THEOLOGY AND ECONOMY IN THE POPOL WUJ AND THEOLOGIA INDORUM

Drawing on modern ethnography, scholars often characterize ancient Maya religion as “covenants” involving human beings generating merit through ritual activity in order to repay a primordial debt to the gods. However, models based on modern ethnography alone would not allow us to recognize the impact on Maya religions of those Christian discourses of debt and merit that accompanied sixteenth-century colonization. This article attempts to historicize our understanding of indigenous Mesoamerican theologies by examining how early Colonial indigenous language texts describe moral and ritual obligations to the gods in terms of their societies’ economies. The specific case study here compares two contemporaneous sixteenth-century K'iche' Maya texts: the Popol Wuj by traditionalist K'iche' elites and the Theologia Indorum by the Dominican friar Domingo de Vico. Comparison of these texts’ use of exchange-related lexicon illustrates that the traditionalist theological discourse of the Popol Wuj, which emphasizes reciprocal obligations between different beings within an ontological hierarchy, came to exist alongside Christian K'iche' discourses with a more mercantile religious language of spiritual debt payment. It is argued that these results have potential implications for our assessment of ethnohistorical sources on indigenous theology from elsewhere throughout Mesoamerica as well.

Memory, embodiment, ethics: In conversation with Wentzel van Huyssteen’s work on theological anthropology

This article focuses on Wentzel van Huyssteen’s work on theological anthropology, attending especially to his emphasis on the temporal and narrative dimension of personal identity. In this regard, Van Huyssteen draws on the thought of Paul Ricoeur, including his view that memory is the gateway to the self. With this in mind, the first part of the article highlights some key features of Van Huyssteen’s engagement the last decade or two with the question what it means to be human, namely the affirmation of interdisciplinarity, embodiment and vulnerability. The argument is put forward that Van Huyssteen’s work invites and displays the need to uphold the interconnections between embodiment, memory, vulnerability, imagination and empathy. It is furthermore claimed that his constructive proposals ‘in search of self’ should be seen as inextricably connected with its crucial ethical and theological motivation and contours.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article focuses on the South African theologian Wentzel van Huyssteen’s work on theological anthropology. He is internationally renowned, and this article discusses key features of his views and brings it into conversation with the work of the philosopher Paul Ricoeur and perspectives from memory studies. As such, it presents a novel engagement that can enrich systematic theological discourse.

Eastern Orthodox Philosophical Thought

The Orthodox Christian Church is one of the largest religious groups within Christendom, second only to Roman Catholicism. Historically, it traces its origins to Christ and claims an unbroken line of fidelity to the teaching of the apostles and their successors. It consists of over a dozen autocephalous Churches, each of which is led by a Patriarch or Metropolitan Archbishop who together lead the Orthodox Church around the world in a conciliar ecclesial government, with the Patriarch of Constantinople recognized as the “first among equals.” The oldest among these Churches are in the Middle East (e.g., Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem) and the Mediterranean (e.g., Greece, Cyprus, Constantinople), as well as many in Central and Eastern Europe (e.g., Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Albania, Romania, Poland, as well as the Czech Lands and Slovakia). It also contains a number of autonomous, or self-governing, churches in Asia (e.g., China and Japan). Thus, the Eastern Orthodox Church is rich in ethnic and cultural diversity, while being united in doctrine and worship. To many in the West, however, and especially to those in the English-speaking world, it remains an enigma that is often confused either with Roman Catholicism or with a syncretic mixture of Christianity and Eastern religion. This article provides a brief sample of works from the Orthodox intellectual tradition that are likely to foster greater collaborative engagement with contemporary academic philosophy. As a whole, the collection attempts to help readers answer three questions. First, what are the views of the Orthodox Christian Church, especially those that are more distinctive of Orthodox Christianity? Second, how have these views been explained and defended in historical philosophical and theological discourse? Third, how have these views been explained and defended in contemporary philosophical and theological discourse? The presentation is divided into seven sections: General Overviews and Historical Context; Metaphysics and Philosophy of Language; Epistemology and Philosophy of Religion; Moral Psychology and Character Formation; Normative and Applied Ethics; Social, Cultural, and Political Philosophy; and Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Russian Religious Philosophy. The selections within each section are principally designed to be of use for contemporary English-speaking academic philosophers by providing a representative presentation not only of topics but also of eras (e.g., ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary), areas of jurisdiction (e.g., Middle Eastern, Byzantine, Slavic, etc.), and schools of thought (e.g., analytic philosophy, Continental philosophy, etc.).

