Re-imagining sources from the margins: Experience

Paper presentation
Subject: Theological Methodologies from the Margins
Topic: Re-imagining sources from the margins: Experience

Introduction:
Before we discuss the sources relevant for doing theology for subaltern and marginalized people in India, we should be clear of two significant points. One that we are talking of ‘theologies’ and not ‘a theology’. This is because in our country there are a number of subaltern communities or group carrying their own identities. Two, that we should always be aware of the caste element behind the ‘subalternity’ of these groups while doing theology for them. The spirit behind the ‘subaltern theology’ shall undoubtedly be same as that of liberation theology that is done in South or North America or in Africa, which is primarily people-oriented. This marginalized group undergoes different experiences and if we overlook it, then the theology will not be truly relevant to the Indian context.  

Definition of Experience:
The oxford dictionary defines experience as the knowledge and skill that you have gained through doing.  Experience refers to the nature of the events someone or something has undergone.  Experience is what is happening to us all the time - as we long we exist. Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory defines experiential learning as "the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience."

Dalit experience as the basic starting point:
Dalit theology is based on the experience of about 20 percent people of India, the worst sufferers of the age long caste system. Dalit theology is already popular both in India and elsewhere because majority of the Indian Christians were originally Dalits. The immediate goal of Dalit theology is the realization of human dignity and liberation from all types of oppressive structures. The plurality of theologies and method is a fact in the present day theological scene. Edward Schillebeeckx and john Sobrino take the humane suffering as their starting point. The commonality of these theologies is that they have taken the experiences of alienation, nothingness, powerlessness, dread, fear and anxiety as the starting point for constructing their theologies.
 In the case of Dalit theology, Dalit experiences of suffering should be the starting point.  The suffering of Dalits is both historical and a present reality. The pains and pathos of the Dalit consciousness is constituted by the perpetual experience of suffering, both physical and psychological. The stigma of being a polluted-untouchable creates a sense of non-humaneness, bewilderment and despair. The experiences of the loss of human dignity create immeasurable adverse impact in the total personality of a person.

What method should one adopt to articulate analysis and interpret the miseries of the Dalit? Western methods may throw some lights, but a new method should be found. Muller says: “Realistically, the starting point should be able to be critiqued by the method, call it into question, and improve it. After the starting point is surfaced, method will not allow sloppy reasoning or misapplication of the findings. The principles of coherence and the adequacy must apply and can be examined by anyone interested so that theologians actually do what they say they will do” this is a challenge before Dalit theologians. The Dalit experience of suffering is constituted by a complex combination of a historic past with religious sanction and sanctification, economic deprivation, social segregation, wounded psyche and utter sense of powerlessness. How God shares in the experience is an important question to be asked.
 
Indian Women Experience:    
Feminist theologians have understood that “doing theology is a personal and political activity”. Feminist theology is not an attempt to make some small changes in traditional theology provides a clear paradigmatic shift in biblical interpretation. This is because the point of departure here is women’s experience in their struggle for liberation. Feminist theology is emerging in the Third World as “an irruption within the irruption of the poor in the Third World”. The women’s movement in India has grown to be concerned not only with dowry and other forms of violence against women such as infanticide, foeticide and domestic violence, but it has also included concern for the increasing poverty and the external debt of the nation: the price rise and non-availability of essential commodities; the increasing threats to the lives of Dalits.
  
No feminist methodology can ignore the depth of suffering of Indian women under the yoke of poverty. Whatever yardstick may be employed, it is clear that women are the poorest of the poor in this society. Dalit women, who have been called the “Dalit among the Dalit” are the worst affected by the grinding poverty and social oppression. Traditional occupations which have been eroded by “development” programmes must also be taken into account in an analysis of this dehumanising of some sections of women even more than others. Any methodology must therefore take into consideration gender and racial/cast oppression as much as it must take the economic/class dimension seriously. We could never become a new community as long as women-particularly Dalit and tribal women-live in such an inhuman and hostile environment. Feminist theological methodology has to be rooted in their experiences.                                        
Feminist Methodology- Its Experiential Base 
  
Women have discovered a new poor in being able to share with each other their everyday experiences of pain or of celebration. From the depths of women’s stories of joys and sorrows, trumphs and defeats, we can draw a tapestry of theological exploration which is contextual and is based on a community in struggle for human hood. Women long to find a theological meaning for their suffering and pain. Feminist scholars, who have inspired Indian feminists, have shown that traditional biblical interpretations cannot be value free of objective and deepened on prejudices and presuppositions of those who translate or exegete them. According to Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza “Scholars not only translate the New Testament texts into a masculinised language, but also interpret them from a patriarchal perspective”.
  
A feminist hermeneutics of suspicion in India is therefore based on a new understanding of our biblical and extra biblical history so that we can discover the liberating possibilities of the gospel for today so as to challenge a society their dignity as human persons. Women have also realised that church dogmas, language and symbols have all been formulated out of male experiences. There is a growing history has been erased or has remained unspoken. “One is not even able to remark upon or notice women’s absence since women’s silence and absence is the norm”. Out of their experiences, Asian women are re-interpreting Christology. The cross takes on new significance in a context where women are expected to “sacrifice” themselves for the sake of others at all times, totally denying their own identity. 
Tribal Theology: Nature and Method
        
Like other third world theologies, tribal theology is also a contextual theology. It seeks to reflect on the faith experience of the tribal people and aims to liberate tribal’s from their inferiority complex from oppression and discrimination by attempting to rediscover the liberative motifs from the tribal culture, reinterpreting the Bible and Christian traditions. Hence, the focus and goal of the tribal theology is liberation. It embraces social, economic culture, political and ecological dimensions. In the process of working for their own liberation, the tribal’s work for the liberation of both oppressor and the exploited. It is, therefore a theology which includes liberation of whole humanity and God’s creation. 
  
However, our point of departure from other dominant theologies is that we seek our liberation from the perspective of ‘space’. In our search for liberation the issue of space is very central and crucial in doing tribal theology. A peculiar character of tribal worldview is that the tribal people’s culture, religion and spirituality cannot be conceived without “creation/land” or “space”. Humans always understand themselves as an integral part of creation/land and not apart from it. Therefore, the issue of ‘space’ is not merely a justice issue to be set alongside other justice concerns. But it is the foundational theology of self-understanding out of which liberation, justice and then peace will flown naturally and necessarily. Poverty, oppression ethnic conflict and identity issues cannot be understood without creation/land. Justice to creation/land is the key to liberation and human dignity. That is why harmony with ‘space’ is the starting point of the tribal people’s spirituality and their search for liberation. Commitment and dedication to the harmony of creation/land springs fort in love, nurture, care, acceptance and peace flow naturally and necessarily. When there is justice in the land, the fields and forests and every living things will dance and sing for joy (Ps. 96:11-12). Thus, and awareness of being one with the whole of creation is the spiritual foundation of the tribal people.

The challenge before us is to commit ourselves to the struggles for the transformation of the poor, the weak and the disfigured and also to curtail the over-exploitation of nature. The question of identity, culture and religion of the tribal’s are also inseparatbly related to space and thus the survival crisis of these people is an integral part of the ecological crisis in our country today. They feel that without restoring justice to space, tribal and oppressed communities cannot attain liberation. Thus, there is a growing awareness and sensitivity among the contemporary theologians about the issue of justice in relation to the ecological problem. The tribal people feel a close affinity with this approach because of its emphasis on the relationship of the oppression of the poor and the whole of creation. The tribal’s throughout their history have been affirming that without recognition of the goodness and worth of creation as created and valued by God’s creation, human cannot attain liberation. Thus, the tribal cannot perceive their liberation and justice apart from justice to ‘space’.

