Dear Sir,
In many respects, you totally do not understand me. Part of me understands what you are saying, but part of me feels that you have not taken time to study religion broadly and examine the various traditions or even how one tradition has evolved over time. You seem to assume that there is only one type of theology or that theology is totally not necessary. That is not correct. All religious traditions evolve and for different reasons. Even religion as an institution does not escape the process of rationalization. For instance, the empirical facts would suggest that people would agree with you about Jesus coming into people's lives, but yet they have varieties of ways of getting Jesus into their lives. Just check what is going on in the U.S. and other parts of the world and you will realize that people might all believe in Jesus but approach Him differently and expect different things form Him depending on their social and physical location. It is impossible for anybody to be religious without having a theology for it. We can talk about the different TYPES of theology, and the theology maybe systematic, incoherent, coherent, oral, contextual etc. etc. but it is impossible to be religious and human and remain without a theology. If the Jesus you talk about really transforms people's lives, and He is in their hearts, the Orthodox Christian tradition would say that there have to be impact that are empirical and observable of the working of the faiths in their lives. We will see that evidence on how they relate to other humans, how they socially construct their culture, social institutions, and day to day business. This is the main argument in Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." When he visited the U.S. he said, because of the faith of the people then, mere membership of a church was enough to serve as credit history or testimony of reliability. People will do business with you and loan you money for merely being a member of a church. Why? Because the faith or beliefs of the people penetrated their heart but it did not stop there as you implied, it created an ethical / moral code that penetrated day to day life. From this perspective, there must be something wrong with the way Jesus is transforming or existing in many people's lives. From 1960 to date, if you choose the most Christian community in the world, you will find out that even though Jesus Has increased his presence in many people's hearts, our world is becoming more corrupt. The goal of Christianity is not in ideal terms to ONLY have Jesus in people's heart. That might be called "BOURGEOIS CHRISTIANITY" which is primarily concerned about comfort rather than paying the social cost of socially transforming society especially by for example uplifting the lives of those trampled like a pair of sandals.
In many respects, you totally do not understand me. Part of me understands what you are saying, but part of me feels that you have not taken time to study religion broadly and examine the various traditions or even how one tradition has evolved over time. You seem to assume that there is only one type of theology or that theology is totally not necessary. That is not correct. All religious traditions evolve and for different reasons. Even religion as an institution does not escape the process of rationalization. For instance, the empirical facts would suggest that people would agree with you about Jesus coming into people's lives, but yet they have varieties of ways of getting Jesus into their lives. Just check what is going on in the U.S. and other parts of the world and you will realize that people might all believe in Jesus but approach Him differently and expect different things form Him depending on their social and physical location. It is impossible for anybody to be religious without having a theology for it. We can talk about the different TYPES of theology, and the theology maybe systematic, incoherent, coherent, oral, contextual etc. etc. but it is impossible to be religious and human and remain without a theology. If the Jesus you talk about really transforms people's lives, and He is in their hearts, the Orthodox Christian tradition would say that there have to be impact that are empirical and observable of the working of the faiths in their lives. We will see that evidence on how they relate to other humans, how they socially construct their culture, social institutions, and day to day business. This is the main argument in Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." When he visited the U.S. he said, because of the faith of the people then, mere membership of a church was enough to serve as credit history or testimony of reliability. People will do business with you and loan you money for merely being a member of a church. Why? Because the faith or beliefs of the people penetrated their heart but it did not stop there as you implied, it created an ethical / moral code that penetrated day to day life. From this perspective, there must be something wrong with the way Jesus is transforming or existing in many people's lives. From 1960 to date, if you choose the most Christian community in the world, you will find out that even though Jesus Has increased his presence in many people's hearts, our world is becoming more corrupt. The goal of Christianity is not in ideal terms to ONLY have Jesus in people's heart. That might be called "BOURGEOIS CHRISTIANITY" which is primarily concerned about comfort rather than paying the social cost of socially transforming society especially by for example uplifting the lives of those trampled like a pair of sandals.