Analisis kritis konstruktif praksis teologi publik Gereja Masehi Injili Halmahera di era otonomi daerah

This paper highlights the praxis of public theology that resulted from the decisions of the Synod of the Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera (GMIH Synod) in the context of the era of regional autonomy during the 2002-2017 ministry period. By using qualitative research methods through library research, this analysis examines theological discourse and living church praxis as stated in the decisions of the GMIH Synod. Starting from the analysis of the social function of the Church emphasized by Ricardo F. Nanuru and the praxis of inter-religious advocate public theology by Felix Wilfred, this study found that: (a) GMIH ecclesiastical documents have seeded the praxis of interreligious public theology in the form of a series of pastoral recommendations and information on the Church's social services; (b this interreligious public theology advocacy practice needs to have an adequate theological basis and a measurable translation into the practice of living in the GMIH church. This theologically measured programmatic integration helps GMIH demonstrate its ecclesiastical identity as a social-humanist-ecological body of Christ that has an impact on Halmahera's public sphere in the era of regional autonomy which is being overshadowed by the neo-liberal economy and the extractive and exploitive mining economy. AbstrakTulisan ini menyoroti praxis teologi publik hasil keputusan-keputusan persidangan Sinode Gereja Masehi Injili di Halmahera (Sinode GMIH) dalam konteks otonomi daerah selama periode pelayanan 2002-2017. Dengan meng-gunakan metode penelitian kualitatif melalui jenis penelitian kepustakaan, analisis ini mengkaji wacana teologis dan praxis hidup seperti tertuang dalam keputusan-keputusan Sidang Sinode GMIH. Bertolak dari analisis fungsi sosial Gereja yang ditekankan oleh Ricardo F. Nanuru dan praxis teologi publik advo-katif intereligius Felix Wilfred kajian ini menghasilkan: (a) dokumen-dokumen gerejawi GMIH telah membenihkan praxis teologi publik intereligius dalam bentuk serangkaian anjuran pastoral dan informasi pelayanan sosial Gereja; (b) praxis advokasi teologi publik interreligious ini perlu mendapat pendasaran teo-logis yang memadai dan penerjemahannya yang terukur dalam praktik hidup menggereja GMIH. Pengintegrasian programatis terukur secara teologis ini membantu GMIH meragakan identitas eklesialnya sebagai tubuh sosial-huma-nis-ekologis Kristus yang berdampak dalam ruang publik Halmahera di era otonomi daerah yang sedang dibayang-bayangi oleh ekonomi neo-liberal dan ekonomi pertambangan ekstraktif dan eksploitatif.

Yahwistic incongruency and enigma: A challenge to relinquish violence?

This article deals with the incongruency and enigma of violence on the part of Yahweh, in order to locate action or inaction against violence on a human level. The debate whether people should be actively involved in serving their countries in the military, if political leaders can wage war and take up arms against a corrupt, grossly oppressive and unjust regime, and if people should vote for and endorse parties with such policies, is contested. Furthermore, questions such as whether people can fight back when they are attacked on the street, whether they can own firearms and use them in self-defence when their families are under siege, and if they can physically harm a person who is in the process of sexually abusing their spouse, are indeed pertinent yet difficult questions to answer, especially in light of verses that say ‘Blessed are the meek… blessed are the merciful… blessed are the peacemakers… blessed are those who are persecuted…’ (Mt 5:3–10). The questions are foregrounded on the notion that appropriates the Christian use of violence to correct a wrong. For the purpose of this study, a historical and literary analysis was employed.Contribution: This article contributes to the theological discourse within the Old Testament, ethical studies, New Testament studies as well as practical theology as it explores the intersections between the theological theme of violence by means of historical-critical and inter-textual reading methods.

The problem of the Total Subject in the Methodology of Theology

The article deals with the aspect of an attitude towards a person, researching Theological Discourse. The article reveals the processes of marginalizing the so-called Subjective and Objective Faith. Thus, the theological discourse is directed precisely to an objective-oriented faith, since it seems more real for a person, and it necessarily comes from him. Separation of faith, on the one hand, is a language trick shown directly through the language and processes of linguistic distinction (the opposition); on the other hand, through an array of determinations of one’s faith according to the traditions, culture, family and society as a whole. As a result, the authors point out that this division shows the opacity of a human being according to his/er own nature, which leads to a person wholeness collapse. As a result, some possible problems related to the methodology based on the concept of the total subject are identifi ed.

