Theology-Christopher

World without Children: Voices From and Around the Manger Christianity around the globe traditionally reads and reflects the life enhancing activities in the birth narratives of Jesus in the Gospels. Characters that fascinate us during such reflections are baby Jesus, Manger, Crib, Christmas-tree, Star, Angel, Joseph, Mary, Shepherds, Wisemen with expensive gifts, and animals in the stable. Most of our celebrations and greetings are not without their depiction. They have projecting the Christmas as only ‘celebration’. While it is not at all completely off track itself to ‘celebrate’ Christmas, one’s reading of the scripture should span the peril that Jesus and other children around the time of Jesus’ birth went through. Children below two years of age became an endangered lot instantly. Forced migration and escape for life certainly add new dimensions to theological, missiological, and social thinking of the churches. In fact the popular superficio-mystical religiosity and spirituality

“…you shall raise up the foundations of many generations ...” Is. 58:12. (NRSV) Back Ground: The affiliates of Isaiah's addressees were fasting for all the erroneous reasons! They fasted to get things from God and hypocritically appear righteous. God says, though, that we should fast to free others from their sins, to intercede with God for their healing, to help provide for their needs and to understand the Will of God. Here the writer says, you shall build the old waste places - Shall repair the old ruins, and restore the desolate cities and fields to their former beauty. This language is taken from the condition of Judea during the long captivity at Babylon. The land could have been desolated by the Chaldeans, and lain waste for a period of seventy years. Of course all the remains of their former prosperity would have gone to decay, and the whole country would be filled with draughts and ruins. But all this, says the prophet, would be restored if they were obedient to God and w

The Earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it. Psalm 24:1 (NRSV) Peace I leave with you: I my peace I give you. I do not give as the world give. Jn 14: 27 (NRSV) The centenary celebration of the 1910 Edinburgh International Mission Conference is just over with a global gathering in Edinburgh deliberating on the theme ‘Witnessing Christ Today.’ The Edinburgh 2010 critically evaluated different mission models to explore relevant praxis-oriented missiologies that enable the church to witness Christ meaningfully till the end of the World. When the entire Christian world reaffirms this commitment to witness Christ relevantly, the Christian community in India is contemplating on the meaning of relevant Christian witnessing in the midst of new crises that we confront every day in our country. An deeper engagement with the crises of our times, hence, is a pre-requisite for our missiological discourses on witnessing Christ relevantly today. Kashmir is literally burning, and in order to bring p

World Environmental Day (WED) June 05th 2010 World Environment Day (WED) which is observed on 5th of June every year, is a day that stimulates awareness of the environment, societal attention and public commitment. To the faith-oriented it also presents an opportunity to search for faith responses. The theme for this year is, Many Species: One Planet, One Future. It is estimated that 5 million to 100 million species inhabit this wonderful planet. Scientists have managed to identify only about 2 million species so far. In God’s creation human race is one in several million species that live in this planet. We do not have adequate information about the other species with which we share this earth, many of whom disappear even before they are discovered. A total of 17,291 species are known to be threatened with extinction – from little-known plants and insects to charismatic birds and mammals. Such extinctions are on account of our present approach to development, we have caused the cleari

EDINBURGH 2010: Call to Confess and Commorate The Centenary of the World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh 1910, for many, is a suggestive moment for seeking direction for Christian mission in the 21st century. While looking forward to 2010 Centenary conference It is important to register, refer and recall the idea and proposal for the International Missionary Conference was suggested from India by the father of the Modern Mission movement. Rev. Dr. William Carry, the first Baptist missionary in Sri Rampur, West Bengal. The idea of a great international conference to discern the next steps for worldwide Christian mission is by no means the sole prerogative of the Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference . According to John R Mott, the Conference Chairman “Edinburgh 1910 is the most notable gathering in the interest of the worldwide expansion of Christianity ever held, not only in missionary annals but in all Christian annals.” Scott LaTourette’s says that “The World Missionary

Introduction: The image of God could be understood at least in two ways. One, the way God-self is portrayed or presented in our scriptures. It would really hard task, because the Christian scripture itself says that no one had seen God. But in Jesus’ era people had seen Jesus as God’s Son, so God in the Bible was seen in Jesus, because Jesus said whoever sees me is seeing God. Secondly, according to Genesis the entire human are created in image of Creator God. This image is seen in and as human beings. This is how we are taught by our faith traditions. This is an anthropomorphic approach to see God. The Genesis’ explanation is just ‘physical appearance’ of God. Even in many places we are explained about the images and human physical parts like, the hand of God, figure of God, and even St. Paul relates the body of God and the Church like head and other parts. So it explicit that anthropomorphic approach was prevailing even in Judeo-Christian tradition also. Physical Image of God: But th