Bachelor of Arts in Theology

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Biblical Foundations of Monastic Life In Early Abyssinia
(Tangaza, 2002-02) Wold, Estifanos Helafu
This essay will reflect about monasticism in Eritrea and Ethiopia and their evangelisation since they have the same Christian history. In it, I will show how the people of these two countries were attracted to monasticism in early ages through the mediation of the word of God and how they have shared their faith with others. In presenting this, for convenience sake, I will use the common name 'Abyssinia' in the details of the research instead of repeating the names of these two countries again and again. This essay is made up of three chapters and its objectives mainly are; a) to show that the monastic vocation was a particular way of responding to God's call to ascetic life as well as to evangelisation; b) to present the deeper values, risks and challenges of being monk; c) to show the role Abyssinian monks played in implanting inculturated Christian faith, in translating scripture into local languages, indigenisation of the liturgy, their active role of educating and through the witness of their lives; and d) to critically analyse both positive and negative aspects of monastic evangelisation and suggest areas that could be adapted and improved. In the first chapter of this essay we shall see the active work of the word of God in the lives of his own people and the way he called them to monastic vocations abundantly. In the second part of the first chapter, I will focus on how the Abyssinian monks have evangelised Abyssinia untiringly. I will also clarify plainly their goal, purpose, failures and achievements in the course of evangelisation. In this chapter, I will use many quotations from the scripture which were indicated repeatedly in many books written regarding Abyssinian monks as the main means of inspiration for their monasticism. Then in the second chapter, I will give the modern exegesis of these selected quotations by modem scholars. In the last chapter, I will compare the daily early Christian life of Abyssinian monks and their interpretation of scriptures and today's modem exegetes. Then I will conclude my research with application and guidelines for adaptation and reformation of these monks.
Concatenation of Theodynamics: God's Saving Plan throughout History an Exegesis of Matthew 4:23
(Tangaza University College, 2006) Albin Swai, Frederick
One thing in the study of theology that still remains in my mind unforgotten from the first year of theology onwards is what is known as theological methodology. There are six steps in this methodology that is concerned with how to think theologically. Roughly the steps are: (i) question (ii) research (iii) history (iv) reflection (v) answer and (vi) your own statement'. Coming to the end of the four-year study of theology, I was wondering what can be considered as my own statement in summing up the theological questions I met and continue to meet. The professor who taught me Fundamental theology insisted that the last step can be frightening but as Peter made the statement: EU ci 6 XpiotOc (You are the Christ) (Mk 8:27-30) one has to make a statement. Doing theology is not teaching theology and one has to go beyond the class room work. Working on theological methodology, I came up with my own concept, theodynarnics . I have been influenced by the laws of thermodynamics in Chemistry. In a simplified way we can generally say the laws deal with heat and energy transfer in a system. From a closed system they can be extended to the transfer of energy (entropy) that occurs throughout the universe. Comparatively in my study of theology, I have reflected on the history of salvation as the history of God's glory and power being at work in history and in the universe. Dynamics which is from a Greek word 56vainc ( power ) is defined as "the branch of mechanics concerned with the motion of bodies under the action of forees" 2 . Thus combining the Greek word for God, 0c6c and 56vailic we get 66vaptc meaning theodynamcis, and we can easily get the concept that God is the power that continuously moves the universe; in other words theodynamics can sum up our reflection about God's action in the universe and in history. God remains a mystery in a sense that he cannot be understood fully or fit in the frame of our minds. However, God cannot be pushed to the recede of our minds. Thus, the question, "who is God to me?" always pops up in the mind of a human being. Following the steps of theological methodology the question "who is God to me?" is the question that will be pursued in this paper. In researching for the answer to this question I have gone to the Old Testament to review the history of salvation. I have picked up Matthew's Gospel as the window through which we can see the concept of theodynamics. In his use of 'fulfillment citations' Matthew takes us in 'flashbacks' to the action of God in the Old Testament. He does this to give his community a sense of living and a sense of direction. That is why we have to learn from Matthew about how to handle our faith and our lives. The "Great Commission" (Matt 28:16-20), assures us that theodynamics is an unending process, and God is constantly busy in history and in the universe. Mark Smith's book, The Early Histoty of God, deals with the history of Israel, how they started as polytheists and moved on to monotheism. The last chapter of his book gives a kind of summing up the whole of his research 3 . I remember in the Eschatology class approaching Fr. Fogliacco about this book in relation to what he was teaching. The answer he gave me was that we have to differentiate history from theology. Indeed I want to hint it here too that theology is people's refection on what God has done in their lives and in history. We can't go through theology as if we are searching for facts; theology is faith seeking understanding. The concept of the concatenation of theodynamics as it hit my mind tries to explain how God has been passionately busy in the world from the beginning, right from creation onwards. Unlike the human beings who may change the decisions they make, God has been faithful to his word. The history of salvation can be seen as the history of God's faithfulness. This, I hope, will become clearer at the end of this essay. I have divided the essay into three chapters. The first chapter will give a quick view on the Gospel of Matthew to show how the gospel is one piece of work that is very much interconnected so that to understand one part necessarily needs to link it with the other parts. The chapter will also deal with introductory questions necessary for the exegetical work done in chapter two. The third chapter will show how God's plan of salvation is a single plan throughout history. Appendix V will give a portrayal of the concept of theodynamics.
