Christian Center Research Articles

Examining Resilient Practices through Configuring Survivors' Lives at the Noodle's Kitchen in International Christian Centre (Edo-State, Nigeria)

The persistent violence perpetrated by Boko Haram in Nigeria has resulted in profound trauma, affecting numerous individuals who struggle with its physical, emotional, and psychological aftermath. While existing scholarly works outline recovery pathways for these survivors, there is a notable lack of recognition and appreciation for religious-based recovery, particularly the role of God's grace and sacrifice. This research employs a qualitative approach, drawing insights from the Noodle's kitchen, to contribute to the current literature on trauma and resilience. Specifically, the study investigates resilient mechanisms within the context of a faith-based Christian Centre, focusing on how survivors' utilization of grace and sacrifice strategies embedded in socio-cultural and religious contexts, enhances our understanding of trauma, survival, and recovery.

“Buddhist-Christian Style”: The Collaboration of Prip-Møller and Reichelt—From Longchang Si to Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre

Buddhist architecture plays a crucial role in traditional Chinese architecture, representing the localized adaptation of Buddhism, a foreign religion, in China. Historically, abundant materials, including paintings, photographs, and texts, demonstrate the longstanding interest of visiting Christian missionaries in Chinese Buddhist architecture. As their understanding deepens, Buddhist architecture becomes a valuable reference for the Sinicization of Christian venues in China. Unlike the “Chinese Roof with Western walls style” or “mixed Easten and Western façade style”, Tao Fong Shan represents a “Buddhist-Christian style”, with its success rooted in the similarity of life and spatial modes between Buddhist and Christian monasteries. Using Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre as a case study, this article examines the localization construction of Christian architecture. It explores how Norwegian missionary Karl Ludvig Reichelt (1877–1952) and Danish Christian architect Johannes Prip-Møller (1889–1943) collaborated to establish a Christian center targeting Buddhists. Through an in-depth study of Prip-Møller’s field research in the 1930s, especially his analysis of Longchang Si, the article investigates how Tao Fong Shan learned from it and transformed its spatial characteristics to achieve a localized sense of space perception through site selection, layout, and spatial design. It ultimately aims to influence the beliefs of Buddhists within the local context.

From Singing “Out-of-Tone” to Creating Contextualized Cantonese Contemporary Worship Songs: Hong Kong in the Decentralization of Chinese Christianity

For over a century, Hong Kong Christians have sung Chinese hymns in an “out-of-tone” manner. Lyrics in traditional hymnals were translated or written to be sung in Mandarin, the national language, but most locals speak Cantonese, another Sinitic and tonal language. Singing goes “out-of-tone” when Mandarin hymns are sung in Cantonese, which often causes meaning distortions. Why did Hong Kong Christians accept this practice? How did they move from singing “out-of-tone” to creating contextualized Cantonese contemporary worship songs? What does this process reveal about the evolution of Chinese Christianity? From a Hong Kong-centered perspective, this article reconstructs the city’s hymnological development. I consider the creation of national Mandarin hymnals during Republican China as producing a nationalistic Mainland-centric and Mandarin-centric Chinese Christianity. Being on the periphery, Hong Kong Christians did not have the resources to develop their own hymns and thus continued to worship “out-of-tone”. With the decline of the old Chinese Christian center of Shanghai, the growth of Cantonese culture and Hongkonger identity, and the influence of Western pop and Christian music, local Christians began to create Cantonese contemporary worship songs. This hymnological contextualization reflects and contributes to not only the decolonization but, more importantly, the decentralization of Chinese Christianity.

The Monastery near Kıyıköy in European Turkey

The monastery near today’s Kıyıköy settlement on the Black Sea coast is a very interesting rock-cut complex. It probably inherited an ancient sanctuary near the ancient Thracian and Roman city of Salmydessos, which became an important Christian center in the vicinity of Constantinople. In this text, we briefly review the historical information about the city, then describe the monastery, because there has been only one scientific publication since 1970 and the monastery is very difficult to access. We apply the three plans of the monastery that have been published since the 19th century to trace the change in the condition of the rock and the rooms that have been added. Then we analyze the architectural program and types of decoration of the three-nave basilica and the sacred spring, which have no exact analogue and are comparable both to examples from antiquity and to the best temples in the Byzantine capital. Based on this analysis, we assume three construction periods – ancient, from the time of Justinian and from the end of the iconoclastic period after the destruction of the city by the Bulgarian Khan Krum.