From time immemorial, all religions try to come up with an explanation that they consider satisfactory about their encounter with the Divine. Sir, show me any religious group or person that has had a profound encounter with the divine and his or her life or the lives of people in their community were touched and transformed as you claimed by Jesus, and I will show you using sociological and anthropological methods how the encounter must have compelled such a person or people to come up with an account of their encounter with the Divine and the process through which they believe the encounter with the divine brings about transformation in either the person's life or his or her future and that of his community. They will keep a record of such encounter even if orally and socialize their children into it; they will also as a matter of ritual reenact the story of such encounter so as to reaffirm their faith. Without doing that, the message of the encounter will dissipate over time. They need to reaffirm it. Well these become their theological understanding or an account of their relationship with their God. That is what theology is at the core. It does not have to be in books, for the sake of efficiency it could be put in books, be taught in universities, or be represented in films or art, etc. This is really how theology starts and progresses. If you read Durkheim's "Elementary Forms of Religious Life" the concept of the sacred and profane started when people experience what Rudolf Otto called:
mysterium tremendum et fascinans
mysterium tremendum et fascinans
Once they encounter that, and they realize it is extraordinary, they set such an experience and physical location aside as sacred. From there you already have the beginnings of their record of encounter with God and that is where theology begins. But as human societies experience inequality in different ways, that also begins to shape their encounter with the Divine and how they make meaning of it, and therefore you will have different accounts and theologies.
It is somewhat simplistic in my view to reduce theology or theological thinking to the kind of thing you are talking about. What you are saying with due respect is to me the functional equivalent of claiming that because Africans have had only oral history, theirs is not a history. There are varieties of theologies and theology cannot be avoided by any group of seriously religious people -- I do not care what the religion is and what the people belief in so far as they claim to have encounter with the Divine that transforms them.
The only question is what kind of theology? Remember that religious beliefs do not have to be 100% coherent before people can embrace them. Religion is about people seeking deeper meaning in their existence. Even during the axial period, people wrestled with the idea that life is a journey and being here in this world, is only part of something greater and the real thing is to proceed to the next stage. Just check the ancient Greeks for instance. Plato's idea of the FORMS has had a profound impact of Christian understanding of God and even Jewish theologians in Judaism were influenced by the Hellenistic culture that was created after Alexander the Great' Conquest. There was a lot of cross-fertilization of ideas then. If you study religion carefully, this axial period existed in different regions of the world. Of course at another point in historical evolution, the issue was with the feeling of guilt among humans e.g., during Luther's reformation in the Christian tradition. But from about the beginning of the 20th century, the problem of meaning became the center of human struggle.
The only question is what kind of theology? Remember that religious beliefs do not have to be 100% coherent before people can embrace them. Religion is about people seeking deeper meaning in their existence. Even during the axial period, people wrestled with the idea that life is a journey and being here in this world, is only part of something greater and the real thing is to proceed to the next stage. Just check the ancient Greeks for instance. Plato's idea of the FORMS has had a profound impact of Christian understanding of God and even Jewish theologians in Judaism were influenced by the Hellenistic culture that was created after Alexander the Great' Conquest. There was a lot of cross-fertilization of ideas then. If you study religion carefully, this axial period existed in different regions of the world. Of course at another point in historical evolution, the issue was with the feeling of guilt among humans e.g., during Luther's reformation in the Christian tradition. But from about the beginning of the 20th century, the problem of meaning became the center of human struggle.
So as I conclude, I will leave you Sir, with this challenge. Show me any religious person or community: Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist etc. that has had a profound encounter with the Divine, in your case Jesus, and that encounter transformed their lives, their community and ways of life, and yet, they do not develop some account about that relationship, an account that is passed on to future generations. And once you have that then you have your theology already becasue the proponents will establish boundary around the correct way of thinking about the encounter i.e., orthodoxy and if they are very committed to applying their faith they may proceed to "ortho-praxis."
Even if people read the Holy Books, they still have to interpret them. However they interpret them is their own prerogative. It is simplistic however for religious people to just say that it is stated in the book and that ends the story. You still have to ask: what does it mean? And we know from human history and study of culture that there so many factors that shape hermeneutics or interpretation, and often in every religion, they come up with ways to guide some interpretations and in doing so they develop traditions of either reading or interpreting the scriptures or explaining how the Divine relates to people and how the people should relate to the divine, with each other and the world. Well, you are already in the realm of theology here.
So Sir, If you say that there is a difference between types of theologies, well, that is not new. This is well known and I do not see any issue of debate there. But if you are reducing theology to systematic theology, I think that is a terrible error. There oral theologies, contextual etc. Just go to Nigeria and if you are like me engage the people who are illiterate in the village and they will share an account of the encounter with the Divine.
In effect, what I am just saying in strict sociological terms is like the problem of social order. All societies have to address it, they address in different ways but they do. All societies regulate sexual encounters, through rules of incest etc, but they do so differently. All societies and all humans have to come up with an account of the meaning of their lives here, whatever it is. To say that life has no meaning is not an easy claim especially if you want to live it out. That also requires a lot of faith and effort. As Kant said, part of what it means to be human is to wrestle with this questions although he is convinced that pure reason cannot get into this realm because it is beyond physical, i.e., metaphysics.