An Encounter with the Spirit of God in African Religion
(Tangaza University College, 2002-02) Mrosso, Bartholomew
On 1996, my superiors appointed me to Ghana for two years of pastoral training. From 1996 to 1998 I was doing my pastoral formation among the Sisaala people of the Upper West region of Ghana. The Sisaala people are mainly traditionalists. By this I mean the majority of them if not all are followers of African Traditional Religion. Any one who approaches any village easily notices the predominance of the African Religion among the Sisaala. As you enter in any village the first thing to see is a shrine. Each extended family has a shrine. Among the Sisaala each extended family forms a compound. Then a number of compounds form a village. So the number of compounds in the village determines the number of shrines in it. Coming from East Africa where the phenomenon of shrines is not very dominant, I was very much fascinated by it. I was curious to know what are those shrines for. I was told that those are places of prayer and sacrifice. I witnessed that, if the day of prayers in the shrine, happened to be on Sunday, very few people would attend mass on that Sunday. This experience made me think that prayers in the shrines seem to be more meaningful to the people than our Christian prayers. I thought it was my task as a young missionary to make our Christian prayers more meaningful and appealing to these people so as they could abandon their traditional beliefs and embrace Christian faith. My plan as a future missionary was to convert these traditional believers into Christianity. I never thought of a possibility of dialogue with the African Traditional believers. Another fascinating phenomenon was, the Sisaala firm belief in the presence of the Spirits. For them everything has its spiritual dimension. Every living and non-living creature has a spirit. My first attitude towards the phenomenon of spirits was very negative. To me these traditional believers were simply superstitious. But slowly I started changing my attitude from negative one to a positive approach. I started asking myself about the possibility of God communicating something to us Christians through the traditional believers. In 1998 I left Ghana with a positive view of the traditional believers. It was in that same year I started my theological studies. From the beginning of my theological formation, I thought it is necessary for modern theologians to search for a theological foundation that can sustain a positive approach towards African Traditional Religion. During the course of my theological studies, I had an opportunity to take an elective on Christian theology of other faiths. This course has helped me to re examine my attitude towards African Traditional Religion. It has also opened my theological mind to see the possibility of dialogue between African Religion and Christianity. So it is out of my past experiences with the traditional African believers in Ghana that I chose this topic for my long essay. I am aware that my essay is limited in several ways; first, African religion has not yet been recognized as one of the world religion. Nevertheless it is in the process of being recognized and a world religion. Second there is only now a fully recognized Christian theology of other faiths. Despite positive attitude of the church fathers towards non- Christian religions', it had taken some times to develop a Christian theology of other faiths. Third limitation of my essay is that it is very hypothetical. When I propose an encounter with the Spirit of God in African Religion what I have in mind is the possibility of meeting or experiencing the presence of God in the lives of the Traditional Africans. God is a mystery and so his Spirit is also a mysterious phenomenon. Even after the revelation brought by Christ God still remains a mystery. Having said that, an encounter with the Spirit of God in African Religion is just a theological hypothesis. This hypothesis is aimed at helping to change negative attitudes towards African Religion. I have divided this essay into four chapters. Chapter one is on the understanding of African Religion. The aim of this chapter is to help us conceive African Religion as one of the authentic religious traditions of humanity. In this chapter we will examine common fundamental beliefs in African Traditional Religion. These fundamental beliefs will help us to see African Religion as one religion expressed in different ways. My aim is to alter any negative attitude towards African Religion. That is why Chapter two will trace the origin of the negative attitude towards African Religion. This attitude can be traced back to the early encounter between Christianity and African Religion that will be examined in chapter two. Chapter three is on the Spirit in the Bible. Our aim in this chapter is build a biblical foundation for encountering the Spirit of God in African Religion. Once we are able to affirm the possibility of the presence of the Spirit of God in African Religion, then it would be easy for us to change our negative attitude towards it. Therefore in chapter three we will examine the understanding of the Spirit in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Chapter four is on the presence of the Holy Spirit in African Religion. In this chapter we will attempt to show that all the religious and social good values in African Religion could be attributed to the work of the Spirit of God. We will end with a general conclusion by proposing some required attitudes for dialogue between Christianity and African Religion.