Religious Controversy in Vasyl Surazhsky’s «Book in Six Chapters»: New Motives and Old Prejudices

The study of «The Book in Six Chapters» in the context of texts and phenomena of the Renaissance, Reformation, and Counter-Reformation shows that it was dependent on the atmosphere of changes that prevailed at the time. The Jesuit authors’ historical excursions into the Church’s past and the course of the councils seem to have a broader connotation. The appeal to the grievances and the influence of the Roman pontiffs during the councils testified to the growing importance of public debate and the revival of political life. At the same time, the importance of documents and legal practices, which were also evident in the testimonies of past events, increased. Vasyl Surazhsky tried to respond to such challenges by looking for counter-arguments and sources to counter his Catholic and Protestant opponents. The most significant was his creation of the concept of Jerusalem as the centre of Christendom, the source of faith, and faith. Jerusalem was designated as the symbolic centre of Christianity in the face of the decline of Constantinople. Surazhsky developed the criticisms of the Latins, accusing them of Jewish influences. The influence of the Reformation on the religious controversy by Surazhsky is also researched. The use of iconographic materials to study the treatises of Ukrainian authors, which reflects the peculiarities of the Orthodox doctrine, seems fruitful.

Revisiting Benjaminʼs aura in the age of mediatisation – the digital aura of megachurches

ABSTRACT This study employs Walter Benjamin’s aura framework as a theoretical lens to look at religious consumption in virtual worlds, via a case study of the London megachurch Kingsway International Christian Centre. Findings suggest inter-personal authenticity contributes to authenticity in online religious consumption and emphasise the need to re-sacralise space and de-sanctify time to help congregant-audiences access sacred experiences. We also highlight the importance of re-mooring traditions and transformable rituals in replicating essential components of real-world worship gatherings through media and technologies. Proposing that the digital imbues its own aura, we develop the concept of ‘digital aura’, characterised by hypermediacy in media usage and remediation, which leads to the refashioning of certain practices and, ultimately, changes the way that audience members engage in ritual events.

Unjust Treatment and Intolerance: The Dynamic of Religious Politics and Christianity in Türkiye

Türkiye was the centre of Christianity until the Ottoman Empire invaded Constantinople in the 15th century. The Ottoman Empire granted rights and protection to the Orthodox Christians, but major conversions to Moslems with political purposes occurred during this period. In 1924, Türkiye became a modern state based on the secularism of Kemal Ataturk and then controlled religious affairs. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has held power since 2003, amended the constitution and strengthened Islamic politics in Türkiye in the last decade, benefiting conservative Muslims. Therefore, this study aimed to elaborate on the impact of religious political dynamics in Türkiye from the Roman Empire to the Erdogan regime on Christianity in the country. The theory of religious politics and a qualitative methodology with a historical comparative approach was adopted. The result showed that the political transformation in Türkiye, from the Ottoman Era and Kemal’s secularism to Erdogan’s Islamism, did not change the political attitude of the Turkish government towards Christianity. Regrettably, Christians continue to experience unpleasant and discriminatory treatment from the government, particularly after the failed 2016 coup, due to the perception that Christians are often associated with the interests of the US and Western countries.

HOW FANATIC FOLLOWERSHIP OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS SHAPED THE BELIEF OF PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES TOWARDS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN PORT HARCOURT

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ravaged almost all parts of the world and generated several conspiracy theories that either attempted to invalidate or validate the veracity of the pandemic. While most of these theories had some scientific leanings, the big public danger came from normative theories mostly associated with Pentecostal church leaders. However, nowhere was this more ferocious like Nigeria which is considered the church capital of the world. Given the fanatic followership structure of some big Pentecostal churches and the near godlike status of their leaders, these theories imposed anti-scientific beliefs that the disease was unreal. This study looks at how fanatic followership of religious leaders impacted on the belief of Pentecostal churches with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Two big Pentecostal churches namely, Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) and Christ Embassy (Believers’ Love World) were purposively selected for this study. The convenience sampling method was used to target 24 members (12 from each church) and 6 pastors (3 from each church) who were reached using accidental and purposive approaches respectively. The In-depth Interview (IDI) technique was used to elicit primary information from the participants. The data were analyzed using the thematic approach. The findings revealed that a cult-like disposition of Pentecostal church leaders shapes the belief system of members as most of the church members in Christ Embassy following their leader believed that the COVID-19 was a conspiracy to reduce global population, while members of the KICC had a huge leaning to the near-scientific disposition of their leader concerning the pandemic. The study recommends a convergence of faith and science while pointing out that church leader should desist from conspiracy education of members to avoid the likelihood of misunderstanding and fatality in the near future.

