Christian Church Research Articles

Architectural Transformation of Syrian Christian Churches in Kerala Since the Inception of Portuguese to India : An Insight to St Mary’s Forane Church Kanjoor

The Portuguese were the first colonists to arrive in Kerala in 1498 and they were surprised to find a well thriving Christian community in the Malabar Coast. The Portuguese being Catholics under the Pope tried every possible means to Latinize the Syrian Christians. This they did by forcefully converting the Syrian Christians to Catholics. They introduced Catholic rituals, altered the Syrian churches, and introduced Portuguese elements in the churches. This led to the formation of a hybrid architecture for the Syrian churches of Kerala. Kanjoor is one such church in Kerala which had some Portuguese influence in it. There are many artefacts found in Kanjoor church which was once brought from Portugal which includes antique round globe lamps, lampshades, bronze painting of flowers, and altar back-drop. The Western influence in the churches in Kerala can be seen only with the arrival of Portuguese. Kanjoor still has a hybrid culture and it’s a real treasure for the present and the future generations. Most of the evidence found in the church truly brings back a long-forgotten history and tradition of Kanjoor. The grand elephant's entrance door, single stoned Baptism font, the pulpit, open air granite stone, relief works in the vault over the altar and much more evidence in the church proves the significance and historical value of the church. As a whole this paper is a research on the architecture and the relevance of the cultural heritage of Kanjoor church since the arrival of Portuguese to India.

3D SCHOLARLY EDITIONS FOR BYZANTINE STUDIES: MULTIMEDIA VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS FOR HISTORY, ART HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY

Abstract. The Byzantine Empire has bequeathed to us a rich legacy of Christian churches, many of which possess historical and cultural significance. Unfortunately, the majority of these structures are currently undergoing a process of decay, having not received adequate preservation efforts. Moreover, the absence of collaboration between researchers in the various fields, each with their own focus on the study of Byzantine churches, presents a pressing need for dialogue and a collective response from these researchers. The region of Laconia, located in the south of Greece, is particularly in need of immediate attention, given the abundance of churches located therein. To address these challenges, the authors propose a novel approach involving the documentation of these churches in a digital format through the presentation of 3D models as scholarly editions that incorporate all available data sets in a multimedia format. This paper delineates several requisite specifications for 3D scholarly editions, which hold the key to solving the twin problems faced by Byzantine churches, namely, their protection and the scarcity of interdisciplinary collaboration amongst researchers. With 3D scholarly editions based on multimedia resources and adequate information management, it will be possible to facilitate collaboration and research between various fields of Byzantine studies, and beyond. Such efforts will serve to ensure that cultural heritage passed down from previous generations will be transmitted to future ones.

A Christian Expression of African Spirituality: The Case Study of Three African Initiated Churches in Ghana

There is a view that African Instituted Churches (AICs) are Christian churches with a spirituality which is similar to traditional spirituality. Scholars have claimed that AICs came up as a response to the spirituality of the churches started by missionaries from the West. The latter churches seemed to ignore the spiritual world, the activities of the Spirit and also the fact that physical occurrences have spiritual causes. As such, the spiritual needs of African converts were not being met. In research to ascertain the validity of this assertion, this researcher looks into the circumstances surrounding the founding of AICs in Ghana, paying particular attention to the Church of the Twelve Apostles, the OSSAH-Madih Church, and the Musama Disco Christo Church. The research was done through participant observations in the AICs mentioned. Secondary data was gathered from articles, books and other research materials written by members of AICs. The research concluded that while some AICs may have started as a reaction to the operation of the mission churches, the spirituality expressed is not a “copying” of African spirituality, but one that comes about with the awareness of the existence of the spiritual realm. Keywords: Spirituality, African Instituted Churches (AICs), Zionist, Aladura, World View, African Traditional Religion (ATR)

Proximate and Ultimate Concerns in Christian Ethical Responses to Artificial Intelligence

