Gema Teologi is an academic journal published by The Faculty of Theology Duta Wacana Christian University
The Faculty of Theology Duta Wacana Christian University, Yogyakarta
What is a truth? For many centuries humans have tried to explore this question. This paper puts forward some thinking about truth, especially social construction as a truth based on the thinking of Karl Marx and Jürgen Habermas. Truth is constructed by social situation. We can analyze social contruction as a starting point for the question of truth. At the end, this paper also presents the relation between truth as a social contruction and biblical exegesis.
IDEOLOGI HAMBA: "Menimbang guna tafsir ideologis dalam konteks pergulatan politik di Indonesia dewasa ini"
Partisipasi Abraham Kuyper dalam Dunia Politik
Demokrasi sebagai Proses untuk Bersepakat dalam Agama
Etika Politik PGI dan Pluralitas Agama di Indonesia
Membangun Teologi Politis di Indonesia (dari Teologi Sukses ke Politik Pelayanan dan Doksologi)
Interaksi Agama dan Politik dalam Sejarah Dunia Umumnya dan Indonesia Khususnya
One of the key success factors of a church is itself –ability to respond to the occurring evolution. Evolution can occur in many areas such as those concerning religious organization or doctrine. That is process that a church should go through. Process theology analyzes how a church makes a change. The church makes a change as a result of continual experience. All experiences ought to be exploited by church to answer a present challenge. Three problems concerning these experiences are going to be highlighted in this paper. There are the evolution of the Church understanding about Christ, about woman and about its relation to other religions especially Budhism.
SEDJARAH TELANDJANG MEMBUKA MULUT MANUSIA BISU
JABATAN GEREJAWI DALAM PERSPEKTIF HERMENEUTIK ALKITAB
The need for a kind of socio-political analysis in order to incur basis principles from the Bible concerning church functionary system is necessary. From the analysis we may come to light as to why there are differences in the interpretation of a function and also the changes of the form of the function in different time and location. It would be clear that the problem of function is inseparable from the interest of the group in which the function is practiced or supported. In the study of the process of production of the bible, it is recognizable that more than one group worked behind the text. This may explain the dynamic differences with regard to the function. The application of functionary system in the church throughout history may tell the same story. Yet, we should go further than recognizing the implication of the interest. The interest does not result in pragmatic play but also lies on the more conceptual or ideological basis. This ideology needs to be closely studied. In this article, there are 3 aspects related to ideology identified in the problem of church functionary system, i.e., the aspect of law going along with justice and thruth; the aspect of equality and lastly, of communication. The final goal is the community in which each of its member enjoys an equals status. The status should not be understood as a static condition but as in communication it always involves two-way process. In order to guarantee the existence of status, the aspect of law, justice and truth should be implemented.
MANUSIA DAN MASYARAKAT (AJARAN CONFUCIANISME DAN RELEVANSINYA BAGI PERSOALAN AGAMA DAN KEKERASAN)
As we look at some problems in our country, even in the whole world, social problems like violence, discrimination, unfairness, war, etc. become common things. We can read or watch news about these things almost everyday. In this kind of problems, human beings live as if they do not have feeling and heart, or empathy to others. From this fact, the question which emerges is: what should we understand about humanity and living together as a society? From this specific situation and question, this essay would like to make a reflection through Confucianism. Confucianism offers rich arguments about what human being is, how they should live in this world, how they should make a relationship each other, and what kind of society we should form. As an east philosophy, Confucianism can be closer to our situation and context. And hopefully, this reflection can support a creative thought of praxis of religions, because nowadays, we realize that religion must show a significant role to help human beings understand about good life in this world.
KRISTOLOGI DARI PERSPEKTIF PEREMPUAN SUMBA
Christology in the core of Christianity, where Jesus expresses God’s love through His life, His teaching, and His love especially to the poor. However, the understanding or the image of Jesus varies because this is greatly influenced by contextual experience or struggle. Traditional theological does not consider the context of women. This is the case in Sumba, where the mythology of mbiri koni exists. By using the view point of women and the local people toward this mythology, the writer intends to distinguished the aspects which empower women from those which do not. In the other words, this mythology is a relevant way to understand Christology in Sumba.