Implication for Doing Theology from margins:

1. Construct a theology based on the tribal people’s experience and realities. It will involve reconstruction of theology from people’s perspective.
(a)    Focus on poor and oppressed nature.
(b)    Focus to liberate oppressed, poor and marginalized people.
(c)    Challenge dehumanization and neo-colonization forces.
(d)    Instead of focusing on dogma, work for social, ethical and social justice.
(e)    Organize people who have been oppressed.
(f)    Move away from personal salvation to whole salvation.
(g)     Move away from official position to the church to people centred position.
(h)    Challenge the rich people analysis of the society from people’s experience and realities.
(i)    Don not aim to strengthen church institution, but work for renewal of God’s mission.
(j)    Reroot to local culture.

2. Make theology contextual:
Basing on the struggle and experience with the people, considering local culture and beliefs, cultivating the spirituality of people in struggle, enabling to give answer to the issues of injustice and promote human and inter-faith living.

3. Communication:
Communication theology through love, concrete action and struggle for justice and peace using people’s story and drama, considering local environment and nature, using oral and media and practicing in daily life and attitudes.     
                                                                                               
4. Do in a new way:
(a) New way of seeing church- not as institution but movement.
(b) New ways of understanding sin- not personal but also social.
(c) New ways of understanding salvation- not personal but all God’s creation.
(d) New ways of seeing realities- not status quo but social transformation.
(e) New ways of understanding mission- not propagating dogma but action by faith.
(f) New ways of reading bible- not caught up by the written word but discovering the meaning of Bible in daily life, not only past story but also present experience and reality.     

Conclusion:
 From the above discussion, it clearly shows us how important it is to do theology from the from the margins experience.  In doing theology we should not be exclusive but inclusive so that every section of society will be able to participate freely.    Doing theology without including marginalized group of people is no theology at all.

Bibliography:
George Keerankeri, S.J. & V.P. Srivastava. Eds. Taking Text to Context. Delhi: Allianz Enterprises, 2011.     

Joseph, M.P. Ed. Confronting Life: Theology out of the Context. New Delhi: ISPCK, 1995.

Longchar, A.wati. An Emerging Asian Theology: Tribal Theology. Jorhat: Tribal Study Centre, 2000.     

Lasetso, Razouselie. Ed. Garnering Tribal Resources for Doing Tribal Christian Theology.  Jorhat: ETC Programme Coordination, 2008.

Selvanayagam, Israel. Ed. Moving Forms of Theology: Faith Talk’s Changing Context. New Delhi: ISPCK, 2002.

Webliography:
http://www.wilderdom.com/experiential/ExperienceWhatIs.html. Date: 05/03/13 Time: 7:30pm.
       

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Critical Introduction to the Book of Jeremiah

Paper Presentation
Topic: Critical Introduction to the Book of Jeremiah

Introduction:                                                                                                                                   
Prophets are known as ‘Proclaimers’ and the Hebrew word nabi applied to the vast majority of Biblical Prophets. In the Old Testament they are known as ‘men of God’ and ‘Servant of God’ (1Sam. 9; 2 Kings 21:10). 

The Book of Jeremiah talked about the Prophet Jeremiah who served the Lord in sincerity and truth, but the People of Judah were not so inclined. The inhabitant’s of the Southern Kingdom and their leaders it fell into patterns of wickedness. They worshiped Idols and failed to follow God’s guidelines set forth in the Ten Commandments. The Lord repeatedly sent Prophets to correct his people, but even after the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to God’s judgment, the people of Judah refuse to repent. Through Jeremiah, God announced judgment was coming. Yet even in the midst of Judgment, the Lord extended the hope of redemption. In the midst of trying times, Jeremiah learned to take a stand for the Lord in a world hostile to His purposes and to remain firm in faith.
  
1.Introduction of the Book.
The book of Jeremiah is the longest book in the bible.  The Book was written between 630 and 580 B.C.  The contents of the book are not arranged in chronological order. The book consists of three primary types of material: poetry, biographical prose, and historical narrative. This material is arranged in four major sections- Chapter 1-25 present prophecies and visions of Jeremiah, Chapter 26-45 consist of biographical narratives about Jeremiah, Chapter 46-51 record prophecies against foreign nations, Chapter 52 is a historical narrative that closely parallels (2 Kings 24:18-25:30).
Jeremiah interpreted the Babylonian subjugation of Jerusalem in 605 BCE and the later destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE as acts of punishment by Yahweh, the God of Israel and Judah, for the people’s alleged failure to observe the divine will. Although the book of Jeremiah is largely concerned with destruction, it also holds out hope for the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem, especially in Jeremiah 30–33. The Hebrew Masoretic text (MT) is the standard form of Jeremiah in Jewish Bibles, but the Greek Septuagint (LXX) form of the book is approximately one-eighth shorter and displays a very different arrangements of materials (e.g., the oracles concerning the nations in MT Jeremiah 46–51 appear following portions of Jeremiah 25 in the LXX form of the book). The Dead Sea Scrolls likewise include remnants of early Hebrew forms of both of these versions. Scholarship consensus maintains that both versions grew out of a common original text, although the issue is still debated.

2. The Prophet Jeremiah:
Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, and was born about 650 B.C. at Anathoth, a priestly city in the land of Benjamin.  He was the line of Abaithar who had served as high priest under David. The Prophet was thus born into a family of religious leaders. Ironically, a descendant of Priests established to intercede for Israel and its King became instead the instrument by which God announced the destruction of Jerusalem and the demise of its Kings. Jeremiah was a man of great insight and depth. He was also a sensitive and very Human individual who captures our sympathies by the glimpses he gives us into his inner most thoughts and feelings. A Prophet called by God to bear a message to people who often did not want to hear it, Jeremiah never the less had compassion on his listeners. He did not separate himself from God’s people but rather identified with them and lamented the Judgment that would befall them. Jeremiah has been called “The weeping Prophet.” His tears are evidence of his great love for God’s people.  Jeremiah is indeed a figure of tragic sorrow, yet also a man of unconquerable hope.

3. Purpose of the book.
The Book of Jeremiah records the final prophecies to Judah, warning of oncoming destruction if the nation does not repent. Jeremiah calls out for the nation to turn back to God. At the same time, Jeremiah recognizes the inevitability of Judah’s destruction due to its unrepentant idolatry and immorality. The book of Jeremiah seems to involve two aims in its purpose. First Jeremiah announced the sin of Judah, which consisted basically in forsaking the Lord and devising a religious system that epitomized disobedience to the Lord. The second aim was to announce judgment if repentance was not forthcoming. The form of that judgment was the “evil from the north,” which Jeremiah eventually came to understand as being Babylonia.     

4. Historical Background.
The book of Jeremiah is the second of the major prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible, although rabbinic tradition sometimes places it first following Kings and prior to Ezekiel due to its thematic focus on destruction. It presents the words of the prophet, Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, who lived in Jerusalem during the late 7th century BCE reigns of the Judean kings,
i) Josiah (640–609 BCE),
ii) Jehoahaz (609 BCE),
ii) Jehoiakim (609–598 BCE),
iv) Jehoiachin (597 BCE), and
v) Zedekiah (597–587/6 BCE).
Jeremiah was a Levitical priest from Anathoth, who resided in Jerusalem during the last years of the kingdom of Judah. Major events during the period ascribed to Jeremiah include the outset of i) King Josiah’s reforms (c. 628 BCE),
ii) The death of Josiah (609 BCE),
iii) The Babylonian subjugation of Judah (605 BCE),
iv) Nebuchadnezzar’s first deportation of Jews to Babylon (597 BCE),
v) The Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (587–586 BCE), and
vi) Assassination of Gedaliah (582 BCE). 

