eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781491863787 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 02/19/2014 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 334 |
| File size: | 382 KB |
Read an Excerpt
My PHILOSOPHY
My Essays
By Adolfo Makuntima
AuthorHouse LLC
Copyright © 2014 Adolfo MakuntimaAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4918-6377-0
CHAPTER 1
TRT 1101HS
INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
FIRST ASSIGNMENT
Prepare a sermon which answer the question, "What is theology, and why is it important?"
Done by: ADOLFO MAKUNTIMA
Professor: STEPHEN REYNOLDS
Jan 2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS
WHAT IS THEOLOGY
DEFINITION
FAMILY EXPERIENCE
BIBLE TESTIMONY
WHY IS THEOLOGY IMPORTANT?
THEOLOGY
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, today, I would like to speak to you about Theology. What is Theology and Why is it important?
WHAT IS THEOLOGY?
DEFINITION
Theology is made of two words:
Theo = meaning God and Logy (logos) meaning Science. In a Greek term Theology means "Science of God".
Gerald O'Collins, in the Concise Dictionnary of Theology (P.263), says that in the West, theology is the methodical effort to understand and interpret the truth of revelation. As fides quaerens intellectum (meaning that "Faith seeking understanding".) O'Collins goes further by saying that: Theology uses the resources of reason, drawing in particular on the disciplines of history and philosophy. In the face of the divine mystery, theology is always "seeking" and never reaches final answers and definitive insights.
Louis Bouyer, in fact, defines "theology as the science of divines things" (dictionnaire Théologique). In ancient time Bouyer pursued that, theology was a Hymn in which God is glorified more than explained by the human mind.
In his book, "Hearing and Knowing", Mercy Amba Oduyoye, thinks that "Christian theology is done wherever people reflect on their life situation in the context of the gospel." (P.2). This statement opens the door to the idea of different forms of theology:
- theology of liberation;
- feminist theology;
- moral theology; dogmatic theology; systematic theology;
- biblical theology and;
- pastoral theology.
FAMILY EXPERIENCE
Brothers and Sisters, before we go deeply into the subject, I would like to start with this experience:
One evening in Africa, we were sitting on the ground of our open-sky living room of our unfinished family house. The moon and stars were shining. The weather was good that night with some nice wind and it was a good time to get some fresh air. In this family atmosphere, as we were having a family discussion, silence spontaneously took place during that moment. Suddenly, one of my little sisters, Mimi Makiese, who was five years old and was laying down there on the mat with us, produced a huge breath. And as she was looking up to the sky, she sighed, capturing our attention, and said:
"Ha, God. I really feel sorry for God. Alone there in the sky, without a house; he sits. He supports everything: rain and wind; sun and cold.... He has no home. I have pity for him ..."
To these words, my biological father spoke and said: "my daughter, my daughter, your God, It s me. I am your God". This saying brought more confusions in my sister's mind. We were all young. Nobody could explain to Mimi Makiese, that according to Jesus, God is a spirit that does not have body and that can live everywhere.
BIBLE TESTIMONY
The bible points clearly in John's Gospel (John 4:24) that God is a Spirit and those who adore him must adore him in spirit and in truth. This explanation is theological and biblical. You must have been studying the Bible or God of Jesus to come to this assertion.
Since old times in the Bible, people have studied Moses' law. They were priests, scribes and doctors of the holy scriptures. Did these people study theology?
Let us examine the scriptures. At the age of twelve, Jesus was in a conversation with the high priests (Luc 2: 46-48). At thirty years old, Jesus opened the prophetic book of Isaiah and declared:
"The Spirit of God rests upon me; The Spirit of God has annointed me; The Spirit of God sent me to proclaim peace and Joy" (Luc 4:18-19).
He continues by saying: "these words were written for me."
High priests, according to the Bible, were astonished by this young man's attitude and wisdom. Later on in John's gospel, Jesus is again speaking in front of people in the Temple. Everybody, including doctors, were excited and were questioning their self by saying: "how does he know scriptures, him who never went to school" (John 7:14-15)
And Jesus declares: "my doctrine does not come from myself, but from whom sent me" (John 7:16). We are seeing here doctors of Moses laws facing and confronting someone who knows the law and can better interpret them. Has Jesus studied God or the Bible? The Bible it self does not clearly confirm that. Instead, the Bible states that Jesus was writing on the ground the day Mary Madeline was to be stoned. Also, John 12:20 informs us about contact Jesus had with a group of Greeks. Did he speak Greek with them? For sure, the Bible confirms that Jesus was smart and very wise. (Matt.13:54-56; Marc 6:2)
Jesus' knowledge was more than that of a doctor of Moses' laws. This can be verified with the dialogue he has with Nicodemus (John 3) When Jesus said to Nicodemus that he must be born again, Nicodemus was confused and then replied: "how can a man be born again? Should he go back to his mother's wound?"