This is not restricted to Christians only or persons who give their lives to Christ. I am a Christian but I have studied this subject very much and know that it is naive to think so. I show my students the National Geographic Film titled "INSIDE MECCA." They are shocked at the commitment of the believers and how the believers attest to being impacted. The students often assume only their faith can deeply impact a person at heart. Our goal is to introduce them to the variety of religious experience or encounter with the DIVINE.
Personally, I do not believe any religion can make all others believe that particular religion in the world i.e., convert all. WE will have to live with this for as long as the world lives. The literature on conversion suggests this will never happen. It did not happen in the past during the golden ages of the religions and it will not happen now or in the future. I know this is hard to swallow but this is what the historical evidence says. You cannot even covert all Muslims or all Christians to one denomination, no matter what you do.
That is why some of us encourage and promote inter-religious dialogue and cross-cultural understanding. This is personal testimony. Many Christians would like their personal testimony to be taken seriously but they want to ignore others. This is not a problem of some Christians only, many Muslims or other religious people do that as well. But if one thinks of it deeply and patiently studies it empirically and broadly, it is simplistic.
Even if people read the Holy Books, they still have to interpret them. However they interpret them is their own prerogative. It is simplistic however for religious people to just say that it is stated in the book and that ends the story. You still have to ask: what does it mean? And we know from human history and study of culture that there so many factors that shape hermeneutics or interpretation, and often in every religion, they come up with ways to guide some interpretations and in doing so they develop traditions of either reading or interpreting the scriptures or explaining how the Divine relates to people and how the people should relate to the divine, with each other and the world. Well, you are already in the realm of theology here.
So Sir, If you say that there is a difference between types of theologies, well, that is not new. This is well known and I do not see any issue of debate there. But if you are reducing theology to systematic theology, I think that is a terrible error. There oral theologies, contextual etc. Just go to Nigeria and if you are like me engage the people who are illiterate in the village and they will share an account of the encounter with the Divine.
In effect, what I am just saying in strict sociological terms is like the problem of social order. All societies have to address it, they address in different ways but they do. All societies regulate sexual encounters, through rules of incest etc, but they do so differently. All societies and all humans have to come up with an account of the meaning of their lives here, whatever it is. To say that life has no meaning is not an easy claim especially if you want to live it out. That also requires a lot of faith and effort. As Kant said, part of what it means to be human is to wrestle with this questions although he is convinced that pure reason cannot get into this realm because it is beyond physical, i.e., metaphysics.
This is not restricted to Christians only or persons who give their lives to Christ. I am a Christian but I have studied this subject very much and know that it is naive to think so. I show my students the National Geographic Film titled "INSIDE MECCA." They are shocked at the commitment of the believers and how the believers attest to being impacted. The students often assume only their faith can deeply impact a person at heart. Our goal is to introduce them to the variety of religious experience or encounter with the DIVINE.
Personally, I do not believe any religion can make all others believe that particular religion in the world i.e., convert all. WE will have to live with this for as long as the world lives. The literature on conversion suggests this will never happen. It did not happen in the past during the golden ages of the religions and it will not happen now or in the future. I know this is hard to swallow but this is what the historical evidence says. You cannot even covert all Muslims or all Christians to one denomination, no matter what you do.
That is why some of us encourage and promote inter-religious dialogue and cross-cultural understanding. This is personal testimony. Many Christians would like their personal testimony to be taken seriously but they want to ignore others. This is not a problem of some Christians only, many Muslims or other religious people do that as well. But if one thinks of it deeply and patiently studies it empirically and broadly, it is simplistic.
Samuel
On Fri, Sep 4, 2015 at 12:15 AM, Obadiah Mailafia <obmailafia@gmail.com> wrote:
Obadiah MailafiaProf. Samuel Zalanga,I read with great interest your theological disquisitions. You seem to believe that all the answers lie with theology. Christianity is really not about theology. Christianity is Christ coming into the life of the believer and making all things new. Theology is man/woman reasoning about the things of God. You can be a great theologian and not be a Christian at all. Paul Tillich and Albert Schweitzer come to mind. Some of the greatest saints had never heard of Aquinas or even St. Augustine. This issue is not about theology. It is about who Christ is in the heart of the believer. Theologies can come and go as the fashion changes, but the Word is eternal and unchangeable. Please do not confuse issues.--On Tue, Sep 1, 2015 at 11:35 PM, Samuel Zalanga <szalanga@bethel.edu> wrote:In any case, here is another response to the article from one of the leading Evangelical magazine i.e., Christianity Today:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/june-web-only/exodus-international-alan-chambers-apologize-for-exgay-past.htmlWhile in Nigeria, I got into a lot of theological debates and arguments with people. It was not debate as such but I used the Socratic method of questioning people for better clarity and forcing them to face their own arguments.
