Bachelor of Arts in Theology

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    Problem of Premarital Sex in Kenya: Case Study of Kikuyu Tribe
    (Tangaza University College, 2004) Njenga, Philip Njuguna
    When we talk about sex, a question arises about who should be allowed to exercise this gift. The Church is often misunderstood and seems to be advancing the view that premarital sex is foreign to our society since sex was meant only for the married people and not for the young people. First, as we know, the church teaches that sex is a divine gift and is meant by the creator from the beginning to be for the married, that is, husband and wife. It is an act confined to the institution of marriage, in which two legally married persons living in love are permitted to use it for the good of marriage. Anything short of this is lust, abuse and misuse of another human being. Sexual activity outside marriage lowers the dignity of the human person, a situation where the individual person treats each other as object. This leads to promiscuity and sex becomes a thing other than an expression of love among married people. As individuals, young people need to ask themselves these simple questions: what are the consequences of their act especially premarital sex? What happens after one becomes sexually active? Premarital sex is an act of selfishness, because it is self-centered. There is no total commitment. It is used as a proof of love. True love does not call for a sexual act; it is more than that. The true meaning of the sexual act is usually veiled. It is capable of being understood beyond the superficial only by those who make the required effort and the required commitment. In African traditional society, taboos concerning sexuality were well known and often quoted. The two most significant were the taboos against sexual intercourse during menstruation and the taboo against incest. In African traditional society, there are certain times of the year when sexual relations are not permitted because it is deemed that they might interfere with the rhythm of nature and result in harm to the individual or community. Traditionally, the African was highly religious and religious rites and ceremonies permeated their daily life. The sexual act was sacred. Currently, there is a widespread neglect of religion, with some young people not professing a religion and others even professing atheism. The young people are full of energy and ideas but, find themselves victims of circumstance, lost between the traditional past and the present, developing more culture of their own? The generation gap has grown wider due to the advancement of technology. One author rightly states, "The young people are growing up in a world completely different from that of their grandparents, or even from that of their parents". Thankfully, the rites of passage are still taken for granted especially the rite of initiation. The initiation of both sexes was the most important among the "southern Kikuyu" (Kikuyu from Kiambu). "It was looked upon as deciding factor in giving a boy or a girl the status of manhood or womanhood in the Gikuyu community".2 The moral code of the Kikuyu tribe was bound up in this custom and it symbolizes the unification of the whole tribal organization. This was the time when a person was recognized as fully mature and became fully incorporated into the community. This was the principal reason why the circumcision of both sexes played such an important part in the life of the Kikuyu people. For young people today, traditional village life is a thing of the past. Most of the Kikuyu cultural values are lost and forgotten. Young people are a group in transition. They naturally find themselves assimilating the current influences of the society around them. Young people then are confused, at the beginning of the end and at the end of the beginning. In our society today, a lot of social and cultural changes have taken place transforming the attitudes and understanding of sexuality among the young people. In most cases, this aspect of the person's life has been distorted, abused and misused. As a result of this distortion, we see sex being confused with genital activity which is simply geared for pleasure. In our today's society, premarital sex is taken as a way of enjoying leisure time especially among our young people. During the day they are more occupied with studies or jobs. When they are free they spend leisure time discovering their bodies which seems different. This leads them to think about gender differences and causes them to the curious about their physical make up. When experimenting, they have to try new things. They cry when things go wrong as they must face the consequences of their own action. There are so many factors that contribute to premarital sex in our society. These are myths, competition from peer groups, and curiosity from a traditional perspective, that a strong young man is known from the time he is circumcised. Two or more boys would compete secretly sexual activities, to see which can show himself more active than the rest. In our modem society, there are many factors that contribute to premarital sex due to the new technology. These are highlighted in chapter two. All of this differs according to the environment in which one is living. Most of the young people in rural areas spend a lot of time watching television entertainment. It is the main source of information about their relationships. They believe that what they watch on television is publicly allowed to be seen. With young people, their attention initially may be drawn by the way a person talks, walks, wear shoes, writes or even limps. Their eye-sight is the determining factor who to relate with due to what has attracted them. The above factors can be grouped into two major categories; Body-centered, emphasizing primarily the physical aspect of sex and person-centered, stressing the relationship to the person with whom the sex act is performed.
