Bachelor of Arts in Theology

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

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    Jesus Christ: Empowerment of The Oppressed In Search for Liberation Southern Sudan Perspective
    (Tangaza University College, 2003) Habakuk, Dominic Juma
    The words "oppression-struggle-liberation-freedom" have become some of the much spoken words in our world, particularly in Sudan. They echo cries of despair of a people who yearn for freedom, justice and peace. However, God's promises of liberation — the exodus and the liberating acts of Yahweh which achieve their full meaning in Jesus Christ — are foundations of hope from which victims of oppression get their courage and strength to determinedly and efficiently work for liberation as the building of God's Kingdom. Liberation, in this context, is a biblical language, that is, Yahweh who heard the groaning of his oppressed people in Egypt always hears and takes side with the oppressed of every age, space and race. He is a liberator, redeemer and savior who, with his mighty hand and in great love, brought his people Israel out of the house of bondage to prepare them for himself. Whenever they strayed from him and fell victim to oppression, Yahweh always freed them. Finally, Yahweh sent his only Son — - the Messiah, liberator par excellence — to free humanity from all forms of evil. In these events dwells all hope for liberation. The Old and the New Testament are an account of God's liberating acts of love on behalf of the poor and the oppressed.
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    Encountering Jesus Christ as an Ancestor And his Mission Among the Sukuma People
    (Tangaza University College., 2002-02) Ihrudayasamy, Adam Fernandez; Ihrudayasamy, Adam Fernandez
    he person of Jesus Christ is at the centre of Christian faith. Though Jesus Christ is 'the same yesterday', today and forever, our experience varies according to the person who experiences him and the social context of that experience. The social context is the life situation in which Christ comes as the Saviour. One of the vital emphases in the contemporary Catholic Christology is the shift away from a rather static vision of Christ, seen in terms of dogmas and definitions. The task of Christology today is not that of repeating the Christologies of the past, but it is to create a new translation. It means that the full humanity of Christ has to be taken with the greatest seriousness, an absolutely essential point for any valid theology of Mculturation. Christ is present in every human situation in every community and every human tradition and this fact must be rendered explicit. For Christianity to be rooted in the African soil is to see Christ as an African, that is through the eyes and aspirations of the African people. African beliefs are centred around the divine. This divine could be in the form of a Supreme Being or divinity. If we see the present day Africans both traditional and modem, they do not have any problems with who God is. The Africans are very clear about the position and function of God in the universe. God is the creator and sustainer of the universe. Jesus Christ, the Son of God is one with the Father. The Father (Yaweh) revealed himself to Africans and they responded in faith. So the same Africans also can discover Christ in their 'acts of faith'.' Since Jesus is one with the Father (in 10:30) and Africans do worship God, Jesus has actually been worshipped in African religion but without a name. According to J. M. Bahemuka: "Jesus of Nazareth may have been unknown in traditional Africa, but Christ as the liberating force for humanity was and is present in various manifestations of African culture in general: in its myths, rituals, beliefs, symbols, art and language"? Africa is already offering interesting ideas for an inculturation of Christology. The African Christian theologians give Jesus Christ different titles, for example, Ancestor, Elder Brother, Ideal Elder, Chief, Master of Initiatioil, Healer, King, Priest and Liberator, which are all related to the concept of Ancestor. They are trying to incarnate Jesus Christ into African traditional religion and develop an incultured African Christian theology which remains basically Christian, and is salvific. These are the images and concepts that could facilitate a better understanding of the figure of Jesus Christ and of his saving mystery in African culture. African people experience Christ in their own communities, within their own cultural traditions. In 1980, in Nairobi, Pope John Paul II told the Kenyan Bishops: "not only is Christianity relevant in Africa, but Christ in his members is himself an African". 3 What does it mean to see Christ as African? It does not mean that the historical Jesus was an African, but that the Christ of faith can be seen authentically by an African only through his culture and thinking categories. African ancestors are at the centre of ATR and play a salvific role in ATR and without them there is no ATR. So to see Christ as an African is to see Christ as an African Ancestor, one who dwells among Africans in their daily events of life. With such an understanding, the examination is made in this essay to show some of the concepts of 'ancestor' in African tradition in relation to Christ. This work is done with special reference to the Sukuma people of Tanzania. The experience of the ancestors is a very significant religious value among the Sukuma, and it should not just be suppressed. The missionaries in the past failed to appreciate the significance of the Sukuma belief, which is also common to many other African cultures - the continuing existence of the dead and their active, good or ambivalent influence upon the living.