The “Introduction – Contesting the sacred: the anthropology of Christian pilgrimage” by Eads and Sallnow provides an innovative anthropological framework in gaining deeper insights into the religious institution of pilgrimage. The book takes a critical examination of the doctrines, beliefs, and expectations of diverse individuals. As opposed to other forms of literatures on Christian pilgrimage that sought to either subvert or support the social order, the article proposes a new agenda that focuses on dissecting pilgrimage and seeing it as possessing the power to accommodate a wide range of meanings and practices of diverse individuals.
Through an examination of highly organized shrines at San Giovanni Rotondo in Singiovannesi, Sri Lanka, Peru, and Lourdes, the authors examine the conflicting views, interests, and beliefs of the pilgrims on the life and remains of a holy man. Furthermore, the article also takes a critical examination of the manner in which pilgrims of diverse Christian faiths consider competing images of Jerusalem. The authors therefore adopt a multi-dimensional approach to develop a better analytical typology of pilgrimage and argue that pilgrimage is far much more than visiting shrines and sacred sites. This is done to develop a view of pilgrim that is not narrowly focused on social relations, but that which encompasses a realm of competing discourses. Pilgrims throng these sacred sites and shrines in the hope of receiving blessings of holy men (Eade & Micheal, 14). Contesting the Sacred provides a deeper analytical examination into the link between human beings and the divine which makes pilgrimage a very critical institution in all the world religions.
The authors integrate “the theoretical frame of the book within recent perspectives on pilgrimage and examine the contributions of tourism and globalization on pilgrimage shrines and sacred sites” (Eade & Micheal, 13). In summary, this article serves as a rich and significant contribution to the complex and growing field of anthropological literature opens the field for the need to explore recent developments and the future of Christian pilgrimage.
Works Cited
Eade, John and Micheal Sallnow. Introduction in Contesting the Sacred: The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage. London and New York: Routledge, 1990. Print.
The great reformer Martin Luther initiated a new way of Christianity. His sermons laid the foundation of the Protestant Reformation. The analysis of A Good Friday Sermon on How to Contemplate Christ’s Holy Sufferings demonstrates the ideas of Martin Luther about the importance of personal comprehension and reflection over the visual form accepted by the Catholic Church.
Martin Luther begins his sermon with reflections about the sufferings of Christ. Luther says that it is better to think about it on Good Friday than to pray the whole year, to read the books, to behave like a good Christian but do not realize the true sense of the sufferings of Christ. Seeking selfish interests, people will not find understanding and bliss. An idea of the excessiveness of the pictures and decorations in Christianity is the foundation stone of Luther’s Reformation. According to the preacher, people lost the meaning of the suffering of Christ as well as they lost the value of personal appreciation. Decorations replaced the true meaning of religion and faith.
Attending the mass, people may think that they can get the blessing just because they come to church. However, Luther supposes that it is impossible without real comprehension. The mass is not an institution that can give the blessing. Moreover, the priest can’t be the mediator between God and man. The true meaning of the mass is the order to make us worthy, to make us reflect and repent. This idea is criticized by the Catholic Church which pays more attention to the visual form. For Luther, a soul can’t get salvation by the work of church or priests.
Martin Luther emphasizes the senselessness of the sobbing during the mass. People should weep for themselves and their children, not the suffering of Christ. It is one of the most important postulates of Christianity. Thinking about the suffering of Christ, people should repent and feel deeply about all that happened on Golgotha. If people don’t feel this, the sufferings don’t come for one’s good yet. According to the postulates of Christianity, reflections about the meaning of Good Friday are a very important part of the humility of mind and soul. Like Christ put the body to the suffering, people should feel torment in their minds.
Martin Luther warns people against false satisfaction by making rash and random acts. Especially, Luther disputes about popular among the Catholics practice of indulgence. The preacher expresses his disappointment about the false satisfaction and pilgrimages.
Luther’s thoughts about the suffering of Christ are the most important part of Christianity. From this point of view, Luther’s sermon completely reflects the ideas of the church. However, his arguments about the perishable nature of the ceremonies, icons, and even priests contradict the traditions of the Catholic Church.
The sermons of Luther tell us more about him than about the people who hear. His messages are full of uprightness and enthusiasm. However, many postulates of Luther run counter to the Catholic Church, therefore, many people don’t accept it. Nevertheless, Protestantism has a long history of success. Luther’s ideas influenced many doctrines of the Christian traditions. The sermons of Luther and particularly How to Contemplate Christ’s Holy Sufferings emphasize the importance of personal comprehension and reflection over the visual form.
After careful thought I made up my mind to visit the church, to see how the Christians worship. On Sunday I was free to join my friend Kennedy at the Hayan Presbyterian Church and as we traveled in his car toward the church, Kennedy made me know that it was a celebration Sunday. That day was a special day and that it was designated that every individual was to come with a thanksgiving gift or offertory to recognize what God had done. So I understood why Kennedy had a box wrapped in a beautiful and shiny material. He made me know that the gift was meant for the widows and the orphans. This is how he opted to present his gratitude to God. The service had been specially announced over the media and so the service was expected to be extremely full because each person was to invite a friend or two into the annual celebration service. Every person, ready and willing to hear the gospel, headed to the same venue. As we approached the church compound, I could see the big signboard which displayed the church services. It read “the morning Sunday services at 7 am, 9 am and 11 am and evening services 1 pm, 3 pm, and 5 pm”. However, this Sunday was unique because the church expected an overflow crowd for the annual celebration.
When we entered the church compound, I sensed a holiday mood, a feeling of relaxation and freedom. I realized we arrived one hour early for the 9 am service. This was a good time for me because I had a good chance to follow up on everything as it occurred. I could see some parking attendants dressed in yellow cordons and white hand gloves trying to direct the traffic appropriately to occupy the large parking space on the church square. Crowds of people gathered outside the church and many were still arriving as others moved in and out of the church in preparation for the start of the service. Suddenly people were coming out from the 7 o’clock service to give room for the 9 o’clock service to begin. As the people entered the square, each was given a wooden box filled with rice cakes.
In front of the church building, there was a children’s choir dressed in blue gowns with white and shiny collars and they sang melodious gospel songs. This created an extremely joyful atmosphere. At various corners of the compound square, I could identify people issuing pieces of paper in which they were required to indicate the various church activities they intended to participate in. These scenes quickly reminded me of the way Muslims distributed books and articles including the holy Quran to the Muslim faithful. I could clearly note the difference. Whereas at our mosque, one or two people were stationed at the gate to issue the articles to the people as they arrived, here the individuals were positioned in different booths at various corners of the church square.
When we entered the church building, we were welcomed by the deacons dressed in red jackets and white hand gloves and were directed to the balcony, which I later understood was set aside for outsiders and visitors. On each seat were headphones for instantaneous translation into various languages including English and Chinese. Shortly an American man appeared who spoke very fluent American English. He introduced himself and asked if we were alright. Immediately he gave me a New International Version Bible and a booklet with numerous English gospel hymns. ” Jesus loves you,” he said, with a warm smile. I did not answer because I did not know what response would be most appropriate. Kennedy looked at me and said “Amen”. I noted a number of men seated next to me. I could clearly identify my fellows from China and I could see them enjoying the warm treatment. It was just a few minutes before the service could officially begin and the congregation was immersed into the melodious hymn songs. The choir I saw approximated to three hundred persons beautifully uniformed. The orchestra comprised nearly fifty individuals and provided quality instrumental support to the choir. I particularly liked the turquoise white robes with bright collars and orchestra silk robes with bright collars. At this point, I could see the ministers take their rightful positions. Then the service finally began with a mighty doxology and prayer. I remember hearing the sound of a bell, something I later understood was a symbol of the start of the service. The choral sounds and hymns all demonstrated mighty worship and celebration of the love for Jesus. In the middle of the mighty worship I could hear one of the ministers shout “Praises, Sing praises!” and I knew this was meant to make the congregation sing with vigor and passion. This appeared as the climax of the celebration singing. I could see some of the congregants kneeling down and crying to their God. I could not understand this at that time but I later learned that the people believed that the lord was exalted in the mighty praises and that when His presence descended the people could then be free to kneel down and speak to Him. I particularly liked the choir sang “Jesus Lover of my Soul” because it touched my heart.
Then there came the sermon which was simple and straightforward. The minister introduced himself as Pastor John. “Belief in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved,” he said. He then read out the NIV bible from the book of Acts 16:31. Pastor John began the sermon by talking about faith. I could notice the stillness among the congregation, which was definitely an indication that they were fully attentive and careful to ensure that they understood the message. “Many people fail to fulfill the purpose for which they were created because they put their trust in wrong things.” He said. “Some people put their trust in money, power or fame”. He added. In that sermon pastor, John tried to explain the clear distinction between the true God and the ‘gods’ that people have trusted and have failed. I could identify individuals who appeared touched by this message as they meditated carefully. The sermon outlined the idols to mankind. I was particularly surprised when I heard him say that the worship of Jesus was the only true worship. I thought I did not get it right. “Brethren, stop idol worship,” he said. Then he began to explain the importance of worship and praises with true faith in God. The sermon particularly emphasized the importance of having faith in Jesus. Then the preacher asked the people to repeat some prayer of salvation. This was to lead the people back to Jesus so that they could renew their walk with him. As the sermon came to an end, I could clearly identify the key points in that preaching, such as God’s love for humanity, God’s future plans for mankind, and the impact of sin and how it creates a barrier between man and His creator. I realized that I was blessed. The sermon also explained that the Bible is God’s word that directs the believers to fulfill His own purpose. I understood that the salvation of God is offered to all free as long as one can have faith in Jesus.
