Showing papers on "Supreme Being published in 2015"

The Spirit of God and the spirit of Africa : a dogmatological study from the vantage point of pneumatology

Abstract: The study of pneumatology is important and necessary in theology, and also in the church. What Christians have to know and understand about it must be taught clearly. The nature and work of the Spirit of God should be mastered by every believer in Jesus Christ. In this way, wrong concepts and teachings can be rejected by the Christian way of life, in the church especially in Africa. It is very noticeable that Africans, in their traditional worldview are conscious of the existence of the Supreme Being, spirits, divinities, ancestral spirits and the spiritual world with its diversity. Africans, Christians and non-Christians believe that around them there are invisible spiritual beings and because of this consciousness they are haunted by the wish to discover what is really going on in the invisible world of the spiritual realm. Most Africans consider the existence of the ancestral spirits as a very important matter and they are in daily need to consult them about every event happening among them in their traditional context. In every event they believe there is always somebody, meaning a spirit, behind what is happening. A death or an accident cannot happen without having been caused by a spirit especially an ancestral spirit. The ancestral spirits are thought to be active in the lives of their living descendants on earth. Ancestral spirits are ambivalent in their relation with the living. They can bring good things to their descendants if they are well treated. They harm and molest them when they are angered by their descendants. The fact that Africans have been confronted with the Gospel has had an

Resurgence of religion in public life : expressing Christianity through public service provision

Abstract: Research on faith based organisations involvement in public service provision neglects to consider the personal faith convictions of those working in this field. Using a social constructionist epistemology I investigate if and how faith convictions of employees and volunteers working for Christian based service providers impact on the work they do. Data were collected in two stages using semi structured interviews. Stage one obtained a broad overview of the role of Christian service providers from the perspective of elite Christians representing Christian organisations that have a direct connection to welfare provision in the UK. Stage two took an in-depth look at the issues raised in stage one, seeking to understand them from the perspective of ordinary Christians who work for Christian based service providers. Findings from this thesis further sociological understanding of Christian involvement in religiously plural public spheres, and argues that faith is an intrinsic part of the delivery of public services by people working for faith-based organisations. Drawing on the theoretical concept of Individualised Religiosities as proposed by Luckmann, Bellah, Davie, Beck and others, and the concept of Lived Religion as developed by McGuire and Ammerman, this thesis examines participants constructed understanding of the Christian God and its connection with public service provision. It develops a complex, three fold sociological conceptualisation of Christian perceptions of the God figure as: 1) the Supreme Being, 2) as a parental figure, and 3) an embodied God. This broad conceptualisation illustrates how participants combine institutional activities, such as attending church sermons, with more autonomous religious activities, such as personal conversations with God, to construct a multidimensional understanding of the figure. The embodied God position takes on further significance when understanding that participants use public service work as a form of church . Public service can be viewed as a form of private worship, but by embodying God, they also take God to people that may not practice Christianity. These findings challenge assumptions that the practice of religion in public projects has declined in recent years and that faith organisations are reticent to push their faith when providing services. Religious pluralism results in political expectations that faith groups are religiously neutral when delivering public services. Using Framing Theory this thesis demonstrates that participants are framing faith discourses so that they resonate with discourses deemed acceptable in the public realm. It conceptualises these discourses in two action frames, the Love, and Inclusivity Frames. There are indications of a shift towards using profane terms instead of sacred terms to explain and indirectly promote aspects of the Christian faith. Moreover, Christian teachings of love, compassion and belonging are amplified to counter criticisms that Christianity is a threat to liberal rights and beliefs. These frames, which demonstrate the accommodation of Christian discourse to a religiously plural and/or neutral discourse, have implications for how we understand Christian involvement in the public sphere.

Nilai-nilai pendidikan dalam kalimat azan

Abstract: The value of education in the sentence azan includes several elements, among others, first, the educational value of monotheism, instilling the values of monotheism to children who are expected to have strong beliefs, Aqidah to God alone and avoid shirk. Second, the educational value ubudiyah, which through the azan in children at birth is expected to be a child who always maintain the cleanliness, discipline, orderly, like helping others, not bothersome, always do good to others, do not do evil, be useful and beneficial for the people others, both in the life of society, nation, state and religion. Thirdly, the educational value akhlaqiyah, this value imparted to a newborn child so that the child has a good personality commendable to God, fellow human beings, as well as to animals and nature. And so the child can try, do the right path, but it does not spoil. Azan sentence submitted to a newborn child could be applied because of the wisdom and educational value contained in the sentence azan. Because, first received sound human hearing are sentences calls the Supreme Being that contains the greatness of God, is also the creed as a condition of the first to convert to Islam .

