Author Archives: biby@uoregon.edu

Team 4: Question 1

Posted on by under global christianity

When people hear Christianity, they typically think North America and Europe. Surprisingly, Christianity is on the decline in places like Europe and the United States, but on the rise in Africa surprisingly enough. Christianity first came to Africa at the end of the second century and was found on the North African coast. WWII had a great impact on the colonial era, especially in Africa. By the year 1960, sixteen different African countries declared independence from their colonial rulers and by 1970 the map of Africa resembled much of the map that we see today (Jacobsen, 52). After WWII, many of the local leaders got a taste of freedom for the first time in years. In 1975, almost eleven percent of the world’s Christians lived in Africa, and then in 1999, nineteen percent lived in Africa. It is predicted that in 2030, Africa will have more Christians than any other continent. The postcolonial era had a great impact on Africa as many countries gained their independence. During WWII many Christian missionaries fled Africa, which gave the local Christians a chance to step in after WWII was over (Jacobsen, 52). In 1970, almost 15 percent of the Christians in Africa identified as Pentecostal or Spirit-centered. This has drastically changed recently and today about 35 percent of African Christians are Pentecostal.

Africa has a much different culture than the West, which has lead them to establish themselves on a much different level of Christianity than we have seen. In Africa, local cultures play a large role in influencing religion, especially Christianity. With the differentiation in cultures comes the slightly different takes on Christianity. Africa has seen danger on a level that we have not seen here in the U.S. They have seen genocides take place and more violence that we can imagine. With this, we see the idea of ubuntu. Ubuntu is the interconnectedness of all people, and it serves simultaneously as a statement of fact and as a moral ideal. As a South African theologian states, it is the essence of being human (Jacobsen, 62). This idea of ubuntu gives the Christians in Africa a different sense of spirituality than it does to western Christians and is one of the things that distinguishes the two. It is a concept of connecting one another rather than focusing on the individual.

I think that the West has a lot to learn from African Christianity. Christianity in Africa is much different than the Christianity that we see here in the U.S. or even in Europe. African Christianity has a large focus on forgiveness and connection to one another in the community, but in the West, there seems to be a larger focus on the individual and their salvation, rather than the well being of the community. That probably has a lot to do with the history that each has faced, but I think that we have some learning to do and so does African Christianity.

Team 4: Question 2

Posted on by under great awakening

During the 18th century, a wave of Pietistic influence came to the United States. During this time, many Christians in North American colonies felt that a personal religious experience held a great importance to the Christian lifestyle. The Great Awakening first appeared in the United States in 1734 in Northampton, Massachusetts. The Great Awakening was a schism between the teachings of Westminster, the Old Side, and the New Side. The outcome of this schism was the Great Awakening. Jonathan Edwards was the pastor in Northampton. He was a Calvinist that had previously been trained at Yale (288). He believed that it was important to have a personal experience of conversion for ones faith. He found that for several years, his sermons were average and he was not getting the response that he had hoped for, but in the year 1734, he saw a change in the response to his sermons. They were finally touching people. People were having emotional responses to his sermons and some were even having emotional outbursts. As this spread throughout New England, people were having extraordinary responses to sermons. Some were so over whelmed that they cried in repentance for their sings, some shouted with joy, and a few were so overwhelmed that they fainted (289). These dramatic reactions to the sermons caused enemies of the Great Awakening to criticize it and claim that they were undermining the importance of worship and that the leaders should place a greater emphasis on study and devotion.

In “Sinners in the Hands of God by Jonathan Edwards, he explains his beliefs on hell and human arrogance. Edwards explains that humans think that they will automatically be saved from damnation and escape hell without God. Edwards does not describe humans in a positive manor. He talks of their wickedness and how they are damned if they do not have God and how God is the only thing that holds them up from hell. Edwards places a large emphasis on the importance in believing in God and this is the one way to escape damnation. He mostly depicts God as angry and mentions the wrath and anger of God. Edwards uses descriptive language when describing the relationship between human and God. He describes God as being the only thing holding humans up. He says “there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.” He explains God as using his pleasure as holding humans up which makes me think he is emphasizing his mercy and that he has the power over humans.

Team 4: Question 1

Posted on by under reformation

Martin Luther is said to be one of the most controversial people in the Christian faith to this day. His ideas sparked a reformation like no other that would go on to change the Christian faith forever. Luther did not have the intentions of changing the Christian faith or destroying the unity of the church, but the time he was living is what decided that his ideas would spark a reformation (González, 21). Luther was born in 1483 in Eisleben, Germany. His father was of peasant origin and became a miner. Luther’s upbringing was not a happy one, but rather a sad one. His parents were said to have been very hard on him, which lead Luther to experience periods of anxiety and depression throughout his life.

In 1505, when Luther was twenty-two years old, he made the decision to join the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt. There were many factors that led Luther to make this decision to join the monastery. He felt overwhelmed by the fear of death and hell, and upon this he promised St. Anne that he would become a monk (González, 22). Later on in his life he explained that it was his harsh upbringing and childhood that led him to join the monastery. This greatly displeased his father because he had the hopes that Luther would go on to become a lawyer. His father saw this as a betrayal of his goals for his son (González, 22). Luther was also led to the monastery by the concerns of salvation and damnation. These were topics that haunted Luther. He eventually became a priest and while celebrating mass he would often have feelings of unworthiness of God’s love. At this time, he saw God as a severe judge. Luther also had an overwhelming sense of his own sinfulness. The more he attended confession and tried to rid himself of these sins, the more he became aware of them. Mysticism captured Luther for a time being, but he continued to question his feelings towards God and feel as if God was like his father and his teachers, who punished him (González, 23).

While reading and preparing lectures on the Bible, Luther found new discoveries and meaning in the passages. This was the beginning of Luther’s discoveries. While lecturing on the Epistle to the Romans, he found the solution to his difficulties. He adventured on a pilgrimage to Rome in search of a new meaning and comfort, but that is not what he found there. He saw a corrupt Papacy that was rooted in earthly concerns like money.

Luther published his famous Ninety-five Theses on October 31, 1517, which is often said to mark the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. His theses spread throughout Germany and eventually got sent to Rome where people were looking for Pope Leo to respond and put an end to it. The pope responded by asking the Augustinian Order to deal with the problem. He was called to the order’s next chapter meaning, where he was surprised to find some of his fellow friars were not against his teaching, but favored them.

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