Author Archives: cchrist5

Team 2 Question 1

Posted on by under global christianity

Africa’s history with Christianity has been often viewed as simply a result of European colonization, but history proves the opposite to be true. European colonization’s influence of uniformity in religion spread Christianity from small clusters in Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Africa to the majority of the nation. Once World War II broke out the European countries colonized in Africa set their focus towards the war, which quickly led to African independence as the costs of retaining colonization were getting to high. With their Newly developed sense of ‘Freedom’ the African people were able to establish their unique form of Christianity as they were able to express their interpretations of the Scripture with each other to form their genuine Christian faith in Africa. An interesting difference between the AIC and Western Christianity would be that in Africa they emphasize a “word o faith” style of Pentecostalism that proclaims God’s successes in freeing sinners from evil, and prosperity for those who follow Him. Jacobsen notes that roughly 35% of Christians say they are Pentecostal with an added 80% of them believing in miracles (key belief for Pentecostals) as compared to the Western world, which consists primarily of Catholics, a variety of Protestants, and other groups. Although colonization was a huge part of Africa’s history with Christianity it was not the beginning. Africans had in fact been introduced to Christianity as early as the Pentecost, where “Africans from Egypt and Libya were present on the day of Pentecost when the apostle Peter preached to a crowd gathered in Jerusalem, and they spread the message of Jesus when they returned to their native lands.” (Jacobsen 42)

As a result of their unique cultural establishment of Christianity, the African people have been able to set themselves apart from Christians of another nation. For example, the term ‘weird’ doesn’t mean the samr thing in Africa and the Western world. Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic, ‘WEIRD’ was given as an acronym to attribute those with the belief that they are and should be self-sufficient and independent. The African people believe in Ubuntu, “the interconnectedness of all people, and it serves simultaneously as a statement of fact and a moral ideal.” (Jacobsen 62) Because they have established this belief of interconnectedness, they believe that whatever they do will effect the rest of their community, giving both extreme value and consequence for their actions and beliefs. In addressing issues like Genocide or Apartheid, Ubuntu gives an argument to the morality of the human behind the violence in the fact that we are all interconnected in our lives. Though not everyone believes in it, I believe that we may all have a similar value that we may treat as our own Ubuntu, like the ‘Golden Rule’.

One valuable lesson that the West could learn from African Christianity would be to emphasize an idea like Ubuntu, and emphasize the values of interconnectedness through faith, not only on a community level, but to a global level. With globalization taking us to the point where we are able to find out what is going on almost anywhere in the world simply by searching it on our cell-phones, we could be attempting to send more help to countries who are unable to defend themselves from harsh circumstances like war, hunger, and poverty.

 

 

Team 2 Question 1

Posted on by under puritans

In Winthrop’s legendary sermon “A Model of Christian Charity” he famously presents his views towards how life should be lived in the colonies. The Puritans were going off into a new world, where they could easily lose touch to their faith, so Winthrop emphasized that salvation was achieved by “doing justly, loving mercy, and walking with God.”

Winthrop encourages his fellow Puritans to embody a few characteristics as they reach their new home. The first of these being that the people should “account themselves knit in their bond of love” and embrace that bond in their lives to help each other and themselves. The second being that the needs of the public must be sought before any private issue in aims to establish a healthy relationship between church and state. Thirdly, we should strive to improve our lives so that we can better serve our Lord and resultantly improve oneself through serving the Lord. Finally, Winthrop encouraged the Puritans to do the amount of good deeds they had or would have done in England in their new home to keep their brotherhood and share their faith.

Winthrop envisions that the community will have a strong collective belief in God and that their shared belief will contribute to a positive lifestyle where members of the community help each other when they can. As Micah 6:8 states; “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Winthrop hopes that the group will follow scriptures like this so that they can live a humble life and avoid corruption. If the people live life according to God’s will, they will be collectively living good, loving, generous lives.

The following passage had a strong influence on Winthrop’s perception of the role of the new community; “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) Through passages like these Winthrop was able to conclude that the role of the new community was to be a religious beacon in the new world.

If I were a Puritan who was going to leave England and heard Winthrop’s speech, I would be deeply inspired. Leaving my home and everything I know would be such a scary thing to do, but Winthrop’s claims that we could all be alright if we stuck to each other and kept faith during this crazy time would give me something to hold to. My mentality towards the situation would shift from being terrified to confident as I accept that the only way to survive this sinking ship is to work together, and to love one another through a bond in faith.

Martin Luther Blog 4/4/16

Posted on by under reformation

Martin Luther was an important religious theorist during the 1500’s who is well-known for his publication of 95 claims which countered the teachings of the Roman-Catholic church at the time. His work, though not intended to, caused such an uproar in the religious community that it created new ideologies which then led to the development of some of the many different denominations of Christianity in modern society.

Martin Luther’s childhood influenced his relationship with God and the church in powerful ways. He was an altar boy and choir member in his youth which began his faith at a very young age, giving him a very long journey with Christianity. His parents had very high expectations for him not only to be a devout Christian, but also for him to be a successful and well-educated man. Martin Luther’s parents were very strict when raising him, often giving severe physical punishments for his wrongdoings which led to the development of a fear towards punishment. This fear of punishment along with many of the things Martin Luther learned from his parents later translated into his religious life; he went from an unforgiving father to a God who seemed impossible to satisfy.

Following a near-death experience, Martin Luther withdrew from the university he was attending and joined an Augustinian monastery with the goal of securing his place in Heaven. He was convinced that the only way of achieving salvation was by separating oneself from worldly goods; he cut his hair, wore uncomfortable robes, and chose a grueling lifestyle only fit for those who were aptly gifted both spiritually and mentally.

As a monk, Martin Luther had begun to develop an understanding that salvation was earned through the process of confession and penance to achieve absolution. After some time he was sent on a pilgrimage to Rome, which was essentially the capital for the Christian faith at the time. During his pilgrimage, Luther witnessed new practices that seemed to conflict what was learned at the monastery. In Rome, religion and money seemed to be equal through the distribution of indulgences. Indulgences were a way that the Pope issued forgiveness for sins through payment to the church. The sales of indulgences was the primary method of the Pope who had depleted the treasury to regain funds for projects that he deemed fit along with his expensive desire to indulge in the finer things. Through the contrast in Martin Luther’s beliefs and those of the Roman-Catholic Church he developed a belief that the church was falling for the same worldly pleasures that he spent most of his life trying to separate himself from.

After his time in Rome, Martin Luther went to scripture to determine for himself if these indulgences were in fact justified. Through his studies, Luther developed and posted a 95-point thesis which points out how the church was both wrong in selling forgiveness and a way out of purgatory and how God, not any member of the church, is the one and only source of forgiveness. This document was extremely popular for Christians, becoming the most widely published work at the time. Martin Luther’s challenge of church practice was seen as an act of heresy and unintentionally began a war of ideologies between himself and the religious leaders of the time.

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