TO THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE: The Doctrine of Divine Simplicity and its Interrelatedness to the Economy of God in Salvation

It is a contemporary trend by many theologians and philosophers to view the Doctrine of Divine Simplicity (from hereon, DDS) as an unnecessary, illogical, and problematic addendum of scholasticism to theology proper. However, upon further investigation, this doctrine is found to be prevalent and implied in biblically orthodox ontology. Furthermore, it may be shown that the DDS bears potentially broad ramifications to how we understand the Trinity (given that it proceeds from simplicity in logical priority) and, subsequently, how we understand the initial, sustained, and perfected work of God in salvation through grace. Therefore, contrary to current theological trends, it may be stated that the DDS is, in fact, a centrifugal, practical, and even indispensablepart of the Christian understanding of how we know God.

HATE SPEECH AND ETHNO-RELIGIOUS CONCLICTS IN NIGERIA: Implications for Political Stability

While freedom of expression or free speech is a fundamental human right of all, hate speech heralds danger for a country. Using a qualitative research approach, this study examines the connection between hate speech, ethnoreligious conflicts, and political stability in Nigeria. This study argues that the threat to internal security in Nigeria is a resultant effect of social injustice in the country. In Nigeria, hate speech has been on the increase instigating ethnic and religious sentiment, mistrust, and conflicts. The study suggests that peace social justice and political inclusion should be adopted in running the affairs of the nation.

THE ART OF ACHIEVING WHOLENESS: Adult-Learning in Presence and Listening Intercultural Encounter in Healthcare and Counselling before and during Covid-19

Counselling in healthcare is a method-based encounter between two persons. This is at least the definition according to psychology. One person, the client, has the chance to express mental, social and physical problems. The other person, the counsellor or therapist, makes use of her or his knowledge, intuition and responsiveness, in order to explore and heal. Spiritual counselling follows the same procedure. The counsellor is a trained religious person, aspects of spirituality give a distinct notion to the process. Group therapies relate to the needs of people in indigenous worlds, and non-western thinking as well as post-colonial analysis assists to make visible deep social shifts between different societies in a globalized world. Presence and listening are the two dominant qualities of a therapist, a counsellor or a spiritual advisor in this context. What happens, if exactly these qualities are rejected by needs of healthcare? How are the impacts of a globalized pandemic like COVID-19 on this concept of therapy, counselling and encounter in spiritual dimensions? What will lead to a form of community and social life? How does mental health prevention look like in times of challenges?

STEWARDSHIP AND RESPONSE: John Wesley’s Moral-Theological Economics

This article examines Wesley's moral-theological economy as a hermeneutical circle that moves from stewardship to response through the structure of our moral psychology that responds to God's gracious initiative manifest throughout creation. The first part describes Wesley's Economics of Stewardship, followed by Wesley's Moral Psychology of Response and Perfect Love. While the final part, responding to the Poor as Stewards of God's Grace. The conclusion of this article is that stewardship is God's sole proprietor who requires the use of responsibility made possible through God's free initiative and ongoing throughout Creation means establishing a relationship with him, starting with our relationship with the poor. Wesley's wisdom of stewardship is thus embodied in his moral theological dynamics of response as stewards, called to use ourselves wisely in the trust of what has been entrusted to us.

OVERVIEW OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AND FORGIVENESS OF CHRISTIAN YOUTH IN NORTH SUMATERA

The entire world is being attacked by a pandemic outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or what we know as COVID-19. The Indonesian government policy of limiting the crowd of people when socializing affects various activities of young people at church, including in North Sumatera. This causes the psychological well-being (PWB) of the youth to be disturbed. Research shows Christian youths carry out activities such as wasting time on social media and online games that may lead to gambling (Jap et al., 2013) while neglecting their education, which is contrary to Christian teachings. Constantly pressured for neglecting responsibility and doing sins may affect PWB in youth, and forgiveness from God, their family and themselves may help increase PWB. Pre and post-test of PWB and forgiveness are administered. The instrument used is the PWB questionnaire based on Ryff's (1995) theory and TRIM-18 based on McCullough and Hoyt (2002). The subjects are adolescents and young adults aged 11-40 years in North Sumatera. Results show that both variables are high. There were differences based on participants’ educational background and whether or not the participants read the bible everyday in the PWB post-test data. As for the forgiveness, results show that there were differences based on educational background and occupation in the pre-test data, while in the post-test data, there is a difference based on how many times an individual reads the bible in a day.

