Undergraduate Projects/Long Essays
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Item "Saved In Hope": Investigation Into The Meaning Of Salvation(Tangaza University College, 2011) Missangia, Missawo, JuliusAre Catholics saved? This is the most vital question, I suppose, to many Catholics or other Christians. It certainly crosses denominational lines. The inspiration to take up this research resulted from a significant incident I encountered during my pastoral experience from June to August 2009 in Tonga Parish in Western Kenya. As a young Passionist religious, interested in having an enriching pastoral ministry. I had an opportunity of meeting various people in the Small Christian Communities. One of the main questions that came up very often in such meetings was: Are Catholics saved? People were looking at me for an answer. The concern of people in these Small Christian Communities is raised by Christians of other denominations who look down to the Catholic in the area. They refer to the Catholic Church as gunda (Luo term), which means a place that was once inhabited, but now is abandoned and un-inhabited. The common phrase used by the members of these religious groups when introducing themselves is, "I am so and so and I am saved-. This is a provocation for some Catholics, who are tempted to do the same. Provoked by this situation, I feel motivated to engage myself in a systematic research on the Catholic concept of salvation. The study is divided in three chapters. Chapter one investigates on the biblical meaning of salvation. Particular attention will be paid to the soteriology of St. Paul, certainly the most mature doctrinal stage in the New Testament. Chapter two in a more historical perspective examines the main post-biblical soteriological ideas employed by the Church; mainly focused on Christ's salvific work as described in St. Paul. We shall present the thought of the Church Fathers, the Middle Ages, and the Reformers in particular Martin Luther. Chapter three in a more systematic manner offers a comprehensive response to the issues discussed in the previous two chapters. This will be elaborated in the light of Second Vatican Council, post-Vatican II theology and the reflections of the twenty first century theologies.Item Concatenation of Theodynamics: God's Saving Plan throughout History an Exegesis of Matthew 4:23(Tangaza University College, 2006) Albin Swai, FrederickOne 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.Item Catholic Church Facing the Challenge of the African Traditional Religion and the Question of Salvation(Tangaza University College, 2006-11) Nir Anselme Somda, BeterWe see that many people in our home village and many other places in Africa are very exited to become Catholic Christians. We even sometimes miss teachers to instruct them. For the first year of catechumenate their numbers can reach almost 800 people for the whole parish. After following the required instruction, they receive the sacraments of initiation and become members of the Catholic Church. They confess that Jesus is the Saviour and recite the creed: I believe in the holy, Catholic Church... But we noticed that the same Christians coming to the Church every Sunday, are the very ones going to see diviners, witchdoctors and make sacrifices in order to succeed in their work, or to help their children to pass exams, or to get good health... Facing these facts we ask ourselves for which reason do they go back to their traditional practices though on the day of their baptism they confessed that Jesus is their Saviour and he saved them. This situation led me to start thinking that maybe it is because they do not experience the savific presence of Jesus by belonging to the Church or the Church does not accommodate them, meaning that they do not see the Church as the instrument established by Jesus for the salvation of the world. It looks like people see the Church as a social association or the provider for the poor. If they were totally convinced that the Church is the instrument of salvation, during the time of crises they would have remained in the Church while praying more intensely instead of going back to their former practices. So at the end of my theological studies, I tried to reflect on the main factors which push those converted Christians to go back to their former practices. I • • discovered that though the Church is the instrument of salvation it does not respond filly to the aspirations of the newly convened Christians: for example the element of diviners who can read the future of people, the element of offering sacrifice to obtain favour or the sacredness of the religion. People were trained to believe in what they do not understand. When the traditional doctors speak in words they do not understand they see the mystery and are easily drawn to believe in them. As a first step towards this study I did first a general reading of many books around the topic. I also discussed with some people about the topic. The fruit of that research, study and reflection are expressed in three chapters in this essay. The first Chapter