican II (1962–1965). The movement spread quickly while increased literacy among the faithful inspired lay leaders, trained by sparse clergy and women religious, to organize Christian base communities (CEBs), to “read” their own reality in light of the Exodus story, and to campaign for social justice in alliance with secular political actors. The swift repression and assassination of clergy, nuns, and lay activists by security forces hostile to democratization of the political economy in the 1970s and early 1980s fueled international awareness of liberation theology. Heightened internal opposition within the Vatican in the 1980s to some of liberation theology’s fundamental tenets culminated with the ten-month silencing in 1985 of the Brazilian theologian and Franciscan priest Leonardo Boff. Liberation theology has since inspired other marginalized social actors to explore what liberation means for those forced to live on the periphery due to racial, ethnic, and/or gender-based discrimination; homophobia; and a rapidly deteriorating environment threatened by unsustainable development models.

Luther's theological understanding of the essence of music: music is a gift of God

Compared with his peers and successors of the Reformation, Luther had a more positive and tolerant view of music. " [Music] is a gift of God and not of man" is the cornerstone of Luther's music view and also his theological understanding of the essence of music. Luther's theology of the essence of music is quite original and closely related to Luther's understanding of grace, gift, and creation. In Luther's view, God created the world and all things through the world and all things speak and self-interpret himself, the universe and all things emit their own sound and harmony, that is, their music, God through his gift to share his divinity and eternal power. This article attempts to explore the theological origin and meaning of Luther’s famous musical theology proposition from Luther’s creation theory and the theological understanding of grace and gift, as well as the manifestation and acceptance of musical gifts as genius and creativity.

Accuracy, veracity, and theological truth in the 16th century atlas <i>Theatrum Terrae Sanctae</i>

The characteristics and appearance of an authentic map (in conformity with reality), together with the convention about how authenticity should be obtained in a map, continued to change since the beginning of modern cartography along the centuries. As Critical Cartography has emphasised, the authenticity of a map was in many cases just a convincing appearance, hiding intricate ideologies. However, the political role of maps is just one aspect of their significance, which does not exclude the existence of genuine beliefs and ideals which were guiding cartographers and map authors in the creation process.With a long tradition of understanding maps as illustration devices, Renaissance geography blended intimately with the assumptions and debates of the artistic domain of painting. Among these, veracity was a much praised ideal, signifying the ability of the art work to make present the absent things or giving a new life to people or events gone long ago, a perspective which allowed for rich metaphysical implications. In his theological atlas Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, Christian Adrichom used a variety of formula through which he expressed his view on the evocative power of maps, deriving from contemporary theories concerning truth, vision and representation. In this article we will employ the textual analysis of Adrichom’s affirmations, approaching them through the filter of the Intellectual History methodology. This method allows us to discover that the author explored the metaphysical implications of painting realism in order to present and use his maps as Christian devices, equating the veracity of the cartographic medium with the authenticity of Christ’s life and with the theological understanding of truth.

STUDI APOLOGETIK KRISTEN TERHADAP KONSEP ANAK ALLAH YANG DITERAPKAN PADA PRIBADI YESUS KRISTUS

In this satudy the author discusses the concept of the Son of God which is applied to the person of Jesus Christ in the study of Apologetics. This topic is controversial because it often distors theological understanding as if the Christian faith teaches that God has biological children and this creates a theological misunderstanding. This sometimes understood by non-Christian.Therefore, the author will use the study of literature in research in order to explain the phenomenon under study.This study shows that the concept of the Son of God is not a concept that means the biological son of God. But the concept of the son of God is a concept that has meaning: first, Jesus is equal to God the Father. Second, Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God as well as having a personal relationship with the Father, so that it is the Son who reveals the entire existence of the Father. who has uniquely revealed the exixtence of the Father.

Whiteness in Christianity and Decoloniality of the African Experience: Developing a Political Theology for ‘Shalom’ in Kenya

The decolonial discourse around Christianity must not avoid dealing with Whiteness if there is going to be any fruitful decolonization. Colonialism and the Western missionary enterprise were not necessarily two distinct and unrelated entries to precolonial Kenya. How then did Christianity, for decades, live side by side with colonialism? In this article, we contend that Colonialism in Kenya could not have been possible without the missionary enterprise activity. The impact of that unholy relationship is felt and sustained in contemporary forms of violence. Unfortunately, critics of such a discourse dismiss the decolonial efforts in African Christianity citing intellectual activism. Such voices of dissent may not be far from the truth as Jesus’ ministry involved elements of activism. Whenever he confronted oppressive institutional structures, he used activism tempered with a degree of pacifism. Looking at the history of historical injustices in Kenya, we see instances whereby missionary Christianity conveniently abetted injustices for colonial structures to sustain the oppression of the indigenous Africans. Such injustices have been unresolved to date because the oppressive structures are still in place in the shape of neocolonialism. Land, for example, is a present source of conflict in Kenya. In the precolonial African ontology, the land was in harmony with the people. For land to be taken away from its owners, a separation of the people from the land had to happen. This was facilitated by a Christian theology that created existential dualism, violently separating the African bodies from their souls and the person from the community. Hence, Christian doctrine that emphasized ‘saving souls’ and ‘personal salvation’ was entrenched. This separation and fragmentation are fundamental to Whiteness. Whiteness universalizes truth, even theology; it puts a face of neutrality that obscures specificity. Such has made the church uncritical of oppressive and unjust political structures. Whiteness realizes that it is hard to enter into something that is in harmony. Therefore, separation needs to happen for Whiteness to succeed. Unfortunately, much of our theological understanding today is tempered with a neocolonial mindset that separates the soul from the body for Christian triumphalism. It anesthetizes the pain of oppression with the eschatological promise of future deliverance. This paper will analyze the impact of Whiteness in Kenya during and after colonialism to demonstrate how the British explorer–settler–missionary alliance ‘oiled’ the religious and economic disenfranchising of African people. Secondly, it proposes a political theology that will restore ‘Shalom’ in a socially, economically, and spiritually broken country. It is such a theology undertaken in Africa that will confront oppressive structures and identify with the marginalized communities in Kenya.