5. Political Background.
The ministry of Isaiah was punctuated by the five Assyrian invasions into Israelite and Judean territory, was not marked by the level of anxiety, terror and tragedy that stalked Jeremiah’s long ministry for forty years. Whereas Isaiah had seen the destruction of Samaria and the exile of her citizens to the distant east, Jeremiah lived to see the awful destruction of Jerusalem, the city that had stood almost inviolable through the days of his predecessors in prophecy. The Assyria of Isaiah’s time was in the throes of death when Jeremiah’s call came to Him. The long reign of Asshurbanipal(668-631B.C), the last great King of  Neo-Assyrian Empire, had ended, the Harbingers of a new era appeared on the international horizon. In Babylonia the Chaldeans, who’s cultural influence had already made deep impressions in that land, were prepared to feel the vacuum that was developing in Empirical politics. They had made their political prowess felt when Merodachbaladan, of Chaldean extraction, had seized the Babylonian throne, and the decline of Assyrian power in the last half of the seventh century clear the way for  a comeback. It occurred when Nabopolassar took Babylon in 626. At that time Jeremiah was a novice at His profession, having received his call in the Thirteen year of Josiah (627-26 B.C) (Jer. 1:2; 25:3). 

6. Theological Idea.
Jeremiah’s theology stands in contrast to the view point of the nation as a whole. The people and leaders alike generally held that God had given Judah the land in an unconditional covenant that would never fail. They believed that God would always protect His temple and His people, no matter how wickedly they lived. This perspective allowed some of the worst religious and social abuses to continue without correction. Jeremiah responded that the covenant depended on obedience to God and fidelity to Him. To break the covenant is to invite divine judgment (Jer.7:1-15).

Judgment, however, was not the only message Jeremiah conveyed. The Lord also revealed through His prophet the promise of a new covenant that would involve God’s giving His people a new heart, a promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ (31:31-34). Jeremiah taught that God is transcendent, holy, and righteous and also forgiving. The prophet recognized God as the sovereign Lord and also a personal God who patiently listens to our doubts, questions and complaints. 

7. Prophecies and Message of Jeremiah:
Prophecies: Jeremiah's prophecies are noted for the frequent repetitions found in them of the same words, phrases, and imagery. They cover the period of about 50 years.
i.Threats against the "unfaithful shepherds" (i.e., the false prophets), the promise of peace and of the real shepherd (after 597), and warnings against false prophets and godless priests (perhaps in the time of Jehoiakim; 23:1-8, 9-40);
ii. Vision of the two baskets of figs, illustrating the fate of the captives and of those who were left behind, from the period after the first deportation by Nebuchadnezzar, in 597 (Chp. 24);
iii. Threats of punishments to be inflicted on Judah and the surrounding nations, the fourth year of Jehoiakim, i.e., the year of the Battle of Carchemish (605 BCE; Chp. 25);
iv. The first of the historical passages recounting Jeremiah's prophecy in the Temple (Chp. 7), his arrest, his threatened death, and his rescue, in which connection the martyrdom of the prophet Uriah is briefly mentioned (Chp. 26).
v. Protection for Israel following the period of destruction and exile.
vi. Utterances from the time of Zedekiah, the last connected prophecy of any length, in chapter 35, treating of the fidelity of the Rechabites and of the unfaithfulness of Judah. This dates from a somewhat earlier period, that of Jehoiakim (because certainly before 597), and thus forms a transition to the first passages of the narrative sections.
vii. Babylon will fall to invaders from the North. (Chp.51).

8. Message: 
The Prophet Jeremiah had a most difficult message to deliver. Jeremiah loved Judah, but he loved God much more. As painful as it was for Jeremiah to deliver a consistent message of judgment to his own people, Jeremiah was obedient to what God told him to do and say. Jeremiah hoped and prayed for mercy from God for Judah, but also trusted that God was good, just, and righteous. We too must obey God, even when it is difficult, recognize God’s will as more important than our own desires, and trust that God, in His infinite wisdom and perfect plan, will bring about the best for His children (Romans 8:28). 
Jeremiah engaged in Prophetic activity and preaching during the days of King Josiah and the Deuteronomy reforms. However Jeremiah seems to have emerged as a significant and forceful voice only after the death of Josiah and the ensuing collapse of the Deuteronomy reform movement. Judah and Jerusalem’s fate was sealed because its King and ruling classes refused to listen to Jeremiah as he spoke the words he believed came from Yahweh Himself. Jeremiah’s overwhelming encounter with God gave him courage, confidence, and a sense of mission. He could discern the fundamental errors in the policies of the King and the ruling classes which intent on a foreign policy aimed at securing independence from foreign suzerainty at all costs. Jeremiah could see that part of the problem lay in a blind and foolish faith in the theology of the royal court, which clung to the dogma of the inviobality of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah strongly affirmed that events in Judah Egypt and Babylon were subject much more to divine sovereignty than to human politics could succeed only to the extent that they accorded with God’s will. This was what Jeremiah persistently tries to impress on Jehoiakim and Zedekiah Yahweh’s Sovereign Lord also reserved the right to change His plans. In the midst of God’s grand act of grace, Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years in judgment Jeremiah takes the principle of blessing and Judgment, apply to Israel in Deuteronomy 27-28, and extents it to cover God’s freedom in dealing with Nations in general.  
Promises of Restoration: The future Hope- Jeremiah comforted those in captivity, telling them that though the exile would be long instead of short, the lord still had message of grace: ‘I know the plans for you... plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and future’ (29:11). He also expresses messianic hopes for the future. God will rise up a ‘righteous branch for David’ (23:5-6; 33:15-16). Jeremiah is probably drawing imagery from Isaiah and describing the messiah as ‘Branch’ (Is. 4:2; 11:1, 10); Zechariah would follow Jeremiah’s lead (Zech.3:8; 6:12).  Jeremiah 23:5-6 presents a prophecy of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. The prophet describes Him as a Branch from the house of David (v. 5; Matthew 1), the King who would reign in wisdom and righteousness (v. 5, Revelation 11:15). It is Christ who will finally be recognized by Israel as her true Messiah as He provides salvation for His chosen ones (v. 6; Romans 11:26).

9. People’s Respond.
Jeremiah was commanded by God to stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and deliver God’s message of coming Judgment unless they repented (26:2-6). However, the people did not heed Jeremiah’s warning. Instead of following his prophecy, they declared that Jeremiah must die (26:7-8). The matter was presented formally to the officials of Judah (26:10-11). Jeremiah asserted that the prophecies he gave were those commanded by the Lord. If they killed him, they would be guilty of innocent blood (26:12-15). After Jeremiah’s reply, his word was recognized as coming from the Lord (26:16). The prophecy of the Lord, given in the time of Hezekiah, that Jerusalem would be destroyed as heard and believed by Hezekiah (Isaiah 37:1-7), and the result was that the disaster did not fall on them (Jer. 16:17-19). When Uriah delivered the same prophecies as Jeremiah, even though he fled to Egypt, he was brought back and killed (26:20-23) but Jeremiah was delivered through the influence of Ahikam and was not put to death (26:24). His prophecies were fulfilled in the Babylonian captivity. 

Jeremiah 36:1-26. In obedience to the command from the Lord, Jeremiah dictated all his prophecies to Baruch who wrote them on a scroll (vv. 1-4). Jeremiah then instructed Baruch to read the Scroll before the house of the Lord to the people gathered there in hope that they would repent (vv. 5-7). In keeping the command of God, Baruch read the prophecies of Jeremiah (vv. 8-10). When it became known that his scroll read, Jehudi instructed Baruch to bring him the scroll (vv.11-14). When it was read the official told Jeremiah and Baruch to hide where they could not be found (vv.19).
When the scroll was read in the presence of the King, he cut it in pieces and threw it in the fire until it was burned (vv. 20-23). Though some protested, most of them did not; the King commanded that Baruch and Jeremiah be arrested (vv.26).

Jeremiah 37:1-17. None of the Kings attendants or the people paid any attention to the prophecies of Jeremiah (vv.1-2). Zedekiah, however, sent word to Jeremiah to pray for him (vv.3) because Pharaoh’s army had come from Egypt and attack the Babylonians, the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem was lifted (vv.4-5).

Jeremiah instructed the King that when Pharaoh’s army would go back to Egypt, the Babylonians would return, attack the city, and burn it down (vv.7-8). God stated through Jeremiah that they should not be deceived, that Babylon would certainly come and destroy them (vv.9-10). When Jeremiah attempted to leave Jerusalem he was arrested, beaten, and imprisoned (vv.11-15). Jeremiah, however, was proud in secret to King Zedekiah in order that he might know whether there was a word from God. “Yes” Jeremiah replied ‘you will be handed over to the King of Babylon’ (v.17). This prophecy was fulfilled (2 Kings 25:5-7).

