Author Archives: heeyoung@uoregon.edu

Team 2, Question 1

Posted on by under global christianity

 

Because North America was built many European countries, their politic atmosphere had religious ideology. After World War 2, North America was pulled out from Great Depression. It gave different religious sense that God covered them. Also, one of the goals of the government was rebuilding Europe in the North America. Appearance of Soviet Union which was considered evil communist made them thought that Christianity is the answer for safety. Therefore, “Mainline” Protestantism dominated the American religious lifestyle. The government encouraged people to go to church (Jacobsen, 201). Actually, churches were helpful to take care of local areas. Post-Christianity made people’ soul awake so that they could respect each individual life than just maintaining religious format. For example, in the 1960s, When Martin Luther King Jr. promoted civil rights against racism, it helped to spread Christianity because Christianity made people realize what is wrong or not.

 

The religious ideology of freedom came up with in North America because they had to embrace diverse ethnicities and cultures in the same continent. Jacobsen defines this freedom in three section. The first is the idea of “soul liberty,” the right of individuals, or more strongly the responsibility of individuals, to decide for themselves what to believe and how to live. Second, synchronizing their life on God’s perspective. Third, making North American nation as a “beloved community” (213). These characteristics contributed to defending the light of individuals and groups to engage in energetic, forceful religious persuasion, they believe that some forms of proselytizing can be coercive (216). I think the Christianity in North America made people actively engage their lives to religion.

 

If I have to create a “super Christianity”, then I won’t go farther than evangelism because gospel is the core of Christianity. All of chapters in the bible is saying Jesus Christ. I will pour my effort to teach why we have to repent from our sin and re-build relationship between me and God. However, for the practices, I would like to apply Ubuntu and Liberation Theory. Both of them are for the weak and poor people. Christianity should exist for them. Because the Christianity from western culture is focusing on individualism, it is hard to take care about community as my family. I would like to emphasize community bond for establishing God’s will. On contrast, I would like to reject spiritualism because depending only experience could be dangerous because it makes distort God’s true words.

Team 2, Question 1

Posted on by under global christianity

The motivation of European countries for colonization of Africa was economic reasons. They wanted to get valuable resources for cheaper prices like gold or rubber. In 1880s, European countries started to advance to Africa continent for trading their goods. However, in order to make African understand Western culture colonial government sent missionaries for spreading gospel which is the basic of Western culture. The main business of was education. They built school for Africans and tried to convert African religion to Christianity. Colonial government supported missionaries for their needs. Also, there was little bit racial discrimination beneath Western version of gospel. However, when William Wade Harris started to preach for African in postcolonial era, Christianity was settled down in Africa continent. After that, Africa Initiated Churches founded and they began to spread gospel which did not imply about anti-African message. However, African interpreted bible in their own way. They tried to make bible fit into their culture.

 

Jacobsen states that African history is full of oppression and suffering (57). Because European colonial government made temporal boundaries without discussion with many of African tribes, there was always conflict. Most of conflicts were about independence of Africa.  The most extreme case of religious conflict occurred in Rwanda, July 4, in 1994. So many Christians were killed by other Christians. The reason was about wrong land distribution by Tusti royal family which was rooted in colonial era. This conflict affected neighborhood countries in Africa. Therefore, the theological concept of Ubuntu came out from public in moral sense. Ubuntu implies “all human beings as dependent on and responsible for one another like, “The God that African Christians know and love is a God who vastly exceeds anything any human being could ever fully comprehend or understand and who loves all of creation equally”(Jacobsen, 72). This shows that African society is based on community and African applied this into Christianity, too.

 

In terms of growth of Christians, Western Christianity has to learn from Africa. As Jacobsen mentioned, Africans consider Christianity as a community. They are good at taking care of other people as they do for their own family. Also, Africans are passionate for participation in church. They pray together for God’s will and go to the worship meeting once a week with one heart. Most of important point is African Christianity was built on evangelical belief with their own traditional culture. They learned how to adapt Christianity on their own culture. For propagation of gospel, Western Christianity learn how to apply gospel in other region’s culture.

Team 2, Question1

Posted on by under spiritualism

George Fox was born in small English town. Before experiencing Holy Spirit, he was already humble but inner personality was complicated. While he was working as a cobbler’s apprentice, he saw strong illumination of Holy Spirit and realized about what he should do. After that event, George fox devoted his life to spread gospel. He declared the presence of Jesus as the “inner light” and “seed”, which were existed inside of us and make the people want to follow the true way (González, 252). Quakerism denied worship, tithes, and the most of sacraments such as baptism and communion because the people who believe Quakerism considered those as interruption. Also, according to their theology, they did not have priest or religious status because every people should be equally treated inside of Christ. In Quakerism, the priority was spiritual experience and the theology from scripture. Therefore, they constructed the quiet environment for their services.

In George Fox’s journal, most of his mystical experiences states about spiritual changes. According to his journal, he describes Jesus as light and strong power. Jesus presence is in everyone’s mind and he teaches his words in scripture. However, Fox’s explanation is more focusing on the characteristic of Holy Spirit among trinity. As following Jesus, he set regulations by himself. First, he had so much effort to listen God’s words inside of his mind. Second, whenever he called someone, he used “thee” and “thou” to everyone without respect. Here, ‘without respect’ means that he considered and treated people equally. Third, the ‘Friends’, Quaker community, never resist toward anti-Quakers because he believed that hurting other people with weapons is not what Jesus wants.

In letters, George Fox keeps empathizing individual spiritual training. It seems that the Friends thought hearing and telling to inner voice was more important than reading scripture. Some of letters were written when Fox was in jail because of religious (Quakerism) movement. However, he had a pity rather than anger for his enemies who trapped him into prison. His attitude seems like Paul in Acts, New Testament. Fox asked to the Friends not to rebel against Catholic and Protestant and bless them as Jesus did when he mocked by the Jews.

 

 

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