will be the presentation of the notion of salvation and its relationship with the Catholic Church. We shall also talk about the ways through which God offers salvation to people. The second Chapter will look at salvation and the mediation of salvation in the African Traditional Religion. Wc shall also look at the position of the Catholic Church towards the African Traditional Religion. The third Chapter will look at the reason why people do go back to the African Traditional religion, the elements the Church can get from the African Traditional Religion in order to help the newly converted Christians (which aspects of Jesus and of the Church to develop more) and finally I shall give my personal point of view about African Traditional Religion and the Catholic Church. I foresee some limitations for this work. Since I am not an expert in African Traditional Religion, I will not be using a particular African Traditional Religion. Traditional Religion, I will not be using a particular African Traditional Religion. I am using the books in general on African Traditional Religion. The notion of Salvation is not understood totally in the metaphysical sense meaning we are not going to be discussing on sins and the mystical interventions. This work is intended to create an awareness of what is happening. When I will be writing a doctorate dissertation in the future, it will be more expanded and will be more scientifically done.Item A Retreat Conference on the Gospel Message to the Youth(Tangaza University College, 2007) Kidus, WeldegiorgisThis retreat on the Gospel message is for the youth aged approximately between 17-25 years. The youth are not a separated group of people but they are a group that forms part of the church, as the people of God. As a matter of fact, the youth are challenged by the present world's situation and not being committed to Jesus in the Church. Yes, the youth are the future leaders of the Church and the society at large but something hinders them not to accept this fact and see forward. Some youth are incapable of realizing their good talents in them. At timcs they appreciate the Church less; to the extend of being pessimistic. Many Christians rather Catholic youth take Christian life just for granted. They think to be a Christian, the most important thing is just to be baptized, and that is all. And they forget to take seriously their responsibility of following Jesus in whom they are baptized as Christians. Those who don't have strong faith, try to move from one church to another. At last they even lose their little faith they have in God. Therefore, it is everybody's responsibility to understand them and give quick solutions to their challenges; and also to accept them as they are.Item Healing and Salvation as Paradigms for Evangelisation in the Acts of the Apostles(Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Kossi Badjalao Bassoma, AlexisA recent sojourn in Togo has led me to observe a mushrooming of local FM radio stations in the capital city Lome, most of them with the declared objective of spreading the Good News. City squares have become the stages for itinerant preachers in Lome, as one can also observe in the Nairobi Uhuru Park and other places in the Kenyan capital. A common characteristic of these preachings either in Lome or in Nairobi, is the stress on the healing miracles of Jesus. Most preachers claim to be 'anointed with the Holy Spirit' to perform similar healing miracles in Jesus' name for the benefit of their congregations. The faithful of these healing miracle-based denominations generally refer to themselves as the 'saved'. In the Catholic Church, churches are often filled to overflowing at the celebration of the so called 'healing mass.' This phenomenon, it seems to me, indicates a great concern people have for their health in our economically precarious societies, where health care and the cost of it are often beyond most people's reach. This has motivated me to research the relationship between faith and health and the salvation brought about by Jesus. These concerns about healing and health-related issues should be a field of Christian evangelisation as expressions of salvation in Jesus Christ. Any culture provides its people with a basis for understanding the meaning of human existence, interpersonal relationships and the relationship with the divine or God. It also provides the basis for understanding the rules for the transmission, promotion and ultimately the protection and conservation of life. Among the Nawdeba of northern Togo,' the cultural representations of the universe, the human being, the social institutions and religious practices appear to have been conceived and organized in order to receive, fulfil and conserve human life. The social and religious practices aim at dispelling dangers which directly or indirectly threaten human life and its fulfilment. Christianity, in order to be credible and relevant as Good News among the Nawdeba, must incarnate itself in the people's struggle for life against the forces of anti-life.' Sickness, "ill living and ill dying"3 are for