Key Verses:
Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 
God’s opening words to Jeremiah himself unveiled a larger setting and a longer story. To be told before I formed you in the womb I knew you were to be given at once a new center of gravity, away from the sole self and from the confines of the immediate scene. The very expression I formed you, brought its own hint of the potter’s care and skill- lest it should ever seem to Jeremiah that his sensitive and vulnerable nature was a cruel accident. He was handmade for this task. 

Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” 
Only heaven sees us as we really are, and can deal with us as we should be dealt with. Here deceitful is compared to Jacob who deceived his brother Esau.  The prophet described the heart as deceitful. There are many things and people that are likely to fool a man, but his own heart is the worst of all. The author once thought that although God could protect him from every danger as long as he trusted Him, there was no reason why he could not chose to leave God of His own accord now he realizes that if God does not protect him from himself, he is not under His care at all for he is left exposed before his most treacherous enemy, his own deceitful heart. Of all thing the heart is the most misleading. 

Jeremiah 29:10-11, “This is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” 
With God there is nothing skimped or superficial. The two-year exile promised by the false prophets (28:3,11) would have been a cruelly pointless march and countermarch; but in a span of seventy years there was a role for Babylon on the world stage; there were great deeds and visions; and there was time  for Israel’s heart-searching and for the kind of praying (Ish.63:7; 64:12). Those who returned would be, for all their faults, pioneers zealous for the purity of Israel; but the verse 12-13 look for a personal and heart-whole openness to God which neither Israel nor the church has often shown. God’s plan ‘to give you a future and a hope’ went deeper and further, as they still do, than prosperity; and the call of verse 13 to seek and find is a fresh as its promise is inexhaustible.

Evaluation:
The Book of Jeremiah is primarily a message of judgment on Judah for rampant idolatry (Jeremiah 7:30-34; 16:10-13; 22:9; 32:29; 44:2-3). After the death of King Josiah, the last righteous king, the nation of Judah had almost completely abandoned God and His commandments. Jeremiah compares Judah to a prostitute (Jeremiah 2:20; 3:1-3). God had promised that He would judge idolatry most severely (Leviticus 26:31-33; Deuteronomy 28:49-68), and Jeremiah was warning Judah that God’s judgment was at hand. God had delivered Judah from destruction on countless occasions, but His mercy was at its end. Jeremiah records King Nebuchadnezzar conquering Judah and making it subject to him (Jeremiah 24:1). After further rebellion, God brought Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies back to destroy and desolate Judah and Jerusalem (Jeremiah chapter 52). Even in this most severe judgment, God promises the restoration of Judah back into the land God has given them (Jeremiah 29:10).

Bibliography:
Bullock, C. Hassell. An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books. Chicago: Moody Press, 1986.

Dillard, Raymond B. and Tremper Longman III. An Introduction to the Old Testament.  Grand Rapids: Apollos, 1995.

Francisco, Clyde T. Studies in Jeremiah. Nashville: Convention Press, 1961.

Kidner, Derek. The message of Jeremiah. Leicester: Inter-Versity Press, 1987.

Kuist, Howard Tillman. “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” in The Layman’s Bible Commentary.  Edited by Balmer H. Kelly. Richmond: John Knox Press, 1961.

Sanford La Sor, William. Old Testament Survey. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans  Publishing Company, 1982.
Sawyer, J.F.A. Prophecy and the Biblical Prophets. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Walvoord, John F. Every Prophecy of the Bible. Secunderabad: OM Books, 1999.

Yarnell, Malcolm  B. Explore the Bible. Nasville: Lifeway, 2005.

Webliography:
Bible.org/article/introduction-book-Jeremiah. 9.45pm, 7.3.2013.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Book_of_Jeremiah&oldid. 8.13pm.7.3.2013.

www.gotquestion.org/book-of-Jeremiah.html. 9.57pm, 7.3.2013.

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Re-imaging the Ekklesia as community of Communities

Introduction:
The word “Ekklesia” is a Greek word, meaning “gathering of those summoned”, which literally means “those called out” and understood as “Church” or “Assembly” or democratically elected parliament, or the political assembly of citizens of an ancient Greek state, or “meeting”, especially a religious congregation. A better translation of “Ekklesia” would be “community”. Hence, “Ekklesia” is a community, a community of chosen people for a purpose.

Ekklesia is the Greek word that has been translated in the Bible as "church," 108 times.The word ekklesia was a political term, not a religious term. Jesus was the King and the Bible used the term ekklesia for a good reason. In classical Greek "ekklesia" meant "an assembly of citizens summoned by the crier, the legislative assembly."

People all over the world see “The Church” not only as the house of God where the presence of the Almighty dwells, but also as the fulcrum of their fellowship life and diaconal intervention in society. Being part of the Church and thus the kingdom experience give meaning and direction to the life of many people. The Church has always existed in context, and the social milieu has always influenced the way the Church find its beings. On the other hand, the Church has also been a strong influence in defining how society sees itself and its responsibility, especially for those living on the margins of society.
In this paper, we shall try to understand the purpose, responsibility and duty of Christian communities: Ekklesia as community of Communities.

The Praxis of Community:
The concept of community (koinonia) was signified by the pronounce “one another” (allelon) by the post-Easter church, especially in the Pauline mission communities. They stressed the togetherness of Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, man and woman as well as the formula of “build one another up” (1 Thess. 5:11). Paul  uses another concept. “edification” (oikodomia), referring to the building up of the local communities. Paul is aware of the responsibility of all for one another (1 Cor. 14:2-6; 14:26) to build up the community through greeting, encouraging, consoling, admonishing, teaching, caring, and waiting for one another. Paul lists the essential requirement of community life, such as, the need to live in harmony with one another (1 Cor. 12:25), to build up one another (Rom 12:16), to have the same care for one another (1 Cor. 12:25), to build up one another (1 Thess. 5:11) and to admonish one another (Rom 15:14). It also meant that the courage to admonish one another fraternally and the humility to let oneself be corrected are among the most certain signs of the presence and consciousness of authentic community.
It is a privilege to be a part of the Church. The called-out community has many responsibilities outside but unless it understand its responsibility within, it cannot be effective in its mission outside.

Ekklesia as Congregation, Community and Church:
Congregation means both actual process of congregating and the congregated community itself. The community is the constant source of the constantly repeated event of congregating. In many languages the word “church” is still used today in the sense of the act of coming together. “Congregation”, “Community” and “Church” are not mutually exclusive terms, but should be seen as interconnected. The undeniable fact that the New Testament itself always uses the same word “Ekklesis” where we would say “Congregation”, “Community” or “Church”. The three words are not in competition, but complement one another in translating the very rich and many-faceted “Ekklesia”.

“Congregation” expresses the fact that the Ekklesis is never merely a static institution, but one that exist through the repeated event of a concrete coming together.“Community” emphasizes that the Ekklesia is never merely an abstract and distant superorganization of functionaries set above the concretely congregated community, but is a fellowship of people who meet regularly at a given place and a given time for a given purpose.“Church”makes it plain that Ekklesia is never merely a disconnected jumble of isolated and self-sufficient religious groups, but the members, united through their individual service, of an embracing fellowship.

Ekklesia as a Movement:
Ekklesia as a community is also an institution that practices and promotes democracy, justice and equality among the people. It negates all manifestation of dominion and exclusion. But it does not mean that Ekklesia should be or its movement is in agitating form like other social movements. It is a movement started by God and its principle is solely based on God’s will revealed through His word.

