Author Archives: ishmaelt

Team # 4 Global Christianity Blog Post

Posted on by under global christianity

The original form of Christianity was Catholicism. Catholicism was a strict religion that many people did not agree with all of its practices and beliefs which made people branch off from the Catholic Church. There are different forms of Christianity based on individual beliefs and practices such as Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Baptists. There is more freedom in religion in America and on how an individual wants to practice their faith. It seems like the basic point or idea in all of the Christian forms is the belief in Jesus Christ and that he died for everyone’s sins as long as you accept him as the savior then you will be saved and go to heaven. For example, some Christian Churches accept homosexuality and some Christian Churches do not accept homosexuality. People in America can pick and choose what parts of the Christian religion that they want to keep and practice and find the church that agrees with their views and what they find true to follow in the Christian faith. There are so many denominations of the Christian religion in America that anyone can find the church that they feel they belong with and hold the same values and beliefs as them. There have been so many leaders such as Martin Luther that have branched themselves away from the Catholic church that people in America today can follow the leader on where they see themselves most fit.

If I were given the task of creating a “Super Christianity,” of beliefs and practices from various forms of global Christianity. The element that I would de-emphasize would be the belief in forgiveness and that all sins are equal. I believe that the Christian religion focuses too much in forgiveness which makes people do bad things because they think that as long as they ask Jesus for forgiveness no matter how great the sin, that they will be forgiven. I feel like the Christian religion takes advantage of the part of the New Testament in the Bible that talks about Jesus and the forgiveness of sins. If I were to create a “Super Christianity,” I would change it to the practice of forgiveness if you were doing something that you didn’t know was wrong but once you found out it was wrong you ask for forgiveness and never make that sin again. For example, many women wear diamond rings when they get married. These blood diamonds have caused many wars in Africa and caused many people to die in the process of getting the diamonds. In my religion, a woman would be forgiven of her sin when she finds out the history of diamonds and where they come from and understand the blood shed it causes and from there decides to throw away her diamond ring and not wear it anymore because it is wrong. Then, I believe she should be forgiven however, if a woman knows and understands where her diamond comes from but still chooses to wear it on her hand knowing the death that comes from it, then that sin should not be forgiven. I belief in my “Super Christianity” people would be more careful about what they do and do more good than bad in society because they would fear God more knowing that you are held accountable as soon as you understand when something is wrong.

 

Blog Post 5/17 Reading Discussion Ishmael Tholley Group #4

Posted on by under global christianity

Christian missionaries benefited from colonial advances because Europeans were interested in the continent of Africa and the wealth it could create for them. The coastal regions were their biggest interest. The coastal regions were perfect for trading purposes and trading posts were established. The Europeans saw Africa and the wealth it possessed and its abundant amount of natural resources and Western Europeans wanted to start trade with Africa. Missionaries tried to spread the Christian religion to Africa while at the same time had the agenda to spread the Western culture in Africa. Europeans exploited the potential wealth of Africa. What started out as a journey for missionaries to spread the Christian religion turned into Europeans trying to force Africans into accepting foreign rule. Europeans tried to colonize as much African land as possible.

Christian missionaries were disruptive in African society because the Africans that they were able to convert no longer followed the authority of their local chiefs. The missionaries gave the European armies useful information and helped support their expeditions against African groups that didn’t want to accept the Christian religion. The Europeans forced Christianity onto the African people and it resulted in some African leaders beginning to regulate contact with the West or ban communication all together. However, due to the trading posts and development of trade within the coastal regions, some leaders and countries became dependent on the trades and could not prohibit contact with the west. Europeans used the strategy of divide and conquer by studying the rivalries between different African groups and forged alliances with some groups against others.

Some of the positive impacts of colonialism on African societies were that the colonial governments developed railroads, ports, roads, technology etc. However, there were many negative impacts such as the European policies hurt the African traditional economics. The changes led to a loss of land ownership and labor which resulted in an increase in the poverty level and less land ownership for the African people. Another effect of colonialism was how the cash crops hurt the neighboring countries in Africa because they stopped trading among their neighbors and instead traded using cash crops. Cash crops made it so there was more trade going on with countries overseas than with the neighboring countries in Africa.

The European colonialism brought the western culture to Africa such as the European education system and religion. The concept of Ubuntu illustrates the point that the African Christians have started to assert their spiritual autonomy from the west because it has allowed there to be connections made between Christianity and Africa’s unique cultural traditions. Ubuntu is an African ancient word meaning “humanity to others”. We are all part of the whole which makes up humanity.

