Showing papers on "Supreme Being published in 2007"

Cutud's Ritual of Nailing on the Cross: Performance of Pain and Suffering

Abstract: This research investigates the ritual nailing on the cross every Good Friday in Cutud, Pampanga, in the Philippines as a local religiocultural performance. It highlights the ritual's evolution and historicity of suffering in the context of panata (religious pledge/ vow), as a characteristic central to the Filipino people since precolonial times. The roots of the ritual can be traced from pamagdarame (flagellation) and the sinakulo (passion play) written by Ricardo Navarro in 1955. Devotees (participants) of pamagdarame and the sinakulo are participating with intentions of panata. The ritual, manifested through a performance of pain and suffering, allows the devotee's inner core (kalooban) via his sacrifice to be one with the Supreme Being. The ritual, which has developed into a multifaceted tradition, is not only a religious occasion (an experience of a personal sacrifice or panata for the individual) but also a social drama (an expression of pain and suffering through the performance of Via Crucis o Pasion Y Muerte [Way of the Cross or Passion and Death] and the nailing on the cross performed for the good of others). ********** In precolonial Philippines, people were engrossed in a deep relationship with supernatural powers. Like other premodern communities, Filipinos ritually reenacted supernatural figures with a primary ob ective of strengthening relationships with their anitos and diwatas (local gods and goddesses). More often than not, these ritualistic activities were forms of thanksgiving and offerings of intentions and petitions (e.g., to gain victory in a tribal war). Nowadays, this engagement with supernatural powers remains as a manifestation of Filipino life. According to F. Landajocano, "Central to the lifeways of the Filipinos is the belief that any man, to be successful must square accounts with the spirits or saints performing the necessary rites and ceremonies" (Matienzo 1988: 12). With the introduction of a foreign god, Filipinos accommodated this image of a universal, Christian god and blended its elements with Filipino animism as stated by Covar (in Matienzo 1988). The result was folk Catholicism wherein, according to Elwood and Magdamo, "Beliefs and practices derived from popular or folk culture which, though not officially approved are nevertheless supported and encouraged by tradition in the community" (Matienzo 1988: 13). Faith and religion are important aspects of Filipino sensibility and are a way for Filipinos to have a stronger sense of self and live productively. Faith has a huge impact on Filipino cultural life. Lived principles such as ipagpasa-Diyos na lamang natin yan (leave everything to the Lord) and bahala na (the Lord will provide) are common and suggestive of how Filipinos offer their everyday lives to supernatural powers. For Catholics, this powerful being is God. Also, these expressions suggest that answers to particular dilemmas can be addressed to a supernatural entity (God), advocating paghihintay ng biyaya mula sa langit (waiting for grace from the heavens) (Jocano 1997: 110). Social and cultural analysts even suggest that Filipinos value spiritual aid more than mere actions for addressing specific crises (Zulueta 2005). In Cutud, Pampanga, seventy miles north of Manila, a popular expression of faith and religiosity is panata (a religious vow whereby the devotee promises to do a sacrifice for his faith) in carrying out of a vow through the ritual of nailing on the cross every Good Friday. (1) Panata is a religious vow whereby the devotee promises to do a sacrifice for his faith in hopes of being rewarded by divine response to his prayers. Though based on the doctrines of the Catholic Church, the ritual has been modified to suit specific communal needs of the ordinary Filipinos, therefore indigenizing Catholicism. Though the Catholic Church has criticized the ritual, ordinary people have been persistent in their devotion. For the people, these rituals (thus their panata) are their way and perhaps, the best way to get closer to God. …

Some evidence of belief in the one true God among the Batswana before the missionaries

Abstract: Historical evidence shows that the Batswana had a belief in a single Creator or Supreme Being from time immemorial. The underlying pattern in their religious beliefs and practices, associated with their belief, provides a foundation upon which Batswana received Christianity.

Predestinacao e a metafisica da identidade: um estudo de caso Ioruba

Abstract: In Yoruba account of predestination, a moulded body, already infused with the spirit of life by Olodumare (the supreme being), goes to pick an Ori (the bearer of destiny), before his or her birth The destiny so chosen, ascribed or imposed, encapsulates the successes and failures which the human being is meant to unravel during his or her course of existence in this world Considering some arguments on the metaphysical question of personal identity, the paper observes that it will be difficult to establish a case of personal identity between the person who chose a destiny in isalu orun (heavenly abode) and the one who is assumed to be unravelling it in this isalu aye (earthly world) The paper concludes that it will be difficult to establish a case for predestination if a relationship of identity cannot be easily established between the two entities