C. Gene Wilkes entitled his book as, “Ekklesia:The Unstoppable Movement of God”. The Church is the local and global body of believers founded on God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and commissioned to proclaim His true identity to the world. As Ekklesia is a community, We must not think of “church ministry" as belonging only to preachers and notable Christian leaders. Its movement should be involved by every member.
Ultimately, The Church is God's Plan for taking the gospel to the entire world. By building up its members in Christ’s likeness through the instruction of God's Word, fellowship, service, worship, and prayer, the Church becomes an unstoppable force when it comes to glorifying God. It is crucial to look at it not just as a local institution (church) but as the global body made up of all believers (Church). Only with Christ as the foundation can a church and the Church be effective.

Ekklesia: The need for community:
Marginal people in community have very particular needs. They are wounded and lack self-confidence; they are often despairing. They can be buffeted by terrible anguish, which drives them to attack others or themselves in ways that even they cannot understand. If they are to refind hope, marginal people have to feel loved and accepted. It is not simply through being welcome that they will rediscover their own value and capacities for positive action.They need people who will listen to them, with all their wound and needs, and sense what they really want. This demands time and patience, because they are afraid of revealing themselves and won’t open up to just anyone.

There are so many people who live alone, crushed by their loneliness. It is obvious that so much solitude can drive people off the rails,to depression or alcoholism. More and more people seem to have lost their balance because their family life has been unhappy. There are so many who are lost, taking drugs, turning to delinquency or just hiding themselves in a world of rock music, films and distractions; there are so many who are looking for a sense of belonging and a meaning to their lives. In years to come, we are going to need many small communities which will welcome lost and lonely people and who are excluded base on caste, race or language, offering them a new form of family and a sense of belonging. In the past, Christians who wanted follow Jesus opened hospitals and schools. Now that there are so many of these Christians must commit themselves to the new communities of welcome, to live with people who have no other family, and to show them that they are loved and can grow to greater freedom and that they, inturn, can love and give life to others.

In this regards, every Christian as a part of a community has a very important role to play. We must not think of “ministry" as belonging only to preachers and notable Christian leaders.Every Christian in the entire church of Jesus Christ has a ministry, and the church of Jesus will not reach maturity until the entire church is playing a part in building the church up in love.
There are two aspects to the matters which we must consider: 1. Every Christian has gift and abilities from God for the service of the Church or community. 2. The second aspect is that the preaching ministers are trainers of the entire church of Jesus Christ.

We must focus our sights on the calling of the Church. It is a calling to maturity, a maturity of faith, a maturity of great love. It is important to see that the final goal is love or charity. The whole body “builds itself up in love”. This is the nature of the final vision: it is a call to be loving everyone everywhere.
Using the analogy of the body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31), Paul emphasizes the importance of each church member. If a seemingly insignificant part is taken away, the whole body becomes less effective. Thinking that your gift is more important than someone else’s is spiritual pride. We should not look down on those who seem unimportant, and we should not be jealous of others who have impressive gifts. Instead, we should use the gifts we have been given and encourage others to use theirs. If we don’t, the body of believers will be less effective.

Ekklesia as community of Communities:
The union of Churches achieved (in India) so far is the result of the basic unity reached in doctrinal matters. However, the question remains whether the united Churches achieved any success in overcoming barriers based on caste, race or language, which threatened the unity of the Church life.
One of the Church’s important goal and mission should now be to build an inclusive liberative community. Inclusiveness should not end within the boundary of the local Church and community. But it should rather be borderless and serve as a community of communities. It other words the responsibility, function, policy andvision of the localcommunity or church should be for communities outside the Church – A community for the communities.

The Church should be both a theological expression and a sociological reality. It is a community of people in concrete situations of life. Thus, there is a need to continually search for authenticity, credibility, constant reformation and reformulation within and outside the Church in the light of the contemporary situations.
The collaboration with other religions is filled with some theological question and practical suggestion. Theological question are: Can religions encounter one another? Is there are common base for them to work together? If so, with what goal? Do the religions practiced by the followers of other faiths reflect the values of the kingdom of God? Answers to these questions will help the bishops and the Christians to seek a common basis and goal for collaboration.

Looking from the Christological point of view the two level have one common meeting point in the Reign of God. In the New Testament, we understand that these two levels are very harmoniously blended and dynamically active in the life of Jesus in whom the Reign of God has its beginning. Jesus had, on the one hand the “mountain experience” – “his prayer” (Mt 14:23; Mk 6:46; Jn 6:15) – “his helplessness” (Mk 14:36), in which, he experienced God as ABBA, Father; and on the other hand, the “market experience” – “the helplessness of the people” (mt 9:36), for whom he has universal compassion. It is in their helplessness that he hears the call of his father to save them.  As a response, he preached and practiced compassion – the love of neighbor. Although he himself was a master and lord, he served others. He took the role of a humble servant and opted to serve the downtrodden of the society which brought him accusations, condemnation, suffering and lastly death. He, who integrates both the mountain and market experiences can be a basis for all religions to come together, work and serve together.

Conclusion:
Our paper has explored various processes related to Ekklesia and its milieu. In this process, we have tried to explore the consciousness and self-understanding of Ekklesia as a community of communities. We have propose Ekklesia as an unlimited community without borders, cross-culture, which is inclusive and not exclusive in its nature. Nevertheless, being inclusive doesn’t mean we should compromise with our faith and belief. It is solely for the purpose and preservation of the Body of Christ to dwell in unity and in oneness and voluntarily enforcing ourselves to the unstoppable movement of God.

Bibliography:
1.    Devadoss, Richard J, eds., Ecclesiology: The continuing Possibility of Renewal. New Delhi: ISPCK, 2012.
2.    Devakadasham, G, eds.,Ecclesiology: The continuing Possibility of Renewal . New Delhi: ISPCK, 2012.
3.    Valiamangalam, Joseph. Community in Mission: Mission Consciousness of Christian Communities, A Contextual Missiological Study. New Delhi: ISPCK, 2008.
4.    Kung, Hans. The Church. New York: Image Books, 1976.
5.    Vanier, Jean. Community and Growth. Bombay: St. Paul Publication, 1991.
6.    Eaton, Micheal. How to Enjoy God’s Worldwide Church. England: Sovereign World, 1195.
7.    Paul, Victor, ed., Ecclesiology: The continuing Possibility of Renewal. New Delhi:
ISCPK, 2012.
8. Alangaram, A. Religons for Societal Transformation. Bangalore: Asian Trading
    Corporation, 2006.
9. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite (CD-ROM).
10.    Ilumina Animated Bible, (CD-ROM).

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Prophetic Ministry before Monarchy: Moses, Samuel and Deborah

Topic        : Prophetic Ministry before Monarchy (Moses, Samuel and Deborah)
Subject    : Vision and Mission of the Prophet
Lecture    : Mr. xxx
Presenter    : xxx

Introduction:
Generally a person who serves as a channel of communication between the human and divine worlds is known to be prophet. The biblical prophets played an important role in Israelite religion and society. The prophets have been considered moral and ethical innovators, who brought Israelite religion to a higher level of development. Thus, the prophets who played a great role in propagating the message of God to the people and development of Israelites religion and society before the formation of monarchy are Moses, Samuel, and Deborah.

Moses:
According to the Hebrew Bible Moses was a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew ("Moses is also known as Teacher/Rabbi"), he is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important prophet in Christianity and Islam, as well as a number of other faiths.  The man chosen by God to lead the Hebrew people out of Egyptian bondage, and lead the Hebrew people to the promise land.

Background of Moses:
According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was born at a time when the Hebrews had become such a troublesome and were increasing in number the Egyptian king Pharaoh was worried that they might help their enemies. Pharaoh decided to kill all the newborn male children. Many infants were slain as a consequence of this cruel order but one infant survived and that was Moses.  He was adopted as a foundling by the Egyptian royal family and was brought up by Pharaoh’s daughter treated as the grandson of Pharaoh. The name she gave to him was Moses (meaning “drawn out of the water”) and given an education that befits a royal prince. Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And as a result he “was powerful in speech and action”. He was a statesman and a soldier. “Mighty in words and in deeds”.  Though he was raised from the palace, he was nurse by his own Hebrew mother Jochabed. Thus, even though he was reared in the midst of Egypt’s royal family, Moses learned the values of the people of God. 