The African Family: A Comparative Approach To The Trinity
(Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Awity Sheith Oluoch, Maurice
The doctrine of the Trinity is central to the Christian revelation. In fact the confession of one God in three persons is rightly regarded as proper and specific to Christian faith and revelation. This Trinitarian confession is and will always remain a mystery, a problem that believers have to contend with. Through the ages, theologians of various cultural milieus have given different interpretations to the Trinity. These theologians have used analogies and theoretical categories that helped their contemporaries to understand and appreciate the mystery of the Trinity. It is the contention of this essay that an African understanding of the mystery of the Trinity cannot rely on categories and models that are not close to their own reality. The study like the one we are taking is focused on using a category and model close to the African cultures. There are several images used to depict the Trinity. In this work we have taken the family as an appropriate image. The approach is in line with the AMECEA Bishops and the Synod of 1995 proposal; the 'Church as Family of God'. This theological 'discovery' was provoked by the need for a better and integral understanding of the Church and the Christian faith in general. In this paper the focus is to show how the African model of the Family helps in understanding the Trinity.
Job and the Innocent Confronting God in Human Suffering
(Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Obiero, Nicholas
Human existence as we know, is limited, fragile and is full of dissatisfaction. It is as insubstantial as the bloom of a flower that blossoms in the morning and withers at evening, or again it is like a shadow, or a moth-eaten gannent. Human desire is to live forever but the fact of life is that we have to experience pain, suffering and lastly death. Thus, the reality of human history is that we have to survive so much pain and disappointment. When we are faced with the reality of death, and when we see innocent people undergoing pain, suffering and death, we are forced to ask, "Why do the innocent suffer?' We can glibly say that God is good, God is merciful, that he is kind and faithful. But a great many people on earth can say, "I don't have any evidence for that. Maybe you do, but I don't." If we were to be honest with ourselves maybe many of us would admit that we do not have a lot of conviction about God's goodness either. If we do have a lot of conviction about God's goodness then, why bad things happen to good and innocent people will still remain a universal dilemma that forever we will be forced to confront. Our struggle here on earth is always to reconcile a good God with a seemingly evil world. In most cases, we are forced to ask, "What is the meaning of human suffering? What role does God play in life as humans experience suffering? These are some of the questions, which human beings have asked throughout history and we as well continue to ask the same questions. In ancient Israel, the tightly constructed world-view was incapable of offering a satisfying explanation to the problems of human pain, suffering and death. For human pain, suffering and death were more often than not attributed to human sinfulness. The dilemma which was left in struggling with these problems of human pain, suffering and death threatened the entire structure of order of explanation of things and this had to be resolved if the system was to survive. But strictly speaking, these were not only problems in and for Israel. Israel was but one among several ancient peoples who wrestled with these problems. The Book of Job as we will see, is a classic example of a challenge thrown in the face of the claim of an ordered world. Today, there are many innocent people who undergo sufferings, misfortunes and difficulties in their everyday lives. To these, especially to the AIDS orphans and victims, it seems as if the world has turned upside down; are their sufferings symbols and consequences of sin, or a punishment, a scourge from God? What good comes of all these? Does God listen to these cries in their baffling varieties or even see the many who suffer and die everyday? What is evident in the case of Job is the actual human experience that confronts many of us who have to face ill fortunes in our lives. It is the silent and innocent cry of these people, the hatred, anger, fear, terror, turmoil, rage, confusion, death, darkness but also the confidence, longing, trust, rediscovery of God and faith that I intend to research and discuss in my long essay. In so doing, I will carry out my research, discussions and findings through reading and reflections on the Book of Job, through