Europe has been for a long time considered as the Christianity hub, and European missionaries and believers have introduced people from all other continents to the faith. At first, catholic faith represented the Christianity belief until the split in the sixteenth century.
Christianity then developed under two umbrellas that have now split into many other denominations, but professing the Christianity faith. However, a decline of European Christianity has been seen over the last couple of centuries. Starting from the seventeenth century, many Europeans have ceased associating themselves with Christ, with extreme vulgarity being experienced among several of its followers.
One of the reasons for the decline of Christianity among the European countries is the split of the church that occurred around the 16th century.1
Before then, Catholicism was the dominant religion, but protests over the leadership and doctrines led to the formation of the Protestants, with individuals like Martin Luther spearheading the reformation process. During this time, many believers could not question the authenticity or the correctness of the teachings. They had been made to believe everything that was delivered by the priests and church leaders.2
During the reformation process, people were made aware of the controversies in the church as well as the inconsistencies in the teachings of Christianity faith. With the different teachings emerging, individuals started having independent interpretations and thoughts regarding the Christianity faith.
From this time forward, doubts and assumptions started to emerge among the believers and within a span of several years, the strict adherence to Christianity started to fade. The inconveniences that emerged after the reformation confirmed to the believers that many issues still required clarification.
The reformation also reduced the possibilities of having a state religion as many people fought to have independent beliefs. These beliefs in different religious perspectives made the leaders allow for diversity and instead focus on governance. Reformation led to religious toleration in which people with different beliefs integrated and carried out their activities without interference from other quarters.
The leaders were expected to define the religion to be followed by the rest of the citizens but this was later to be revoked by tolerance. People from different religions started demanding for equal rights and this increased the tolerance.
Social and religious tolerance led to a decline in the number of believers, with many finding loopholes in it. When the Protestants were allowed to spread their doctrines, other issues started to emerge that sought to have the government lessen its stand on some longstanding restrictions.
The traditional tenets of Christianity started to be cracked by individuals who developed different perspectives pertaining to religion and Christianity. Tolerance influenced religion and Christianity beliefs and made individuals to lessen their stands.
The onset of the nineteenth century saw the development of science, which largely contradicted religious beliefs. When scientific theories and discoveries started to be applied in institutions, many people started to take natural science as superior to religion. The theory of creation was revoked by theories of natural science and this created confusion over the right and correct doctrine.3
When science started becoming popular in the early twentieth century, there was a major back up from the communists. The aspect of having common religion was neglected and instead most leaders started focusing on power maximization and hence saw Christianity as a barrier to achieving this.
At this time also, the intellectuals were becoming increasingly independent and this made the distance between religion and science to increase. The freethinkers started to criticize and to question the Christianity teachings. Myths on creation, the flood, and the tower of Babel were some of the issues that were questionable. The critics felt that the Bible was not convincing and so was Christianity.
Before the reformation period, the Christians had not been resilient when it came to freedom of expression and democracy. They instead believed in having a rigid and hierarchical form of governance that did not tolerate questions and freedom of any kind.
Most of the beliefs started focusing on scientific proofs with evolution being the one of such theories.4 The church took active roles in both World War One and World War Two. It used the teachings of the Bible to encourage the oppressed to hold on, citing the afterlife as the consolation.
Secular humanism is another issue that influenced the decline of Christianity in Europe. When freethinking started to be popular in Europe, many secular issues started being practiced. One of the laws that was passed and accepted in Europe was the law on obscenity.
Countries like the Great Britain liberalized the law on obscenity in 1959 and later liberalized abortion in 1967.5 The acceptance of some of these laws made the Christians to feel inferior. The non-Christian values and beliefs became so popular that they started to influence the existing Christian values.
Although the churches were against the legislation of these laws, they supported most of them. The culture of tolerance that had long affected the individuals made it possible for the churches to accept the changes being introduced by the government.6
Legislation of the secular humanistic made the Christian values to be forgotten and this led to the decline of Christianity in not only Britain, but also the entire Europe. The decline of values and morals led to the development of critics and free thinkers who started identifying errors in the Bible.
The changing cultures and societal priorities led the individuals to be less concerned about churches and this led to a decline in the number people attending Sunday services. The first issue that led to decline of Christianity was the reformation that was brought about by the Protestants’ move to end Catholicism.
After the reform, the Protestants created an opportunity for questioning and disbelieving the Christianity doctrine. Firstly, the catholic doctrines were exposed to be full of inconsistencies and oppression. The church was portrayed as one against freedom and human rights. This made the believers to have different thoughts and as a result enhanced tolerance and equality for all.
When tolerance became popular, most Europeans lost their faith and instead started accepting other ideologies and doctrines. Science was one such doctrine that greatly affected the believers as it was mostly based on facts and empirical research.7
The theories that were proposed by the scientists were more convincing than the existing Christianity doctrines. When Charles Darwin brought the law of evolution, it seemed to make sense than the existing law on intelligent design. This made people to believe more in the theory than in the existing creation theory.
In addition, the education system started to integrate all the possibilities about humanity into the syllabus. Evolution and creation were both integrated into the curriculum and this made the students to be more confused and unsure of what to believe in. Careers replaced church attendance and it created a decline in the number of individuals being registered and affiliated to specific churches.
The cultural change and the adoption of secular governance made the focus on Christianity to be forgotten. Due to tolerance, governments could not adopt a national religion. Britain is one of the few countries that has a national religion and is getting constant pressures from liberalists who want governance to be separated from religion.
When the Bible was first attacked by secular and scientific theories, the Christians were involved in a puzzle.8 The freethinkers and intellects were the most vibrant and they developed a framework upon which the whole doctrine could be criticized.
The onset of biblical criticism made compliance with the teachings a hard task to accomplish. Alternative believes and doctrines soon emerged and influenced the Christians to have alternative perspectives regarding the religion. Tolerance created rebels who went against the teachings of Catholics and Protestants.
The nineteenth century brought with it political and social reforms. Since Constantine was converted in the fourteenth century, there was a lot of martyrdom that soon faded with tolerance. Individuals started using religion as a stepping stone to achieve political and secular success.9
During Europe’s colonization of different countries, religion was used as the backup and as the consolation for the oppressed. The use of Christian beliefs to justify suffering and oppression made some of the believers to develop different perspectives that led to complete or partial dropping out of the Christianity faith.
Tolerance and decline in Christianity faith allowed secular humanism to spread in not only Europe but also other continents. Embracing secular values also made it possible for governments to legalize issues like abortion and use of contraceptives, and since there was significant support from the churches, the followers became more confused and opted out of the religion.
European Christianity is therefore a victim of tolerance and secular humanism. Although it started as a simple revolt against the Catholic Church, it spread to include secular and other rights issues that were against the traditional Christian belief.
Church leaders have also lost their influence and this has made humanity to follow secular based laws that are independent. The separation of governance from Christianity has made the impact on young and aspiring Christians to fade.
The inability to form a national religion and the emerging inconsistencies in the Bible has reduced Christianity into an inferior religion despite having the highest number of followers. The staunch Christians have reduced and the few remaining are either partial or affiliates in terms of family or baptismal names.
Bibliography
Arthura, James, “Religious and spiritual markers in community involvement,” British Journal of Religious Education 33, no. 3 (2011): 299-312.
Kalu, Ogbu and Alaine M. Low. Interpreting Contemporary Christianity: Global Processes and Local Identities. Cambridge, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008.
McGrath, Alister E. The Future Of Christianity. Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002.
McLeod, Hugh and Werner Ustorf. The decline of Christendom in Western Europe, 1750-2000. New York, Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Spohn, Willfried, “Europeanization, Religion and Collective Identities in an Enlarging Europe A Multiple Modernities Perspective,” European Journal of Social Theory 12, no. 3 (2009): 358-374.
Footnotes
1 Hugh McLeod and Werner Ustorf, The decline of Christendom in Western Europe, 1750-2000 (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2003), 220.
2 Ogbu Kalu, Alaine M. Low, Interpreting contemporary Christianity: global processes and local identities (Cambridge, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008), 23
3 Willfried Spohn, “Europeanization, Religion and Collective Identities in an Enlarging Europe A Multiple Modernities Perspective,” European Journal of Social Theory 12, no. 2 (2009): 360.
4 Willfried Spohn, “Europeanization, Religion and Collective Identities in an Enlarging Europe A Multiple Modernities Perspective,” European Journal of Social Theory 12, no. 2 (2009): 362
5 Hugh McLeod and Werner Ustorf, The decline of Christendom in Western Europe, 1750-2000 (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2003), 218.
6 Alister E. McGrath, The future of Christianity (Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002), 28
7 Ogbu Kalu, Alaine M. Low, Interpreting contemporary Christianity: global processes and local identities (Cambridge, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008), 22
8 James Arthura, “Religious and spiritual markers in community involvement,” British Journal of Religious Education 33, no. 3 (2011): 310.
9 Hugh McLeod and Werner Ustorf, The decline of Christendom in Western Europe, 1750-2000 (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2003), 218.
A substantial body of scholarly work in the recent decades has focused on Hindu-Christian studies. The studies have helped in the elimination of stereotypes against the followers of Hindu religion and encouraged Christian thinkers to reflect on the foundations of their religious beliefs through the motifs of Hindu.
Ways of conceptualizing the divine reality as “gracious” in Hindu devotionalism remain a relatively unexplored theme mainly because the doctrine of grace in Christianity is related to a group of other notions like justification, and creation out of nothing, which lack clear analogue in the Hinduism.