Brandie R. Siegfried and Lisa T. Sarasohn. God and Nature in the Thought of Margaret Cavendish

Abstract: Brandie R Siegfried and Lisa T Sarasohn God and Nature in the Thought of Margaret Cavendish Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2014 xvi + 257 pp + 8 illus $10995 Review by KAROL KOVALOVICH WEAVER, SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY God and Nature in the Thought of Margaret Cavendish is a collection of essays that investigates the religious and scientific ideas of seventeenth-century intellectual Margaret Cavendish The authors consider Cavendish's concepts of God and Nature, her use of a variety of genres to explore issues of faith and science, and her examination of a variety of spiritual traditions including Christianity, natural magic, Judaism, and the Jewish Cabbala As with all collections of essays, some contributions stand out because of their fascinating subject matter and outstanding writing One of the main themes of the book is Cavendish's understanding of God and Nature She affirmed the power and knowledge of God as well as the authority and vitality of Nature She clearly ranked the Divine in relation to Nature, but stressed that Nature was eternal and active She also differentiated between the two by gendering each Cavendish defined God as masculine while Nature was characterized as feminine In so doing, she connected natural philosophy with real-world female practitioners and spaces Several essays directly speak to these topics For instance, Sara Mendelson's "The God of Nature and the Nature of God" investigates Cavendish's religious ideas Mendelson states, "By surveying her use of religious language as well as her comments on a wide range of theological issues, we can begin to explore the complexity of her views on questions concerning the Supreme Being and his relationship with the universe he created" (27) Similarly, Brandie Siegfried's "God and the Question of Sense Perception in the Works of Margaret Cavendish" approaches these subjects, noting "Cavendish believed Nature to be infinite and agential, made up of preexistent matter; matter, in turn, is both rational and sensitive; and finally, the world as we know it emerged from a mutual regard between God and nature" (67) A final example is John Shanahan's "Natural Magic in The Convent of Pleasure" which considers Cavendish's ideas about natural magic and the creative potential of Nature and her assertion that a feminine and creative Nature should force thinkers to recognize the innovative capacity of women and womanly spaces and discourage them from forming exclusionary scientific spaces outside the home The book's contributors mine Cavendish's works to show how she employed a variety of genres to work through her ideas about religion and science They consult her plays, her autobiography, her poetry, her fantasy works, her scientific books, and many other publications to discover Cavendish's notions about God and Nature An example is James Fitzmaurice's "Paganism, Christianity, and the Faculty of Fancy in the Writing of Margaret Cavendish" This contribution highlights that, by analyzing different sources, readers can come to understand how Cavendish defined the nature of God in multiple ways Specifically, Fitzmaurice compares her Observations upon Experimental Philosophy with her plays He concludes that Cavendish's "fancy" or imagination allowed her to "range freely, regardless of any consequences to her reputation for lack of consistency …

The notion of "Nzâmbi Ampûngu Tulêndo:" an outcome of the being-force concept

Abstract: A language is a dynamic feature of a culture which usually undergoes mutation as time elapses. The Kongo concept of the n’kisi or mpungu (seen nowadays as essentially akin to the concept of fetish) as undergone a transformation during the time which as blurred its equivalence with the word mpungu. This differential evolution led to the later trouble the missionaries had to explain the use of the component Mpungu in connection with the divine Father, Nzâmbi Ampungu Tulendo. To avoid affixing the connotation of the fetish (n’kisi, mpungu) to the divine name, the missionaries tried to interpret the component “Mpungu” in the name of the Supreme Being, as a superlative intended to modify the attribute Tulendo (power). In this article the author shows the weakness of the superlative interpretation and demonstrates that the word n’kisi, a synonymous of mpungu, meant originally power; it alludes to the concept of the being-force which Placid Tempels has discovered among the ethnics of Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Thus the expression “Nzâmbi Ampungu Tulendo” alludes to the Supreme Being as the highest concept of the Kongo being-force.

