Bachelor of Arts in Theology

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://192.168.4.170:4000/handle/20.500.12342/182

Welcome to Bachelor of Arts in Theology collection

Browse

Filters

1999 - 199912000 - 20062

Settings

Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Communication

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Art and Symbols as A Communication of Faith in The History of Ethiopian Orthodox Church
    (Tangaza University College, 2005) Medhin, Samson Gebray
    With time, the term "art" has become to mean more than drawing and painting. To our understanding it has come to encompass a variety of expressive fields such as drama, theatre, music and much more. This fairly modern type of inclusion has made it quite a challenge to easily define art. "Culture", as one would expect, simply adds to the complexity. It is with this understanding and inborn knowledge of the unique, complex artistic nature of Ethiopia, that it is not easy to give a single definition as to what Ethiopian Art and Ethiopian Culture is. Instead in this long essay I have tried to outline what I think are the most important components of Christian Art in the History of Ethiopian Orthodox Church and it communication aspect in delivering the faith to the young Generation of Ethiopia. To do this, in the first chapter I am going to stress on the Historical back ground of the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia and the origin of Ethiopia Art. I am going to show how Ethiopian Art developed together with the first Christian evangelization. As many historian tells us that One of the most important events in Ethiopian art history occurred around 330 A.D., when Ezana, the Aksumite ruler of the highlands of northeastern Africa, accepted Christianity. This occurred not long after the emperor Constantine declared Christianity a legal religion of the Roman Empire. By 500 CA., the most sacred of Christian texts the Gospels had been translated into Ethiopia, and the foundations of a Christian artistic tradition, setting the course of artistic development in the region, had been firmly established. Pre- Christian Askurnite rulers celebrated their victories by setting up monumental statues to the gods of heaven and earth. However, Ethiopia's Christian rulers celebrated their majesty by building churches and endowing monasteries. The city of Askum became symbolically the New Jerusalem, and the cathedral there was dedicated to St. Mary of Zion. Therefore, all this points and other similar ideas will be developed in the first chapter. In the second chapter I will try to explain in a more specific way same of Ethiopian Christina arts like painting, architectures, church music and Christian symbols and their communication aspect in transmitting the faith to the next generation. I will try to find out also those Ethiopian artists who manage to communicate effectively the Gospel value and traditional worship though their great artistic mind. When I speak of Ethiopian art mostly I refer to Ethiopian Orthodox Church because the Church was one of the most significant pillars of Ethiopian society. It developed the only significant fixed constructions monasteries and churches of any importance for many years. So, in a sense, the fixed icons of Ethiopian society were those provided either by the church, or by the ancient stel (obelisks) of the Aksumite ruins. Therefore, the second chapter is more on the value and communication aspect of those Christian arts in the church. The third chapter is more on a pastoral concern of those Christian arts to day in Ethiopia and young generation. I will try to give the current situation of that traditional cultural heritage and the problem of young generations. In the last part of the chapter I will mention the effort of church in keeping those cultural heritages and how the church is communicating its faith to the young generation with arts and symbols. I will also portray some of the things that the church didn't do in reaching the need young people and communicate effectively to them through its great historical arts and symbols. Therefore the aim of this long essay is to help the young generations of Ethiopian to see and give values to their Christian cultural heritage and help them to know how those Christian arts communicate faith and pass the message of the good news. To help them to have respect, admiration, love and knowledge of their orthodox church, not to consider the church as out of fashion, which is the model of strong faith and rich tradition and As a student of theology and communication my aim is also to show to those young people and church leader how the church was communicating its faith through out its past history starting from 4'h c even during the challenging time and during attack from Muslims. So that, the church may open it eyes and learn from the past and know how to communicate its traditional faith and Christian values to the very challenging present generation with out changing its identity.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Group Media as Means of Communication for Evangelization a Case Study of Maasai People of Arusha -Tanzania
    (Tangaza University College, 2006-01) Mosha Ngimonyi, Josaphat
    Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Mt. 28:19-20. Christ commanded the Apostles and their successors to teach the entire nation. This is the mandate given to the church that means to all of us who are baptized. It is our responsibility to make sure that the word of God is heard to all people without neglect any group of people. This is our mission; the mission of the church. In our world of science and technology this great mission of the Church can only be successful by using different means of communication. Christ showed himself to be the perfect communicator. He was using proverbs, parables and many examples according to the Jews culture to make his message understood to them. His Apostles too, follow his example. They used the means of social communication which were available at their time. Why the missionary did not succeed to penetrate and preach the Gospel to Maasai of Arusha with all that good things they have done to them? This had been my key question for long time; since I was growing up. This is the question which moved me to choose this topic for further investigations, research and analysis of the whole issue. After long reflection and observation of the above problem, I came up with this Hypothesis "Group Media as a means for Evangelization of Maasai people." My purpose is to carry out research and investigation to see whether Group Media can be used for evangelization of Maasai of Arusha. The first part of my research will deal with the origin of Maasai, where they are and where they are from?, their culture, social structure, political organization and their religious thought and practice. The second part will examine on how communication can be a means or a barrier for Evangelization. I will show the means of communication used by these missionaries then I will show the reason for their success or their failure in evangelizing the Maasai of Arusha. Then through church's various documents, I will show its stand on using the means of social communication for evangelization. In my third chapter, I will show how group Media can be used for Integral Evangelization. I will give the meaning of Group media and discuss some of Group media found in Maasai of Arusha. I will show the connection between group media and SCCs. In pastoral recommendation, I will give some suggestions on how evangelization of such area can be improved. In my general conclusion, I will state whether I found my hypothesis to be true or wrong. Generally, I will show what I have archived throughout my research.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Mission Through Communication
    (Tangaza University College, 1999-02) Mohr, Verna
    Saint Paul used to preach in many places and one of them, was the Areopagus which represented the cultural centre of the learned people. Saint Paul went to the Areopagus and preached the Gospel in the language that was appropriate and understandable to all. In our days, this Areopagus can be used to represent the different sectors in which the Gospel has to be preached. The Areopagus that is very strong today is the means of social communication, which is influencing the whole society. This has become a challenge for the missionary, who, instead of fighting against it, is encouraged to use it for the benefit of the mission and of the people. First, when we went to the mission during the long holidays, we noticed that the missionaries working in that area, that is Wamba in the Diocese of Marsabit, after many years working with the Samburu People still use Swahili as the main language to communicate with them instead of using Samburu language. Hence, we started wondering about the effectiveness of the missionary work among the Samburu People as much as how Evangelization could take roots through a language that is not considered part of that people. Second, going through the courses of Public Speaking and Homiletics and seeing the importance of a well done speech in order to get a message across. Much more, we think, is needed in order to achieve a better result in our missions. Lastly, looking around, we can see that the Mass Media has brought to us many forms on how to reach out to the people starting from the young up to the old in order to sell many ideologies as well as to have certain control over a nation. From this we found ourselves challenged as our means of communicating to the people still remains far behind of catching up as they lack a much broader variety. In order to understand the relation between mission and communication, we did a thorough research on both aspects. By presenting this essay in an organized manner, we followed the methodology: See, Judge and Act. This is the methodology that will be utilized for the three chapters developed in this essay. We will begin the first chapter by seeing the facts about mission and communication. Next we will examine the meaning of mission and communication in the secular and religious sphere. Finally, we will deal with the historical background. In these three parts of the first chapter we want to see how mission and communication are understood and how they are developed through history. Judging mission through communication, we present the vision of the church on mission and communication in the second chapter. We will start with the Vatican Council II documents and then deal with the Code of Canon Law, presenting the norms, views and exhortations on mission and communication. Lastly, but not least, action, we add some suggestions that could be taken into consideration for improving mission through communication in the third chapter. In order to approach this theory we will discuss the vision of the Consolata Missionaries on how they are dealing with mission through communication. At the end of the essay there is a conclusion about the findings and highlights we encountered while writing this essay.