I argue here that Christian ethical responses to Artificial Intelligence (AI) ought to take on, largely, two different approaches. The first considers proximate ethical concerns related to AI. This ethical approach most often considers more immediate personal and socio-political repercussions and the kind of impact that is occurring now or in the very near future. Proximate ethics of this type includes discussion about fairness, accountability, sustainability and transparency. The second concerns ultimate ethics which focuses on the longer-term impact and implications of AI. Examples of this type might include issues of uniqueness, deep societal transformation and inequality, changes to personal character and even the role AI might have in God's ultimate economy of creation and grace. My contention is that the Christian church needs to attend to both approaches to AI and that when it focuses too myopically on one at the expense of the other it often eclipses the entire witness of the church in our technological society.

There Is a Lot More to Transplantation Surgery Than the Surgery Itself: The "Other" Sir Peter John Morris, AC, FRS.

There Is a Lot More to Transplantation Surgery Than the Surgery Itself: The "Other" Sir Peter John Morris, AC, FRS.

Christian Churches and the Ukraine War: Introducing Religious Publics in Global Politics

Publics in global politics are highly dynamic, considering the multitude of actors involved and the issues addressed. When examining Christian churches and the Ukraine War, it emerges that religions not only react to global politics but also contribute to identifying issues and measures of how to tackle them. The interplay of religious publics, therefore, appears particularly dynamic, warranting a distinct conceptualization. This article thus aims to introduce the concept of religious public(s) in global politics by building upon literature on how publics emerge and which manifestations they can assume. First, four manifestations of publics are examined by conducting a case study on Christianity and the Ukraine War. Employing the case study as a plausibility probe, the findings are re-examined in a second step to develop a typology of religious publics. The article concludes by identifying other areas in which studying religious publics and global politics would prove rewarding.

Jerome of Stridon about Influential Nuns in the Christian Church

The article is devoted to the analysis of the influence of women-ascetics as described by Jerome of Strydon, whose epistolary heritage together contains the greatest number of letters addressed to women. It is established that the main means of influence are financial resources, the use of which allows the nuns — Fabiola, Paula, Lea — to realize their power in various aspects. The author concludes that in addition to maintaining the material well-being of the monastic communities as a whole, the influence of individual nuns is manifested in their ability to influence the gender composition of monasticism: by creating male and female monasteries in the Holy Land, women ensured that their sisters in faith had access to Christian shrines on an equal footing with men. The work also points out that by patronizing the monasteries, the centers of intellectual activity, and individual church writers, nuns had some influence on theological life. In addition, the author emphasizes that in founding a monastery a woman vested some authority in herself, allowing her to regulate both the relationships within the community and the external interactions.

White on Black on White: The Connection of Karl Barth and James H. Cone to Dietrich Bonhoeffer

ABSTRACT This article argues that the early Barth made too little of the concrete in a theologically spatiotemporal sense. In his wariness towards abstract a priori thinking, Barth refrained from developing a social imaginative poise that might embody a genuinely free, Christian creatureliness. In contrast, Bonhoeffer’s insistence on the concrete command of Christ led to his assertion that the “Jewish question” required concrete action as a status confessionis for the Christian church in his context. Barth initially considered Bonhoeffer’s radicalism to be extreme and hasty, yet he later came to view the events of the Confessing Church's resistance with some regret, having not immediately displayed the categorical opposition that Bonhoeffer had advocated. Cone’s high esteem for Bonhoeffer reveals an important challenge regarding the integrity of Christian theology and ethics today in the brains and bodies of White scholars.