THE SINGLE AND PLURAL PHRASES IN MATTHEW 4:16 AND THEIR MEANINGS

Matthew 4:16 finds both singular and plural phrases. This phrase is very interesting to study because the context of this verse is in Galilee, a place where Jesus spent most of his time serving. Through qualitative research with an exegetical study approach, the researcher found that the results and conclusions were that the purpose of singular and plural phrases in these verses was: a singular phrase for Jews and a plural phrase for other nations. Thus, it can provide the theological understanding that Jesus' mission in Galilee was not only for the Jews who were there, but also for other nations who had long settled there even before the time of Jesus.

THE RATIONALITY OF FAITH: The Study of Abraham's Faith in Hebrews 11: 17-19

In Christian and church life, Faith and Rationality are often opposed to one another. Some Christians reject the aspect of rationality in doing theology, and vice versa. In the Bible presenting Abraham as an example of faith learning through his experiences when he was tempted to offer up Isaac to his only son, he was without a doubt prepared to carry out the commandments he received with a thoughtful attitude; that God is able to raise (Isaac) people even from the dead (Hebrews 11: 17-19). The research method used is exegetical study with background and grammatical contexts. The aim of this research is to find the meaning of Abraham's faith in Hebrews 11: 17-19. The result of this research is that the quality of faith is tested and that faith thinks rationally and continuously based on God's word.

AN EXAMINING OF JEPHTHAH’S VOW ACCORDING NARRATIVE RESEARCH

The book of Judges is great historiography of the Old Testament. This book is composed of many rhetorical devices in the form of narrative. Scholar, pastor, professor etc pay attention to elaborate theological issue of this book. Some of academic journal elaborate about ethical issue about Jephthah’s vow. Common interpretation used topical approach to examine ethical issue. The main problem to interpret Jephthah vow is that many interpreters did not used narrative approach, so that they have lost the writer emphasis. This article aims to examine Jephthah’s vow according narrative approaches. Some of interpretation book of the Old Testament, especially commentary on Judges 11:29-40 forget narrative approach as literary that writer used. Literary approach of the Judges 11:29-40 presents the properly approach to produce properly theological interpretation. This article elaborating each plot of Judges 11:29-40 to find the motive of narrator. The interpretation is according the structure of narrative text produce the precise and clear interpretation. The writer striving to consistent with an interpretation rule in examine each part of the passage. Therefore, this article is an academic writing that gives rich insights.

RELEASING SERVICESTO PEOPLE SICK DUE TO OCCULTISM

Occult forces made them physically sick for years. They are formed by fear, discomfort and also they lose touch with God or don't grow spiritually. The occult always damages human life physically and mentally. This writing uses a descriptive qualitative method with a practical theological approach with several case studies. This article aims to describe how the ministry can serve the people concerned who are affected by the effects of darkness (occult). Correct recovery services can help free people affected by occultism.

A FOUNDATION FOR A CULTURE OF JUSTPEACE: Church as a Hermeneutic Community to Promote Peace Narratives

This article argues that a culture of justpeace could be reached if the church as a hermeneutic community interprets all narratives in the light of promoting justpeace. Promoting good narratives will shape us to be peacemakers. By using the concept of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a method, this article aims to invite people to engage conflict in a constructive way. This article aims discovers the role of justice, truth, and ecumenical-interreligious dialogue which play in the vision of a culture of justpeace. It also shows how the use of imagination is important in dreaming of a culture of justpeace. It invites us to see how narratives drive our imagination and design our character to make peace or violence.