Research Korner: Religion Essays

History of Christianity in Abeokuta

History of Christianity in Abeokuta  Abeokuta is the capital of Ogun state in southwestern Nigeria.  It is located on the east bank of the Ogun River.  Abeokuta means “Refuge among Rocks”.  It was founded around 1830 by Sodeke, a hunter and the leader of the Egba refugees who were fleeing from the Oyo empire.  The town was settled by missionaries in the 1840’s and by the Sierra Leone Creoles. Abeokuta is an agricultural trade center which produces rice, yams, cassava, corn, palm oil and kernels, cotton, fruits, vegetables.  It is an exporting point for cocoa, palm produce, fruits, and kola nuts.  Rice and cotton were introduced by the missionaries in the 1850’s and cotton weaving and dyeing (with locally grown indigo) are now traditional crafts of the town.  (Britannica)  Local industry is limited but can now name fruit-canning plants, a plastics factory, a brewery, sawmills , and an aluminum products factory.  To the south are Aro granite quarries. Apart from Benin and Warri, which had come in contact with Christianity through the Portuguese as early as the fifteenth century, most missionaries arrived by sea in the nineteenth century. As with other areas in Africa, Roman Catholics and Anglicans each tended to establish areas of hegemony in southern Nigeria. After World War I, smaller sects such as the Brethren, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others. African-American churches entered the missionary field in the nineteenth century and created contacts with Nigeria that lasted well into the colonial period.  Christianity came in with education to Abeokuta, January 1843 by Henry Townsend. Orthodox religion, Christianity and Islam are practiced with traditional religion. There is the belief in Egungun, Erinle, Ogun, Obatala, Sango, Gelede, Oro, Omolu, Obaluaye & Osun to mention few.  Christianity was introduced into the diocese of Abeokuta in the early part of the 19th century.  It currently houses the first Bible that was brought into the country by the early Missionaries. Catholicism came to Abeokuta in 1880 from where it spread to the other parts of what is now Abeokuta Diocese. The history of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Abeokuta is intertwined with the wider history of the missionary works of the Fathers of the Society of African Missions (SMA) and Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA). While the SMA Fathers arrived in 1880, the OLA Sisters followed in 1886. Since then, the Church has continued to grow. According to Wikipedia, there are in the diocese approximately 54,000 adherents of the Catholic faith, presently distributed into 19 parishes and 3 quasi parishes, administered by a total number of 47 priests with His Lordship, Most. Rev. Dr. Alfred Adewale Martins. The Diocese has witnessed a rapid growth from 9 parishes and 11 priests in 1998 to what we have now. Its pastoral strategy includes the formation and maintenance of Small Christian Communities and particular attention to the youth and young adults, the future of the Church. The Diocese of Abeokuta, like Ogun State in which it is situated, is typically a 'Gateway' diocese. Not only does it connect the Archdiocese of Lagos with the closely situated Diocese of Ijebu Ode and the Archdiocese of Ibadan in Nigeria, it is also strategically interconnected with the Church in the wider area of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), especially the adjacent Diocese of Porto-Novo in the Republic of Benin.  There is visible peaceful co-existence among the religious groups in the diocese as we have close ecumenical relationship as well as cordial relationship with the other religious bodies. There are a lot of joint religious programmes between the various Christian denominations.  (Wikipedia)  The Nigerian press is a product of evolution from the early Christian missionary establishment in the South of the country. Between 1842 and 1885, the Church Missionary Society, the Baptist, Methodist and the Catholic Missions established their presence independent of one another in various locations, particularly in Abeokuta, Calabar and Onitsha. The desire to spread Christianity to the local people in their own language and anthological environment caused the CMS to start what is generally acknowledged as the first newspaper in Abeokuta. As it was reported, the Rev. Henry Townsend of the CMS was said to have observed, "My object is to get the people to read; and get them to inculcate the habit of reading." (Oyovbaire) References: Abeokuta.  Encyclopaedia Britannica.com  Retrieved 8 June, 2011 from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1111/Abeokuta Abeokuta South.  Ogun State Government.  6 September, 2010.  Retrieved 8 June, 2011 from http://www.ogunstate.gov.ng/Government/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71:abeokuta-south&catid=142:local-governments&Itemid=85 Christianity.  Retrieved 8 June, 2011 from http://countrystudies.us/nigeria/47.htm Oyovbaire, Sam.  The Media and the Democratic Process in Nigeria.  29 August, 2001.  Retrieved 8 June, 2011 from http://www.waado.org/nigerdelta/essays/Oyovbaire.html Roman Catholic Diocese of Abeokuta.  Wikipedia.  Retrieved 8 June, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Diocese_of_Abeokuta

History of Christianity in Abeokuta

H istory of Christianity in Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital of Ogun state in southwestern Nigeria. It is located on the east bank ...

