THEORIES OF THE MISSIONARY VOCATION OF THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION IN POST-SOVIET PROTESTANTISM

2020 ◽  
pp. 78-92
Author(s):  
Valentyn Syniy
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
Spiritual Education ◽  
General Recognition ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Formal Construction

It is emphasized that the involvement of missionary theology in the discussion of ways to develop spiritual education allowed post-soviet Protestantism to successfully overcome differences in the vision of the formal construction of education, and then move on to discussions about its content. There was a gradual overcoming of modern individualism, the growing role of communities, the replacement of monologue models of mission with dialogical ones. The idea of the seminary as a community that is not self-sufficient, but serves the church as a community, has gained general recognition. The church also came to be understood as serving an eschatological ideal community similar to the Trinity community. The formation of community and dialogical models of missionary and educational activity allows Ukrainian Protestantism to effectively adapt to the realities of the beginning of the 21st century and to be proactive in today's society.

scholarly journals Building a Mission-Oriented Church in Ghana in the 21st Century: The Role of Theological Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 190-199
Author(s):  
Seth Asare-Danso
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Presbyterian Church ◽  
Qualitative Research Methodology ◽  
Education In Ghana ◽  
To Receive ◽  
The Church

This study examined the role of theological education in building a mission-oriented church in Ghana in the 21st century. The study sought to find answers to the goal of theological education in Ghana; the motives for the church in embarking on missions; the models of theological education in Ghana; the structure and content of theological education in Ghana; how theological education in Ghana could be mission-oriented. The qualitative research methodology was employed with a focus on a case study of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Anglican Church of Ghana. Observation, Interview and Content Analysis of documents were used for data collection. The findings were that the goal of missions was to alleviate poverty, ignorance and hardships. The motives for missions were cross-cultural, international, co-operative and holistic. Different models of theological education were used. The study recommends theological education be provided for pastors and lay leaders in fulfilment of UN SDG 4, which seeks to provide equitable quality education; and equal opportunity be given to females to receive theological education, in fulfilment of UN SDG 5, which seeks to achieve gender equality.

The Role of the Christian Church in Combating 21st Century Racism

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-231
Author(s):  
Clara M. Austin Iwuoha ◽  
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
God's Word ◽  
The World ◽  
Racial Harmony ◽  
Race And Religion ◽  
The Church

The demons of racism, bigotry, and prejudice found in society at large are also found in the Christian Church. Despite the very nature of Christianity that calls on Christians to be a counter voice in the world against evil, many have capitulated to various strains of racism. Some Christian denominations have begun to explore racism in the Church and have developed responses to addressing the issues in both the Church and the world. This article examines the historical context of race and religion in the Christian Church, and addresses the current efforts of some Christian denominations to become proactive in the struggle against racism. Jesus, in His Word, calls believers to pursue peace and oneness. The paper holds that racial harmony and racial unity are possible, but there are many false, old and d beliefs that will have to be crushed under the hammer of God's Word in order to get to a place of real peace.

scholarly journals Identity, race and faith: The role of faith in post-Apartheid South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Klaasen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Overwhelming Majority ◽  
Correlational Approach ◽  
Complex Phenomena ◽  
The Church

South Africa has experienced an unprecedented influx of migrants in the 21st century. Immigration and race have contributed to the raising of important questions of identity and social inclusion. Immigration and race are two crucial phenomena for the church in South Africa because the overwhelming majority of immigrants to South Africa are affiliated to Christianity and active participants in worshipping communities.This article is an attempt to critically engage with the complex phenomena of immigration and race for the role of Christianity in identity. I will attempt to show how mainstream Christianity as an open-ended narrative and can provide the space for creative tension between the ‘host’ and ‘stranger’ for identity formation. I will use the theoretical framework of Don Browning’s correlational approach to demonstrate how the experience of immigrants and minority race groups creates identity of self and the constructive other.

scholarly journals Fulfilling the Mission of the Church in Ghana in the 21st Century: Lessons from India in the 16th and 17th Centuries