This paper is aimed at discussing the similarities in the Christian and Hinduism understanding of “grace” in reference to Karl Rahner’s theological thoughts, and South Indian SRI-Vaisnavism figures by showing how the concept of divine accessibility and divine freedom to human beings is confirmed in their specific theological contexts.1
Rahner’s Christian Theology
Karl Rahner is one of the most influential and popular Roman Catholic theologians in the modern world. He is a prolific writer whose ideas are widely accepted in shaping the future of the Catholic Church. In his doctrine of Christianity, death and resurrection of Jesus are among the most important teachings. Rahner argues that after a person’s death, the soul leaves the body but its relationship with the material remains.
He argues that after death, the soul retains transcendental relationship with the body until the final resurrection. Rahner popularized the position of the anonymous Christian. This is the belief that God can save human beings through Jesus Christ even though they may lack knowledge of who Christ Jesus is and are not converts of Christianity.
He highlights that it is possible for people who have not had the opportunity to listen to the gospel of Jesus Christ to get salvation. According to him, people can get saved without allegiance to the Christian church. Christ reaches human kind from different places to save them. The term “anonymous” refers to people who experience God’s grace through Jesus Christ regardless of their religious background.2
Hindu Theology
Hinduism is among the oldest world religions. It is a complex and diverse religion with millions of gods. The religion exists in different sects with a variety of beliefs. It is the third largest religion in the world after Islam and Christianity, but primarily exists in Nepal and India.
The main Hindu texts are Upanishadas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Vedas. The writings contain stories, poems, rituals, incantations, hymns, and philosophies that form the foundation of Hindu religion. Other texts like Aranyakas, Sutras and Bramanas are used by followers of the religion.
Hindu is categorized as a polytheistic religion because Indians recognize and worship more than 330 million gods. However, they have one supreme deity known as Brahma. They believe that Brahma exists in three different forms that are Shiva-destroyer, Vishnu-preserver and Brahma-creator.3
Similarities between Rahner’s Christian theology and Hindu Theology
One of the most influential theologians in the Roman Catholic Church in the last century is Karl Rahner. In his teachings, Karl Rahner emphasized gratuitousness of grace but denied that grace is offered only to a few chosen people by the divine will.
In Sri-Vaisnavism universe, which is structured by different understanding of divine-human in relation to Upanisadic framework, the question of whether human beings can be offered divine grace freely remain a major issue among theologians. An outline of the Christian understanding of antecedent grace is discussed after which similarities in the conceptualization of the divine agency in traditional religious values of Hindu religion will be considered.
Diagnosis of Christian human predicament shows that the fault of human beings has destroyed their relationship with God and unaided efforts of human beings cannot bring back the relationship. The language of sin is used to express human consciousness of the fault. In these contexts, Paul used the Greek word “hamartia” that means failure to hit the goal or mark.
The goal refers to the “supreme being” in front of whom sinners are conscious of facing judgment for their untruthful relationship with God.4 Through the astonishing death of Jesus Christ, God brought reconciliation to the world through the blood of Christ, which was shed on the cross through which the sinful nature of humankind was washed, thus drawing them graciously to God.
The dialect between divine accessibility and divine freedom in Karl Rehner’s Catholic theology appears in his attempt to steer a middle course between the notion of intrinsicism of the nouvelle theology and extrinsicism in neo-scholasticism.
According to Rahner, 16th and 17th century neo-scholastic writers came up with extrinsicism that created a sharp difference between the supernatural grace, which disturbs extrinsicism in extrinsic manner, and extrinsicism, which differentiates the pure nature in which human beings are circumscribed ordinarily.5
The neo-scholastics argued that natural individuals must be elevated through creating grace of God and orientation through the indwelling Holy Spirit and changes of the entity toward God. Uncreated grace was meant to function like created grace. According to Rahner, this revelation counteracts that of Paul who argued that the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit was manifested through created grace.
The orientation of nature is not always toward God, and it is termed as a self-sufficient realm. Grace may appear as imposition of external superstructure imposed on nature meaning that an individual remains locked into a pure natural state unless he or she experiences grace through verbal revelation in the church during preaching of the gospel.6
The neo-scholastic hold the belief that unless seized by the grace, individuals’ ordination to the supernatural remains purely exterior and mistakenly assumes that the likelihood to experience grace as grace and likelihood of experiencing grace are similar things.
According to Rahner, the argument is based on the false assumption that the spheres of nature and grace can be neatly delimited to extract experiences attributed to supernatural grace from the conscious personal experiences in life. Rahner argues that the divine salvation will encompass human beings. Therefore, no neat horizontal can be drawn to differentiate the chemically pure nature and the realms of the supernatural grace.7
According to Lester, the major concern is whether the tragedy of death and our deep yearnings and other existential experience that happen naturally could be what they presently are. Moreover, it examines whether they were not under exposure of the permanent dynamic nature of grace and Gods eternal communication of grace and if they would not feel the loss based on continual ordain in inmost depths.
Rahner argued against intrinsicism of French Catholic theologians who argued that somehow God was obligated to satisfy natural desire or intrinsic for God. His concerned is whether grace is truly gratuitous and stresses that the supernatural order incorporates human nature and its dynamism provides human beings with existence toward God.
He argues that human beings are oriented toward God in their concrete historical experiences and have strong grace but through self-communication, God is the creator of the existential capacity. He concludes that the virtue of nature is not contained in our God’s desire, but the divine grace creates an everlasting disposition of receptivity in us. That remains at the core of our existence as the supernatural existential.
Individuals who receive the unmerited redeeming quality of God such that her deep longing of God is given to him as a gift rather than the natural inherent dynamism realize the light of revelation. Human beings are drawn toward justifying and saving grace by the excessus or transcendence of the spirit toward God’s infinity, which is inspired to them by the supernatural existence. It is upon human beings to choose to make a choice, to accept, or reject.
However, grace in human heart is not enough for justification unless the divine self-communication with love and faith and other acts resulting from grace as if good moral decisions termed as supernaturally salutary are accepted freely. An individual becomes conscious of the gracious reality after receiving the message that he or she lacked conceptual knowledge but was already encompassed.8
Karl Rahner and Sri-Vaisnava theologians are attempting to negotiate the tension between affirming the world’s sovereignty of divine reality and still the most intimate in their distinctive contexts. Both emphasize the graciousness of the divine reality in the particular theological vocabulary.
Human beings access grace when they seek with the help of the divine help in finding their way to transcendent home. In his work, J. B Carman, shows how Ramanuja emphasizes the supremacy, perfection, and Lords accessibility to the devotee. He states that the same tension that Ramanuja senses in the Lord apprehension revealed through Sri-Vaisnava tradition and Vedas to him can be felt in the Christian faith.9
The tension is caused by the inner dynamic of utter availability and supreme lordship within the same divine person and divine nature. This is why Christians can grasp and appreciate much of his thoughts although their beliefs go against Ramanujas teachings. There are two implications of this mutual emphasis of Hindu-Christian dialogue on the issue of grace.
This is mainly on the context of common statement that the deity of graciousness is not conceptualized in the traditions of Hindu religion. First is the position of Sri-Vaisnavism. It is clear that some of its strands emphasize the Augustinian argument of gratuitousness of grace by stressing that the Lord’s assistance is offered freely to the embodied selves without referring to the karmic records.
The main difference between Vedantic theology and Christian Orthodox is that super nature and nature are drawn more readily in Christian Orthodox than in Vedantic theology. This is mainly because of the difference in nature in relation to contingent self, which lacks the knowledge that serving the Lord is the true destiny and super nature in relation to Lords assistance received in the process of liberation, which Ramanuja’s are not aware of in their worldview.10
The embodied selves are already engraced, sustained and included as parts of His divine Body by Christ. The Lord as their innermost element supports human beings graciously for He is not under internal or external constraints during manifestation of the world as His play and He guides them in their journey towards himself through samsara.
Rahner goes beyond theological boundaries of worldviews to discuss supernatural existential, which implies that the divine self-offering is absolutely unmerited and prior to consciousness, freedom, and human experiences. The other implication is that one the elements constituting human self-transcendence is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Rahner argues against the notion by Augustinian- Calvinist that God’s favor does not encompass some people. According to Rahner, God’s grace influences human beings throughout. He added that unavowed supposition that grace cannot be grace if God does not distribute it generously has for long bedeviled theology.11
Human beings may not be justified by grace, especially before they have heard and responded to the doctrine of Christianity but they are included in the realm of salvific divine will. His view is that God’s nature is not only Gods external decree but also constitutes active human dynamism toward grace. Therefore, it helps us to reexamine the claim that Hindu religious traditions lack grace based on Christian doctrine that grace is given unconditional and it is different from human nature.
On the question of Lord’s “uncaused grace” both groups agree that the approach of Lord to the world is innate (sahaja) and Unconditional (nirhetukakipa) because the action of rising of the bound selves out of the rebirth cycle through the power of God.
The Christian theology of Karl Rahner and Hindu religion are similar in many ways although there are some differences. Karl Rahners theology has helped in elimating stereotypes against the Hindu religion by the Christian community. Many Christian recognize, appreciate and value Hindism like other religions.
Bibliography
Bruce, Reichenbach. “Karma, Causation and Divine Intervention.” Philosophy East and West 39 (1989): 135-49.
Clooney, Francis. “Evil, Divine Omnipotence and Human Freedom: Vedanta’s Theology of Karma.” Journal of Religion 69 (1989): 530-48.
Karl, Rahner. Nature and Grace. In Theological Investigations Volume IV. Translated by Kevin Smyth. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1966. Print.
Lester, Robert. “Ramanuja and Sri-Vaiglavism: The Concept of Prapatti or SaraJ;lagati.” History of Religions 5.26 (1966): 6-82.
Lott, Eric. “The Conceptual Dimensions of Bhakti in tile Ramanuja Tradition.” Scottish Journal of Religious Studies 2 (1981): 97-114.