Shintoism

Shintoism               Here is a religion that is exclusively Japanese — Shintoism. Shinto, from two kanji — shin and to, means “gods or spirits” (likewise read as kami in Japanese) and “way or path” respectively. Shintoism thus refers to “the way of the gods” (2006). The concept of the Kami or the gods is extremely varies with other religions that similarly has a concept of a god.             As to how many Shintoists are there in the world, it has been found out that the data for their population is actually “hopelessly unreliable”. One needs to be Japanese in order to learn this way of life ( 2005). Figures are no big deal. As long as one spots a Shintoist, one can fully conclude that, he is also Japanese.              The Japanese dates the origins of Shintoism to the Jomon period. In others’ eyes, it has come into being during the Yayoi period, when there has been an influx of Chinese and Koreans. They carried with them agricultural as well as shamanic rituals, which have been embraced by the Japanese (2006). Interestingly, this religion is founded by no one ( 2005). It is even nameless, initially. It has only been named just to tell it apart from Buddhism ().                    To briefly state its developments, it has been practiced concurrently with Buddhism and Confucianism for centuries. After the Meiji Restoration, it has become the state religion. After her World War II defeat, it ceased to be the state religion; but the Japanese have slipped back to its more traditional position being a folk religion (2006). After all, religion and culture are distinctively mutually inclusive among the Japanese. Today, there are actually 4 main forms of Shinto traditions.  Koshitsu Shinto is the Shinto of the Imperial House. Jinja Shinto is the largest Shinto group and the original form. Kyoha Shinto has 13 sects, set up by individuals in the early 19th Century, with each having its own beliefs and doctrines. Lastly, Minzoku Shinto is one that is practiced in the rural communities ( 2005).              Likewise, there is an absence of a strict written scripture in Shintoism. The Kojiki, Rokkokushi, Shoku Nihongi and its Nihon Shoki, and the Jinno Shotoki are the treasured textual epics of the Shinto religion ( 2005). Kojiki and Nihon Shoki are both written in Chinese characters (, 115). Keep in mind, though, that the Japanese learned to write from the Chinese.             The central focus of this religion is on the mystic importance of beauty in nature and the natural order (Nasr 33). Shintoism emphasizes the search for happiness in this life. In “living a simple and harmonious life with nature and people”, there are four affirmations of the Shinto spirit — tradition and the family, love of nature, physical cleanliness, and Matsuri (any festival for the Kami) (2006). These are what one should consider as the rules of the game.              While other religions have a creation story that is about or deities of the world at large, in Shintoism, the “world” is only Japan. Its creation story narrates that Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto created the Japanese islands ( 2005). The Kami refers to the spirits who maintains the natural world order. Actually, everyone is considered as a Kami’s child, and therefore all human life and nature is sacred. Anything that is awe-inspiring and extraordinary is associated with the Kami  (  ).              Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess that the Japanese imperial family trace their origins ( ). Amaterasu means “shining from heaven”, while Omikami means “great and exalted divinity”. She is the most revered of all Kami, but does not imply that its followers worship or summon her name for help (2006).             Shintoists’ worship of kami is practiced at public shrines, and even in small private shrines at home (2006). Before, they used to practice misogi, or bathing their bodies in a river near the shrine. Today, they only wash their hands and rinse out their mouths in a wash basins made available in the shrine grounds. Shrine ceremonies such as cleansing, offerings, prayers, and dances are dedicated to the Kami.  Kagura are ritual dances to the tune of traditional musical instruments, which are performed by able dancers who are young virgin girls, a  single man or agroup of men. Shintoists also have mamori or charms for various occasions ( 2005). These are just some of their rituals. It makes one think that this religion is more than religion per se. It is entrenched deeply at the heart of the Japanese culture. Most of its rituals are inspired by Buddhism and Confucianism, but the central focus has remained ().               To construct “houses” for the Kami in the form of shrines have emerged in the 6th Century.  The oldest shrines are to be found in Izumo and Ise in Japan (2006). A unique architectural trait to be found in front of the shrine is the torii or the Japanese gate, which is built on two uprights and two crossbars. It signifies the delineation of the world of the Kami from the living world (2006). The shrines serve as the “altars”, by which the Japanese pay their reverence to the Kami.

Shintoism

Shintoism Here is a religion that is exclusively Japanese — Shintoism. Shinto, from two kanji — shin and to, means “gods ...