2020 ◽  
pp. 243-252
Author(s):  
Seth Asare-Danso
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Secondary Source ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
The People ◽  
Transformation Approach ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Church

This historical study examines the spread of Christianity in India in the 16th and 17th centuries, and lessons to be drawn by Christian churches in Ghana in the 21st century. Personal interview and content analysis of primary and secondary source documents were used for data collection. The grounded theory design was used to develop four theories, namely: “cultural rejection approach”, “cultural replacement approach”, “cultural sharing approach” and “cultural transformation approach” to mission. The research findings revealed that Christianity was introduced in India to liberate the people from ignorance. The Jesuit understood the motives of mission to be cross-cultural, international, co-operative and holistic in nature. It further revealed that the Jesuit used the “cultural transformation approach” to mission, which required the use of “radical identification”, “culture transfer”, “indigenization”, “inculturation” and “primal religion” as evangelistic methods to fulfil the mission mandate. The study recommended that churches in Ghana adapt the “cultural transformation approach” to mission to suit their cultural environments, so that the use of “radical identification” and “culture transfer” will reduce inequality, in fulfilment of UN SDG 10; while the use of “indigenization”, “inculturation” and “primal religion” will provide inclusive and equitable quality (theological) education, in fulfilment of UN SDG 4.

The Vocabulary of the Septuagint and the Church Fathers

2021 ◽  
pp. 117-132
Author(s):  
Gilles Dorival
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
Ex Nihilo ◽  
Hapax Legomenon ◽  
Creation Of Matter ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

The role of the Septuagint in the building of the Christian identity during the first Christian centuries is more important than it is generally said. The word ‘testament’ or ‘covenant’, for example, comes from the Septuagint, via the New Testament. The Greek and Latin liturgies are filled with references to the Septuagint. The same is true in the case of the Christian spirituality: for instance, the concept of the Christian life as a migration comes from the Septuagint. The Christian hermeneutics is indebted to the Greek Bible: even if knowledge of the allegorical method comes from the Greek philosophers (and Philo), support could be found for it in the verses of the Greek Bible. Finally, the theological vocabulary of the Christians was founded upon the Greek Bible. For instance, in the case of the doctrine of the Trinity, the word ‘person’ comes from the Septuagint. Furthermore, some passages of the Greek translation gave rise to theological interpretations which are not possible on the grounds of the Hebrew text. In Gen 1:2, the Septuagint reads ‘the earth was invisible and unorganized’ and this came to be quoted both in support of the creation of matter ex nihilo. In Exod 17:16, where the Hebrew has a difficult hapax legomenon, the Greek speaks about the ‘hidden hand’ with which the Lord makes war against Amalek; this ‘hidden hand’ played a role in the Christian doctrine of the Logos, which is hidden in the Old Testament.

scholarly journals Trends in missional ecclesiology

2012 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelius J.P. Niemandt
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Missional Church ◽  
Missional Ecclesiology ◽  
Missional Theology ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
World Mission ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

Missional ecclesiology emerged as one of the significant trends in mission studies and ecumenical discussion in the last couple of years. What were these trends in missional ecclesiology? What kind of missional theology formed and fuelled the renewed interest in missional ecclesiology? What impact flowed from the important ecumenical events in 2010 (Edinburgh 2010 World Mission Conference, World Communion of Reformed Churches and Lausanne III)? This article explained the term ‘missional church’ and explored missional theology as participating in the life of the Trinity and thus mission as ‘joining in with the Spirit’. It explained the relationship between ecclesiology and missiology. The trends in missional ecclesiology were tracked by focusing on an incarnational approach to the church; relationality in the community of believers; the role of the kingdom of God; discernment as the first act in mission; imago Dei and creativity; the ecclesia and local community and finally mission and ethics.