Mumme, Patricia. “Grace and Karma in Nammalvar’s Salvation.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 107 (1987): 257-66
Rahner, Karl. Concerning the Relationship between Nature and Grace, in Theological Investigations Volume 1: God, Christ, Mary and Grace. Translated by Cornelius Ernst. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1961. Print.
Rahner, Karl. Some Implications of the Scholastic Concept of Uncreated Grace. In Theological Investigations Volume 1: God, Christ, Mary and Grace. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1961. Print.
Footnotes
1 Rahner, Karl. Nature and Grace. In Theological Investigations Volume IV. Translated by Kevin Smyth. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1966. P. 180.
2 Reichenbach, Bruce. “Karma, Causation and Divine Intervention.” Philosophy East and West 39 (1989): 145
3 Francis, Clooney. “Evil, Divine Omnipotence and Human Freedom: Vedanta’s Theology of Karma.” Journal of Religion 69 (1989): 530
4 Eric, Lott. “The Conceptual Dimensions of Bhakti in tile Ramanuja Tradition.” Scottish Journal of Religious Studies 2 (1981): p.100.
5 Eric, Lott. “The Conceptual Dimensions of Bhakti in tile Ramanuja Tradition.” Scottish Journal of Religious Studies 2 (1981): p.110.
6 Lester, Robert. “Ramanuja and Sri-Vaiglavism: The Concept of Prapatti or SaraJ;lagati.” History of Religions 5.26 (1966): P. 13.
7 Ibid. p.20
8 Patricia Mumme. “Grace and Karma in Nammalvar’s Salvation.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 107 (1987): p.259
9 Ibid. p.260.
10 Karl, Rahner. Concerning the Relationship between Nature and Grace, in Theological Investigations Volume 1: God, Christ, Mary and Grace. Translated by Cornelius Ernst. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1961. P. 299.
11Karl, Rahner. Some Implications of the Scholastic Concept of Uncreated Grace. In Theological Investigations Volume 1: God, Christ, Mary and Grace. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1961. P. 303.
Justo L. Gonzalez is a retired Christian historiographer and Hispanic theologian. He was born in Havana in 1937. He studied theology at the United Seminary in Havana before joining Yale University for his M.A. and Ph.D. in historical theology. He began his professional life as a biblical scholar at the Puerto Rican Evangelical Seminary as a before relocating to the US. Subsequently, he took up the role of an adjunct professor at Emory University and a teacher at the Georgian Methodist Church seminaries. Gonzalez co-founded the Apuntes, a religious journal publishing commentary on the Latino theology. He also established two religious organizations dedicated to Latino theology – the Association for Hispanic Theological Education and the Hispanic Theological Initiative. He has received prizes and recognitions for his ecumenical work and interfaith unity in his native Cuba and globally. Gonzalez is a prolific author who has written and co-authored numerous books on the history of Christianity. The Story of Christianity, Volume 2, is a sequel to an earlier volume that examines church history from the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century up to the contemporary times.
Summary of the Contents of the Book
Volume 2 of The Story of Christianity, just like volume 1, is divided into four interrelated parts. The theme in part 1 is the Reformation. It picks up from the Protestant Reformation stirred by Martin Luther’s work that appeared to disparage Pope Leo X and the Roman Catholic doctrines.1 Subsequently, the author’s analysis delves into the Reformation in Europe through an exploration of the lives and works of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin. Throughout Part 1 of the book, the author highlights some of the doctrinal contestations that stirred up Luther and others to call for a ‘Catholic Reformation’. He also examines the reformations that occurred in British and French territories, the Swiss Reformation, and the emergence of the Anabaptist movement in the 16th century. The revolutionary Anabaptists advocated for the primacy of the bible, did not perform infant baptism and were exponents of the separation of the church from the state.2
Part 2 focuses on the events that followed the Reformations in Europe. In particular, the discussion centers on the doctrines of Orthodoxy, Rationalism, and Pietism beginning with the age of dogma. Gonzalez explains that, in the 17th century, the major denominations, notably, Lutheran, Reformed, and Catholic faiths, created a set of dogmas/orthodoxies that believers had to follow through to be considered faithful.3 The denominations developed specified “patterns of belief and practice” into recognizable orthodoxies.4 Those opposed to these three orthodoxies turned to the Rationalist philosophy.
The Enlightenment period saw people whose beliefs were incompatible with the dominant doctrines relocate to other areas. Others, i.e., the Spiritualists, stressed the spiritual aspect of the scriptures to an extent that they refused to acknowledge the political connections.5 Still, some believers, including the Methodists (John Wesley) and Pietists like Spener, emphasized “personal faith and piety” as opposed to orthodoxies.6 However, those practicing Pietism or Spiritualism did not severe their Methodist links or plant new churches. Gonzalez ascribes that the forking of the Reformations into the different movements to the differences in theological and political perspectives. The section ends with a discussion of the First Great Awakening in the 13 American colonies. This great evangelical movement, which was led by Jonathan Edwards, caused the spread of Protestantism in Europe and British colonies in the mid 17th century.7
In Part 3, Gonzalez explores the political dimensions of the churches and denominations from the late 1700s to the turn of the 19th century. This period saw the emergence of nation-states and the fall of the colonial rule. In the US, the American Revolution saw the 13 colonies gain self-rule. Theologically, the second great awakening started around the 1790s with the Baptist and Methodist churches spearheading a major revival in America.8 In Europe, political changes, such as the French Revolution, saw the church increasingly grow separate from the state. The evangelism and revival in North America culminated in missions to Latin America to spread the gospel.
The heightened missionary activity towards the turn of the 19th century transformed Christianity into a global religion. The church expansion also led to the rise of Protestant and Catholic theological views. An example of the modern Protestant theology is the one by Schleiermacher, which affirmed the pluralistic piety in Christianity.9 Gonzalez also discusses the papal theological ideas by Pius IX, Leo XIII, and Pius X as well as the geographical expansion of Christianity in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, among other regions. He highlights the pros and cons of the missionary work and the church’s role in reinforcing colonialism.
The final part of the textbook deals with the major events of the 20th century. Gonzalez first explores the orthodox traditions of the Eastern Church, including the Byzantine rites and the beliefs and practices of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Eastern churches. He also examines the Communist and Islamic influences on Orthodoxy practiced in Russia and the Middle East. The analysis also focuses on the theological developments during the papal reign – Benedict XV to Pius XII.10 The increased transparency in the wake of the Second Vatican Council during this time sought to trigger a spiritual renewal in the church and promote ecumenism.11
The final section also explores the effects of the wars that occurred in the first half of the 20th century on Protestantism. Gonzalez considers the place of Protestant Churches as the key actors in the democratization process in postwar Europe, especially in Germany.12 In America, the aftermath of World War I saw the increase in socioeconomic competition and doctrinal rivalry between fundamentalist and liberal churches. The Great Depression was marked by a theological shift to faith by action. Historical figures like Reinhold Niebuhr preached faith with action to believers. The book ends with a prediction that missioners from the global South will in the future be the witnesses to the believers in the North.
Review of the Book
The Author’s Purpose and Its Fulfillment
The author’s purpose in this text is to recount the history of Christianity from the Reformation era to contemporary times. His focus throughout the text is on the Reformation and Enlightenment and how they shaped European Christianity, evangelism in the New World, and the nerve centers of modern Christianity. The author does a good job attaining his purpose through the exploration of the political and theological developments that either fostered or curtailed European and American Protestantism. Gonzalez delves into the details about Martin Luther’s contestations, the rise of denominational dogmas, and the philosophical options – Spiritualist and Pietism – that arose during the Enlightenment period. He also recounts Catholicism and Orthodoxy in the Eastern Church and their political ties in Europe. The contemporary evangelicalism to Asia and Africa is also very well discussed. However, in the chapter about Catholic theology, the author only centers on the Pope as opposed to the Vatican interpretation of the controversial theological problems of the day.
The Book’s Uniqueness
Unlike other texts on church history, the book predicts future evangelicalism trends. Gonzalez envisions the global south sending evangelical missions to the 19th-century centers of Christianity. He writes, “Thus, the lands that a century before were considered the ends of the earth” will witness to the “descendants of those who earlier witnessed to them”.13 Another unique thing about this book relates to the author’s consideration of the mega-events and significant historical figures and the ‘minor actors’ as well. Gonzalez’s discussion on the Reformation centers on not only the roles and perspectives of prominent personalities like Luther and John Calvin but also those of neglected voices, such as Tetzel. The author also does an excellent job fitting the two-century long history of the Reformation in Europe into one chapter. In addition, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy are explained in detail through the eyes of the popes and the various Reformers and early evangelicals.
The Author’s Style
Gonzalez retains the same style he used in volume one in this text. His presentation involves not only the narratives and ideas of significant historical personalities like Martin Luther but also those of minor players like Tetzel. He does not confine himself to the historical facts of the influential people but considers the perspectives of all actors and institutions to give a complete picture of the contexts. Gonzalez also seems to consider Christianity a global phenomenon as opposed to a localized religion. He does not ascribe the evangelicalism to all parts of the world to Western missionary activity only, but to the Eastern Church as well. In this regard, he explores not only Catholicism and Protestantism in Europe and the New World, but also Orthodoxy in Russia and the Muslim influence in the Arab world. Therefore, Gonzalez takes a global perspective in analyzing the spread of Christianity to all corners of the world.
The Author’s Biases
Gonzalez gives a balanced analysis of the historical events, institutions, and personalities – including heroes and villains – that have defined the church history since the Reformation period. His discussion seems to center more on the growing divide between Protestantism and Catholicism than on Christianity as a whole and other world religions such as Islam. He lightly talks about Islam, which has emerged as a big player in geopolitics. He emphasizes more on the major Christian denominations that are influential in the world. Another bias evident in the text is the greater focus on the Pope in the chapter on Roman Catholic Christianity. The discussion seems to revolve around the papacy as opposed to Catholic missionaries abroad and church planting.