reading relevant books, documents and articles on the Book of Job and on human suffering, through dialogue with those terminally ill, HIV/AIDS patients and HIV/AIDS orphans who are undergoing physical sufferings in their lives and through my own reflections on and experience of human suffering in moments of sickness and loss of loved ones. Thus I will basically apply both historical and descriptive methods in my work. In the first chapter of this essay, I will try to point out the problem the author of the Book of Job is addressing and also to try to describe the context from which the author speaks. I will also try to see who the upright were thought to be in that society, what was the path of the wicked and lastly why was the Book of Job written. The second chapter will try to describe who the man Job is, why and how is Job innocent, what is Job's plight and from where does Job get the strength to continue living? The third chapter will be an attempt to situate Job in our contemporary society, the innocent suffering in our society, what are the attitudes towards the innocent, what are their sufferings and cry, and do we have something to say to the innocent suffering in our society? In the fourth and the last chapter of my essay, I will try to discuss whether there is God's justice and love in human suffering, and whether human pain and suffering can bring one closer to God.
The Suffering of the Innocent In Job
(Tangaza University College, 1999-02) Ngendandumwe, Jean-Claude
This essay is divided into two major parts: Part one is an Exegesis that contains a selection of texts. It deals mainly with different understandings of the suffering of Job by different personages in the Book of Job: The three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar), Job himself, Flihu, and God. Part Two deals with the theology of the text, and some pastoral implications.
Prophetic Commitment to the Word of God
(Tangaza University College, 1999-02-12) Mulenga, Augustine
I have always been fascinated by and marvelled at the courage of Israel's classical prophets. This admiration lies especially in their ability to articulate the situation 'as it is' and 'as it can be'. For instance, when self-satisfied leaders oppressed the poor, prophetic voices named the brokenness of the covenanted community, and when every aspect of Israel's life was subject to painful experience, prophetic voices imaged a new life for a people whose spirits were broken and crushed. Although they differ vastly from one another, Israel's classical prophets show a strong conviction that their vocation together with their mission originates from the Holy One of Israel. In this connection and according to the Old Testament, their messages are often prefaced by the formula: 'Thus says the Lord' or concluded by the phrase: 'It is the Lord who speaks'. Properly speaking, it was the word of God that moved Israel's great prophets into an open confrontation with their audience, denouncing sin and proposing a new future. This essay explores the commitment of Israel's great prophets to the word of God so as to highlight the challenges which this commitment poses to the ministry of the church in Zambia* today. We do not intend to undertake a painstaking study on each one of the classical prophets vis-à-vis the word of God, but to select some specific elements, especially from the prophets Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah of Jerusalem, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Deutero- Isaiah, which can help us arrive at a better understanding of what prophetic commitment entails.The first two chapters investigate the implications of the commitment of Israel's great prophets: chapter one presents the call of the prophets as starting point of the prophetic commitment, and chapter two surveys the twofold dimension of the prophetic mission. The third chapter elaborates the challenge that the great prophets pose to the ministry of the church in Zambia, especially in the situation where the majority of the people have apparently no strength to think about the future because they have nothing to feed on today. Within the vision of faith, we hold that authentic Christian praxis that leads to social transformation through the works of justice and love emanates from a closer analysis of human reality in the light of the word of God. With a view to shed the light of God's word upon the human reality in Zambia today, our approach in this paper seeks and draws from the Bible the nourishment that is capable to inspire the local church in her task of sustaining God's people in their struggles and in their hopes for a better life. As far as possible, we shall develop our theme in a chronological manner.
Luke's Teaching on Poverty in his Gospel and Acts.