BELAJAR DARI SEJARAH GEREJA: PENDIDIKAN KRISTIANI UNTUK ANAK MELALUI SEKOLAH MINGGU
Based on the history of Sunday School movement, this article proposes some issues of education for children in the contemporary Indonesian context. These issues are special intention for poor and neglected children; Sunday School, education, moral education and psychology; and, lastly, children in theology (children as blessings and children as sinners). This proposal is intended to develop more comprehensive Christian education for children, which has a strong theological foundation.
MEMBANGUN TEOLOGI ETNISITAS YANG INKLUSIF
Failure to manage ethnic diversity in a nation may result in a tragedy. Cases such as the holocaust and ethnic cleansing in ex Yugoslavia provide historical examples for such failure. The history of Indonesia records a series of anti-Chinese incidents that result in uneasy relationships between the ethnic Chinese and the rest of Indonesian society. The state’s politics of discrimination contributed to the heightening of the anti-Chinese sentiment among the people. Recent changes in the government’s policy in favour of the ethnic Chinese may be expected to improve the situation, but philosophical and religious references are needed to help the people transform their perspectives of ethnicity. A religious reference for building a better attitude toward ethnic diversity can be based on a Christian theology of ethnicity, drawn from the experience of the Israelites in the Old Testament, Jesus’s resistance against the ‘closed morality’ of the Jews, and the concept of the family of God.
KHOTBAH-KHOTBAH AUGUSTINUS: SEBUAH EVALUASI TEOLOGIS-KONTEKSTUAL
This is an attempt to understand the Sermons of Augustine in the context of the life of Protestant Christian in the present-day Indonesia. Hence the sub title: a contextual-theological evaluation. Three themes are disccused: a. Blindness because of sin; b. The positive meaning of fasting and ascetism; c. The body of Christ and our bodies: positive or negative? All these themes are evaluated starting from the traditional teaching of the Protestant Christian Churches in Indonesia, Augustine own views and their relevance for the life of present-day Christians.
In appreciation for Dr. Chris Hartono as a truth seeking lecturer and researcher in Church History, the writer points out the inevitability of the subjective approach within the study of history. Realizing the involvement of historians in their worldview, it is very important to develop the study of critical hermeneutics in the study of history. Since hermeneutics as the study of interpretations is related to convictions, the role of spirituality has to be taken into account. Therefore the issue of pietistic movements in the Church History has been in need of reconsideration. This spiritual movement of the historical Church is to be appreciated well in the context of spirituality of the East.
KEBANGKITAN KEMBALI GNOSTIK: INJIL YUDAS, DA VINCI CODE SUATU TINJAUAN HISTORIS KEAGAMAAN
The publication of the Da Vinci Code in 2003 and the Gospel of Judas in April 2006 caused worldwide a renewed interest in mysticism, in gnosticism. In this article is shown, that gnosis in fact has already some roots in Hinduism and Buddhism. In the first and second century a Christian form of gnosis came up. Before going to the role of Judas in the Gospel of Judas the main characretistics of gnosticism are treated. Especially some gnostic texts on the dead on the Cross of ‘Jesus’ made clear how gnosticism sees Jesus as a teacher of a secret doctrine. It is on the reader to decide or there is still influence of gnosticism in our time, for instance in Javanese mysticism, the searching for ngelmu.
The purpose of the writing is to trace the struggle of Christian Pacifism in the history of Christianity in order that we understand why we are now standing where we are. The struggle itself can be divided in three periods: the early period before the reign of Constantine, the period from the reign of Constantine (313-337 AD) to the Protestant Reformation in the first quarter of 1500s, and the period after Protestant Reformation. The early period was signified by the fact that the church was completely separated from the state, and therefore the philosophy of life that governed the rules of the state was not in conflict with Christian faith. Christians held pacifism strongly and there was no evidence of Christians in the army. The reasons of Christian pacifism in this early period were all bound in the popularity between Caesar and God. Church fathers such as Tertulian, Origen, or Lactantius were all in objection to the involvement of Christians in the army. The early Christian pacifism was eventually changed as the church and the state came into a strategic allegiance that reached its peak by the reign of Constantine (313-337). In this period, Christianity was gradually transformed from a personal faith and a movement into an obligatory state religion. As the church and the state became closer and fused into one, Christian pacifism also faded away. This shift had given a way to the so-called just war theory. The position of the church fathers also changed. Ambrose, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas all agreed with the necessity of war for sake of greater good. Christian ethics now took a dyadic approach that highlight dualities, polarizations, and extremes. This position still continued during the reformation era. The period after the reformation era was also signified by the rediscovery of the early Christian pacifism within Anabaptist group that stood up on a very different stance from both the Catholic Church as well as the Reformation church. The Anabaptist maintained a nonresistant stance for they understood the sword as an entity outside the perfection of Christ. The Anabaptist fathers such as Conrad Grebel or Menno Simons insisted the prohibition of the use of force and sword by Christians in order to follow the teaching and ministry of Jesus Christ radically.