Conclusion
The second volume of The Story of Christianity retells the Reformation and post-Reformation Christianity in Europe, N. America, Latin America, Asia, Russia, and Africa. Gonzalez uses a global perspective to analyze the key historical figures (e.g., Luther) and minor ones, religious institutions, and events that shaped theological and political developments over a 500-year period. The book ends with a discussion of the ecumenical efforts and future evangelicalism trends.
Bibliography
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, Volume 2 – The Reformation to the Present Day. San Francisco: HarperOne Publishers, 2010.
Footnotes
Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Volume 1 – The Reformation to the Present Day (San Francisco: Harper One Publishers, 2010), 14.
Classification refers to the method or process of grouping things according to observed similarities or shared features (Sherri, 2009, p. 83). According to the book of Genesis in the bible, the Lord used dust from the land to create the first human beings (Adam and Eve), after creating all animal on land, sea and in the air. The He made Adam to be in control of them all.
Concept of classification
Adam demonstrated the concept of classification by categorizing all the animals according to similar characteristics they exhibited. For instance, he grouped all mammals, reptiles and others together, after which he proceeded to categorize all the birds in the air (Nelsonword, 1993, p. 1).
Adam also clearly portrayed the concept of classification by sorting out wild animals and giving them their names.However, the book of genesis chapter two verses twenty shows that, although Adam saw all the living things he could not find a suitable companion for himself.
The issue of not finding a suitable companion also demonstrates the concept of classification. This is because the act showed Adam did not find a similar characteristic or trait among the created animals that matched his behavior or interests. As a result, God thought it could be best to make Adam a companion.
He made him to sleep and took a rib from him and replaced the place with flesh. This miracle led to the creation of Eve, which made Adam to be contented, because he had found a partner who shared similar qualities with him (Nelsonword, 1993, p. 2).
Concept of Measurement
Measurement refers to the process of perceiving and recording observations collected as part of the enquiries effort. It involves different levels and concepts like interval, nominal, ratio and ordinal. When God was on the subject of wiping out the Earth and all the living things using floodwaters, He commanded Noah to build an ark and called it the Ark of Covenant. Noah used the concepts of measurement as commanded by God.
The ark was to be made of cypress wood and the rooms in it were to be partitioned. In addition, the ark was to be seventy five feet wide, four hundred, forty five feet high and fifty feet long. The roof of the ark was to be completed about eighteen inches on the top and the doors on the side and upper middle and lower decks were to be made too.
After the Ark of Covenant was completed, Noah was asked by God to bring all living creatures into the ark. They were to remain alive with him and his family. To do this, he was to take two of all living creatures, evaluate them, and make sure they are in pairs of male and female before taking them into the ark.
For their sustenance, he had to make sure that there was enough food in the ark, as this is what the creatures and Noah’s family were to eat during the time of the destruction. Therefore, Noah was involved in a lot of collection, observation, evaluation and all aspects and concepts of measurement in completing the task given by God.
Concept of Program Evaluation
Program evaluation refers to an organized procedure of gathering, analyzing and using facts to answer questions about plans and policies, so as to specify their usefulness and efficiency (Sherri, 2009, p. 113).
It also involves scrutinizing the aims and objectives of a particular program or policy and also ascertaining whether they are feasible.
According to the book of exodus chapter eighteen versus thirteen to twenty seven, many Israelites used to go to Moses to seek guidance and directions pertaining to the problems they faced. Moses acted as a judge or an evaluator by ruling on the arguments presented to him by people who had misunderstandings.
The concept of program evaluation is also clearly demonstrated by Jethro, the father in-law of Moses. The book says that Jethro saw Moses judging people and he sought to know why he did so and most importantly, why he was the only one doing it.
This aspect of seeking clarification as portrayed by Jethro showed that he wanted to know the usefulness of the policy employed by Moses. Moreover, he wanted to know whether Moses’ actions could have any positive impact on the lives of the people.
According to verse seventeen of the same chapter, Jethro illustrated the concept of program evaluation.This is clearly revealed when he advised Moses on how well he could succeed in his actions of guiding the people. Jethro recommended to Moses the methods he could employ to effectively and efficiently administer the people who came to him on daily basis.
For instance, he advised Moses to continue assisting and teaching the people about God’s laws and warning them on the consequences of breaking them.
Moreover, according to verse twenty one, Jethro recommended Moses to subdivide the people who came to him into groups of one thousands, one hundreds, fifties and tens. Every grooup had a leader who was trusted and was chosen by Moses; hence, this clearly illustrates the concept of program evaluation.
Manifestation the Hypothesis
Hypothesis is the explanation of the existence of specified collection of sensations to guide investigation. It involves using different procedures and methodologies of research (Creswell, 2003, p. 61). According to the book of Daniel chapter one, Daniel and Melzar used many characters in their explanation. It is evident that they included different instruments and methods to explain the whole phenomena.
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ordered Ashpenaz to bring him good handsome young men. These young men were brought from important Judean families, the royal clan of Judah and among the Israelites and they were to be trained for three years to become efficient enough to serve the king of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar thought that by giving some of his food and wine to the boys, they could grow healthier.
However, Daniel, one of the boys thought that he was unclean to share food with the king; hence, he asked to be given another type of food. Contrary to his request, because Ashpenaz was loyal and could not object the orders from the king, he explained to Daniel that it was impossible for him to be given a different type of food (Nelsonword, 1993, p. 864).
After this, he asked the warden to give them vegetables and water for ten days and that the guard was to be allowed to evaluate their progress. Daniel together with his friends, Hannaniah, Mishael and Azariah were healthier than the other young men after the ten days. The guard continued serving the four with the vegetables and water and because of this, God blessed Daniel and his friends with wisdom and a lot of abilities.
By the end of the three year training duration, Ashpenaz took all young men to Nebuchadnezzar. The king found that the four boys were healthier than all the others, as they could even demonstrate high degree of understanding and wisdom. Therefore, the king made the four to be his servants.
This case involves a lot of participants, different research arguments and hypothesis. It was evident that using the kings’ food, which was believed to make the boys healthy was in contrast with what actually happened.
Daniel employed qualitative research design in his study. Basically, qualitative research methods place more significance on the need of working with the subjects, which are under study in their natural environment as it attempts to gather an in-depth understanding of the behavior of people.
This type of research is evident in the book of Daniel, because he uses natural qualities such as handsomeness, height, and wisdom to explain why some decisions are made.
According to the book of Daniel, king Nebuchadnezzar ordered Ashpenaz to bring healthy boys who could learn things first, as he considered these qualities vital if one was to be allowed to serve in the Babylonian Kingdom.
In addition, king Nebuchadnezzar ordered Ashapenaz to provide the trainees with his food so that they could become his servants. However, Daniel pleaded with the guard who was guarding them to give him and his friends vegetables instead of the king’s food.
The use of qualities to describe facts is revealed in many parts of the study. For instance, after the training, the king learned that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah had better qualities compared to others. More specifically, Daniel was the best among them, because he could understand visions and dreams clearly.
References
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches. London: SAGE.
Nelsonword. (1993). Good News Bible: Today’s English Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Sherri, J. L. (2009). Statistics: Plain and Simple. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Despite the seeming levity of the name, James Sire’s book Naming the Elephant provides an in-depth investigation into the concept of the worldview. For purposes of discussion, he begins the book with a basic definition of the term as “a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic makeup of our world.” These presuppositions are formed before we have a chance to apply logical or theoretical knowledge to our definitions and continue to be refined as we grow. Our understanding of ourselves in large measure depends upon our worldview and the level to which we adhere to the principles established within that view. This is the argument Sire brings forward in his book as he attempts to explain both how our worldview is formed and why knowledge of it is important, particularly when we begin interacting with people who do not share our same worldview.
Main body
Although we have no real rational reasons for holding to the presuppositions we’ve formed which constitute our basic worldview, we remain committed to them to a greater or lesser extent throughout our lives. This is significant because we tend to judge ourselves and others based upon how well the ideas or beliefs contained in this view are upheld. According to Sire, there are two primary elements of a worldview. The first of these is that there must be a primary foundation or prime reality and the second is that the question of a worldview originates in a pre-theoretical context. The prime reality refers to the answer we give when we have run out of answers. This is illustrated by the story Sire gives regarding the title of the book. According to the myth, a young boy asks his father what is holding up the world. The father, pressed for answers, gives first a camel, then a kangaroo, then, to forestall any further questions, asserts that it is an elephant all the way down. The prime reality is that element that we refer to when we attempt to consider the first thing. This essentially boils down to how we define the Elephant, whether it is God or Nature, Science or some other possibility. The fact that he is using an old story believed to have originated in India suggests that the concept of the worldview is an old concept as well as one that has appeared throughout history in many cultures and belief systems. Our worldview is thus formed upon this primal instinct that there is something there before we’ve even had time to consider what that something might be or how we might relate to it.
Perhaps the most important element of the book for me was the listing of the seven questions that help us define our worldview. This appears within the first chapter. The first question is, of course, the question of how one determines to name the elephant. Following this, we must identify just how we ourselves relate to the world around us and what that world is comprised of. These ideas are formed from our earliest childhood and thus undeniably have a pretheoretical base. Another important question that begins to plague the growing child is a conception of how human beings differ from other elements around them, what makes them special above the plants and other animals. With our first experience of death, we undoubtedly begin to seriously question what might happen to us after we die – an answer provided to us, many times, by our belief systems but one that must inevitably be struggled with on a personal level before any true belief can emerge. Even young children are capable of questioning why they are capable of knowing things that their pet cat or dog cannot comprehend. As they grow, too, there is inevitable questioning regarding what is right or wrong and why is the course of human history important. Regardless of whether we actually think about these issues, we must come to a conclusion about them at some level of our being as we navigate our way through the external world. In addition, whether we’ve thought about them or not, these conclusions necessarily influence the way we define ourselves and others. Finally, our foundational answers regarding these questions, again regardless of whether we’ve consciously given them any thought or investigation, serve to inform us regarding every other belief or principle we form in life.