the Nawdeba the most dreadful anti-life forces, and thus are the targets of the therapeutic systems which aim at restoring health, good-living and gooddying in view of the perseverance in life. Sickness, health and salvation are, therefore, culturally defined and understood.4 My research seeks an understanding of sickness, healing, health and salvation in Luke- Acts, in so far as the restoration of health through the name of Jesus and faith in this name have become an occasion for preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins in that name to a Jewish audience. I will engage in a socio-cultural and theological reinterpretation of Peter's speech on the healing of the lame beggar in Acts 3:12-26. The question of the relevance of this speech as Christian scripture for evangelisation in a non-Jewish Christian context, requires an understanding of these notions of healing/health and salvation in that particular culture. I want to examine its relevance in the cultural context of the Nawdeba of Northern Togo. I am aiming at proposing a basis for a theology of sickness, healing/health and salvation among the Nawdeba. I will be answering, among others, basic questions such as: What was the meaning of this healing miracle for both the apostles and the people of Jerusalem, their co-believers? Was it essential to have a healing miracle in order to announce Jesus as Messiah and saviour in Jerusalem? Must today's preachers of the Good News, in the socio-cultural contexts of the Nawdeba perform healing miracles, as a necessary means for the proclamation of the word of God as Good News? What relationships exist between sickness, healings/health and salvation, in Luke-Acts, on the one hand and among the Nawdeba, on the other hand? Must there necessarily be healings/health in order to attain salvation? My objective is to attain the meaning(s) of the speech, hence, I have chosen the thematic approach. My criteria for structuring the speech for the exegesis will be thematic. The exegesis will be an analysis or commentary of the content of the identified themes. The analysis or commentary seeks to attain the sense of a theme. The structural unit thus, is the semantic theme. A theme conveys among other features, the views and intentions, the motivations, beliefs, values of the speaker, and to some extent of the hearers, inasmuch as there is communication between the two. The work will be divided into three chapters. The first chapter places the speech in Acts with the definition, type and function of this literary genre in Ancient Historiography and in the acts of the Apostles. After this preliminary step, comes the exegesis of the speech. The second chapter is a reflection on the meaning of salvation and its relationship to healing in Luke-Acts and in the cultural setting of the Nawdeba. The third or last chapter lays the foundations for the preaching of the mystery of Jesus in terms of healing and salvation among the Nawdeba.Item The Eucharistic Sacrifice as a Culminating Symbol of our Christian Salvation With Reference to Chagga Understanding of Sacrifice(2009) Matumaini, Godfried, Mosha"Christ's death on the cross is the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form." According to the belief of the church as set forth by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, "the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman Jesus continues in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us 'to the end', even to offering us his body and his blood."2 This is a teaching of the church, which in the course of my studying theology I came to realize is not well understood by many of our faithful Christians. I keep asking myself why Christians are still making animal sacrifices or ritual sacrifices. Why some disciples of Jesus are Christians during the day and pagans at other times? Does it mean that the Eucharistic sacrifice of Christ celebrated every day is not enough? Is there a unifying point between Eucharistic sacrifice and traditional sacrifices? Is there a way forward from this juncture? These are some of the questions which will guide me as I write this essay. The aim of this long essay is to discourage this attitude of double life standard in my culture and in other cultures in the now and future mission of the church.Item Jesus as Messiah(Tangaza University College, 1997-02) Giuseppe, KayeEach Gospel writer namely: Mark, Matthew, Luke and John wrote to a specific community for a particular reason. Matthew wrote for a group of Christians who were undergoing a transformation from a predominantly Jewish - Christian church to an increasingly Gentile church, from a church whose roots and cultural origin were Palestinian to a church plunged into the midst of the Roman empire. (') In writing the infancy narratives Matthew intended to prove that Jesus of Nazareth is the messiah, the fulfillment of all Old Testament expectations and prophecies. In doing so, he emphasized that: God is the master of the entire salvation history. The church is the true Israel God has drawn near to dwell to the end of time with his people.