Contesting the Shifting Center of World Christianity to Africa: Methodological Reconsiderations

Abstract This essay contests the regnant narratives that the center of gravity of Christianity is shifting to Africa. First, it is not always clear what theorists mean as to what constitutes the centering of Christianity and what ‘shifting centers’ mean beyond the claims of the demographic, social and cultural history of Christian expansion. Furthermore, the field of world Christianity and the methods for studying it continue to evolve, pointing more to a divergence than a convergence in both method and subject matter. Through critical study of old and emerging methodologies, the essay proposes that the claims about world Christianity and its variants and features in Africa must be rethought in ways that give value to the actual faith and context of Africans. The essay proposes four possible approaches for developing an account of Christianity in Africa and the world, focusing on theological, missional, and biblical prescriptive perspectives, that complement the predominant descriptive, sociological, and historical accounts of Christian expansion in Africa in current scholarship.

Digging into lives: Christians and Christianity in the Greek papyri from Egypt

Greek papyri recovered from the sands of Egypt represent a precious source of data for early Christianity. Egypt is the land of the earliest Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. The Greek Old Testament or Septuagint was undertaken within the Jewish community of Alexandria from near the middle of the 3rd to the 2nd century BC. Alexandria became the first centre of Christianity in Egypt. Then, the Christian doctrine spread to the villages of the Egyptian chora. Christian papyri mirror this historical context. The earliest Christian papyri are biblical and literary. Besides these, documentary texts offer unique insights into the everyday life and society of Christians in Egypt. Private letters, in particular, reveal the activities and worries of laymen and women, monks and church officials. Papyrological evidence also enlightens the relationship of Christianity with local religious practices. After an overview of the contribution of papyri to our knowledge of early Christianity, this article will focus on documentary specimens dealing with health issues in the form of requests for healing prayers and amulets written on papyrus. Health was, in fact, a common cause for concern and a central aspect of the daily reality of Christian communities.Contribution: This article contributes to shedding light on the role of papyrological evidence in reconstructing the everyday lives of people in Egypt. Christian documentary papyri are particularly illuminating on the day-to-day life of early Christian communities. Their study expands our socio-cultural understanding of aspects – such as healing – that, although important, are poorly known from the literary tradition.

Elements and Dimensions of Emergencies Preparedness and Response among Large Worship Centres in South-South Region of Nigeria

Good emergency response plans help ensure that appropriate actions are taken to minimize the effects of any loss. Considering the recent emergency events involving worship places in Nigeria, the study examined the emergency response preparedness measures in large worship centres in the South-South State capitals of Nigeria. With focus on worship centres with seating capacity above 1500, the study selected worship centres such as Full Life Christian Centre (Uyo), Living Faith Church (Port Harcourt), Salvation Ministry (Yenagoa) and Christ Embassy Summit (Benin) for the study. The study adopted cross-sectional survey research design based on questionnaire for data collection and analysis was done through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS v.21) using the descriptive (frequency count and table) and inferential statistics (analysis of variance-ANOVA). The result of the analysis indicated that worship centres agreed to have appointed personnel for risk monitoring and emergency team (92.9%) and established a proper and functioning communication protocol with the relevant government sector (86.1%). However, the worship centres have not developed initial response monitoring framework to facilitate timely preparation and monitoring in case of crisis (67.2%) and lack a written contingency plan, response and emergency preparedness document that is publicly available (58.0%). The statistical analysis of the study indicated that worship centres showed significant difference in protocols between the Church and the Government for requesting/accepting international assistance (where p < 0.05, p = 0.014). overall, the worship centres showed significant level of emergency preparedness and response; however, there is need for integrated approach towards infrastructural development planning towards optimizing their emergency capabilities.