The integration of psychoeducation, anti-corruption education and christian family education for the fathers of GMIT Laharoi

Gender, religion and race are becoming important considerations in corruption cases. Various management initiatives must be explored to counter corruption, particularly prevention strategies that originate within the family as the cornerstone of religious, moral and anti-corruption values education. This study discusses anti-corruption education at Evangelical Christian Church in Timor GMIT in the context of religion, Christian families and church. The research focuses on integrating anti-corruption education and Christian family education by including fathers in anti-corruption education. The purpose of the study is to integrate Christian family education and psychoeducation programs as part of an effort to prevent corruption cases involving GMIT Laharoi's fathers. The quasi-experimental design with The Posttest Only Design and Nonequivalent Groups was used as the primary method, and the narrative qualitative approach was used as the complementary method. The Mann-Whitney non-parametric test was employed for quantitative analysis. Participants in the quasi-experiments were 16, with eight subjects in the experimental group and eight in the control group. The Mann-Whitney test findings indicate an Asymp Sig. (2-tailed) of 0.005 0.05, indicating a difference between the experimental and control groups' post-test outcomes. As a result, the study found that integration of anti-corruption education and Christian family education can affect GMIT Lahairoi fathers' understanding and involvement in educating their children.

Patterning Constitutional Conflicts in the Church of Christ in Zimbabwe

This paper set out to analyse the patterning of conflict in the Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (COCZ) with the introduction of the Constitution; which has been described as an unfair proposition, given that conflict is inevitable in a postmodern society. Conflicts in communities have largely been caused by resource scarcity, group affinities, and poor leadership. The study used data collected from participants who were purposively selected to answer electronic questions posted on a WhatsApp group platform for this study. They were randomly chosen from the national fellowship of the COCZ pastors. The study observed that conflict was caused by the shifting centres of power through the adoption of the Somabhula Conference Centre. These conflicts thus bolster a deeper appreciation of Christian identity and mission in contemporary ecclesiastical circles. The data analysed revealed that there are three frameworks: concept, content, and composition of constitutions. It also revealed that conflicts in Zimbabwean churches happened in the Anglican Diocese of Harare; the Apostolic Faith Mission of Zimbabwe; the Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe and the Marange Apostles’ succession battles. Positively, conflicts have been observed to remove complacency among the leadership and followership. It concluded that citing the 2015 Constitution, therefore, becomes an unfair proposition as conflicts occurred in the history of mission churches in Zimbabwe inclusive of the conflicts in the COCZ history. This study contributes in a small measure to discussions around international best practices for resolving church conflicts. Keywords: Constitutions, Conflicts, Conflict Resolution Mechanisms, Church of Christ in Zimbabwe

Clawing Through Bits of Glass and Bricks: James Baldwin and Reinhold Niebuhr on the Birmingham Church Bombing

ABSTRACTThis article analyzes the unpublished dialogue between James Baldwin and Reinhold Niebuhr where they discussed the role of the Christian church in the wake of six child murders in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. On that catastrophic day—one that is impossible to forget—the Ku Klux Klan bombed The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and two black boys were subsequently shot and killed. In the wake of that violence, this article will show that for Baldwin, the dynamite that exploded the face of the “alabaster Christ” from the stained‐glass window presents an opportunity for not only a new depiction of Jesus in terms of presentation—but more significantly—a brand‐new Christology rooted in black liberation. Such a reading provides us with an unusual constructive theological position offered by Baldwin, especially once it is read alongside a public essay written by the Association of Artists for Freedom advocating for Black Christmas.

The Church Music, Transition and Reforms in the Ghanaian Christian Church

Purpose: The discourse examines the origin of Church music, its transition and reforms in the Christian church in Ghana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The paper explores the seeming connection and embodiment of elements of Judaism as well as features characterized by the early Patriarchal Church Music policy. It also seeks to unravel the forgotten process that unpins the transition characterized by these musical reforms in the church in Ghana.
 Methodology: To do this, the paper engaged in a desk study review of the existing empirical literature on the origin of church music and specifically, the various transitional periods between the late 19th and early 21st Centuries.
 Findings: It became evident from the study that the church in Ghana, just like in many other African nations broke the imposing dictatorship of Patriarchal Church Music policy giving birth to new movements in church music reforms. This major breakthrough was achieved through the indigenization activities such as the integration of traditional features and acceptance of secular music into the church by the locally formed independent churches.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The discourse, therefore, concludes that the church in Ghana made considerable strive with heavy transformation in gaining musical autonomy despite the intensity of resistance. However, ironically the Ghanaian church music scene remains the embodiment of converging cultures; partly Western, partly Ghanaian. This must be a major concern for further study.