Jesus knew what he was talking about. He knew Moses' laws. Being God, he has God's knowledge. It was not necessary for him to study God because he knew him; he was his incarnation and he was God. It was normal that his knowledge be at the same level than that of God, the father.
But for us human beings, to know God and to be full of spirit, we need to learn about God. We must learn how his salvation plan works for the humanity and for ourselves Just like during the Apostles time (Acts 17:11), we must study scriptures or the Bible to know better.
WHY IS THEOLOGY IMPORTANT?
Brothers and Sisters, in today's church, we are studying theology which is literally "the effort to understand and interpret the truth of revelation" (O'Collins) and "the science of divine things" (L.Bouyer), to better apprehend God's messages which this Master of life offers us.
Theological reflection is so necessary, not only to help us to know who God is and what he wants from us, but also to seize and comprehend his will. Many fathers of church use theology to refute misunderstanding resulting from rationalized illusion concerning our capability of clarifying divine mysteries. (Louis Bouyer; dictionnaire théologique). In brief, it is vital to know Jesus the son of God and the manifestation of the holy spirit in order to avoid mistakes.
We also study theology to know and to understand circumstances surrounding Jesus and the Apostles times. As well we learn to know who Jesus represents for us and the kind of people Jesus deals with. Through theology, we can also learn why the Apostles took over, and continued to perpetuate the work of Jesus in the middle of dangers and difficulties.
I believe the other reason, we should study theology is to learn how to adore God.
Certainly many among us will say that all we need to know about God is the Bible and the holy spirit in us. Yes, you might, be right but we must recognize that the Bible does not record everything and that the holy spirit, as a gift, is not given to everyone. Similar to Saint Paul's explanation about gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-31), we have received from God different gifts but no one can claim having all the gifts. To some he gave certain gifts and to others, he gave different ones as well. One of the means that can help us to become fully complete is the study of theology. First of all, we need to learn in order to teach others. By studying God, we must learn to know him, how he relates with us and also, as I said before, to know his plan for us and to deeply know ourselves as believers.
Again, yesterday my little sister was thinking that God lives alone in the sky, in the middle of bad weather without a specific house. Today with the help of theology, she will learn that God lives in everybody's heart. She will know that God is whole in all. My sister can only reach this knowledge by a serious study of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
However, when we know for sure that the book that teaches and informs us about God is the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, why not study it?
CONCLUSION
In today's life, the churches are confronted with many issues. For that reason, it is imperative to believe that the body of Christ can "only survive" by a profound theological reflection. The same thing applies to the Bible as we consider the word of God It requires from us a serious study and it must be a subject of a deeper meditation.
To conclude, Brothers and Sisters, theology, in the face of the divine mystery, (according to O'Collins), is always "seeking" and never reaches final answers and definitive insights. If ancient people studied Moses' laws and the scriptures in order to be perfect and to avoid every sort of dupery, why don't the people of the twenty-first century study theology? It is through theology the "science of God" and His words that we Christians will be enlightened.
THE NATURE OF PRIESTHOOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
PSALM 110:4
The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchiz'-edek ...
This was and still is the order that makes people Priest. Before we examine the nature of Priesthood in the Old Testament, we need to define the word Priest and Priesthood.
DEFINITION OF PRIESTHOOD
The priest (kohen) are the principal functionaries in divine services, their special task being to engage in cultic ceremonies which they conducted mainly in the Temple. In general the priest' post is authorized by hereditary right and they constitute a distinct class separate from the rest of the people. (Encyclopaedia Judaica).
The priesthood in Biblical thought represents Israel's union with God. Under the Mosaic covenant the whole nation is to be a "Kingdom of priests" and hence a holy people (Exodus.19:6; Lev.11:44 ff; Num. 15:40). The sanctity required of the people for the service of God is symbolized in the priesthood, which therefore becomes the mediator of the covenant. We have here the high priest, the priest and the Levite. (The interpreter's dictionary of the Bible).