Christianity and Its Impact on the Lives of Kallars in Tamil Nadu Who Embraced the Faith, in Comparison to Those Who Did Not: Special Reference to Kallar Tamil Lutheran Christians in Tamil Nadu

The German and Swedish Lutheran Mission was a major and pioneering Protestant mission society that started its mission work in Tamil Nadu. The Halle Danish, Leipzig mission, and Church of Sweden mission societies had a larger mission field in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Christians are intimately associated with the German Lutheran Mission and Swedish Mission. The first German Lutheran missionaries, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau, came to India in 1706. From then on, many Lutheran missionaries came to Tamil Nadu. Afterwards Tamil Nadu became a thriving Christian center for decades, with a strong Christian congregation, church, and several institutions. The majority of these Christians are descendants of Dalits (former untouchable Paraiyars) and Kallars who embraced Christianity. From a life of near slavery, poverty, illiteracy, oppression, and indignity, conversion to Christianity transformed the lives of these people. Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Dalits and Kallars found liberation and have made significant progress because of the Christian missionaries of the Church of the German and Swedish Mission. Both the German and Swedish Mission offered the Gospel of a new religion to not only the subaltern people but also the possibility of secular salvation. The history of Lutherans needs to be understood as a part of Christian subaltern history (Analysing the Indian mission history from the native perspective). My paper will mainly focus on Tamil Lutheran Dalit and Kallar Christians. In this paper, I propose to elucidate the role of German and Swedish Lutheran missionaries in the social, economic, educational, and spiritual life of Tamil Lutheran Dalits and Kallars. Due to the page limit, I am going to mainly focus on Swedish Mission and Kallar Lutheran Christians.

Where/How/For What Purpose Is Christ Being Proclaimed Today: Rethinking Proclamation in the World of Peripheries

The content of proclamation cannot go unqueried if the much-needed work of addressing the structures of marginalities that play out in Christianity is to be completed. This task is urgent in order to address the role of Christianity in contemporary societies. To think that the proclamation of Christ is itself neutral, is to refuse to address how the structures that Christianity creates decide the fate of many in the world. A close study of the peripheries that Christian ecclesial structures create reveals the emergence of a form of a decolonial response to the agenda inherent in the embrace of a hegemonic approach to proclamation that plays out at the center of Christianity, and Christianity’s ecclesial institutions. These peripheries are a reminder that the center itself is in need of reform to allow for all who experience erasures to become visible.

Ericus Olai, the Praise of Sweden and the Concept “Uppsala as a New Syon” in the “Chronica Regni Gothorum”

The hero of the article is Ericus Olai, the 15th century theologian and historian, and his “Chronica regni Gothorum”, the history of Sweden from primordial times to the second half of the 15th century. In the preface the author stresses the role of the Church in the society, and proclaims that the secular authorities must cooperate with the Church. This thought serves as one of the key ideas for the whole chronicle. Uppsala, the ecclesiastical centre of Sweden, is given the central place in Chronica regni Gothorum. Ericus portrays Uppsala as a place which initially was a site where pagan gods were worshiped, and which subsequently became a prominent centre of Christianity. According to Ericus Olai, Uppsala is a successor of Jerusalem and Rome. The author of the chronicle praises not only Uppsala, but also Sweden in general; he portrays Sweden as a blessed country which abounds in various natural resources. However, the concept “Uppsala as a new Syon” did not spread widely; Ericus Olai’s ideas, based on Catholic theological thought, became out of date – to a great extent in connection with the Reformation.

Faith-based organizations` intervention for the internally displaced persons from the northeast Nigeria`s region at Uhogua camp in Edo State

ABSTRACT The escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast region of Nigeria since 2009 has led to the death of thousands of people and left over 4 million displaced. Internally displaced persons were resettled by the Nigerian authorities in 22 IDPs camps in Borno and other states in the Northeast region and Abuja. Many of them were resettled in host communities with relatives, friends and also in informal IDP camps. What remains to be investigated is the International Christian Centre for Missions` intervention for the resettlement of the IDPs from the Northeast region at Uhogua in Edo State. This paper argues that the church`s intervention was primarily to offer adequate protection to the IDPs from the minority Christian communities in the Northeast states, whose homes were devastated by Boko Haram. This paper investigates the Church`s intervention being the only faith-based organization that is offering humanitarian assistance to IDP from the Northeast region at its camp in Edo State. It investigates the following: who initiated the idea and established the connections for the Church`s intervention? Who identified and moved the IDPs from the Northeast to the camp? What is the nature of ICCM`s intervention and challenges faced by the church?