PERSEPSI PENGURUS LINGKUNGAN STASI SANTA MARIA RATU DAMAI SLAHUNG PONOROGO TENTANG HAKEKAT LINGKUNGAN

Basic Christian Community is a way of life for the Church of Christ's disciples in society. The community is present in the midst of society to live out and proclaim the Gospel of Christ for families and society through fellowship, worship, preaching, witnessing and community service. Many members and administrators of the community do not understand and appreciate well and deeply the nature of the Basic Christian Community. The research was conducted with the aim of analyzing the understanding of Basic Christian Community administrators regarding the nature of the community. The research was carried out using a quantitative approach, and the type of research was a survey. The research respondents consisted of the community administrators at the Santa Maria Ratu Damai Slahung Station, Ponorogo. The main variables of this research are the Basic Christian Community, the purpose and function of the community, community members and administrators, and the relationship between the parish and the community. The results of the research data analysis revealed that majority of respondents perceived that Basic Christian Community is the way of life for Christ's disciples in the Church. The results of the research data analysis also indicated that the community was formed with the aim of experiencing the 5 aspects of Church life (fellowship, worship, preaching, witnessing and community service) both in the family and society.

Professionalism and faith

This article explores the role of faith in congregational social work. It investigates The Salvation Army (TSA), an international Christian church that provides social services in local communities. TSA’s congregational social work represents a specific case, in which spiritual values dictated by faith and social work principles are explicitly intertwined. In this article, a community of practice (CoP) perspective is used to analyse empirical data from a multiple-case study of TSA congregations. The article concludes that faith can be part of a professional ethos, by adding important values to a holistic understanding of social work

A Harvest of Lutheran Dogmatics: The Life and Work of Twelve Theologians 1960–2020 by Carl E. Braaten

Reviewed by: A Harvest of Lutheran Dogmatics: The Life and Work of Twelve Theologians 1960–2020 by Carl E. Braaten Gregory Walter A Harvest of Lutheran Dogmatics: The Life and Work of Twelve Theologians 1960–2020. By Carl E. Braaten. Delhi, New York: ALPB Books, 2021. 288 pp. Carl Braaten has written this book "for the sake of the next generation of dogmaticians" (276). In it, he offers theological biographies of twelve theologians and ethicists, dating from the 1960s to 2020: Robert W. Bertram, Edward H. Schroeder, Gerhard O. Forde, William H. Lazareth, Robert Benne, Paul R. Sponheim, Philip Hefner, Ted Peters, George A. Lindbeck, Robert W. Jenson, and Paul R. Hinlicky. Braaten concludes with a chapter about himself. He puts [End Page 240] Bertram and Schroeder together in a single chapter. A brief introduction and conclusion frame the work. Braaten revisits each theologian's life and work. Readers can learn much about each theologian, though in a way affected by Braaten's own relationship with each. Braaten identifies many of the important problems that still confront Lutherans in the United States: the nature and purpose of theology, the role of justification by faith alone in the church's work and life, and the mission of the church. Offering some evaluations of each theologian's contributions, Braaten mostly presents digests of their publications. Because so many other theologians, ethicists, and Lutheran scholars of consequence labored in this period, it is important to consider why Braaten chose these figures. He does not fully explicate his criteria for selection and the rationale he does offer is not exhausted by the figures he presents. So many more scholars are important for the development of the networks of Lutheran church and academic life in which these theologians flourished: historians, biblical scholars, ethicists, translators, and many others. By including Benne and Lazareth, Braaten expanded the book to include theological ethicists, leaving figures like Larry Rasmussen aside. Because Braaten includes Hinlicky and Peters, who are from another generation than most of those he includes, the absence of scholars like Mary Solberg, Vítor Westhelle, or Ronald Thiemann is noticeable. Dogmatics, as Braaten defines it, concerns the doctrines of the Christian faith and the task of handing them on. This act of tradition is always a translation undertaken for the "present situation" and for the "whole Christian church" (276–277). Braaten further specifies that the center of this faith is Jesus Christ, the revelation of the Triune God in the Bible, and the doctrine of justification by faith alone (277). He concludes, soberly, that Lutherans have no close or strong consensus on these important matters, the identity of God, or even the person and work of Jesus, ending the book by stating that the tasks now lie in the hands of others (282). Lutheran theologians in Braaten's and in subsequent generations differ in their education, audiences, and projects and because of those differences may not actively engage the theologians treated here. This [End Page 241] book should help Lutheran theologians now at work to recall part of their tradition and thereby stimulate their work by revisiting the work of these twelve consequential theologians. Gregory Walter St. Olaf College Northfield, Minnesota Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.

