Download or read book Explaining the Practice of Elevating an Ancestor for Veneration written by George Shakwelele and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-06-13 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bisa people of Nabwalya, Zambia love their culture and gladly celebrate all their traditional festivals. This book presents exciting research into Kusefya pa ngena, rituals through which the Bisa elect ancestors for veneration. The Bisa speak freely of how their belief in ancestor veneration does not conflict with their worship of God. For them, the two work hand in hand. Traditional practices are considered vital to the community because they enhance life, reinforce cultural values, and explain life events. Those questioned said ancestor veneration should continue because it benefits current and future generations. For example, their most celebrated ancestor, Kabuswe Yombwe, when petitioned, provides rain and a good harvest for the community. People affirmed that rain fell each time they petitioned Kabuswe. One woman, who is married to an elder in a Pentecostal church, vowed not to give up ancestor veneration, to which she attributed the healing of her son and daughter. She pledged her allegiance to both Jesus Christ and to her family's ancestors. In another story, an ancestor appears in a dream to an expectant woman demanding that her child be given a feminine name. The mother obeys to avoid the child being born with a sickness . . .
Download or read book Meaning and Controversy within Chinese Ancestor Religion written by Paulin Batairwa Kubuya and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-01-25 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chinese practices related to ancestors have long been the subject of conflicting interpretations. These practices are rooted in the lived experience of practitioners, and therefore need to be considered as embodied expressions of the quest for existential meaning. For practitioners, the achievement of existential meaning requires the inclusion, implication, and mediation of the ancestors. When gestures in ancestor rites are analyzed from this perspective it is possible to appreciate their essence as constitutive of “ancestor religion.” This book uses an inquisitive method that investigates the discrepancies between foreign and local explanations, and proposes another hermeneutic framework for ancestor related praxes.
Download or read book Evangelical Dictionary of Theology written by Daniel J. Treier and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2017-11-07 with total page 1993 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This bestselling reference tool has been a trusted resource for more than 25 years with over 165,000 copies sold. Now thoroughly updated and substantially revised to meet the needs of today's students and classrooms, it offers cutting-edge overviews of key theological topics. Readable and reliable, this work features new articles on topics of contemporary relevance to world Christianity and freshened articles on enduring theological subjects, providing comprehensive A-Z coverage for today's theology students. The author base reflects the increasing diversity of evangelical scholars. Advisory editors include D. Jeffrey Bingham, Cheryl Bridges Johns, John G. Stackhouse Jr., Tite Tiénou, and Kevin J. Vanhoozer.
Download or read book Negotiating Identity written by Ethan Christofferson and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2012-09-13 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Negotiating Identity addresses the missiological problem of why the Hakka Chinese Christian community in Taiwan is so small despite evangelistic efforts there for more than 140 years. Christofferson explores the tensions between being Hakka and being Christian in northwestern Taiwan and discusses what both Hakka non-Christians and Christians are doing and saying in the context of these tensions. This ethnographic study uses the lens of social constructionism and consequently offers an example of how social science scholarship can help missionaries and other Christian workers to gain significant insights into the thoughts, feelings, and actions of those living in their ministry locations. Of interest is Christofferson's conclusion that the missiological perspective which puts a primary focus on ministering to a "people group" is inadequate for explaining and engaging the complexities encountered in many ministry settings. He suggests that an awareness of the way people are negotiating their identities can help Christian workers to better understand and strategically engage people in a variety of ministry contexts throughout the world.
Download or read book Living in the Family of Jesus written by William Longgar and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2016 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With its myriad people groups, Melanesia has much to teach the rest of the world about what happens when Christ encounters local culture. This collection begins with a look at specific case studies of the Gospel's encounter with local culture in Melanesia itself, before turning to broader themes particularly raised by the Melanesian context. Case studies from Asia and the wider Pacific then throw further light on the incarnational process of encounter, demonstrating that there is much for the rest of the world to learn from the Melanesian experience. The book concludes with some penetrating analyses of the dynamics at work when the Gospel encounters human cultures for the first time. The process of critical contextualization of the Gospel is never complete, and is inevitably the product of conversation and experimentation. As such it is a communal process. This set of essays models one such conversation while at the same time enabling the rest of the church to listen in on important insights.
Download or read book The Living Dead and the Living God written by Klaus Nürnberger and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Christian Mission written by ALAN. NEELY and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-09 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The case study method of teaching has revolutionized higher education, becoming the favored technique of presenters who want to help groups entertain options outside their normal repertory of programmed responses. In Christian Mission: A Case Study Approach, Alan Neely of Princeton Theological Seminary adapts this educational tool to the study of cross- cultural ministries and mission. First, Neely introduces the case study in Christian thought by analyzing what is meant by a ""context"" and what the problem of contextualization means. This introduction will help classroom instructor as well as the casual reader understand how to use ""cases"" and what issues are involved. Neely then tackles questions that arise in the encounter of Christianity with Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and primal religions. From the contemporary case of ""A Letter from Claire"" to the classic historical study ""Roberto de Nobili,"" Christian Mission clearly illustrates how far and deep questions of contextualization run.
Download or read book The Oxford History of Christian Worship written by Geoffrey Wainwright and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 937 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Oxford History of Christian Worship is a comprehensive and authoritative history, lavishly illustrated, of the origins and development of Christian worship up to the present day. Following contemporary methods in scholarship, it attends to social and cultural contexts and examines the worship traditions from both Eastern and Western Christianity, ancient and modern. It offers a chronological account, while encompassing spatial and confessional variations, from Baptists in Britain to Roman Catholics in Mexico, from Orthodox in Ethiopia to Pentecostals in the United States, from Lutheran and Reformed in Europe to united churches in India and Australia. The material details of Christian worship, such as music, architecture, and the visual arts, are considered within specific cultural contexts throughout the volume as well as studied thematically in individual chapters."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Communicating Christ in Animistic Contexts written by Gailyn Van Rheenen and published by William Carey Library. This book was released on 1991 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether in New Age mysticism, occultism, Haitian voodooism, Chinese ancestor veneration, or Japanese Shintoism, animistic beliefs are widespread, even today. Gailyn Van Rheenen presents a rigorous, biblical, theological, and anthropological foundation for ministering in animistic contexts.