Wellhausen describes priests coming into prominence for the first time with Deuteronomy, which, following Dewette, he dated to the time to Josiah. Here priest were first called "Levites", but this new priestly class did not derive from the Levitic tribe of the premonarchical period. Rather, they simply assumed the name "Levite" as a patronymic in order to bind themselves together in a class.
The Hebrew noun (Kohen) is derived from the verb Kahan, which appears to have the same meaning as kun "to stand". The priest is therefore one who stands before God as his servant or minister.
For the Egyptians, "priest" is a "pure man" or a "servant of deity". (Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament.).
WHAT MAKES A PRIEST A PRIEST?
Scholars have different views on what makes a priest; but many of them agreed that "being priest is hereditary." The priests were specialists; various groups of experts formed a kind of guild or college. Such groups occasionally traced their origin back to mythical ancestors, but the extent to which hereditary priesthood was the rule is unclear. We know that fathers transmitted their priestly wisdom to their sons and that there were families made up of priests for many generations (Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament).
The priesthood in Israel is not a vocation but a profession; like most professions in the ancient Near East, it is hereditary.
Blood and clan belonging (or lineage) were also the doors to priesthood. In the Anchor Bible Dictionary v.4, Albright stated that: "the term Lawiyu," from which Levites, derived, "Levite", means "a person pledged for a debt or vow (to Yahwe)." In other words, a Levite, etymologically speaking, was a priest. It is therefore plausible that each of the major groups or clans of Levites (Gershon, Kohath, Merari) constituted a blood relationship within themselves but not necessarily between them. Thus also Moses and Aaron would not have to be related, even though they were both Levites in the sense that they were both priests. Or put differently, a clan constituted a blood relationship.
Jeremiah also gives some information about priests. He, in fact, mentions the priests more often than any of the other writing prophets. He himself is said to be the son of Hilkiah (not the Hilkiah of 2 Kings 22-23), of the priest of Anathoth (1:1). This presumably means that he was of a priestly family; and, since he came from Anathoth, he may have been a descendant of Abiathar (cf. 1Kgs 2:26-27).
According to the view of Ezekiel, himself a priest, the only priest who will be eligible to perform all the priestly duties in the "new Jerusalem" are the Levites/Levitical priest, who are descendants of Zadok.
Beside hereditary links that make someone a priest, priests need not only come from hereditary lineage, but can also come from the broader society, such as politicians (Kings) or politics in some cases. Theoretically, in ancient Near East, the King was the only legitimate priest who could enter into ritual association with the gods. However, Priestly office was not meant to be hereditary: "offices do not have children", says the Instruction of Ani. Often, however, it was passed from father to son, as is suggested, for example, by the common idiom "a pure man, son of a pure man." This tendency increased with the passage of time, and Herodotus considers it the normal rule for a priest to appoint his son as his successor. Long genealogies of priestly families confirm the practice.
In the Mesopotamia there was no sharp distinction between political and priestly office. The kings boast that they are priests of various deities. The highest spiritual dignitary was the en; the sanga had administrative duties. The isib appears to have dealt with libations and purification rituals; the gala seems to have been a singer and poet. Theoretically, the King was the chief minister of the cult and bore a priestly title.
WHAT PRIESTS DO (THEIR FUNCTION)
The functions of the priest were large and various, mainly in the sanctuary of god.
Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament states the following:
1- Guarding the Sanctuary
Here priests performed ritual functions (animal sacrifice, offering of the first-born). The kohen or the elders were appointed to "guard" or "keep". The first priests were charged with guardianship of the sacred precincts.
2- Dispensing Oracles
In the early period, the primary function of the priests was oracular. Whenever a difficult decision has to be made, the people (or individual Israelites) asked the priest as the official mediator for the divine oracle. "Inquire of God, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed".
3- Teaching
From the time of the monarchy on, the priests would function as teachers. Jeremiah, too, attacks the priest, "shepherds," and prophets (Jer.2:8). The priests, he says, are guardians of the torah ...
Moses entrusted the law (torah) to the priests; they are to recite it publicly every seven years at the Feast of Booths so that the people may learn to keep all the words of this law. The priest has to determine what is holy and what is unclean and also make the distinction between "holy" and "profane", between "unclean" and "clean".