The chapters of the book progress logically from this broad definition through to a more in-depth definition and investigation. Essential elements of defining a worldview are defined by Sire as resting on where one places primary action between being or knowing in identifying which one informs the other. Sire also considers it important to understand the difference between theoretical and pre-theoretical knowledge. In terms of real-life application, Sire talks about how various means of defining one’s worldview manifest themselves in life, such as through rational thinking, basic way of life, or through the master story. In his concluding chapter, Sire illustrates why an understanding of one’s worldview is essential to understanding how one’s approach to the world might affect what one sees, understands, and holds as important or significant.
Conclusion
It is hard not to agree with Sire regarding the importance of understanding and analyzing one’s own worldview is an important element in learning about oneself. The nature of the questions he poses in Chapter 1 reveals how fundamental these concepts are to our development of personal identity and yet they remain relatively unknown to the adult. At the same time, though, they form a great deal of how we approach the world around us and can perhaps even be the cause of great personal internal issues as we engage in activities that violate some fundamental principle within our worldview. Although Sire seems to approach the question from a mostly Christian perspective, it is noted that the concepts of the worldview have probably been identified within other traditions and belief systems as well. Sire’s own work is prefaced by an old story believed to have originated in India and Sire comments that these issues are frequently called into question when one encounters someone expressing a different worldview. This suggests that every time two cultures came together, whether in peace or in war, the concept of the worldview was encountered and developed to some extent.
References
Sire, James W. (2004). Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Leadership principally entails influencing people towards a common objective. The rise or downfall of a ministry is usually attributed to the concept of leadership. Poor leadership basically causes the downfall of a ministry. On a similar account, effective leadership is an ingredient for the rise of a ministry. In any Christian organization, good leadership is paramount.
This is principally due to the fact that decisions that leaders make have impacts on the ministry. Such impacts can be either negative or positive depending on the frameworks of the leadership that was applied during the decision making process.
Everyone can be a leader regardless of the position he or she holds, it draws down to the decisions one makes and the role he or she plays in influencing others. In a Christian setting, it is imperative that the leadership approach should be based on the principles of Word of God and should specifically uphold a Godly standard towards the principle of effective leadership (Norma and Craig 56).
Activities
Vision
Through youth empowerment, the ministry shall be able to cultivate young visionary spiritual leaders. The ministry shall explore all the available youth leaders towards the realization of the just cause to continue upholding the word of God at all the service levels.
The youth ministry shall collaborate with other ministries to ensure there is a Godly leadership within the church. The youth ministry is responsible for upbringing the spiritual leadership within every believer in the ministry.
Reactions by the youth leadership towards the vision
The youth leadership team was positive towards the vision. It was of the general view that everybody had to demonstrate spiritual leadership at his/her capacity. From the perspective of the youth leadership team, they wanted the concept of spiritual leadership to contain an element of servant hood and demonstrative leadership.
Since the main goal of spiritual leadership is to draw individuals close to God, one of the approaches suggested was youth empowerment through the Word of God and basing on biblical principles. Another suggestion by the youth leadership team was the time frame for the vision. However, it was reached that the vision was not just like any other project, nurturing spiritual leaders requires ample time and patience.
To convince the youth leadership team to accept the vision was a significant challenge. I had to carry out discussion groups to illustrate to the team what were the elements of spiritual leadership, the various ways through which spiritual leadership can be instilled among the youths in the ministry and the responsibilities that everyone has a spiritual leader.
As a matter of fact, I had to make a few adjustments to original vision in order to gain support of the vision. One of the adjustments was through the inclusion of the phrase “through youth empowerment”. Youth empowerment entails using the teachings of God so that individuals can apply the biblical principles during their spiritual leadership tenure.
The significant source of resistance towards the acceptance of the vision was the fact that the vision laid more emphasis on the youth ministry, rather than the whole church. In order to challenge this resistance, I had to include collaborative efforts with other ministries in the church.
After a number of discussions with the youth leadership team, it was agreed that the goal of the vision was to bring individuals closer to God, and that the time frame for the realization of the vision was a prerogative of God.
Reactions of the Church leadership team towards the vision
The church leadership team was positive towards the vision. According to the Church leadership, there was a leadership vacuum in the church, and the vision presented an opportunity to prepare young leaders for spiritual leadership. For the rise of any ministry, spiritual leadership is a key requirement. Spiritual leadership is important if it is nurtured early enough among the youthful church members.
The church leadership team proposed that the vision be inclusive of the entire church members instead of focusing on the youth ministry. The church leadership team also proposed that the concept of spiritual leadership should be aimed at exploring the call for the youth to be leaders in the church.
According to the church leaders, spiritual leadership is a responsibility of every church member and therefore the vision should be extended to include all the other members of the congregation.
From the views of the church leadership and youth leadership, there was no need to make any major changes in the vision. The church leadership and the youth leadership team approved of the vision.
Evaluation of the activity
Date of Activity: 12th January 2011- 15th January 2011
Comments: the activity was positive, considering the fact that the youth leadership and the ministry leadership accepted the vision and agreed to support me in making sure that the vision was realized. The goal of the activity was realized.
Strategy
Strategy basically describes the plan of approach towards the realization of the vision. A strategy should be biblically based. Biblically based approach typically entails the application of biblical foundations when planning the strategy; which are described by the greatest commandment and the greatest commission (Norma and Craig 100). A spiritual leader must adopt a strategy that significantly uses the two ‘greats’.
The great commandment is vital in revealing to us what is important in life; love for God and love for others. The great commission reveals how the ministry is supposed to grow, basically through making disciples who in turn make disciples. The great commandment and the great commission provide a framework for which a strategy for the vision can be established.
The principle behind the strategy will be to influence people to be disciples under the kingdom of God (Norma and Craig 105). The challenge is the people who the vision is trying to reach. The strategy for this vision identifies the following potential audience:
Community students
This group includes teenagers who reside close to the church. Community students have one common characteristic among them; their lack of commitment in attending the church. This implies that their lives are not based on Godly principles. They constitute of the majority of the teenagers in the community, approximately 50 per cent.
Crowd students
This group includes teenagers who attend majority of the events that involve the youths during the weekend. Crowd students have a commitment in attending the church. They can be said to hearing about Christ. The percentage of crowd students in the community is approximately 30 per cent.
Congregation students
This group includes students who have a commitment with the church, they attend the church sermons and bible studies during the weekends. They can be said to have a relationship with Christ and other fellow Christians in the church. This category constitutes approximately 15 per cent.
Committed students
This category includes students who have a commitment in developing their spiritual lives. They can be said to be growing in Christ. The composition of committed students in the community includes approximately 5 per cent.
Core students
This category includes students who have grown in terms of their spiritual lives, and they have realized their spiritual talents which they are using to influence others to spiritual life. Others are in the youth leadership team.
They are actively involved in ministering the word of God to other students; they can be said to be serving the purpose of Christ, making disciples. This category has the lowest composition among the teenagers in the community. They approximate to about 3 per cent of the teenagers in the community.
The above statistics clearly depict the urgent need to minister the word of God in the community as majority of the teenagers have no commitment with either Christ or the church. Spiritual leadership is required in the area in order to make teenagers live a Godly life that is based on biblical principles. According to statistics, approximately 80 per cent of the target age comes from within my community.
The ministry does not reach all the youths in the community, this is probably due to lack of proper visionary frameworks in the community. The ministry can only reach for about 70 per cent of the youths in the community.
According this context and the considering the percentage of the target age which the ministry can reach, the following commitment levels are proposed.
Non-Christians teenagers
This category represents the teenagers who have no interest in church and the word of God. This is primarily due to lifestyle, family backgrounds regarding Christianity and their perceptions towards religion.
Non-committed Christian teenagers
This group represents teenagers who go to church but are not committed to upholding Christian values and principle. They attend the church due to pressure from their guardians or in case of a social youth event in the church.
Interested Christian teenagers
This category represents the teenagers who have a commitment of attending the church sermons at their own will, or probably due to being ministered by a spiritual leader. They participate in activities such bible studies and church activities that require participation of the youths such voluntary community work.
Growing Christian teenagers
This group includes teenagers who are in the process of developing and improving their lives with Christ and the church. They are in process of strengthening their faith in Christianity through constant consultation with their spiritual leaders and mentors.
Ministers
This group represents teenagers who are fully grown in Christ. They are committed to upholding Christian values and principles. They can be said to be spiritual leaders because they are constantly influencing other individuals to be close to God.
Current programs in ministering the word of God at the ministry
An effective strategy should cater for the needs of all the commitment levels as identified in the potential audience. The disciple making approach should incorporate different approaches to the different commitment levels.
The current program is divided into four basic steps, with each step tailored for a particular commitment level. The disciple making process basically includes: Win, Build, Equip and Multiply. The application of each phase depends on the level of commitment and the opportunities for drawing the youthful towards a Godly life.
The Win strategy is applied to the crowd and community students group because they have no idea of what Christianity entails; they are therefore in dire need of Jesus. The build strategy is deployed on the congregation students because they need to grow spiritually in their newly found faith to avoid backsliding.