Jeremiah in Lamentations

The prophetic figure of Jeremiah has long been associated with the book of Lamentations. The earliest known attribution of Lamentations to Jeremiah dates to the time of the Septuagint, an attribution that is repeated in other early translations and rabbinic commentary. Since the rise of critical scholarship, however, the authenticity of Jeremiah as author has been questioned, with few contemporary scholars continuing to argue that the prophet was the actual author of the Lamentations. Despite this, the prophet figure/persona continues to be identified within Lamentations, albeit in ways far removed from the direct attribution expressed in earlier periods. This chapter traces the rise and fall of Jeremiah as author of Lamentations, exploring possible reasons why the prophetic figure has been so important in the history of interpretation within Lamentations studies, with a particular focus on the way that Jeremianic authorship has contributed to the theological understanding of the book. The ever-changing understanding of the relationship of Jeremiah with Lamentations has been influenced by the interpretive lenses and needs of successive communities, a trend which will continue into the future as new methods and approaches emerge.

‘Awakening the echoes of the ancient faith’: the National Pilgrimages to Iona

This article examines two pilgrimages to Iona held by the Scottish Roman Catholic Church in 1888 and 1897, the first pilgrimages held in Scotland since the Reformation. It argues that these religious journeys disrupted the calendar of historic commemorations of Victorian Scotland, many of which emphasized the centrality of Presbyterianism to Scottish nationality. By holding pilgrimages to “the mother-church of religion in Scotland” and celebrating mass in the ruins of the Cathedral there, Scottish Catholics challenged the prevailing narrative of Scottish religious history, and asserted their right to control the theological understanding of the island and its role in a “national” religious history. At the same time, Catholics’ veneration of St. Columba, a figure widely admired by Protestant Scots, served as a means of highlighting their own Scottishness. Nonetheless, some Protestant Scots responded to the overt Catholicity of the pilgrimages by questioning the genuineness of “pilgrimages” which so closely resembled tourist excursions, and by scheduling their own, explicitly Protestant, journeys to Iona.

Tafsir Efesus 6: 5-8 Tentang Teologi Kerja Dan Aplikasinya Bagi Pemuda Gereja

This article was written to describe the theological understanding of work among church youth and motivate youth to work according to God's word from Ephesians 6:5-8. This article aims to provide an understanding of what the purpose of human work is, provide an understanding of the Biblical concept of work, deepen the knowledge and understanding of congregation members about work theology according to Ephesians 6:5-8 with integrity and a good work ethic, provide an understanding of the contribution of Ephesians 6:5-8 in the relationship between workers and employers. The researcher uses a literature study and interprets the text with the method of theological interpretation. In addition, the author also distributed a questionnaire among church youth who had worked, to obtain a picture of their understanding of work theology. From the results of the questionnaire distributed, it was found that 42.22% of youth really understand work theology, and 52.77%, understand work theology, but in its application, only 37.22% always do the correct life application. So, the researcher conducted deep interviews with several respondents and found that the youth of the HKBP Tanjung Sari church were still lacking in understanding the theology of work. And then they had to be afraid and trembled like Christ and had to be honest and have integrity at workplaces as a service to God.

A Theological Understanding of Ancestor Veneration in the Bapedi Society as an Expression of Transcendence and Anticipation of Comfort and Hope

In the Bapedi society, ancestor veneration is one area that requires scholarly attention. Historically, in the indigenous Bapedi religion there is far greater acceptance that ancestors are in existence, and ancestor veneration and culture are related. A significant dimension in the role played by the ancestors in the Bapedi culture is how they are believed to transmit and safeguard life. Therefore, an investigation of ancestor veneration as a source of comfort and hope, in the context of Bapedi people’s religious and cultural rituals is inevitable. The present study investigated the Bapedi conception of death, its meaning, the significance of the rituals performed during and after death, and how Bapedi people conceive and deal with ancestor veneration. To achieve this, the study employed direct observations, video recordings, and informal interviews. Three interrelated research questions, therefore, guided this study: 1) Do Bapedi people believe in the resurrection of the dead and eternal life for the individual after death?; 2) Does the continuing relationship of ancestors with their families have medical, financial, moral, biological, and social implications for the living?; and 3) Do Bapedi people believe in reincarnation of a dead individual in the form of another individual still living, and particularly in the powerful spirit or soul of a dead person which still has a potent functional role which affects the still living? Findings of this study have shown that ancestor veneration seems to offer Bapedi people an opportunity to express their faith and confidence in their ancestors. It has become evident from a thorough analysis of the data that music is a societal need and appears to be an expression of the most basic values and feelings of the Bapedi people. It was concluded that ancestors have unlimited powers over the lives of the living, and there are no restrictions to either the chastisement or the blessings that they can confer on their descendants.