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    Modern Forms of Slavery in Kenya Causes, Experiences And Mission Responses
    (Tangaza University College, 2016) Kiilu, Kasia Michael
    Everything that exists in this world owes its beginning to the supernatural Creator. This is a common understanding especially for all those who are creationists. One of the most rationally and beautifully created creatures is the human being. I look at myself, my fellow humans and see wonderful, sophiscated yet complex and complicated race of humanity. Among all other creatures, it is only humans that can understand each other through communication in various languages. They are the only ones to know and understand spirituality, social life, politics, technological inventions, and education, religious and scientific aspects. Despite all these nicely said characteristics proper to us as humans, there flows and follows another litany of evil, almost unspeakable and unthinkable things that humans have caused, practiced and done to the detriment of other human beings: Slavery, murder, theft, pollution, corruption, use of human parts as experimental species, exploitation and injustices. Blood is thicker than water, our ancestors said. This means that those people related should consider each other as people of one family and ought to live a good life together, protect, love, understand, cooperate and collaborate in doing and promoting peace and tranquility. But these vices and evils that emanate from being in such relationships leave a series of questions flowing in the minds of people: What has become of humanity? Out of the many evils in the world I would like to research and present modern-day slavery. We all claim to have one common origin, that is, from God our Creator. Regardless of our race, color, continent, development-wise and geographical placement, a big question remains: Why should one treat the other in such a disinterested and indifferent altitude to the extent of treating them as animals, without dignity? I mean the use of human beings as means to attain some malicious benefits. History repeats itself and what goes around comes around! Slavery was abolished many, many years ago but we still have practices that suggest that people are still slaves up-to-date. In this extended essay, I would like to dig deep into this element of inhuman practice and come up with the aspects that leave our fellow men, women, and children in the bondage of present-day slavery, knowingly or unknowingly, deliberately or ignorantly. I would like to start by presenting the ancient slavery in the first chapter. Here I will give definitions, Atlantic and Arab slave trades, biblical foundations, reasons, status and conditions of slavery, East African Slavery, effects and impacts, and finally slavery and slave trade abolition. The second chapter will talk about the present-day slavery and its challenges: Child slavery, early and forced marriages, forced labor, human trafficking and ‘unforgiving hearts’. The last chapter will be the way forward, the response to this modern-day slavery, how best to address and fight against these human malpractices. The methodology and approach will be mainly reading of books and other literature. My personal experiences and encounters will be presented as well. I took some time to talk to various people especially, a Police officer about the practice of child labour in Nairobi County. The underlying purpose of this long essay is really to bring to our people the awareness of, and presence of the practice of slavery, both directly and indirectly in our midst. Once the people are aware and informed, only then can we fight against it, help to rescue the victims and continue to promote the dignity, equity and equality of all people. The most appealing call for us today’s prophets and missionaries is, that of being transformative agents, who can bring about renewed independence, freedom, liberation, restore hope to men, women and children who continue to be mistreated, misused, abused, and humiliated through various acts of slavery.
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    The Poor in Prophet Isaiah (Is. 5:8 - 30) In Relation To the Poor in Kenya Today
    (Tangaza University College, 2001-02-07) K. Mbale, Gabriel
    Prophecy is not something new in the Old Testament and in our African context e.g. Kenya. In every generation, God raises certain people to convey his message to his people. Even during our age, there are those people whom he has called and chosen for his special mission In this paper, I am going to put my attention more on the call and the mission of the prophet Isaiah and how he reacted to different situations of his time. I would like to show clearly how he strongly defended the rights of the poor of his time. I would like also to clarify a few things that remain a mystery for most of our Christians, even Catholics, pertaining to who is a prophet and his work. I tend to think that there are so many people who do not know very well what the call to prophecy entails. These and many more are the issues which I would like to address in this essay. In the first chapter, I would like to dwell more on the prophet Isaiah, his call and mission to the people of his time. In the second chapter I would like to say something on the prophet Isaiah and the poor of his time In the third chapter I would like to highlight a few things about the poor in Kenya and our attitude towards them as prophets Then, in the fourth chapter I would like to say something about who is a prophet and his work and the position of the church towards the poor. In the same chapter, I would like to show the active power of the Gospel which we are all called to preach to all people as the today's prophets.