Kimbanguism: Its Present Christian Doctrine and the Problems Raised by it

Exchange ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Léon Nguapitshi Kayongo
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
The World ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Participant Observer ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

AbstractAlthough the present publication does completely meet the requirements for an academic article, we have decided to publish it because of the insights it provides into the latest developments within the Kimbanguist Church in Congo. The author is a theologian who was Dean of the Kimbanguist Faculty of Theology in Lutendele near Kinshasa until mid 2003. He was deeply involved in the problems that arose in the beginning of the 21st century. He is also a person who is able to explain diligently the views of the different parties in the Kimbanguist Church. However, due to his own involvement in these developments the article has rather the character of a document written by a well-educated participant observer, who is very familiar with his subject, than that of a publication authored by a scholar who does his utmost to remain neutral.The document explains the theological, religious and contextual backdrops of the doctrine of the Trinity developed in the Kimbanguist Church, for in this church the persons of the Trinity are narrowly connected with the founder of the church and his family. Since 2001 these connections were even made more intense. Interestingly there are some Biblical reasons for it as well, but nonetheless the church seems to loose doctrinal familiarity with the other churches in the world through these new evolutions.

scholarly journals Invited by God onto the worship stage: Developing missional communities through participation in Theo-drama

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian A. Nell ◽  
Neil Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Grand Narrative ◽  
Mission Of God ◽  
Dramatic Theory ◽  
Missional Communities ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

When the front of the church begins to resemble a stage and the preacher, musicians and other leaders act like performers whilst the congregation takes on the role of an audience, then something is wrong with worship. But not only with worship: something is wrong with the church. A church longing to be missional � that is, a church in which all Christians are participants in the mission of God � needs to express that participation in its worship. Theological dramatic theory shows us how the Trinity acts out a grand narrative in creation, redemption and glorification, and invites us to participate in the Story being performed. This same narrative can be present in worship and can invite our immediate participation. But this cannot happen if either God or the congregation is relegated to the role of mere audience. However, when the Story is told and performed in worship and when the worshipping community is able to participate alongside the Trinity in the Theo-drama of worship, then worship takes on the ability to form that community missionally. Worship is a habit repeated week after week; therefore, its power to transform a community into a missonal congregation is immense.

scholarly journals The role of relationship in moral formation: An analysis of three tertiary theological education institutions in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Kretzschmar ◽  
Ethel C. Tuckey
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
Local Churches ◽  
Moral Formation ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
Theological Institutions ◽  
Church And Society ◽  
The Church

This article investigates the teaching and practice of moral formation at three theological education institutions in South Africa. Morality is described in terms of relationship with God, with the self, with others in the church and society and with the environment. Many theological institutions, while acknowledging moral formation in their aims and teaching ethical theory, have difficulty developing and implementing a moral formation programme. The findings of the research suggest that the teaching and practice at the institutions that involve relationships are most effective for moral formation. Hence it is recommended that the institutions foster the students’ relationship with God, with themselves, with others and with the environment. Relational teaching methods and activities are most effective and ways of implementing them are explored, including developing partnerships with local churches.

Practical and Symbolic Geometry in Borromini’s San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

2013 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hill
Keyword(s):  
Complex Geometry ◽  
Doctoral Dissertation ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Developmental Sequence ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

Leo Steinberg’s doctoral dissertation of 1960 contained an exposé of the complex geometry of Francesco Borromini’s San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, and while his scheme has been the starting point for subsequent interpretations, Joseph Connors points out that the majority of drawings relied upon by Steinberg were in fact reworked by Borromini in the 1660s, after the church was built. The geometrical armature of the 1660s plans must therefore be read with caution, measured against the dimensions of the actual building and the geometry discernible in the drawings of the design stage. Whatever the basis of the geometrical reconstruction, something remains unclear, namely, the rationale of the curvature of the lateral chapels. In Practical and Symbolic Geometry in Borromini’s San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Michael Hill explores the geometrical rationale of the plan, particularly the role of the biangolo, to unlock its developmental sequence. He also argues for the symbolic importance of the biangolo that provides a cue for a consideration of the plan in terms of an epiphanic representation of the Trinity, a characterization that in turn sheds light on the devotion of San Carlo Borromeo, co-dedicatee of the church, as well as the meaning of the normally ignored altarpieces.

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