King Jehoshaphat appointed Levites, priests and heads of families to decide disputed cases in Jerusalem.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from My PHILOSOPHY by Adolfo Makuntima. Copyright © 2014 Adolfo Makuntima. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction to Systematic Theology, 1,What Is Theology?, 2,
Definition, 2,
Family Experience, 3,
Bible Testimony, 3,
Why Is Theology Important?, 5,
Conclusion, 6,
The Nature of Priesthood in The Old Testament, 7,
Definition of Priesthood, 7,
What Makes a Priest a Priest?, 8,
What Priests Do, 9,
Conclusion, 12,
Seeking The Kingdom of God, 13,
Introduction to The New Testament, 18,
Ideological Criticism, 22,
African Theology, 28,
Celibacy in The African Traditional Religions, 28,
Definition, 28,
Celibacy in The Bible, 30,
History of Clerical Celibacy, 32,
View of Celibacy By The African, 35,
Power, Sexual and Psychological Abuse, 38,
Conclusion, 40,
Introduction to The Old Testament, 41,
Sacrifice, 41,
Definition, 41,
Function and Meaning, 41,
Washing Feet, 44,
Prostrate, 45,
Erecting a Tent or Building Monument, 45,
Oath or Testament, 46,
Circumcision, 46,
Blessings, 48,
Naming, 49,
Conclusion, 50,
Christologies, 51,
Eucharist, 54,
Function of Eucharistic Prayer, 59,
Conclusion, 60,
Working With People, 61,
Behavior Therapy, 62,
Definition, 62,
Basic Concepts, 66,
Social-Cognitive Theory, 67,
Conclusion, 68,
Leadership in The Church, 69,
My Skills, Vision, Team, Culture and Integrity, 75,
Conclusion, 76,
Niebuhr, 76,
How Does Niebuhr Define "Christ" and "Culture"?, 77,
What Is The Significance of "Christ Above Culture" In The Modern World?, 82,
Anglican Spirituality, 85,
The Irruption of The Third World, 90,
Movements of The Spirit in History, 94,
Music in The Church, 104,
Immigrants and Canadian Religions, 107,
Reason Why New Africans Leave Africa, 110,
The Country of Adoption, 112,
Conclusion, 113,
History of Christianity II, 115,
History of Christianity II, 119,
The Life of Hallowed Mother Mary of Egypt, 124,
Ethical Reflections, 127,
God and Caesar At The 49th, 132,
Conclusion, 139,
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, 140,
Immigrants and Canadian Religions Collaborative Recapitulation, 142,
Conclusion, 147,
Fathers/Mothers of The Churches, 151,
Theology in The Pastoral Context, 153,
Ethical Reflections, 159,
History of Christianity II, 164,
Eagle's Aspiration, 172,
Drumming, 173,
Modern Eastern Thought, 180,
Text Criticism, 184,
What Is Text Criticism?, 185,
The Sacrament of Reconciliation, 189,
Christologies, 192,
The Nicene Faith, Part 1, 196,
Athanasius, 199,
African Theology, Christology and The Ancestors, 202,
African Ancestors, 202,
Conclusion, 209,
The Holy Spirit, 211,
Definition, 211,
When Does The Holy Spirit (Spirit of God) Come?, 212,
Spirit of God—Spirit of Christ, 215,
What Does The Creed Say About The Holy Spirit?, 216,
Pentecost and His Purpose, 218,
The Spirit in The Individual, 219,
The Spirit in The Church, 221,
Conclusion, 222,
Text Criticism, 223,
Jerusalem and Jesus, 229,
Temple De Jerusalem, 229,
Explanation, 236,
Method, 239,
Conclusion, 241,
Social Scientific Criticism, 242,
Introduction to Philosophy For Theological Students, 246,
Nioka-N'kawu, 251,
The Song of Songs, 256,
Leadership in The Church, 259,
My Skills, Vision, Team, Culture and Integrity, 265,
Conclusion, 266,
Reaction Doing Theology in a Divided World, 267,
Theology in The Pastoral Context, 271,
Autobiographical Theology, 271,
Signs From God, 273,
Decision, 274,
Test of God, 275,
Conclusion, 276,
Leadership in The Church, 277,
Unresolved Conflict, 277,
Reframing, 278,
Strategy, 280,
Evaluation, 281,
Case Presentation, 286,
Analysis, 288,
Values, 289,
Underlying Principles:, 290,
Theological Reconstruction, 291,
Evaluation, 293,
Anglican Spirituality Adolfo Makuntima, 294,
Anglican Spirituality, 298,
Anglican Spirituality Adolfo Makuntima, 304,
Fathers/Mothers: Eastern Thought, 309,
The Life and Affairs of Our Holy Father Antony, 309,
Qui Est Saint Antoine?, 310,
Homily, 313,
Bibliography, 315,