(Tangaza University College, 1999-02-12) Stybor, Marek
The intention of my work is to demonstrate that the disciples' obligation to help the materially poor is based on God's care for them expressed through Jesus' attitude according to the Luke's Gospel, and the commitment of the Early Christian Community according to Acts of the Apostles. 1 intend to follow the exegetical approach. First of all, I have to tried to familiarize myself with the texts of Luke-Acts pertaining to my topic by referring to various commentaries and relevant authors. And then, I have developed the material in three parts. In the first part, I have outlined God's attitude to the poor as revealed through the person of Jesus. Here, there is a message to the world which God wants to communicate through the presence of the poor, I have emphasized this. I have referred to the various passages from the Gospel of Saint Luke and the heart of this chapter is the Year of Favor (Lk. 4:18), where Jesus announces his mission as that of proclaiming the good news to the poor. This part of my work develops the theme of God's attitude towards the poor, as revealed in the person of Jesus. In the second chapter I talk about the disciples' fulfillment of the obligation to help the poor. Here, I have analyzed the lifestyle of the Early Christian Community vis a vis the poor, according to the Acts of the Apostles. The lifestyle of the Early Christian Community, according to Luke-Acts, will help us to understand the obligation of disciples to help the materially poor. Their concern for the needy brother and sister reflects the divine concern for the poor. The present day application is contained in the third chapter of my work. My concern in this final part is the challenge which the poor give to the religious who are to be today's disciples of Jesus in a special way. How are we going to face the challenges given to us as people consecrated to God by those who are oppressed, persecuted and suffering because of hunger and other-itijuitices? This is the burden of this chapter. The main guiding question of my work is: What message does Luke-Acts communicate to the Christian disciples concerning their attitude toward the poor? I hope my work answers this question as we go through the text of Luke-Acts from the perspective of the situation of the materially poor in relation to God, and the Early Christian Community's attitude towards them.
Towards An African Christian Job
(Tangaza University College, 1998-02-21) Amooti, John Mungereza
Since the third phase of Africa's systematic evangelization begun in the nineteenth century,a lot of work has been done by missionaries and promoters of the African mission. However we must point out that much emphasis was put on Sacramentalization other than in depth evangelization. And so we have ended up with masses of nominal Christians baptised but not efficiently evangelised. On the other hand,Africa is experiencing many and diverse problems,famine,drought,ethnic conflicts,economic dependence,political turmoil,disease and solutions do not appear on the horizon. Many of the Baptised Christians,having failed to find answers of their struggle and suffering,slide back to their traditional beliefs which apparently seem to offer some help and consolation. As a missionary,having grown up among my people,the Batagwenda,l have shared in their struggles of life in situations of suffering. In my theological training,I was amazed to discover that Job of the Old Testament was as well struggling with his own suffering but does not seem to offer us a meaningful answer. It is clear to me that many people in Africa can identify themselves with Job of the Old Testament As Job needed Christ to give him a meaningful answer to his sufferings,my people also and indeed many Africans should look up to Jesus to give them meaningful consolation in their sufferings. As Missionariesi started asking myself during my theological training what we could offer to the majority of the people suffering in Africa Which consolation do we give and how do we preach to them? Many have been confused by the traditional beliefs and now how do we correct them and how do we bring them back to the faith?. This paper is a long reflection on the whole question of suffering. My conviction is that even amidst suffering,we are able to remain faithful to our faith. However this does not mean that we passively suffer,but where possible we should denounce situations that bring suffering and always actively promote life.
God's Universal Love As It Is Expressed In The Parables Told By Jesus
(Tangaza University College, 1998-02) Cordova, Roberto Perez
When we realize that the parables are considered the master piece of Jesus' teaching and that they convey more accurately the mind and teaching of Jesus, one begins to wonder why Jesus said so and so Some writers say that Jesus spoke his parables to people in order to awake in them a new understanding of God. The new understanding of what the kingdom of God is all about In this paper we will analyze the way Jesus used the parables and then I will take some parables, after analyzing them according to the new scholars of Scripture, I will also look at them in a new context. Our context is today as we prepare ourselves for the Jubilee of Christ I will also treat the parables in a missionary context. The mission starts from the Father, and is conveyed to us by Jesus Christ. The Church plays an important role in this teaching ofJesus. I will speak of the parables from a universal and missionary point of view in which God offers, gives, demands and is always ready to ask for our response. We shall therefore realize that the parables are always a challenge to the hearer 'What do you say?' Each person must give his or her own response.

Bachelor of Arts in Theology

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