I am sorry to say, and I do not say this out of arrogance but many Christians in Nigeria do not think deeply about their faith and theology in the modern world.They embrace the benefits of modernity but have not intellectual curiosity ot understand its fundamental underpinnings. Fanon raised this issue long ago.
I do not care what one's religion is but if you live in the modern world and you do not see the Tsunami then one has just decided to live in what some characterize as "ignorance is bliss."
I once heard someone talking about the bible in the dean's office at UJ, I waited for him to finish and then I told him that he talked to us if, he was speaking from outside history, he was from another space. We are mortals but he was not. I said so because the did not problematize the fact that as a human being who lives in concrete social and historical reality, he himself was part of the interpretation of the scriptures.
He failed to appreciate the fact that just as he believe the authority of the Bible, there are believers of Judaism who believe he has a terrible misunderstanding of the Torah (i.e., Old Testament), and there are Muslims who believe in the authority of Holy Quran and Hindus who believe in the Baghavat Gita. If he had lived 1500 years ago, in spite of being a good Christian he would not read the Bible the way he is reading it today. But for him, time is meaningless. It is a very simple way of approaching life. I wonder whether such an approach can really lay the foundation of transforming Africa. Of course Africans have the right to choose whether they want to be part of the modern world or not, but even if they choose to opt, it is not going to be an easy ride. But if they decide to be part of it, they need to ask: what are the minimum requirements for them to thrive in it.
For him, the Bible is just the authority. Well, when you live in the modern world, to say that means you see only you living and care less about others who equally see things differently. He wants us to believe him because he is a believer, but should that courtesy not be extended to other believers too? This is pre-modern way of thinking. He feels his beliefs and cosmology is the only one that exists and all others are simply wrong.Again, here is the weblink about Gay Marriage from Christianity Today Magazine:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/june-web-only/exodus-international-alan-chambers-apologize-for-exgay-past.htmlThe idea that if someone is religious they cannot think deeply and critically makes me feel uncomfortable. Life is complex and there is more coming.
As Max Weber said, the future of human beings in the modern world is not a Garden of Eden as Marx predicted, but an Iron Cage becasue of the continuous process of rationalization. Weber's observation scares me more because he argues, and this is particularly uneasy for neoliberals, that we will live in an iron cage becasue of the success of capitalism and not because of its failure. So just as some celebrate the triumph of neoliberal capitalism and see it as leading to a state of Nirvana, Weber is saying, that is exactly why the future of humanity will be a mess. There is no limit to the process of rationalization and no one can tell exactly where we are heading to. Forget about all those guys on Wall Street. They pretend but actually the analysis of 2008 crisis shows that they do not know much as they would want to us to believe. Unfortunately, many of the religious leaders fall in love with neoliberalism and never allowed the spirit of God to alert them about the 2008 mess. These are all empirical facts. And millions of people suffered innocently because of this mess.
The real challenge is going to be the problem of meaning in life. Even if the woman stopped being gay, fornication and adultery is all over in Nigeria. And when I was asked by a student in Jos about gay marriage, I asked him whether he thinks that angels in heaven based on his religion are happy and celebrating when people fornicate or commit adultery because they are using their sexual organs appropriately. The class laughed. The point -- why not equally be angry about other things the Bile and the Quran are against like corruption. Yet we know that religious leaders have become part of the corruption racket in Nigeria.I think talking about gay marriage in Nigeria and many places is a kind of religious therapy. You can commit damn things that are terrible even by the standards of one's faith and yet, have a sense of wholeness for being not gay and when you talk about it, it makes you feel that you are religious some kind of religious icon for defending the truth. Yet they are comfortable with usury, which is biblically sinful i.e., when people charge interest on money, not just high interest. Jesus can save her from gay lifestyle but he is not angry about the level of corruption in Nigeria and how that dehumanized people created in what the Bible describes as God's image. This Jesus is really selective about his concerns today. That is why people will say it is a socially constructed Jesus.
Indeed, II just finished reviewing this documentary which is very informative about the different cultural emphases and understanding of Jesus in history:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Face-Jesus-Art-DVD/dp/B00064678YSamuel--On Tue, Sep 1, 2015 at 12:13 PM, John Mbaku <jmbaku@weber.edu> wrote:What did Jesus rescue her from?--On Tue, Sep 1, 2015 at 10:29 AM, 'dayo emmanuel' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:--
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Samuel Zalanga
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Samuel Zalanga
Department of Anthropology, Sociology & Reconciliation Studies
Bethel University, 3900 Bethel Drive #24
Saint Paul, MN 55112.
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Department of Anthropology, Sociology & Reconciliation Studies
Bethel University, 3900 Bethel Drive #24
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