The role played by Moses:
Although Abraham was the founding father of Israel, Moses was one who organized the nation, promulgated their laws, and, under God, led them for forty years through the wilderness. He was a prophet, a priest, and all most a king as he directed every facet of national life.  He played a key role in the Exodus, and later he received the Ten Commandments from God. When his time of training was completed, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him his mission - the Exodus (Exodus 3:1-22). Moses was 80 years old at the time of the Exodus. He had spent 40 years in the palace of Pharaoh (learning how to govern), and 40 years in the Sinai (learning how to live in the Sinai wilderness).  Moses was given an important role by God to deliver the Hebrew people out of Egypt from their bondage of slavery; he was the mighty instrument of God.   Moses concern for his people led directly to his exile from Egypt, when he killed an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite. But after forty years in the desert of Midian, God called him to return to Egypt and lead Israel out of slavery. The call at the burning bush set aside as a prophet, one who would speak the word of God to the Israelites and to Pharaoh. A prophet was a God’s spokesman (Ex. 7:1), and with the help of Aaron, Moses communicated God’s message of deliverance. Even after the Exodus, it was Moses who spoke God’s words to Israel at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:3, 7). In his role as a prophet, Moses was unique. When Aaron and Miriam claimed that God spoke through them as through Moses, God replied that He spoke with Moses face to face, not in dreams and visions, but face to face. God performed miraculous signs and wonders through him. Many of these miracles were designed to convince Pharaoh and his officials to release the Israelites, and when the Israelite were trapped at the edge of the Red Sea, Moses raised his staff and extended his arms, and God made a path through the water. This was not the end of Moses activity, but however, for several times in the desert God performed wonders through Moses. At Mount Sinai Moses served as a lawgiver and became the mediator of the old covenant. Moses remained the spiritual leader of Israel even after the priest and the Levites were carrying out their responsibility. 

Background of Samuel:
 Samuel probably means “El in his name or name of God”  His Parents were Elkanah and Hannah, Samuel’s came as an answer to the prayer request of a faithful mother.  She dedicated Samuel before his birth as a ‘Nazirite’ after his weaning he was brought up in the Shiloh Temple by the priest Eli.  The Hebrew Bible portrays Samuel in a variety of roles, as a priest, prophet, Judge and Seer. (1Sam1-3) portrays him as an aspiring priest and performing sacrificial functions often associated with priest. (1Sam9:5-14, 18-21) refers to Samuel as a Seer, one who has the gift of Clair vogance and (1sam3:20) explicitly labels Samuel as a prophet this is the epithet which later tradition commonly used for him. According to (1Sam8:18-18, 10: 17-18) he acts as a prophets announcing doom upon the ill-fated king. However the great number of scholar associated the historical Samuel is that of Judged (Sam7:15) declares that Samuel judge Israel all the day of his life.

Context:
 Despite all the efforts of the Judges, the Israelites had failed to gain full control of the land of Palestine.1Samuel 4 describes the first big battle between them. In the first attack the philistines were victorious.  The Israel lost thirty thousand Men, or the battle attacked with Philistines and much of the territory was captured by Philistines.  The philistine captured the Ark, and killed the son of Eli who were responsible for the Ark. Probably the Philistines went on to destroyed the shrine at Shiloh, where the Ark was usually kept, Eli died of shock at the news of all that had happened. Even so there was a leader left in the Israel who had been called by God. He was Samuel. He began his service of God at Shiloh and God had chosen him to rebuke Eli and His Sons for Their false way (1Sam.3:10-14). After Shiloh was destroyed Samuel moved to his family home at Ramah. From there He went out year by year to act as Judge among the twelve’s tribes, setting case and keeping peace between the people (1 Sam.7:15-17).However The leadership represented by Eli, Samuel, and their sons and other judges were not effective for the accomplishment of their goals therefore peoples began to demand for a king like the other nations, The emergence of monarchy took placed during his time.
   
The role of Samuel:
Samuel played three important roles as priest, as a prophet, and as a judged. As a priest he anointed Saul as a leader over Israel, he enumerated the various “signs” that would show Yahweh’s confirmation of his choice. And when King Saul failed form his kingship, David was anointed by Samuel form among the son of Jesse. The story of the voice which Samuel mistook for Eli’s, shows that Samuel had a direct call from God to be a prophet. This experience is compared with Moses burning bush or the visions of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Samuel as a prophet or as a spiritual leader of Israel played an outstanding role in the life of Israel. Under his spiritual guidance the Israel made the shift from the politically in adequate tribal confederacy to the more stable government of the monarch. Samuel leader is portrayed in two types of traditions which can be traced rather easily in (I Sam. 1-12) in both Samuel is describing as a person who plays an important role in Israel faithful decisions to establish the monarchy.  Nothing that happened among the tribes was beyond his concern. Acting in a variety of capacities, he served the tribes faithfully in a crucial period of biblical history, when the external pressure brought upon Israel by the Philistines called for reaching social and political changes.  He played an important role in setting up the legal disputes, for which propose he made an annual circuit of the shrines of Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah (7:15-17).  During that time the Israelites were suffering defeat at the hand of the Philistines, who had stolen the ark of God from the Tabernacle (4-5) under Samuel prophetic encouragement and with divine assistance Israel gained victory over the Philistines and recapture the Ark of the Covenant.

Message of the Samuel:
The Ministry of Samuel was an important task between the time of the judges and the reign of David. The two chapters of I Samuel introduced the birth and life of Samuel as of the prophets of scripture (I Sam. 7: 3-19). Samuel challenged the house of Israel to return to the Lord. And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel ‘if you are returning to the lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of foreign gods and Ashtoreth’s and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines’. When Israel was asking for the king Samuel warned the children of Israel about what a king would do for them. He remains them that the day will come when you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen and the Lord will not answer you and that day and this was fulfilled (I Kings 12: 2-15). After Saul was anointed as a king of Israel,  Samuel introduced the people of Israel, Samuel said, “But be sure to fear the Lord and serve God faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away”. After Saul’s disobedience, Samuel told him, “the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of neighbours to one better than you. He who is the glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind”.
When David became a king, he predicted David’s victory over the warring Philistines and brings back the ark to the city of David. The prediction was also given that David would have a great name (2Sam7:9).In this way the message of God was convey by Samuel to the people of Israel and to the kings.  

Background of Deborah:
Deborah was the only women in the Bible who was placed at the height of political power by the common consent of the people.  She was a judge, a warrior, and a prophet in Israel during the time of the Judges, she was also a singer of songs  and a nurse who accompanied Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel, she was the fourth of Israel judges, a native of Issachar  (Jud 5:15) and a wife of Lappidoth (4:4).  She lived in the hill of Ephraim,  as a prophetess who “Judged” Israel in the 13th or 12th century. She had her Headquarter under “the palm tree of Deborah” between Ramah and Bethel (Jud 4:5) where the people or leaders of various tribes came to have their disputes arbitrated and settled. The songs of Deborah (Jud 5:2-31) celebrate the victory of Deborah and Barak over Sisera and one of the oldest pieces of literature in the Old Testament. 