Ancestors and spirits in the light of Luther's theology

Abstract: When dealing with ancestor veneration in the church we ought to listen to African spirituality, the biblical witness, the ecclesial tradition and modernity. African spirituality is characterised by remoteness of the Supreme Being, submission to ancestral authority and tight communal cohesion. Ancestor veneration was not an issue in Luther’s time, but it is possible to explore how main tenets of Luther’s theology could be applied to ancestor veneration. The hidden and revealed God: the redemptive intentions of God reassure us in times of adversity, suffering and affliction. Sola Scriptura: the claim of Yahweh eliminated ancestor veneration from the biblical tradition. Solus Christus: God is accessible in Christ and needs no ancestral mediation. Sola gratia: all conditions of acceptance are suspended. Sola fide: faith is trust in God’s promise of a redeemed life. The fruit of the gospel: faith leads to freedom and responsibility rather than submission to authority and fixed codes of conduct. Two aspects of God’s rule: believers take up critical responsibility for social structures including the family. The Lord’s Supper: the crucified Christ is identified with tangible substances so that he can be ritually present for us here and now. Finally, the Lutheran tradition is critiqued from the perspective of African spirituality: a spiritualised gospel, a truncated concept of salvation and passivity.

Gods : Toward a contemporary discourse on religion and democracy

Abstract: In memoriam Rabbi Balfour Brickner 1930-2005 As I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, "To the unknown god." What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. --Acts of the Apostles The prophet faces a coalition of callousness and established authority, and undertakes to stop a mighty stream with mere words. Had the purpose been to express great ideas, prophecy would have had to be acclaimed as a triumph. Yet the purpose of prophecy is to conquer callousness, to change the inner man as well as to revolutionize history. --Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets Yet if the only form of tradition, of handing down, consisted in following the ways of the immediate generation before us in a blind or timid adherence to its successes, "tradition" should positively be discouraged. We have seen many such simple currents soon lost in the sand; and novelty is better than repetition. Tradition is a matter of much wider significance. It cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labour. --T. S. Eliot, "Tradition and the Individual Talent" Introduction In contemporary times one can interchange the words "Christian," "conservative," "religious," "right," and "Republican" in a sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence. A lexicon shift of this magnitude is an indication of meaning-making power. The greatest victory of the religious right is not political but existential. The hegemonic discourse about a supreme being is synonymous with the American empire and its economy (currency and cultural values)--the imperial god. (1) What is at stake is not only democratic freedom of minority populations, the promise of the Civil Rights Movement, the Great Society vision and the New Deal's social safety net, and international security but also how we make meaning for ourselves in the language of religion and god-talk. Unfortunately, the popular countervailing argument has been wanting and has not addressed the question of meaning-making. The most popular books written by "liberal" religious leaders are critiques of the left's quarrel with religion. Both God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It by the Rev. Jim Wallis (2) and The Left Hand of God." Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right by Rabbi Michael Lerner (3) bear an unrelenting critique on the lack of religious sensibilities of the left. Wallis's writing and his Sojourner organization lend themselves to a neo-liberalism that hearkens back to nineteenth-century ideals of religion very much like that of the Social Gospel as espoused by Walter Rauschenbusch. It does not take seriously the discourse of those it claims to serve--the poor. Wallis has yet to engage seriously the radical tradition of African-American religion. On the other end of the spectrum is Michael Lerner's Network of Spiritual Progressives. Lerner's book and organization emerge from a new-age discourse about spirituality that does not recover the best of mainline religion. Hence, it is alien to most American's religious understanding. Both books and organizations are primarily interested in appealing to white spaces. In addition Wallis and Lerner spend a significant amount of ink on teaching the Democratic Party how to be better at courting religious voters. Placing religion in the service of a political party is inappropriate, if not idolatrous. Wallis and Lerner are not willing to situate themselves within communities of the poor and follow their genius. They make simplistic references to the prophetic tradition of the Black church. In fact Wallis and Lerner do a disservice to progressive religion by refusing to sit at the feet of a tradition that has one of the richest histories of social justice in the nation. Their "ahistoricism" is profound. Both leaders and the movements that they embody are concerned with new religious forces, without recovering that which has come before. …

God as alpha male

Abstract: Reviews the book, "The power of faith: Mother Nature's gift" by Jay D. Glass (2007). In this book, Glass argues that "In the original state of nature, for both animals and humans, loyalty to a Supreme Being (aka dominant male, king, warlord, etc.) offered protection from enemies and provided the necessities to sustain life. Those that did not put their faith and trust in a god-like figure did not survive to produce the next generation." However, Glass is not suggesting that religious devotion is a peculiar anachronism that we ought to outgrow. Far from it! Instead, Glass proposes that on the one hand, "God is a fiction, a creation of our rationalizing human brain. On the other hand, the message within the answer is that if the origin of our religious faith is in our genes, we have no choice but to put our faith and trust in God, even though in the realm of logic he does not exist." The power of faith offers much to critique. Yet, it has its redeeming virtues. There is something compelling in Glass's basic hypothesis, not least the widespread human tendency toward abasement before a Supreme Being, as well as the stubborn tenacity of belief itself. It is accordingly my guess that despite its flaws, The power of faith captures at least part of a genuine and provocative truth, warranting the attention of those evolutionary psychologists interested in the biological underpinnings of religious faith. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

Believing in God

Abstract: God isn't making me do this - write about him, I mean. Well, I don't think he is, but I suppose you've got to be careful about excluding the Supreme Being from transactions.