Download or read book Abraham as a Spiritual Ancestor written by Israel Kamudzandu and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2010 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the ideology of the Augustan era of constructing ancestors, this book is about Paul's creative construction of Abraham as a spiritual ancestor of "all" people who have the faith of Abraham and Sarah. The book breaks new accademic grounds on the value of ancestors in a 21st century global Christian world.
Download or read book Towards a Christian Theology of African Ancestors written by Thomas Ochieng Otanga and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-04-21 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the similarities and relationship between Christian saints and African ancestors. Further, it analyzes the deep cultural roots of African peoples and the ancestral frame as a point of departure for developing an indigenous African theology. Questions dealt with include: Does the conversion of Africans to Christianity require a break with their African cultural heritage? Who is an African ancestor? Is syncretism a good thing for an African Christian? What contribution can the African church make to the universal church? The author argues that rather than being antithetical to formal Christianity, an African Christian theology of ancestors is an example of how an indigenous African tradition can best express Christianity as well as make considerable impact on world Christianity.
Download or read book Models of Contextual Theology written by Stephen B. Bevans and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2004 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stephen B Bevans's Models of Contextual Theology has become a staple in courses on theological method and as a handbook used by missioners and other Christians concerned with the Christian tradition's understanding of itself in relation to culture. First published in 1992 and now in its seventh printing in English, with translations underway into Spanish, Korean, and Indonesian, Bevans's book is a judicious examination of what the terms "contextual theology" and "to contextualize" mean. In the revised and expanded edition, Bevans adds a "counter-cultural" model to the five presented in the first edition -- the translation, the anthropological, the praxis, the synthetic, and the transcendental model. This means that readers will be introduced to the way in which figures such as Stanley Hauerwas, John Milbank, Lesslie Newbigin, "and (occasionally) Pope John Paul II" need to be taken into account. The author's revisions also incorporate suggestions made by reviewers to enhance the clarity of the original three chapters on the nature of contextual theology and the five models.
Download or read book Churchless Christianity written by Herbert E. Hoefer and published by William Carey Library. This book was released on 2001 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this book is to describe a fact and reflect upon it theologically. The fact is, there are thousands of people who believe solely in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior but who have no plans to be baptized or to join the local church. Churchless Christianity is based on research from the early 1980s among non-baptized believers in Christ in Tamil Nadu, India. This revised edition includes all the original text plus five additional chapters and a new foreword.
Download or read book Missions in Southeast Asia written by Kiem-Kiok Kwa and published by Langham Publishing. This book was released on 2022-09-26 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the boundaries between cultures and religions blur in an increasingly globalized world, the church finds itself in need of new approaches to understanding and embracing otherness – both inside and outside of its established communities. Southeast Asia has long been one of the world’s most diverse regions, with over a hundred ethnicities represented and members of every major religion living as neighbors. In this rich and complex environment, the church has an equally rich and complex history, at times flourishing, at times floundering, but inexorably taking root. In this collection of essays, contributors from throughout the region reflect on the history and future of Christianity in Southeast Asia, providing an overview of missions in the region, and exploring how local churches are defining a uniquely Southeast Asian approach to interreligious engagement. Combining missiological research with contextual theology, this volume offers profound insight into the challenges accompanying missions in a multireligious environment. From ethnic and religious conflict resolution to navigating hybrid identities, this collection of essays makes an excellent contribution to global conversations surrounding the future of missions in a globalized world.
Download or read book Asian Christian Theology written by Timoteo D. Gener and published by Langham Publishing. This book was released on 2019-07-31 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Asian Christian Theology provides a survey of contextually reflective, robustly evangelical theology for students to engage with the core doctrines of Christianity and their outworking in different cultures across Asia. The contributors of the chapters come from all corners of Asia to systematically examine traditional doctrinal themes and contemporary concerns for the Asian church. Ideal for use as a companion textbook in Asian seminaries and institutions, this book will also provide excellent further reading for those outside of Asia seeking global theological perspectives, and for those in contexts of significant Asian diaspora. Many excellent books surveying theology exist, but this book is a major step forward for students and scholars seeking to understand the dynamic environment of evangelical theology in Asia.
Download or read book Contextualizing Gender in Early Christian Discourse written by Caroline Vander Stichele and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2009-08-30 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new textbook outlines a gender-critical perspective on the New Testament and other early Christian writings.
Download or read book Jesus Christ as Ancestor written by Reuben Turbi Luka and published by Langham Publishing. This book was released on 2019-08-31 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this critical study, Dr Turbi Luka uses historical-theological methodology to engage in detail with Christologies of key African theologians and conventional theological sources for Christology, including the church fathers Tertullian and Athanasius as well as modern theologians. Turbi argues that existing African Christologies, specifically ancestor Christologies, are inadequate in expressing the person of Christ as Messiah and saviour, the fulfilment of Old Testament prophesies. Providing a new approach, Turbi proposes an African Linguistic Affinity Christology that explicitly portrays Jesus as Christ in a contextually relevant way for Africans in everyday life. This crucial study highlights the need for biblically rooted Christology and for sound theological understanding and naming of Jesus at every level. This book also warns the church in Africa, and elsewhere, to avoid repeating the dangerous christological heresies of the ancient church by remaining faithful to a biblical interpretation and orthodox theology of Christ.