Context:
Deborah is introduced as a saviour of her people and the only women in the distinguished company of the judges. In the tribal structure of Israel women normally occupied a subordinate position, but they could and did on rare occasions rise to prominence and the Old Testament witnesses to the qualities of prominent women like Miriam (ex. 15:20) and Huldah (2 king 22:14). At the time of Crisis Deborah was already established as a prophetess and a Judge in the non-military sphere. Her summon and challenge to Barak was in the name of Yahweh, the distinctive name for the God of Israel.  The period of the judges in ancient Israel extended from the death of Joshua after the Israelites had settled in the land of Canaan to the institution of a monarchy with the anointing of Saul as king. The term “Judges” is not to be interpreted in a legal sense but rather as a designation for heroes and a heroine upon whom the spirit of God rested and whose temporary rule was not necessarily supported by all the tribes of the federation.  Deborah was one of those rare individuals who had a special charismatic gift of the spirit of God (judges 6:34, 11:29, 14:6) as such she was recognized a prophetess (Jud 4:4). Although she probably gained her reputation as an ordinary non-military Judge, she was best remember by later generations as the one able to rally the scattered tribes of Israel to loyalty to Jehovah, and hence as their saviour or deliverer from the oppression of Jabin, king of the Canaanites (Jud 5). Her own contemporaries respected her as a “mother in Israel” (judges 5:7).
She promoted a war of liberation; the only war against Canaanite oppression described in the book of judges and possibly Israel’s last campaign against the Canaanite. It was not a war of isolated tribes but a war of national deliverance carried out by volunteers. The victory was a women’s victory, brought about by Deborah and Jael, the women who killed the Canaanite Commander. The song of Deborah is among the earliest of Hebrew heroic poems, and although it is attributed to both Deborah and Barak, the presence of many female images has led scholars to acknowledge that the author was a woman. It is a victory song similar to psalm 68, in a complete reversal of the norm; her husband is named without a single descriptive word about him. This has led to speculation that ‘eshet lappidot’ may not mean “wife of Lappidoth” but rather “spiritual women”

Message: 
Deborah arose to great leadership because she trusted God implicitly and because she could inspire in others the same trust. For twenty years Jabin, king of Canaan had oppressed the children of Israel. Their vineyards had been destroyed, their women dishonoured, and their children slain. Many had turned to the worship of idols. Before Deborah became a leader in war, she was a homemaker; she sits and gives council to the people who came to her. As a counsellor in time of peace her greatest service came in time of war and she led her people into war. Most of them had stood by fearfully because they were afraid of their enemies. While they paled with fear, Deborah burned with indignation at the oppression of her people. A gifted and an intrepid woman, she felt afraid to rise up against such fear and complacency, for she carried in heart the great hope that God would come to her peoples rescue if they would honour him. Deborah arose to denounce this lack of leadership and to affirm that deliverance was at hand. Her religious and patriotic fervour armed her with new strength.

She had the courage to summon one of Israel’s most capable military men, Barak, from his home in Kedesh. Together they worked out a plan for action against the enemy. Deborah spoke “Go” positively to the fainthearted Barak and she convinced Barak that the Lord would deliver Sisera and his Chariots and multitudes into their hands. Barak sensing the spiritual insight that Deborah possessed and feeling the urgent need for her presence and spiritual council, answered, “If thou will go with me, then I will go; but if thou will not go with me, then I will not go” (Judges 4:8) this is one of the most unusual passages in the bible spoken by a man to a women. It demonstrates a general’s great confidence in a woman, who had risen to a high place in Israel largely because of one quality, her abiding faith in God. 

Conclusion:
Thus the prophetic role or the prophetic ministry before monarchy was to liberate the desperate and sometimes antagonistic groups seeking refuge from a dominating and oppressive network of stratified city-state and to convey the message of God to the people as well. The prophet before the monarchy became the symbolic vehicle for bringing together and unifying a people, each of whom could see its own experience of oppression and liberation.
    They also played a spiritual leader for instance; Samuel under his spiritual guidance Israel made the shift from the politically inadequate tribal confederacy to the more stable government of the monarch.

Bibliography:
Anderson, Bernhard W. Understanding The Old Testament, 2nd edition. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1966.                                                                                              

Blank, Wayne. The Typical Role of Moses and the Exodus. Philadelphia: NP, 1960.

Cundall, Arthur E. Judges: An Introduction and Commentary. England: Inter Varsity Press,
    1968.

Deen, Edith. All of the Women of the Bible. London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1955.

Geisler, Norman L. A popular Survey of the Old Testament. Michigan: Baker Book House.

Hinson, David F. History of Israel. Delhi: ISPCK, 1976.

_____________. History of Israel: Old Testament Introduction. Delhi: ISPCK, 2009.

Hnuni, R.L. The People of God in the Old Testament. New Delhi: Lakshi Publisher’s, 2012.

Imchen, Narola. Reading the Bible with a New Perspective. Assam: Eastern Theological            
    College, 2003.

Martin, William C. These were God’s People a Bible History. Nashville Tennessee: The
    Southwestern Company, 1966.

Meyer, F. B. Moses the servant of God. Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1953.

Myers, Allen C. The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
    Company, 1987.

Napier, B. Davie. The Book of Exodus. Philadelphia: Published by John Knox Press, 1963.

Payne, D.F. New Bible Dictionary, 3rd edition. Secunderabad: Inter Varsity Press, 2002.

Ramsey, George W. The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol 5, ed., David Noel Freedman. New
    York: Doubleday, 1992.

Sanford, William. Old Testament Survey: The Message from and Background of the Old
    Testament. Michigan: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.

Smith, Ralph. L. Wycliffe Bible Dictionary. Eds. Charles F. Pfeiffer and Howard F.
    Massachusells: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998.

Walvoord, John F. Every Prophecy of the Bible. Secunderabad: OM Books, 1999.

Wolf, Herbert. An Introduction to the Old Testament Pentateuch. Chicago: Zondervan Bible
    Publishers, 1991.

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The Nature And Purpose of Christian Education: A Brief Historical Survey

Paper Presentation
Sub: Introduction to Christian Education
Course lecturer: Ma’am xxx
Topic: The Nature And Purpose of Christian Education: A Brief Historical Survey:
a)    Christian Education in the Modern Period.
b)    The Origin and Goals of Sunday School Movement.
c)    Christian Education from a Local Perspective.
d)    Christian Education during the Missionary Movements in India.
Presenters: xxx

Introduction:
Christian education is a process in which teaching –learning takes place concerning Christian faith and beliefs in the lives of the individuals, family and the church as a whole.

The purpose of Christian education then is to help people attain the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ that, they may consciously make a choice to order their lives in accordance with what He would Have them to do and be. In this paper we will be dealing on the historical survey of Christian Education.

Christian Education in Modern Period:
John Amos Comenuis (1592-1670) is considered the father of modern education. The name by which he is popularly known is the Latinized version of his real name, Jan Amos Komensky. He was born in Nivnitz, Moravia. At the age of twelve, comenuis lost both parents and two of his sisters. Four years after the death of his parents, Comenuis enrolled in a Unitas Fratrem school in Prerov. Comenuis was encouraged by the rector, John Lanecius, who recognized the youth’s potential.During his three years at the Prorev school, Comenuis developed a concern with the way in which the children were taught and dedicated himself to preparation for the Moravian clergy. He received his higher education in Germany at Heborn and Heidelberg. Comenuis found the German teachers Johann Alsted, David Pareus, and Johann Fischer to be mentors who encouraged him in his faith and reliance on Scripture for direction in every area of his life, including his educational thought. After completing his education, Comenuis returned to teach at his old school in Prerov. There he composed a Latin grammar and began writing an encyclopedia. Soon after his ordination to the Moravian ministry he married and moved to fulnek. Where he served as minister and master of the church school.

During his pastorate the longstanding tension between the ruling catholic minority and the protestant churches broke into open revolt. And epidemic stuck prerov and comenius’s wife and the two children died. Comenius remarried in 1624 and, in 1625, was sent by the Moravian church to leszno in Poland. His assignment was to provide a system of resttlement among Moravians who were fleeing persecution. The need for his became apparent when an edict in 1627 was issued that required all protestants to convert to Catholicism. Comenius proved to be an incessant worker and was named in Bishop in 1632.
Comenius believed human to be the highest of created beings, imbued with the nature of God and made for communion with the divine. He understood learning as a process of discovery beginning at conception.
For Comenius, persons are rational soul with minds of virtually limitless potential and with innate desire for knowledge. However, the potential can only be realized through a proper education. This universal knowledge or pansophy was the aim of Comenius’s education structures. Noting the contrasting agesatwhich beasts of burden and persons mature, Comenuis deduced that God must have given the years of youth for the purpose of education. Thus Comenuis encouraged the establishment of common schools. Although he acknowledged the importance of the home in a child’s education, he argued that most parents had neither leisure nor the ability to teach their children properly in the strictest sense. Children of both the sexes should be given a universal education that would include the arts and sciences as well as languages, morals, and theology.comenuis divided the first twenty-four years of life into four equal grades and suggested  an appropriate school for each grade. The first grade was the “school of the mother’s knee,” the school of infancy. The vernacular school was for childhood, which was the second grade. The Latin school or gymnasium was the third grade, which was during boyhood and finally the fourth grade was the university.