Il principio della sinodalità nella prospettiva ecumenica secondo il teologo ortodosso Dumitru Staniloae

The Romanian Orthodox theologian Dumitru Stăniloae stated that the main task of the next ecumenical synod should be the reunification of the Christian Churches and that this union should be done under the emblem of Orthodoxy. Until that happy event, a long road of preparation and rapprochement between the Christian Churches is needed. Inspired by this deep conviction, he wanted to offer his own contribution, not only by studying the doctrine of the other Christian Churches and bringing to the knowledge of the faithful of the Romanian Orthodox Church the results obtained by the ecumenical dialogue, but also by presenting solutions, from the Orthodox perspective, to the problems raised by this dialogue. In this study I intend to present the contribution offered by this Romanian theologian to the cause of Christian unity. After a brief presentation of the ecumenical relations achieved by the Romanian Orthodox Church in this century, we will present, in the second part, the principles which, according to him, should guide the progressive rapprochement of the Christian Churches.

The Office of Deacon in the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe: A historical perspective.

A deacon is generally considered to be a member of the diaconate. This relates to an office in most Christian churches that is associated with some type of service offered, but the latter varies among denominations. The word deacon emanates from the Greek word diákonos which means a servant, minister, or envoy. The office of deacon was initiated in the selection of seven men by the apostles of Jesus, among whom was Stephen the proto-deacon. Their role was to assist with charitable works in the early church as it has been recorded in Acts chapter 6. This article deals with the office of the deacon and investigates it in the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe from a historical perspective. There are four offices of Church government in the Reformed/Presbyterian system. These are the office of the minister of the Word, Professors of Theological School, elder and the deacon. The study holds that the office of the deacon plays an important role in the administration of finances in the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe. The aim of this study is to relate and re-evaluate the history of the office of the deacon from the establishment of the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe to date. The research contributes to the ongoing gathering and production of historical data of the history of the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe.

The Family as a Domestic Church Becomes the Primary Educator for Children

The family is the first and foremost educator in terms of faith and noble values through the relationships that occur both between husband and wife, parents and children, and relationships between children. This study aims to find three concepts of parents as priests, prophets and kings. Researchers conducted qualitative research with the results of observations, interviews and documentation used by researchers to determine the implementation of the family as the household church of the parish of St. Peter and Paul Kabanjahe. The informants used were 15 families consisting of 15 parents and 15 children. The data analysis process uses technical triangulation and source triangulation. Based on the findings of the researchers, the implementation of the family as a household church has not been fully implemented due to a lack of family understanding of the real household church. In this case the family emphasizes physical life rather than spiritual life. The recommendation in this study is that it is necessary to carry out catechesis to build parents' understanding as a household church in children's education.

An Early Modern Sacro Monte in Mumbai

Abstract Mumbai’s diverse cultural heritage includes several Christian churches associated with the city’s East Indian community and with the legacy of Portuguese colonial rule between 1534 and 1739. This study addresses one such site in the village of Mandapeshwar, which developed from an eighth-century CE Hindu rock-cut cave temple and was transformed during the period of Portuguese rule into a center of Franciscan missionary activity, including through the creation of a Sacro Monte, or series of pilgrimage stations. By reconstructing the activities of the early Franciscan missionaries on Shashti Island north of Mumbai, this investigation reveals that the Sacro Monte functioned as a Marian devotional shrine, with a crowning chapel dedicated to the Holy Spirit. The Sacro Monte, with its grottoes, represents a unique synthesis of rock-cut Hindu cave temples and Christian hermitic traditions.

