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

2000 - 20023

Settings

Subject: search.filters.subject.Ritual

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Death Rituals among the Chagga Of Tanzania: A Pastoral Challenge
    (Tangaza University College., 2002-02) Kessy, Marcel G.
    This thesis is a study of Chagga death rituals, their pastoral challenge to the mission and their significance for Christian inculturation. In this chapter we are going to focus mainly on; the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study, the research hypotheses, scope and organization of the study, methodology and finally limitations of the study. My choice of this topic has been prompted by many questions raised by the Catholic church in Moshi diocese - Kilimanjaro Tanzania about the Chagga funeral rites, and other commemorative rituals connected with the dead. In most of African cultures, people value their traditional practices very much. Some of these practices are categorized according to their values in the society. Among these practices are the rituals performed for the dead, the spirits and for appeasing the ancestors. In some other places, some rituals are performed for the living. One finds these rituals and sacrifices having cosmological and vertical dimensions. But after Christianity had been introduced to the African people, these cultural and traditional practices have been deteriorating. In most of East Africa, especially among the Chagga, in Central Africa, where I did my pastoral work, and the several places I visited in 1998, these traditional practices have been considered as a kind of double standard by the missionaries. You find that on the one hand keep the traditional practices are very strong and most valued. Some of these practices are being performed in hidden places while others are done openly. On the other hand, Christianity is very strong and explicitly practiced. This does not only apply to funeral rituals but also in every kind of traditional beliefs and practices. The teachings which African people received from the early Missionaries were very negative to their cultural and traditional practices. They were told that their traditional practices were pagan and devilish. People grew up in this mentality and this led many to perform these traditional practices secretly out of fear. According to Mzee Bernard Kiwory, "the people fear that spirits of the clan will turn against them, harm them and even cause death in the family". During funeral rites among the Chagga, you find that traditional rituals are performed first and then Christian ones follow later. The traditional rituals are done secretly and hurriedly before the arrival of the priest who comes to conduct the Christian funeral service. I have seen these in many places where I have attended funerals or burials. In these practices, I discovered that most of what is practiced traditionally is related to what is done by Christians. This has prompted me to deepen my understanding through this study in order to discover more about our culture. The aim is to find out the good elements which can be incorporated in Christian funeral rites as one way of bringing the Gospel message closer to the Chagga People. It is obvious that, not every thing which is practiced traditionally is positive and can be incorporated in Christianity. Some traditional practices have very good elements which can be useful for inculturation while some are against Christian values.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An Encounter between the Lozi Traditional Marriage Practices and Christianity
    (Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Likulano, Lawrence Mbapolo
    For any culture, be it European, Asian, American or African such as the Lozi to have an authentic and meaningful Christian life, that culture should encounter Christ in the Gospel message and be transformed by Christ in the light of his passion and resurrection. For this reason, the Lozi traditional marriage practices are no exception. However, in the process of reinterpretation of the Lozi traditional marriage practices into Christianity and Christianity into the Lou traditional marriage practices, both parties should be faithful to each other. Our work, therefore, endeavours to discuss an encounter between the Lou traditional marriage practices and Christianity. It is systematically divided into four chapters. In the first chapter, we discuss the origin of the Lou, where they are found, how they trace their descent and their livelihood. We elaborate at length their practices of marriage and what is involved in it. Thereafter, we show how marriage has a socio-religious dimension and how it is linked to their belief in life after death. The approach we have taken in our work is deductive, inductive, descriptive as well as analytical. The purpose of our work is to discover how the Lozi traditional marriage practices can become means by which the Lozi can respond in faith to God's call. For this reason, in our conclusion we make some recommendations which the Lozi should adhere to in their manifestation of Christian life. In the second chapter, we elaborate and explicate in depth the historical background of marriage. We start with Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) as an opener to the Christian understanding of marriage, then proceed to the Scriptures. Later on, we look at the theological and canonical concepts of Christian marriage. After that, we explain the view of the Magisterium on customary marriage. We show the stand of Vatican II on Marriage. Furthermore, we discuss the pastoral situation in Loziland and possible ways of giving pastoral care to couples involved in the Lozi traditional marriage. Chapter three of our thesis examines the impact of Christianity on the Lozi traditional marriage practices from the time the missionaries arrived in Loziland. While in the fourth chapter, we discuss inculturation of the Lozi traditional marriage as a means of transforming it by the Gospel message. We have also made some suggestions pin pointing some Lozi traditional marriage practices which should be outlawed. Finally, we have proposed that in order for the Lozi to have an indegeneous Lozi Christian marriage rite, the Lozi themselves with the help of theologians and anthropologists conversant with the African culture should spearhead this research.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Biblical Foundation of Jesus' Priesthood Vis-A-Vis Inculturation Of Ministerial Priesthood In The Democratic Republic Of Congo.
    (Tangaza University College, 2000-02) Shabani, Edmond
    We are presently experiencing a religious crisis where priesthood seems to be rejected by the challengers of the priests of the Catholic Church. The Church meets serious objections and challenges in this area. The objections are caused by a secularized mentality. Some people think that to talk of priesthood today is meaningless; and others claim that the Church has no right to insist on it because its founder was not, according to them, a priest. If we go back to the ancient Jewish religion, the ministers were called "priests". Today, in our century there are many religions and sects, whose number grows every year in the world, but only few of these religions and sects use the term "Priest". Some religions and some sects use the term "Pastor ", others" Mtumishi " ( Kiswahili word meaning" Servant" ), some use" Apostle ", others " Shepherd ", " Evangelist "and some others use similar words to these. Only a few religions use the term" Priest ". One could ask him/herself: what is the meaning of" priest", why do many religions avoid the use of this term, what is its foundation, is this term understood by people or does it have a negative background? How can our priesthood be justified today? This work will have four chapters which are connected to one another. The first Chapter aims at discovering the history of priesthood and its divine institution in the Old Testament. The aim of the second chapter is to examine the priesthood in Jesus' time and its relationship with him. And we will see the judgement of Christ on the priests of his time and his correcting behavior toward them. The third chapter is to analyze the priestly function of Jesus. The priesthood of Christ remains a very complex mystery: we can not exhaust all its aspects, because we have also to leave space for faith. If we want to talk of this mystery at the present moment, it is to enlighten the greatness and the seriousness of the Christian priesthood as it is exercised by our priests, because to deny Christ' priesthood, is to cut the root of the ministerial priesthood of the Church. To reject the ministerial priesthood of the Church is to ignore its initiator, Jesus Christ, the Eternal Priest. The fourth chapter about inculturation will tell us how every culture exercises the ministerial priesthood according to its genius without neglecting the place of Jesus the founder of the true priesthood and of all cultures. The final point is to show that inculturation should go beyond its own external or ritual form. At the end of our work, we don't claim to have said everything, or to have said exactly what we intended to say. We are aware of our limits in this matter, trusting that the Lord himself will add to our contribution the necessary elements which are missing, and doing all this for his own glory.