The Sunday school Movement
The Sunday school is the best known institution of Christian education among Evangelicals today. It is so much a part of Christian education that seems almost normative. Many presume it has always existed, but such is not the case. In fact, the Sunday school is relatively new.

The birth of Sunday school movement:
Although the Christian church established schools of biblical and catechetical instruction from its earliest days, the Sunday school traces its roots back only to the late eighteenth century. The capitalism of the industrial Revolution made the fortunes of some and increased the wealth of others. However, for most of the growing urban lower class , conditions were miserable. Housing, clothing, nutrition, and sanitation available to the urban poor were wretched. For most poor families even the children were forced to work in the factories.

Robert Raikes pioneered Sunday School Development:
The poverty-crime cycle was particularly true in Gloucester. Among the citizens of Gloucester who were disturbed by what they saw was Robert Raikes (1736-1811), a native of the city. Both of his grandfathers, Richard Drew and Timothy Raikes, were ministers.

The First Sunday School:                                  
Raikes felt that education was an effective tool in battling vice and moral degeneration. He determined to develop an experimental school to test his theory. However, he was legally barred from doing so. Until the passage of the Enabling Act in 1779 persons outside the church of England were prevented from having schools. In 1780 he enlisted children from the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder in Gloucester in their first Sunday school. It met in Sooty Alley in the kitchen of a Mrs. Meredith. The primary aim of Raikes’s school was literary training. However, the students were also given some Christian education. They were taught to read from the bible, and they memorized catechisms and were taken to worship services. Writing was not taught. 

Goals of Sunday School Movement:
a)    To impart secular      instruction to the children. Secular instructions like, reading, writing, good moral living, secure obedience and understanding the values of life were given.
b)    To teach the word of God: in other words, the main purpose was to teach the Word of God to the learners, so that they come to know the Lord and have personal experience with Him.
c)    To foster social growth:  this was another opportunity in order to provide an opportunity for men and women, including the children, for social awareness and responsibility in the given society.
d)    To give the right philosophy of life: it aimed to build their right philosophy of llife in terms of establishing right attitude toward the total environment and to facilitate the individuals to know the will of God. To build Christian character: it also aimed to build Christian character in each individual. It sought to foster each individual to live daily for Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and according to the principles of the Word of God.

Christian Education From a Local Prespective:
    The American Baptist missionaries were the first to work among the Nagas. They reached Assam in 1836. The first thrust of Christianity among the Nagas came from a small village called Namsang (now in Arunachal Pradesh). The Bronsons settled briefly at this village. Due to illness the family had to withdraw from this work before the end of 1840. The arrival of Rev. E. W. Clark was of great significance. Thus, this became the foundation of the church on Naga soil.

 The American Baptist missionaries served in Nagaland with much dedication for 83 years. Initially, the church suffered much in terms of financial needs and leadership. Slowly the church became self-supporting, and self-propagating.the introduction of modern education by the missionaries ushered in a modern worldview among the Naga society. It is interesting to know that whenever a church was formed, a school was simultaneously established by the early missionaries.

According to Downs, mission schools served two basic functions: first, it broke down the barriers of “superstition” that prevented people from hearing and responding to the Gospel. Second, it provided a means of Christian instruction and access to the Christian scriptures and other forms of Christian literature. This served both an immediate evangelistic purpose and longer term objectives of building up indigenous Christian community. 

Christian Education during the missionary movement in India:
Christian Religious education is the ‘seed’ through which Christianity grew in India. It was the western missionaries who brought the seed, i.e, the word of God, and sowed it in the Indian soil. They brought with them two basic sets of missionary equipments- the Bible and the Hymnbook, in order to educate the people with the knowledge of God. Besides, Religious education it also took another form, that is, in linewith formal education system. The missionaries, both the Protestants and the Roman Catholic church, established schools at the primary, elementary and the higher levels for education.
  
The educational ministry that was undertaken by both the Protestant s and the Roman Catholic missions in India had common agendas in their educational policy. Apart from the general education to teach the illiterate to read and write, evangelism was one of the primary objectives. Christian educational institutions continued to train men and women, with a Christian bias, mainly to convert them. Christian Religious education started in India: the Protestant missions and the Roman Catholic missions.

(a)The Protestant Educationanal work:
It was during the 18th century that the Protestant missionaries first came to India and started Christian Religious education programme. Various Protestant missions came to India at different times and besides the preaching of the Good News to the people, their other priority was to provide educational opportunities to the people at all levels ,i,e., from primary to higher levels of education. In fact, Christian mission became a major  voluntary educational agency. The nursery schools, industrial and agricultural institutions and community schools were a few examples of the educational enterprises undertaken by the Protestant missions.                                           

As early as 1707, Protestant missionaries like Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Henrich Plutscheau were responsible in producing School text books, and later in 1712, a printing press was established in order to translate the Bible. This was how Christian Religious education initially started in India.  Later, the major pioneering work on education was started by the Serampore Mission. Besides the ‘Serampore trio’ (William Carey, William Ward and John Marshman), one of the pioneers of educational mission was Alexander Duff who saw the impact of English education and thus started Christian schools for both the boys and girls which grew into colleges in the later years his effort in opening educational institutions in the land.

(b) The Roman Catholic Educational Work:       
 Though the Roman Catholic missions started their educational work later than the Protestants, their involvement in educational field is so great and significant. The primary purpose of education was a religious one, that is, to convert the so-called ‘pagan ‘or ‘heathen’. In fact, the great aim of educational policy of the Roman Catholic educational work was to train the Christians and also to impart good principles to non-Christians.       

In the early stage of the work, education became a necessary tool of proselytization. Early pioneers like St.Francis Xavier and Robert de Nobili, emphasized education for teaching, reading, writing in addition to catechism, and for advancement in the religious life. Some of the prominent educational institutions run by the Jesuits, the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Carrmelites etc, are known for its great literary achievements and contributions made to the educational progress, along with the responsibility in bringing christian Religious education in India.

Looking at the history of Christianity in India, there is no doudt about the impact to Christian Religious education in the social, political, religious and educational progress in the country. In fact, it played an important role in bringing about changes and development in the life of the people and the society as a whole. Through Christian education social evils such as ‘sati’ and other suppressive practices towards women were abolished. Change of world view as a result of western knowledge and Hindu Renaissance can be attributed to the educational works done by the missionaries.
  
Coming home to closer to North East India, Christian Religious education brought by the Western missionaries led to change in the lives of the people and the society. The age old religious beliefs and practices including ‘superstitious’ of the people began to disappear as people, especially the tribal of North East India, accepted the new religion that spoke of the message of forgiveness and freedom granted by God. Changes took place in the lives of the people in terms of health care and better living conditions; a shift from headhunting to peaceful relationship among the people; change from fear and distrust to a new humanity, giving  new dignity and better values to life; from illiteracy to literacy bringing about a modern world-view among people.

Conclusion:
    From the above discussions we could understand the nature and purpose of Christian Education during the various time periods under different leaders, missionaries and so on with their ideas and motives basing on education. 
                                  

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sumi, Akheto. Understanding the Nature and Purpose of Christian Religious Education. Jorhat: Barkataki and Company Private Limited, 2005.
Reed, James E and Ronnie Prevost. A History of Christian Education (Nashville: B & H Publishers, 1993. (Hereafter referred to as James E. Reed…,).
Longchar, A. Wati. Chtistianity in India. Edited by F. hrangkhuma. Delhi: ISPCK, Reprinted 2000.

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