A Vivifying Spirit: Quaker Practice and Reform in Antebellum America by Janet Moore Lindman (review)

Reviewed by: A Vivifying Spirit: Quaker Practice and Reform in Antebellum America by Janet Moore Lindman Stephanie J. Richmond (bio) Keywords Quakerism, Society of Friends, Schisms, Faith, Reform A Vivifying Spirit: Quaker Practice and Reform in Antebellum America. By Janet Moore Lindman. (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2022. Pp. 284. Cloth, $119.95.) Janet Moore Lindman's A Vivifying Spirit examines the increasingly complex world of doctrinal conflict among mid-Atlantic Quakers in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The book, based on deep archival research, dives into the spiritual practices of American Quakers through a variety of lenses. Lindman argues that Quakers' responses to mainstream evangelical Protestantism shaped their engagement with social reform and their own history. The context Lindman provides for Quakers' debates over reform develops a historiographical thread in both American religious history and the history of antebellum reform examining the connections between reform and religious movements in early America. Despite the details that Lindman adds to the debate over the connections between religion and reform, the book at times struggles to find its footing and audience. The first part of the book examines the spiritual lifecycle of Quakers. After framing the general outlines of American Quaker beliefs in the opening chapter, Lindman takes us into the classrooms and catechism books of Quaker childhood. Quaker educational theory was particularly attentive to both the popular theorists of their time and the need to instill central Quaker values of piety, pacifism, and equality in children from a very young age. The last chapter in the section examines the spiritual practices of Quakers nearing the end of their lives and those of their loved ones. Embracing or easing suffering and grieving together after friends [End Page 355] and family passed—death was central to understanding Quaker faith. As Lindman remarks, "mindfulness dictated recurrent engagement with death to learn how to do it well" (64). These early chapters give a fascinating insight into the mental and religious lives of Quaker families across the spectrum of life stages. The second part of the book examines the impact of the various schisms and divisions within American Quaker meetings. The section opens with a chapter detailing the doctrinal differences between the Orthodox and Hicksite Quakers, who split apart over whether scripture or the inner light should drive one's faith. Orthodox Quakers, who cleaved to scripture, were accused of being influenced by evangelical Christianity and the need to fit into the vigorous Christianity of the Second Great Awakening. Hicksites read both scripture and the writings of early Quakers to assert the primacy of the inner light to Quaker devotion. The division between the two groups intensified, and new fractures appeared in the 1840s and 1850s when Joseph Burney began preaching around the United States, splitting the Orthodox Quakers into Burneyites and Wilburites. Burney, a British Quaker, questioned early Quaker teachings and brought Quakerism closer to the practices of evangelical Christian churches. John Wilbur asserted the importance of quietism and other Quaker practices and challenged Burneyite rejection of the inner light. The final chapter focuses on the disputes between reforming Quakers and those who thought that the right path was keeping separate from the larger political and cultural debates in the United States. This section, like the first, does an excellent job in explaining the impact of these schisms on the rank-and-file of mid-Atlantic Quakers. Through the words of Quaker pedestrians, we learn how they navigated the debates and chose their positions within them, even when friends and family may have taken the other side. The third section engages with how American Quakers applied their spiritual and religious teachings to their interaction with the secular world. This last section, along with the rather awkwardly positioned last chapter in the second part, is perhaps the least interesting for scholars of nineteenth-century America as it retreads familiar ground for scholars of abolitionism and other reform movements. The first chapter in the section examines Quaker print culture and Quakers' engagement in the broader reform print culture in early America. Here we hear more often from well-known historical figures including Lucretia Mott and her fellow abolitionists. [End Page 356] The final chapter...