Relations between the Zulu people of Emperor Mpande and the Christian missionaries, c.1845-c.1871

Abstract: During Emperor Mpande's reign (1840-1872), following the deposition of his half-brother Dingane in 1840, the Zulu people mostly adhered to traditional norms and values, believing that the spirits of the dead live on. Ancestral veneration and the worship of the Supreme Being called Umvelinqangi were pre-eminent and the education of children was merely informal, based on imitation and observation. This worldview faced new challenges with the advent of Christianity and the arrival of Christian missionaries at Port Natal between 1845 and 1871. The strategy of almost all Christian missionaries was premised on winning the Zulu people en masse to Christianity through Mpande’s court. The doctrines preached by the missionaries disputed the fundamental ethical, metaphysical and social ideas of the Zulu people. Mpande, however, earnestly requested that at least one missionary reside in the vicinity of his palace. Nothing could deter Mpande’s attempts to use missionary connections to keep Colonial threats of invasion in check. While the Zulu people were devoid of organised religion which might have proved a bulwark against the Christianisation process, Mpande’s acceptance of the missionaries could be said to have been mainly strategic. He could not display bellicose tendencies while still at an embryonic stage of consolidating his authority. This paper gives an exposition of the nature and extent of relations between the Christian missionaries and the Zulu empire of Mpande. Keywords : Christianity, proselytes, missionaries, evangelisation, Zulu empire, Emperor Mpande

Religious fundamentalism and international terrorism based on religion and their impact on global peace and security

Abstract: Religion is an age old phenomenon in societies and nations in the world. Civilizations came into being across the world and fell apart from antiquity on the question of religious belief and practices. Theory of a Supreme Being, GOD, The Almighty came into human belief and perception in the early days of human history even before the inception of language. And in course of time that belief and faith came out to be all encompassing day to day life force in the process of evolution of mode of communication and in the progression of the growth of civilization the religion emerged as instrument of politics. Religious fundamentalism is a tendency of people to stick to a set of principle ordained in their religious belief which starts taking shape from the beginning of their life after birth when they develop the cognitive perception and sense. In the life time of a human being that sense of religiosity gets ingrained in his psychology and over all behavioural pattern and this phenomenon is intimately connected with human identity question. All the recognised religions have their strict set of principles which are having positive and negative connotations. In positive sense the fundamental doctrine of a religion dictated by the Holy Scriptures make them different from other counterparts and compelling the followers to stay disciplined and united. On the other hand in negative sense religious fundamentalism gives rise to radicalization even towards terrorism since the religious sentiment is the most vibrant driving force to unite mass population towards an extreme political gain like the outcome of Zionism and subsequent world phenomenon on the rise of Al Qaeda. Religious fundamentalism is not the sole or stand-alone reason for religious terrorism on international spectrum and among many other reasons terrorism may be a by-product of fundamentalism which is evident if we analyse the history of terrorism. Thereby we can reach to a conclusion that religious terrorism especially suicide terrorism has got very intimate connection with radicalization originated from religious fundamentalism. Historical grievances, relative deprivation, collective humiliation or even mass oppression has got its root towards terrorism by using religion as instrument or vehicle and are the outcome of collective religious hatred, manifestations of which are visible in present day suicide terrorism. Crossexamination of religious scriptures tends to make us believe that majority of religious scriptures have got violent verses, misinterpretations of those are sometime used to radicalise vulnerable population towards desperate and extreme alternative measures with profound impact on global peace and security.

God in the Eyes of Rabindranath Tagore

Abstract: Rabindranath is a theistic philosopher. According to him, the ultimate reality is the personal God having infinite qualities. Tagore describes God in the following way – “Whatever name may have been given to the divine reality, it has found its highest place in the history of our religion owing to its human character giving meaning to the idea of sin and sanctity and offering an eternal background to all the ideals of perfection which have their harmony in man's own nature.” (1949: 229) Tagore's conception of theistic God is related with the religion of man. He imagines God in two ways. First of all he believes that God is beyond the humanself and the entire universe. There is no conceivable attribute of God – mental or physical. Rabindranath says – “The positive aspect of the infinite is in 'avaitanm', in an absolute unity in which comprehension of multitude is not as in an outer receptacle but as in an inner perfection that permeates and exceeds its contents like the beauty in a lotus, which is ineffably more than all the constituents of the flower.” (Ibid: 69) The supreme God is beyond our reach and is unknown and unknowable.the research make an attempt to unearth idea of ‘god’ in Rabindrath Tagore

Sabiduría y Ciencia Política en la obra de Alberto Magno

Abstract: Albert the Great provided several statements to build a sort of Political Philosophy from his theological and philosophical works. His Political Philosophy is relatively autonomous with regard to Metaphysics and Supernatural Theology due to the fact that, even when it has its own principles, formal objective and end, which is the political common good, these derive from the Supreme Being and Supreme Good which are God´s first creations. There is thus a clear subordinate relationship between Political Science and Wisdom whose object is God.