In the face of the inexpressible: Krystyna Miłobędzka, Julian Kornhauser, Marcin Świetlicki

The sketch is an attempt to describe the category of “inexpressible” at the meeting point of critical-literary, philosophical and theological discourse. Three works by Krystyna Miłobędzka, Julian Kornhauser and Marcin Świetlicki were analyzed. The category of the “inexpressible” turns out to be an undefinable, aporetic concept that contains the mystery of meaning.

Christological Contextualization as a Parameter to Strengthen Theology Formulation and Enhance Christian Evangelization in Africa

The quest for a contextual African Christianity is one that theological scholarship in Africa should be keen to formulate and construct if the Christian message is to gain the much-needed impact and transformational agenda that will facilitate the process of evangelization of the continent. This is because our theological discourse must be incarnational in theology and methodology. Our study endeavours to submit a contribution in this solemn expedition through an emphasis on the necessity of a contextualized Christology that is cognizant of the African realities and heritage to make the message of Christ be at home to the indigenous African audience. This calls for a paramount understanding of the history of the African people, the African primal religions and most importantly the African culture. The Understanding of these critical issues that together construct the identity of the African will enable the presenter of the Christological message to present the person of Christ that is relevant and addresses the perennial problems that are faced by African communities. This will in the long run make the African to be persuaded to the need to establish a relationship with Christ who is to him a friend or family, Mediator or Ancestor per excellence, Life giver or Healer, and Leader per excellence. These are the realities that Africans would be quick to identify and associate with. To accomplish this, the study observed the significance of the doctrine of Christology in the theological framework; it explored the means with which Christology was administered in Africa in the past. We were able to tackle the subject of Christological Contextualization by observing matters sources and methodology of African Christology and building on the same towards the models that are favourable to Christology in Africa

Analisis Kritis terhadap Spirit Dekonstruksi dalam Kajian Hermeneutika Kristen Kontemporer

<p><em>This paper aims to analyze the impact of Derrida's theory of deconstruction in relation to the application of contemporary Christian hermeneutics as well as an attempt at hermeneutical repositioning. The methodological approach used in this paper is descriptive qualitative with instruments of literature study, comparison and textual analysis. Concretely, critical analysis is carried out in stages of deconstruction theory, various phenomena of contemporary Christian hermeneutics, then presents the idea of Christian hermeneutics as a comparative model and discourse criticism. Meanwhile, the body of the writing is divided into three parts according to the analysis pattern. First, it specifically examines Derrida's theory of deconstruction. Second, it is an analysis of several forms of hermeneutic phenomena and discourse of Christian theology which are currently developing. Third, reviewing the Christian hermeneutic discourse from the evangelical perspective in an effort to reposition, criticize, and test discourse on the contemporary worldview. Through this research, distortions were found in hermeneutic studies and contemporary Christian discourse with several forms of deconstruction approaches. The three explicit patterns used are the hermeneutic application of binary negation to conservative theological discourse, the explicit emphasis on the textual eisegesis model and the post-structuralism approach to interpretation..</em><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Key words: </strong>Dekonstruksi, hermeneutika, oposisi biner, semantic, interpretasi biblis</p>

Representations of secularism in the modern confessional theology

The subject of this research is comprehension of the concept of secularism by theologians of the Abrahamic religious tradition (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) in the late XX &ndash; early XXI centuries. The object of this research is secularism as the phenomenon of modernity. Leaning on the methodology of contextualism, comparative and content analysis, in terms of civilizational approach, the author studies the interpretation of the concept of secularism within the framework of confessional theological discourse. The author has examined the corresponding representations of theologians of the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christian traditions, including the inter-Christian movement of radical Orthodoxy. Analysis is also conducted on the concept of secularism in modern classical Islam and moderate Orthodox Judaism. The main conclusions are as follows: the theologians of all indicated denominations trace the origins of secularism in the West; Islamic theologians agree upon the fact that radical Orthodoxy takes roots in Christianity itself; the representatives of Catholic tradition see secularism as the ideology similar to fundamentalism, however, they deny its universality, and thereby supporting the Orthodox interpretation of secularism. A number of Orthodox theologians view secularism not just as the ideology aimed at achieving the complete elimination religions from public life to purely private life, but also as quasi-religion, which is extraneous to the principles of secularism. Islamic theology believes that secularism, which is alien to the Muslim world, is a serious but not critical challenge brought from the West. Islamic theology tends to see secularism only as ideology, which at times is irrational. Jewish moderate Orthodoxy views secularism as the challenge to traditional meanings that are fundamental to human community. In this regard, they advocate for the so-called ideological consensus between religious belief and secular modernity.