The Equip strategy is employed on the committed students because they require adequate spiritual guidance so that they can be spiritual leaders. The multiply approach is used on the core students since the community needs more ministers and spiritual leaders.
Meeting with the youth leadership team concerning commitment levels
The meeting with the youth leadership team was scheduled on January 20th 2011. The main agenda of the meeting was to give them an insight concerning the commitment levels of the target youths.
From their perspectives, trends of the commitment levels presented an opportunity to launch a vision that was directed towards drawing the youths closer to God. The youth leadership reported that they have been conducting monthly youth events in attempt to motivate the teenagers to attend the church sermons; the target being primarily the community students.
With respect to commitment levels, the youth leadership team had assigned spiritual leaders to minister to each commitment level. Once an individual had attained a core student commitment level, he was viewed as a spiritual leader to minister to their counterparts in the community and crowd commitment levels. The youth leadership team was of the view that one approach can not be applied to all the commitment levels.
This meant that each strategy had to be tailored to meet the requirements of a particular commitment level. Applying the same strategy to all the commitment levels would results in meeting the requirements of one particular commitment level at the same time overlooking the other.
For instance, one strategy could meet the needs of community and crowd students, and ignore the needs of the committed students. Each commitment level should therefore have a tailored approach that is able to cater for the needs of each commitment levels.
Planning session: developing the program and setting goals
The basic approach to the vision is win, build, equip and then multiply. Different strategies were established towards the different phases of the disciple making process. The proposed plan of approach is outlined below.
Win strategy
The win strategy will be applied to the community students and crowd students commitment levels. The win strategy basically involves getting the teenagers to show a commitment in attending the church sermons. Once they begin getting close to the church, it is important that strategies will be employed so that they do not get back to their ungodly lifestyle.
Since the aim is to get them to start attending the church and show commitment to the church, encouraging them to attend the youth events at the church will a kick start procedure, after which they will be ministered concerning the importance of upholding the Godly principles and maintaining a close relationship with God.
Consistent teaching will be used to retain them in the ministry and to encourage them to continue living a Godly life.
Build strategy
The build strategy is directed towards teenagers in the congregation students commitment level. The objective of the build strategy is to help congregation students to continue holding on to the new found faith.
This will be achieved through consistent teachings and testimonials by the spiritual leaders. Constant monitoring and consultation with their spiritual leaders is vital in ensuring that the newly converted continue to uphold their Christian values.
Equip strategy
The equip strategy is directed towards the commitment students. The equip strategy is primarily meant to prepare the commitment students to begin ministering to other people.
One of the most important equip strategy that will be employed will be consistent consultation with the commitment students and providing them with the basics of spiritual leadership. The commitment students require being equipped with spiritual leadership skills in order for get ready to minister to teenagers in the crowd and community students commitment levels.
Multiply strategy
The multiply program is majorly focused on the core students. The goal of multiply strategy is increase the number of ministers who can be able to make Disciples of Christ.
The core students are supposed to minister serve as spiritual leaders in the community. The main program that will be implemented during the multiply strategy will be to carry out leadership sessions on how to minister to the community in order to bring more teenagers closer to God.
List of programs
Current programs that are working well
The programs that are being implemented on the build and equip strategy seem to be fruitful. The significant successful programs include: consistent teaching and testimonials, and provision of spiritual and disciple making basics to the committed teenagers
Current programs that do not work and fit well within the commitment levels
The current programs that are not bearing any fruits are the programs that are being implemented at the multiply strategy, basically because rate of making disciples in the ministry is stagnant. The core students are not ministering to the community effectively to bring more teenagers close to God. Another program that is not consequently working well is the program implemented on the win strategy.
The community teenagers are attending the church sermons but loose interest after a short time. This is so primarily because the win strategies do not meet their needs so that they hold on to their commitment of attending church sermons.
Proposed new programs
The proposed new programs are meant to eliminate the lack of progress in the disciple making process at the ministry. The new programs are based on effective spiritual leadership principles. The proposed programs include: encouraging youth participation in community youth events at the church in order to increase the interest of the community and crowd students in the church and living a life based on Godly principles.
The current programs that are not working will be revisited in order to evaluate the reason behind the lack of progress. After the evaluation, they will be integrated into the proposed new programs for implementation.
The church has sufficient leaders who are capable of making the program work with a goal of making more disciples for Christ. The challenge is making sure that the leadership team is fruitful in bringing more teenagers close to God.
As part of the leadership team, I will make sure disciples are being produced through focusing on the multiply strategy, more disciple makers are required for the programs to be effective and facilitate the realization of the goal. Constant evaluations on the progress will also be a priority that will be aimed at measuring the rate of the progress.
Resources needed for effective implementation of the programs
The effective implementation of the programs only requires spiritual leaders and the relevant literature materials. Spiritual leaders have the responsibility to minister to the crowd and community students. During the process of ministering, they will require resources such as literature to help them in ministering.
Literature may include materials such brochures which talk about the importance of maintaining a relationship with Christ. Other materials required during the ministering process include leaflets which contains the details such as the church location, order of the services and the prayer days and important contact. The following will lead the various plans:
Brother Patrick, who is the youth ministry chairman, will be in charge of the ministering to the crowd and community students plan. This is due to his long time service in the youth ministry.
Pastor Marvin, who is a member of the church leadership team, will be in charge of build strategy. This is due to his experience in ministerial services and theological background.
Brother Kevin, who is a member of the youth leadership team, will be in charge of equipping the committed students. This role was given to him since he is the youth counselor and he has demonstrated effective leadership while ministering the youth.
I will be in charge of multiplying strategy.
Evaluation of the activity
Date of activity: 15th January 2011-22nd January 2011
Comments: The planning activity was a success; I managed to establish planning sessions and learnt a few insights from the youth leadership team. The main objective of the activity was realized.
Goals
Setting goals is an important aspect of the disciple making process. The goals should be based on the frameworks of the vision. The measurement of the set goals are used to evaluate whether the vision is being realized or not. The goals for this vision are outlined below
To release many ministers as possible to the crowd and community students so as to bring the teenagers close to God. The process is based on the principle: Disciples who make disciples who make disciples… The process of disciple making is continuous and never stops. The process is best illustrated in figure below.
To facilitate spiritual growth among the teenagers in the church. Spiritual health is based on constant spiritual teachings and biblical principles. Spiritual growth is a key requirement for spiritual leadership.
To increase the participation of the teenagers in the youth ministry in the various events at the church, both at the service and community level. Spiritual leadership is based servant hood and demonstrative leadership. The youth ministry therefore has the responsibility of serving both the community and the church.
Measurement of the above goals
Measurement of goals is primarily aimed evaluating if the vision has been achieved (Norma and Craig 150). One of the ways through which the goals will be measured is through evaluating the increase in the number of teenagers who are showing a commitment to the church and are interested in growing their spiritual lives.
An increase depicts that the vision is being attained. The participation of the youth in various activities at the church will be another parameter that will be used to evaluate the realization of the vision.
Evaluation of the activity
Date of activity: 15th January 2011-22nd January 2011
Comments: The activity was a milestone in the process of implementation of the vision. I had to evaluate how the ministry relates with the community around.
Presentation Of The Planning Report To The Supervisor
The detailed planning report was presented to the supervisor for evaluation. The supervisor was positive with the planning report concerning the planning and strategy towards the realization of the vision. The supervisor was of the view that dividing the youths according to the commitment levels and evaluating their needs was an effective approach towards the realization of the vision.
He suggested that the emphasis was to be laid on the crowd and community students and the core students since they complete and begin the cycle of disciple making process. The supervisor was willing to offer support to the vision where necessary.
The supervisor suggested appropriate plans were to be laid down concerning the plan strategy. He said that it is not easy to uphold a newly found faith by oneself, the congregation students required spiritual support and advice concerning how difficult and challenging it is to be a Christian, especially if one has just been transformed from an earthly life.
In conclusion the supervisor suggested that the effective approach was to release more ministers as possible back to the community and the crowd students.
Evaluation of activity
Date of activity: 22nd January 2011
Comments: The supervisor was positive towards the vision for the ministry. This was a key milestone towards the implementation of the vision.
Change Leadership
Vision for change
Changing people and contexts requires implementation of appropriate changes due to the fact that what is working out today might not work out in future. The purpose of effective leadership is to effect change in a manner that the people he led follow. In effecting change, a leader must have a clearly stated purpose behind the implementation of change. The approach to implementing change in a ministry includes:
Forming a clear vision; a vision is the starting point for implementing change in a ministry. The vision should be clearly stated communicated to the respective members of the ministry. In formulating the vision for change, I had to carry out the following steps.
Evaluate my attitude towards the vision for change; the vision for change was a God’s will and it was based on glorifying God and being obedient to Him. The change was not ego-driven but aimed at glorifying the almighty God. This revelation had to come through consistent communication with God through prayers.
Painting a clear picture; I was convinced that it was the will of God to instill change in the ministry. The change was regarding the leadership of the ministry. Currently, people in the church leadership consist of majorly the old aged. The change was aimed at giving the youthful a chance in the ministry leadership team. The youth should be given a chance to explore their leadership abilities at all levels. The ministry requires effective service of the youths at all levels. The outcome of integration of the youth in the leadership framework of the ministry is that the youth will be able to nurture their spiritual leadership, for the good of the ministry as a whole. The goal of the change is to provide more effective spiritual leadership approach to the ministry.
Testing my vision for change; testing my vision for change involved sharing the vision with at least four people from the church setting
Their opinions and insights were put into consideration, and necessary changes in the vision were incorporated
Meeting with the pastor; the pastor was supportive towards the vision for change, and agreed that the youth too should form part of the ministry leadership and be allowed to offer service to the ministry at all levels possible.