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    Democratization Process in Kenya "The Role of the Church"
    (Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Kiyua, Simon
    The world today has become like a global village. Ideas are spreading like a flash of light from one corner of the world to another. This is probably what the Rev. Timothy Njoya of the Presbytarian Church of East Africa had in mind when he challenged the Kenyan government in 1990 to read the signs of the times and accede to change. According to Njoya, the wind of change had blown all over the world; tyrannical, dictatorial and autocratic institutions were collapsing and democracy was replacing them.' That wind of change has reached Africa in general and Kenya in particular but its effects has not yet been realized. The choice of this topic came out of a deep reflection on the problems afflicting Kenyans today. For example, some people are living in destitute poverty while others are living in luxury; institutions like families are breaking down, hospitals have no medicines. Looking at the above examples, a pastoral agent feels compelled to tackle seriously and analytically the issue of Democracy. If the culture of Democracy permeated into peoples' lives then life in Kenya would have been better than it is today. As future minister, there is a need of studying thoroughly and educating and empowering people so that they can know well what their rights and duties are as citizens. The issue at hand is how Kenyans can live together harmoniously whereby each one regards the other as a brother or a sister in Jesus Christ. This is our dream and we hope that it will be realized. 'Timothy To achieve this goal, I have used secondary sources like books, journals, magazines, newspapers plus my personal experiences as a pastoral agent and a Kenyan citizen. Kenya's history of liberation can be viewed in two phases i.e. liberation from the colonial masters and liberation from tyrannical leadership of one party rule to multiparty governance. The first chapter aims at tracing historically, how democracy has been lived in Kenya and whether true democracy reigns in Kenya. The Church that was founded by Christ is an Eschatological community. This implies that it has as its primary role as the proclamation of God's kingdom here on earth and all that entails to it. In order to be successful in her mission, the Church should engage herself seriously with the transformation of society into a good social order where God's kingdom is fully manifested. Authentic transformation is only possible if the Church announces the Good News and denounces the evil that is inherent in the society. However, if the Church wants her teaching to be a challenge to the society in which she is living, she has to start by radically examining herself so that she can be a model of emulation by the society. The second chapter attempts to discuss the role of the Church in the democratisation process in Kenya plus an analysis on some incidences where the Church has appeared undemocratic in her historical development. Both the Church and the Political community are institutions that exist for the common good of the human person. The two should operate in a smooth but not in an antagonistic manner. The former should act as an adviser to the latter, in matters of human rights. The Church should stand for the truth and therefore should never affiliate herself to any political party. In the third chapter, we are going to look at the relationship between the Church and the State and the involvement of the Church in politics. The Greek Philosopher, Socrates commented that unreflected life is not worthy living. If a theologian does theology without having recourse to the life of the people, his or her theology is naive and according to the thinking of the liberation theologians, genuine theology is the one that arises out of deep compassion and critical reflection on the situation of the poor and the oppressed . In the fourth chapter, we are going to look at how theology can be used as a tool of transformation of the current state of affairs so that genuine democracy can thrive in Kenya.
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    Poor Representation and Participation of Women In Political Decision-Making Bodies A Challenge To The Church
    (Tangaza University College, 1999-02-12) Mutasingwa, Alexus
    The problem of under representation and participation of women at top levels of political decision-making bodies is a fact nearly everywhere in the world. By decision-making bodies I mean the government under either an executive president or prime minister. Other bodies are those such as parliaments, senates, cabinets of ministers and diplomatic offices. Members of those bodies are the most influential people in deciding how things should go in their countries and between their countries and the international community. They represent the rest of the population, which entrusts them with a responsibility to govern and make decisions for the interest of all people whom they represent. When we look at the composition of such bodies, we quickly notice male predominance and either total or a nearly total absence of women. Decisions made by those bodies are mainly made from a male perspective with almost no regard for the interests of women. That is not right, because men and women share equal dignity and status with equal rights in the societies. When one group is undermined and excluded from taking part in making decisions which affect it, is that justifiable? In many societies, women are denied their natural rights and are subjected to oppression and exploitation. That kind of relationship has been taken for granted by both men and women without questioning it. Right from childhood men and women see each other in terms of superior and inferior. Some activities and duties have been distributed according to gender, even if what has been assigned to one gender group can be better done by the opposite gender group. The Word of God challenges us to eliminate all forms of discrimination and promote justice and equality in all aspects of life. Love was the main theme in the teaching of Jesus. That is what he ordered his followers to strive for and try to spread. It is a duty of the church to ensure that the plan of God and the mission of Christ are fulfilled. It has to ensure that justice is done to each and every human person in the world. The exclusion of women or their poor participation in decision making is a justice issue. It goes against the Christian values which the Church stands for. That calls for measures to be taken to redress the situation. That is why the title of this work says that "Poor Representation and Participation of Women in Political Decision-Making Bodies : A Challenge to the Church ". By the Church I mean especially the Roman Catholic Church, but also all those who call themselves Christians and believers. The privilege of doing my theology studies in Kenya made me realise that Kenyan women are no exception from those of other parts of the world. I followed the events of the 1997 general elections in which many women took part. However, quite a few of them won seats in the parliament for instance. I listened to their complaints, I read comments by political analysts and talked with some voters. All that I learned inspired me to know more about women's concerns. I also attended a seminar course on the topic at Tangaza College and finally I decided to write my long essay on it. My experience in Kenyan politics is short but quite rich. Due to the rich experience I have had, I decided to write my paper with a reference to the Kenyan reality. The paper is divided into three main chapters. The first chapter deals with the analysis of the problem, making a kind of survey. The aim is to find out the intensity and the extent of the problem around the world and in Kenya in particular. The question to be asked is, what prevents women from taking part in political decision-making bodies? We shall also examine whether there is any significance in having women politicians or not. Chapter Two will try to make us aware of how the problem poses a challenge to the Christian faith. It will also show us how God views people and their problems and what the role of the church is and liturgical celebrations regarding the human situations. Chapter Three will try to offer some pastoral suggestions and possible solutions. An attempt will be made to give suggestions with concrete ways of going about them. This will be followed by a general conclusion. That will include an assessment of the situation and highlight some indicators or signs of hope for solving the problem, hence a brighter future.