Bachelor of Arts in Theology

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    Incarnation of Christ is the Foundation for Inculturating the Gospel
    (Tangaza University College, 2006) Malugao, Dioscop
    Missionaries, messengers of God's Words are often exposed to different cultures. The main aim of their presence in the mission areas is to implant the Gospel message in the heart of the people. How to do it? Is it possible to insert the Gospel message without considering the mentality of the people which is very much influenced with the existing culture? Indeed, inculturation is one of the essential tasks among missionaries. Inculturation in mission is challenging because we are dealing here with cultures which origin is as complex as the origin of humanity. Out of its complexity, some missionaries have somehow overlooked its importance. Others might have tried to work on it in their respective parishes but their approaches have remained questionable. Certainly, a lot of things have to be improved in this area. What are the approaches which can be of help to respect the existing cultures without neglecting or overlooking the Gospel message? We consider here the rich experience I had with the Basukuma people. It is an ethnic group in Tanzania which is unique and culturally known for their richness. Many books have been written about them out of love and interest. Besides my experience with them, I have also read some of these books. This is how the seed of love and interest towards the Basukuma vegetated with the desire to deepen my knowledge and understanding of their culture. In general, if we take into consideration the Basukuma culture, this paper would not be able to contain adequately the broadness of this culture. The focus here is mainly to look at a certain practice; the incorporation of the newly born child into the clan. We do some social, cultural and religious analysis but it is not enough to exhaust the beauty of it. Anyhow, the practice of the incorporation of the newly born child into the clan is still important among this people and it has still a great influence on their mentality. Moreover, this practice contains a lot of values that would help us to enlighten our approach in the field of inculturation. To strengthen the pillars of this study, let us also acknowledge some theological insights which have contributed to the development in the field of inculturation. We shall focus on some views of inculturation among the first Christian Missionaries, inculturation in Africa and the modern day understanding of inculturation according to some theologians. However, it is inadequate to talk about inculturation without considering its Christological Foundation. In addition, we shall include the Incarnation of Christ, focusing on "self-emptying" with its Biblical interpretation, some hints of Church's Fathers view and the Incarnation in Vatican In the application, we shall see how we can appreciate the traditional values in the light of the Christian values and how does it affect my missionary approach in the field of inculturation. Focusing on one practice serves only as an example but the approaches and applications will remain essential.
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    Inculturation from a Scriptural Perspective
    (Tangaza University College, 1998-02) Nampota, Paul
    This essay is a reflection on the issue of inculturation. It is good to keep in mind that inculturation has always been in the heart of the church, right from the beginning. Of the many examples available to show how seriously the Church has taken this issue of inculturation, I have picked two: (I) the Church of the Apostles whose story we read in Luke-Acts; and (2) the Church of Africa. Also, there is considerable weight given the issue of inculturation at Tangaza College, where I am presenting this essay as a partial fulfillment of the degree Bachelor of Arts and Religious Studies awarded by the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). This stimulated my interest in the subject, and I began reading more on this topic. While reading, I came to realize that there is a development of theology called "Theology of Inculturation.' This theology attempts to reflect inculturation in the areas of Liturgy, Christ°logy, Christian Anthropology, only to mention a few. So far I have not seen any literature which reflects on inculturation as seen from a Biblical perspective. All the same, I learned much from Fr. Nicholas Foggliaco.' Fr. Lacomara2 also reflects in his classes how inculturation has been used in the development of Israel's faith in the One God. From them I learned that there are many other ways we can use Scripture to reflect on the issue of inculturation. Encouraged by what they taught me, I thought it wise to reflect on my own about a topic of inculturation to see what other themes I could uncover in Scripture. Since Scripture is a wide field, I limited myself to the New Testament, and even more specifically, to the Book of Luke-Acts. Hence this essay reflects "Inculturation in the light of Luke-Acts." In the first chapter, I define inculturation. Also, I tried to see how we can talk about inculturation today, when things change so fast and cultures are changing. And if we can rightly speak of inculturation at all, who are to be involved in these efforts in our Church of Africa today. The second chapter has three parts, following the divisions of Luke's Gospel: The Infancy Narrative, The Ministry, and The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Through this process, I have come to reflect about the 'Incarnation as a divine step to inculturation.' The second chapter shows further that inculturation is "letting our daily lives be transformed by the Gospel and giving of a new expression to the Gospel in our daily lives.'3 In this attempt, Luke the Evangelist has been my resource theologian. I reflected on the theme of inculturation in the story of Jesus that Luke presents in the Gospel and the birth and development of the Church in the Book of Acts. Hence the outline of the second chapter is as follows: * Incarnation as a divine step to inculturation. This is the main theme of the chapter. * Theology of inculturation in the Book of Luke-Acts. Focusing on Luke as a theologian of inculturation in addition to being a historian and apologist of the Christian faith. * And through the stages mentioned above: infancy, ministry, and passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the essay reaches its goal in exemplifying Incarnation as a divine step to inculturation. The third chapter concentrates on how the Church has carried out the divine plan to save all humankind by adopting inculturation as a vessel for communicating this salvation to the people of the nations. Outstanding in this work of saving humanity is the Holy Spirit who is the key agent of inculturation. Through the human instruments of Peter, Paul, Bamabas, and other disciples, the Spirit communicated the saving message of God to the Gentiles and enabled them to accept this message as their Good News. This has all been possible by the use of inculturation. In the conclusion I have tried to draw together and show how the Church of Africa continues the same story of Jesus and the Church of the Apostles in the furthering of salvation to the people of Africa through inculturation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Hence this essay's title, "Inculturation from a Scriptural Perspective." The Bible translation used for quotations in this essay is: The Catholic Study Bible, edited by Donald Senior, printed by the Oxford Press, New York, 1990.
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    The Christian Mysteries - Creation, Trinity, Incarnation Paschal Mystery And Redemption and Foundation Of Mission
    (Tangaza University College, 1996-02-22) Torres, Casmiro
    In this paper I would like to focus on the relationship existing between the Christian Mysteries of Creation, Trinity, Incarnation, Paschal Mystery and Redemption, and the Mission. Christian Mysteries have got their origin in God. They belong to the same universal plan of salvation tat God offered to the humanity through his only son in the power of the Holy Spirit. Though each one of these mysteries has got its own specificities, they have a common goal; to lead humanity to enter in communion of love with the Triune God. Indeed each one can be fully understood in the light of the otters. Even though human person, being limited cannot grasp these mysteries in their fullness. I will try to explain and show how these mysteries are related to the mission. How they are the source and foundation of mission. How they bestow on mission its significance and value. In the first chapter. I deal with the mystery of creation as God's action and its relation to man. He has got some roles and duties to fulfill in order to preserve God's creation and bring it to fulfillment. The Church being the steward of God's mission on earth has to continue God's plan in creation. In the second chapter, I focus on the Blessed Trinity and the Divine missions of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then I shall link this Trinitarian mission to the mission of the Church; and how Church's mission has her origin and goal in the Blessed Trinity In chapter three, I present the Christological mysteries; Incarnation, Paschal Mystery and Redemption as foundation of mission. I will explain how the mission of the Church is rooted in the Christological mysteries and the implications they have for the Church's mission.