MATTEO RICCI DAN PROSES KONTEKSTUALISASI KEKRISTENAN DI CINA
Matteo Ricci had played important role regarding Christianity and Chinese culture. He had done many things as his efforts to make Christianity could be rooted in China and be accepted by the Chinese. Making Christianity accepted by the Chinese was his first aim, more than converting people. He learned Chinese and had a serious study on Chinese context. Yet, like all pioneers, Ricci had a problem using this language, because he was faced with the thorny problem of finding Chinese equivalents for Christians terms, and of deciding how far ancient Chinese custom was appropriate with the Christian principle. When he arrived in China for the first time, he showed his sympathy to the Buddhist monks. He dressed as a Buddhist monk and also used a Chinese name, Li Madou. Later, when he realized that the social status was important, and that the Buddhist monks were considered inferior to Confucianists, who held official degrees, he changed his dress and dressed like a Confucian scholar. Since that time, Ricci was in a tension with the Buddhist. Such condition made he could not understand Buddhism and other religious well. He able to borrowed arguments from Confucian text to counter the theological claims of the Buddhist. In fact, Ricci’s methods were not going in peace. His method create conflict or tension. There was even the rite of controversy as a response to what Ricci had done through his cultural accommodation method.
PERUBAHAN DAN KEBIJAKAN PERUBAHAN POLOTIK DI HINDIA BELANDA DAN KEBIJAKAN PEKABARAN INJIL DALAM MENANGGAPI PERUBAHAN ITU
Since 1870 the situation in the Dutch East Indies significantly changed. This new situation was especially caused by the change of the Dutch East Indies’ colonial policy and also by the indigenous population’s strong reaction towards that colonial policy. This actually gave its serious impact to the Dutch mission societies working in the Dutch East Indies, especially to those already united themselves in the cooperation of mission societies. By considering this new situation, the Dutch mission societies accurately tried to formulate their new missionary policy, which primarily concerned with their situation to find new missionary methods which were terribly needed in the same new situation.
strong reaction of indigenous population
new possibilities and new methods in mission field
PENAMPILAN ‘PEREMPUAN-PEREMPUAN BARU’ DAN KOMUNITAS-KOMUNITAS PAULUS
PENDEKATAN SOSIAL DALAM PENAFSIRAN KITAB PERJANJIAN BARU
This article discusses the significance of the sociological approach in New Testament studies. The approach is becoming more and more attractive to New Testament scholars recently, as it helps them to propose their hermeneutical enquiries in a more critical and fresh way. The approach is mainly based on the presupposition that human beings, including the Biblical writers and their original readers, could never be separated from their social world-view. In fact, their thinking, behavior, symbolic methodology and all means necessary for communication were always intermingled with their social world-view. Anyone who is engaged in biblical studies will thus be expected to gather all social data relevant to his or her engagement in those studies. In so doing, help from social sciences (particularly sociology and anthropology) will be needed. Some examples of New Testament scholars who make use of this approach are highlighted in this article in order that we can learn how the approach is indeed advantageous for our current biblical studies.
This article points to three themes in Mk 7:24-30. The first theme is a Non-Jewish woman begging Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter. The second is the response of Jesus first, rejecting the request and then healing the child. The third theme is the use of “dog” for non-Jews. What follows is a socio-ideological interpretation
“THE GOSPEL IN SOLENTINAME”. Sebuah Upaya Memaknai Teks dari Respon Pembaca
This article focuses on the effort of a particular community known as Solentiname in order to search from and give the message to the Gospel contextually. This community of farmer and sailor families was guided by a Catholic priest, poet, and activist named Ernesto Cardenal. He found that his discussions were so real, contextual and polyvalent while at the same time really biblical. “The Gospel of Solentiname” is the kind of book that gives a clear example of what is said as Reader Response Criticism through a process of interactive dialogue. We can learn that such a method, elaborated on some decades ago among simple persons, should be reconsidered in the discourse of biblical inquiry in the post modern biblical interpretation.
Reader Response Criticism – interactive dialogue – post modern biblical interpretation