Meeting with the ministry leadership team; the team was supportive towards the vision. However, they proposed that only the youths who have demonstrated effective spiritual leadership qualities will be given a chance to lead. They concluded that they waited for God’s revelation concerning the vision for change.
Meeting with the most trustworthy parent; my trustworthy parent agreed to support the vision for change in the ministry and agreed pray for the vision.
Meeting with the most trustworthy student; the student agreed to offer prayer support towards the vision for change at the ministry.
Planning the change; it is important to the change due to the impacts it has on the programs of the ministry and the personnel at the ministry
I had to evaluate the nature of the impact on the personnel, the structures and the programs of the ministry so that the change can be implemented effectively. The following is analysis of the plan for the vision for change.
The change had a great impact, especially on the personnel and structure at the ministry. In order to accommodate the youth leaders in the ministry leadership, there was need to create more leadership positions, and or replace youth leaders with the already existing leaders.
The only skills required for implementation of this change are spiritual leadership skills.
The resources for implementation of change at the ministry are available. There were enough office spaces for the new leadership posts to be created.
The vision for change will have an impact on the youth ministry and the overall structure of the ministry, especially in terms of ministry leadership team.
The personnel affected will be assigned ministerial duties in accordance to their preference. The support of those affected will be gained through consistent communication to them concerning the importance of change in the ministry.
The implementation of the change significantly depends on the support of the youth leadership team and the ministry leadership team.
Communicating the change; effective leaders do not stop communicating change. The following avenues will be used to communicate the vision for change
Through small groups which consists of influential individuals such as influential parents, students or leaders. After winning their support, I will appeal to them to begin influencing other members of the ministry.
Use all the available channels to communicate the change.
Creating the readiness for change; change only takes place when people change also. In order to prepare the people of ministry for change, I will continually highlight to them the benefit of the change, and clearly state the purpose of implementing the change. I will constantly remind them that the change is God’s purpose for the ministry.
Measuring the success of the change; the basic parameter that will be used to measure the success of the vision for change at the ministry will be an increase in the number of youthful leaders serving in the ministry leadership team
Another way of measuring the success of the change will be through evaluating the success of the youthful leaders serving in the ministry.
Evaluation of the activity
Date of activity: 23rd January 2011.
Comments: Through prayer and counsel, God’s revelation for change at the ministry was revealed. I had to ask for prayer supports in order for the vision to be a success.
Work Cited
Norma, Everist and Nessan Craig. Transforming Leadership: New Vision for a Church in Mission. New Jersey: Fortress Press, 2008.
Mormonism refers to the religion practiced by followers of the leading Latter Day Saint movement. This assembly began in the 1820s and was founded as a form of Christian primitivism by Joseph smith; Jr. At the time of its formation, the main need was to distinguish itself from the traditional Protestantism.
Angel Moroni, the son of Prophet Mormon, is believed to have revealed himself to Smith and endowed him with him a golden plate that had unique symbols. This plate enabled him to translate the unique symbols into the modern Book of Mormon.
The number of Mormons grew significantly overtime, prompting the United States government to persecute their leader Smith, and some of the followers because of beliefs such as polygamy.
Persecution created a shock in their freedom and security and they were forced to move to the western sides of U.S. later Brigham Young succeeded him. At the end of their movements, many settled at the present state of Utah and the neighbouring areas of Colorado, Idaho and Nevada. Mormonism religion is unique and has contradicting belief with the Christians.
Mormons believe that divine revelation continues up to date as reflected by smith and the succeeding leaders. They believe that Jesus is God’s son and that even after his disciples, the divine revelation continues. As time progresed, the support of Smith’s initiated plural marriages raised contentions. Some Mormon groups left the LDS church to form other small groups relating to Mormonism.
Over time, the advocacy of polygamy by Mormons that resulted in conservatism and family-oriented behaviour among the followers received attention within the United States Congress and the church existence was threatened.
Later on, the church president officially ended the plural marriage, although it continued to be practiced secretly. After the long struggle, LDS church became a supporter of monogamy and patriotism. It has also grown internationally through its vigorous missionary program1.
Since the inception of the Mormonism religion by smith, it has received multiple criticisms on the church because of its practice of plural marriage, historical revisionism, homophobia, racism, sexist policies and inadequate financial disclosures.
These critics emanates from various religious experts and church organisations on: its church theology, its particular book of Mormon, the temple ceremonies, and the critical financial secrecy.
Meanwhile, Mormonism is viewed as a deviation from the Christianity thus it has no sufficient history to prove its validity and logic but as a critic to the earlier Christianity doctrines. As the practices of Mormons are similar to the Christian’s, Christians believe that Mormons try to dissociate itself from the norms and practise of Christianity.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is entirely criticised on the doctrinal changes of the church teachings. Concerning this, it is believed that allowing all worthy males to hold priesthood was not initially divined by the church but it was because of matter of convenience. To proclaim effectively the teachings of the Mormons, the bible, the book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the pearl of great price are used.
They believe that the bible is far below the other standards Works formulate by its founder and the other succeeding leaders whenever it disagrees with the Mormon doctrines.
It is based on the concept that the early Christian church was a restored dispensation since Jesus Christ’s ascension. In their argument, the Mormons insist that the restoration of Smith and his successors demonstrates that their religion is the only proven and acceptable one.
The Mormons cosmology gives restoration significance because it portrays the real and acceptable definition of God, the universe, and human life. According to Mormonism, the eternal existence is greater than life on earth, which is just a small part of it. They believe that people existed initially as spirits independent of God. Through the convincing of God, most spirits accepted the offer to advance like him.
For the spirits that accepted the offer, they came to earth as human beings while the rest led by Lucifer adopted Satanism. Existence on earth was based on the knowledge that there would be sin and suffering. According to the Mormon’s doctrine, the main purpose of life is to learn to differentiate between the good and the evil.
In the process, people admit that it is impossible to live without making mistakes, necessitating some to lead a life devoid of any religious beliefs. They believe that one has to undertake an atonement to be fully saved even though Jesus died for their sins2.
Trust, repentance, prescribed covenants and living a life guided by Christ’s example, portrays His atonement. Following these teachings faithfully it gives people surety that they will leave earth to rejoin with their mate who is God.
In Mormonism, ordinance plays a critical role in the formation of covenants between people and God. The priests who are guided by the spirits and the example of Jesus Christ perform this ritual. It involves baptism, confirmation, ordination to priesthood for males, endowment and marriage to a spouse.
Baptism is done at the age of accountability by immersion in water and later ordinance of other elements of the doctrines takes place with maturity. Though certain ordinance rituals are mandatory and essential, Mormons believe that it does not guarantee an individual the eternal life. In the performance of ordinance of saving, they sought the help of the deceased who should intervene in the spirits living in the human body.
At their interpretation of the bible, the LDS church believe in both the Old and New testaments. Their official scripture text is the King James Bible. Although they generally belief in the content of the modern day Bible, they claim that it is not whole and has numerous errors.
The book of Mormon restores all the missing elements in the modern Bible3. It is highly regarded among the Mormons since it is the divine scripture and is equivalent to the bible in its teachings. Additionally, the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price books are cited and accepted as divine scriptures.
Mormons believe also that there is continuous revelation between God and humankind. Their scriptures speak of the ability to relate with the Holy Spirit to get favors and get direction of how to guide their families. They admit that God reveals Himself to those who earnestly seek His stewardship.
For the family leaders, the receive revelation on the appropriate raising techniques for their children and the blessings they are to hand over to their children. These personal revelations are encouraged in the church to give instrumental skills for the humankind and its succeeding generation.
There exist numerous differences between the Mormons and the Christians. The LDS church believes on four standards of work, which are authoritative and include the Bible, the Book of the Mormon, Covenant and Ordinance, the Pearl of Great Price and the authoritative messages from their president. While for the Christians, they believe only on the Bible.
There works at the same time indicates that there exist numerous Gods while for Christians they believe only on one God. In explaining the nature of their Gods, they indicate that they result from the exaltation of man with the body of flesh and bones. The concept of this notion is reflected in the support of the James smith’s translation while for the Christians the Bible supports their belief.
The Mormons’ Gods are believed to be married and through them, there is procreation of spirit children. This belief contradicts the Christian belief that God exist in the Spirit form and nowhere does the eternal mother mention in the Bible4.
In their belief, God is not a unique eternal being, but is a spirit guided by intelligence and can stop being God if it loses its intelligence. For Christians this is very wrong since they believe that God exist as single and is all-powerful, all knowing, and absolutely in charge.
The distinction between sin and man varies in the two religions. For Mormons they believe that man was at the beginning with God and was never created. After existing in the spirit world they choose to be made on the human body and came to earth. On the contrary, Christians belief that man was created by the only existing God5.
About the sin of Adam and eve, Mormons appreciate the deed and complement that through it procreation was put in place. On the Christians perspective, sin was hurting and lead to the deterioration of the human being.
The doctrine of salvation also indicates that Mormons can be forgiven only through atonements and Christ death cancelled the penalty of death. Christians believe that sins were forgiven by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the cross and one can acquire salvation through accepting Jesus Christ.
Bibliography
Bushman, Richard L.. Joseph Smith and the beginnings of Mormonism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984.
Ludlow, Daniel H.. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan, 1992.
Williams, Jean Kinney. The Mormons. New York: Franklin Watts, 1996.
Footnotes
1 Bushman, Richard L.. Joseph Smith and the beginnings of Mormonism. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984), 25.
2 Ludlow, Daniel H.. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 125.
3 Richard ,Joseph Smith and the beginnings of Mormonism, 214.
4 Daniel, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 285.
5 Williams, Jean Kinney. The Mormons. (New York: Franklin Watts, 1996), 185.