THE MAJOR TYPES OF BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS

INTRODUCTION             The consensus in the world today is that the average person can't accurately interpret what the Bible says. Do the following statements sound familiar to you?: ‘’People should rely on the clergy/experts to tell us what the Bible means’’ - this statement reflects the assumption that the meaning of scripture is beyond the reach of the average person.  People have always disagreed about the meaning of the Bible because of the fact that nowadays there are different denominations as people have disagreed, and sometimes their disagreements have been brutal. So is the best posture tolerance of hermeneutical diversity? To what extent? Are all meanings valid? "The Bible has been used to justify everything you can think of and a person can make it mean anything he want it to mean as there can show clear historical instances in which people have interpreted the Bible through their own cultural values, often without even being aware of it. (, 1976; , 1980)           DISCUSSION               Interpretations to the Scripture – the Holy Bible is quite not an easy thing to do, as there can be misuses as well as misconceptions of certain phrases and verses from within and that giving appropriate understanding and clearer emphasis on what God really wanted to convey to mankind through the bible has faced a lot of debates and arguments among thousands of religious sectors globally inclined to proclaim that their denomination is the real one over others. Persuasion and conviction of individual mind because of some intention as well as motive can be the utmost reason why there are so many attempts to interpret the Scripture, in order to captivate and capture the majority and possibly alter certain beliefs and values and in a way, change what their faith stands for them. (, 2001;  and , 2006) The Bible is considered as the book life and that there are a lot of biblical translations that people can choose from and that it is quite confusing to know that ambiguous interpretations to it is evident in the society and in some cases causes conflicts among discussions made by religious leaders and world leaders in general and because of such attempts there has been transparency in church and state separation.                     Thus, religion is one of the most influential factor when it comes to the societal as well as government activities and in order to govern and hold high power, there triggers to have diverse attempts in interpreting the Scripture without realizing that it is already misleading the perception and views of the people – the general public. (, 2002; , 2005) Moreover, moral interpretation is necessitated by the belief that the Bible is the rule not only of faith but also of conduct. The Jewish teachers of the late pre-Christian and early Christian Era, who found “in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth” (. ), were faced with the necessity of adapting the requirements of the Pentateuchal codes to the changed social condition as has been said, the importance of biblical hermeneutics has lain in the Bible's status as a sacred book in Judaism and Christianity, recording a divine revelation or reproducing divine oracles. (, 1976; , 1980) The oracles are primarily prophetic utterances, its primary purpose is to discover the truths and values of the Bible, which is seen as a receptacle of divine revelation. Four major types of hermeneutics have emerged: literal –  asserting that the text is to be interpreted according to plain meaning; moral – seeking to establish the principles from which ethical lessons may be drawn; allegorical – interpreting narratives as having a level of reference beyond the explicit and anagogical or mystical – seeking to explain biblical events as they relate to the life to come. (, 1976; , 1980)               Thus, recently the word has come to refer to all deep reading of literary and philosophical texts as the vision still remains the hope of the whole human race as well the primary motivation of the modern state of Israel and its desire that Jerusalem be its capital city. Paul counsels the faithful that they avoid debilitating idleness as they wait for the coming of the Lord.  (Cited in,    ;    ;    ;  ) In so doing they would imitate his practice of working for a living while carrying on his ministry.  It was a poignant message to the many servants and slaves who had found hope for a better life in the gospel Paul preached and that by nature, such interpretations to the Scripture is hyperbolic as such it can never be literally interpreted in the sense as the certain purpose was to warn of judgment to come and to encourage the faithful that, come what may, God is still in control of historical events. Instead of predicting what would inevitably happen in coming troubles and persecutions, he was warning that things would get worse before they got better. for instance, some preachers may be tempted to seize on New Testament as means of predicting what will be the outcome of the present warfare instigated by criminally irresponsible terrorism or American assertive self-defense.  It is imperative to realize that people live in God's world, the God who came in Jesus and is coming to complete God's historical purpose of reconciling all creation to God's eternal love. (Cited in, )               There has been this question, ‘Shall the difficulty of interpreting the Bible lead one to abandon attempts of interpreting it? It has been said that Sunday school teacher, should not put interpretation upon the Bible. Evidently, along with this dictum goes the implication that there are legitimately be different interpretations of the Scripture. In fact, a teacher of the Bible is not infrequently asked whether he gives the ‘denominational interpretation’ of the portion of Scripture he is studying. Perhaps one should not be surprised at such questions. The history of theology makes it only too evident that many men go to the Scriptures to find support for their own opinions and such interpreters very naturally find it necessary to practice imposition as a preparation for exposition. Bible teachers have themselves to thank for the decision of some law courts that the Bible is a sectarian book. It could hardly be otherwise if interpretations are to be put upon it. The phrase very well describes a method often in evidence. Interpretations have been determined in advance and then fitted to some text or perhaps the texts have been fitted to them. It is not difficult to discover the source of such exegetical anarchy as men have rebelled against enforced interpretations of the Scripture’.  (Cited in, , 1903 )                     There can be statements that reflect the relativism and postmodernism that has permeated the whole culture and there has been the challenge as for the reasons of interpreting the Scripture in a lot of ways as can be conceptualized in the illustration below: Source of the above:               Since there is no objective standard to which the interpreter must bow, the final authority ceases to be the Scripture and becomes the interpreter. Allegorical interpretation is only rarely seen in Scripture (). Parables are usually not allegories. Allegories are usually narratives in which every detail has a corresponding spiritual significance. Parables are local-color stories which illustrate one main spiritual truth. When would allegorical interpretation be allowable? Only when the biblical authors explain it (as in ).  Then, every word is taken absolutely literally including figures of speech and symbolism. Historical background is considered unnecessary and ignored. Any deviation from this rule is regarded as sacrilegious. The religious experience of the interpreter is the main focus and the Bible stimulates such an experience. The Bible in itself is not God's revelation, but it becomes God's revelation when someone accepts it through faith. Interpretation is thus seen primarily as a personal encounter with God. (,  and , 2000) Aside, because the words of scripture are not as important as an encounter, much historical and factual information in the Bible could be false according to this view. There is no external objective control over interpretation, thus easily leading to eisogesis and proof-texting. (, 2001;  and , 2006) There is not the necessary emphasis on sound doctrinal and expository study so the application may be misleading. Allegorizing occurs frequently, particularly with the use of the Old Testament. Reader-centered theories are openly biased, but they hold that in this they are no different than other approaches except that they are more honest and less naive. The reader is not under the authority of Scripture. Scripture is pressed into the ideological mold of the reader, leaving the reader in authority. (,  and , 2002)                         That everything in the Bible is not equally clear (), but the main message is sufficiently clear for us to be saved and accomplish God's purpose. The biblical authors assumed their readers could understand their main message. "The Bible is basically clear and lucid. It is simple enough for any literate person to understand its basic message. This is not to say that all parts of the Bible are equally clear or that there are no difficult passages or sections to be found in it. Laymen unskilled in the ancient languages and the fine points of exegesis may have difficulty with parts of scripture, but the essential content is clear enough to be understood easily." (, 1977 )  Furthermore, in conformity of the interpretations, there is the need to: (, 2006; , 2006; , 2005) INTERPRET GRAMMATICALLY Take the normal meaning of the words, phrases and sentences unless it is impossible to do so. The interpretation must correspond to the words and grammar in the text in a reasonable way. Otherwise, there is no objective control over the interpreter as most of the Bible can be interpreted by simply taking the language in the usual way.       INTERPRET HISTORICALLY Historical interpretation means that we take into account the historical background of the author and the recipients. We are not interested at first in the question, "What does it mean to me?" but rather, "What did it mean to the original audience?" Use Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, commentaries, or other sources to learn more about customs, money, geography and be able to ascertain the original intent before we apply any biblical teaching. INTERPRET CRITICALLY The interpretation must make rational sense. The entire Bible is the product of one author (God) at the same time that it is the product of many authors. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect a consistent message throughout the Bible. Some of these rules are logical implications of a belief in the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture.           CONCLUSION             While God's purpose for man has never changed, his strategy in accomplishing that purpose has changed. He has dealt with man under different covenants, therefore, it is important to ask, "Under which program was this written?" Primary application of the passage will be to the people operating under that program, but not necessarily to others. There may be secondary applications for other programs based on principles which have universal application. The sacred status of the Bible in Judaism and Christianity rests upon the conviction that it is a receptacle of divine revelation. This understanding of the Bible as the word of God, however, has not generated one uniform hermeneutical principle for its interpretation. Some persons have argued that the interpretation of the Bible must always be literal because the word of God is explicit and complete; others have insisted that the biblical words must always have a deeper “spiritual” meaning because God's message and truth is self-evidently profound. Still others have maintained that some parts of the Bible must be treated literally and some figuratively.                         Thus, fundamental belief in hermeneutics is that there is one interpretation. When the author of a book recorded history, or wrote their letter or gospel, they had a single intended meaning attached to what they wrote. This notion is easily understood today. When a person writes a letter, they are not thinking how they can write it so that the receiving person either cannot understand it or comes up with many different interpretations of what the writer meant. Instead, their is a particular meaning behind what they wrote. In turn, the interpretation is restricted by the writers intentions. Thus, when doing hermeneutics, one should always be aware of what the authors intended meaning was. This should guide and direct one's studies and should also safeguard against interpretations that do not fit the thought or flow of the book one is studying.  It should be noted that although there is a single interpretation to be found in each passage, there can be more than one application.                     REFERENCES

THE MAJOR TYPES OF BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS

INTRODUCTION The consensus in the world today is that the average person can't accurately interpret what the Bible s...

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