There are a few things that the west can learn from African Christianity. One of which is the power of prayer. African Christians pray on multiple occasions. Prayer is something that African’s participate in multiple times throughout the day. The African Christians are involved with helping others and providing hospitality to people in need. The African people take care of their own family, extended family, and others whether it be by helping to provide shelter or food. The act of hospitality is something that comes naturally and is a constant practice among African people and their communities.

Source: Jacob, Douglas Global Gospel: An Intro. To Christianity on Five Continents

Grand Rapids, MI. Baker Academic 2015

 

Team 4 Question 2

Posted on by under pietism

In Gonzalez’s discussion of the Pietist movement some of the major ideas that motivated Pietism were that Pietists wanted to cultivate a more intense and personal faith and piety. Pietism was part of the German movement which was led by Spener and Francke (Gonzalez, 174-175).

Pietism was a response to the stubborn and narrow-minded thinking of the theologians and the rationalism of the philosopher’s both of which it contrasted with the living faith that was the heart of Christianity and to the Thirty Years War (Gonzalez, 259). The result of the Thirty Years War was that many people held a greater value in personal devotion and religious experience (Gonzalez, 261).

The father of Pietism was known to be a preacher named Spener (Gonzalez, 259). He believed that religion should go further than the regular attendance of church and listing to the preacher’s sermon and public practices. He did not agree with congregations attending church and simply listening to the sermon because not everything gets heard. People only pick up on a few things in a sermon and most of what is preached from the Word of God goes unheard. To solve this problem, he started Bible study groups and devotion which he called “colleges of piety.” This was one of his experiments that after five years of observation published the Pia Desideria. The Pia Desideria was an outlined program for the development of piety (Gonzalez, 259-260).

Spener preached that there should be less emphasis on the differences of laity and clergy and more on the common responsibility of all Christians. This meant that there should be a more intense life of devotion and study among the laity. Spener believed that by having members be part of small Bible study groups just like the “colleges of piety”, it would make it easier to meet the goal of being a “True Christian.” This practice made it so members of the church could be examined by others and held accountable in their church groups and society that they are practicing their religion and are being “True Christians.” Spener believed that these study groups would help members gain and develop a more deep and personal faith with God (Stoeffler, 31-32).

Also, in the Pietist movement Spener asked of preachers to not speak in tones and use languages that brought attention to themselves. Spener did not want preachers to be put on a pedestal and make it seem as though they were more knowledgeable or higher up than of its members in the congregation. He believed that preaching should not be done to draw attention to your own knowledge and make members feel uncomfortable by usage of fancy words and talk that draws attention to how knowledgeable you are and make others feel not as knowledgeable or intelligent. Preachers should speak in a tone that would help make people understand and be obedient to the Word of God (Gonzalez, 260).

Spener stated that simply attending church does not help with the development of one’s personal faith. His teachings were different in that he did not put a great emphasis or importance on the manner of life of the believer but held more value to God and his grace. It was not personal sanctity that justifies but God’s grace that justifies. The Pietists insisted on the contrast between what society expects of its members and what God requires of the faithful (Gonzalez 260).

The Pietists understanding of the Bible represents a divergence from the Medieval Catholic views and a continuation of Protestant ideals in that not only ministers but all Christians are made priests by their Savior and are anointed by the holy spirit and are dedicated to do spiritual and priestly acts. It is not something for the Priest and Pastors but for all believers to follow. All spiritual functions are open to all Christians and there was no exception to this rule (Stoeffler, 34-35).

Luther and his spiritual priesthood believed all Christians can be involved with spiritual functions with no exemptions. The church attendances and public performances should be done by the ministers entrusted with that responsibility however; in case of emergency others can perform those acts. For teachings that are not related to public performance and public acts such as studying the Word of God, comforting neighbors, taking part in prayer, thanksgiving etc. all those acts should be done on a daily basis. Pietists were against spiritual functions to be assigned solely to the clergy because this created exclusions for Christians which led to clergy doing as they pleased. Clergy were able to do as they pleased because nobody dared to question or object them for fear of excommunication (Stoeffler, 35). Spener believed that his teachings would make it so Christians would take better care of themselves, have a stronger personal faith and apply to their own edification and of their fellow men in being “True Christians (Stoeffler, 33).”

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