The Old Toponymy and New Topography of Zion: Utah, Photography, and Daniel George's Series God to Go West

The Old Toponymy and New Topography of Zion: Utah, Photography, and Daniel George's Series <i>God to Go West</i>

Significance and Values of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand

Abstract Physical change in religious architecture has an effect on perception of the building’s historical value and significance. This article discusses the case of the physical transformation of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception which has undergone four successive changes in architectural characteristics since Christianity was first established in the area in 1881. Methodologically, this study comprises a review of historical documents and interviews with Christians who live in the cathedral’s neighbouring areas. The result shows that the cathedral is significant for local residents as a centre of Christianity and beliefs which have been handed down through generations. From the beginning of its establishment, the cathedral has continually been used for social gatherings in religious activities, therefore, in spite of physical changes, its social and functional values still remain unchanged. Overall, the historical significance of the cathedral to the historic urban landscape of Ubon Ratchathani lies in its intangible rather than its tangible value.

Автокефалия русской Церкви по отношению к Константинополю и Риму в зеркале теории «Москва третий Рим». (ХV XVI вв.) 

The Connection of the Russian autocephalous Church with Rome and Constantinople in the Mirror of the Theory of Moscow the third Rome ””. XIV XVI.) In 1448 the Russian Orthodox Church became de fac to autocephalous. The metropolia, later patriarchate of Moscow never wanted to question the universal position of Constantinople within Orthodoxy. for two Romes had fallen, but the third one is standing and there will be no fourth. The Theory of Moscow the third Rome formulated by the monk Filofei, claiming that Moscow had become the third and last centre and refuge of true Christianity.

Problems of the Baptism of Alania

The article is devoted to the problem of determining the time and conditions for the baptism of Alania. The study is based on the letters of the Patriarch of Constantinople Nicholas the Mystic, in which the process of Christianization itself is illuminated with varying degrees of completeness. The analysis of this information allows us to believe that active missionary activities, already partly successful, were carried out in Alania at the beginning of the 10th century, apparently during the period of the first patriarchate of Nicholas the Mystic. The baptism of Alania itself, which should be understood as the baptism of the ruler, took place in 914/915. An active mediator in this act was Abkhazia, which had close friendly ties with both Byzantium and Alania, in which the ruling circles were already interested in adopting a monotheistic religion in the conditions of increasing independence of Alania from the Khazar Khaganate. Attempts to present baptism as the result of Kartli’s activity, attributing to Kartli or Byzantium a certain state priority over Alania has no factual confirmation. The baptism of Alania appears as an act of creating an ethno-state Christian center that ensured the process of Christianization of a particular ethnic group outside the proper possessions of Byzantium. The further process of Christianization of the broader strata of the Alan population was not violent or forced. This situation could have made the forced temporary departure of Alania from Christianity not so painful for the main part of its population. Perhaps at that time the Christian clergy could have moved to the Anakopian Archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Abkhazia. Alania’s departure from Christianity after 931/932 was historically short-lived. Apparently, at the end of the 940s, it returns to the Alanian state, which since that time has finally entered the official circle of Christian states.

Reflections on the City of Alexandria and the growth of the early Christian faith

The city of Alexandria in Egypt was and remains the centre of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, and it was one of the major centres of Christianity in the Eastern Roman Empire. St. Mark the Evangelist was the founder of the See, and the Patriarchate's emblem is the Lion of Saint Mark. It was in this city where the Christian faith was vigorously promoted, and in which Hellenic culture flourished. The first theological school of Christendom was stablished which drove catechesis and the study of religious philosophy to new heights. It was greatly supported in its quest by numerous champions of the faith and early Church Fathers such as inter-alia, Pantaenus, Clement, Dionysius, Gregory, Eusebius, Athanasius, Didymus and Origen. Both the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria and also the Coptic Church, lay claim to the ancient legacy of Alexandria. By the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt in 641 CE, the city had lost much of its significance. Today the Greek or Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria remains a very important organ the dissemination of Christianity in Africa especially due to its missionary activities. The head bishop of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa, Theodore II, and his clerics are performing meritorious works on the continent to the glory of God’s Kingdom. This article traces, albeit it in a limited sense, the history of the faith in Alexandria using a desk-top research methodology. In order to trace Alexandria’s historical development and especially its Christian religious focus, existing relevant primary and secondary data considered to be relevant was utilised including research material published in academic articles, books, bibliographic essays, Biblical and Church documents, electronic documents and websites.