Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear Him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. - Matthew 10:28 -
WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE/WORD OF GOD/HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY. - Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, and the fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!
THEOLOGY? ISN'T THAT THE STUDY OF RELIGION? SO, WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH ME? ISN'T IT CONCERN PRIESTS, THEOLOGIANS AND THE VATICAN?
THEOLOGY HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH ME, HASN'T IT?
Most of us think that theology is the concern of specialists, an academic subject that has little to do with lay person. Yet, the Christian theology that we accept today has its roots in the faith experiences of the Hebrews' search for God, their reflection on those experiences and their response to Him.
As Rev. Fr. Michael Amaladoss SJ, the Assistant to Father General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach SJ, responsible for Dialogue and Ecumenism (May 1992-...) puts it, "Faith looks, not only backward to God's saving and powerful presence in history, but also to the future that God invites us to create in the power of the Word and of the Spirit. Theology is therefore not an abstract philosophical elaboration of eternal verities reserved to a few expert professionals. It is a discerning search for God in the here and now of history that is the concern of everyone".
In this sense, theology must be the concern of every Christian and more so of every Christian in Malaysia.
It is the recognition of the Malaysian situation, specifically that of Saint Francis Xavier's Church (Petaling Jaya, Selangor.), that has prompted the central argument in Theology of Shoes-off, an initial effort on the part of Rev. Fr. Joseph (Jojo) Fung SJ to identify the elements that could form our very own Malaysian Theology.
Rev. Fr. Amaladoss SJ has this to say about Theology of Shoes-off. The flowering of local theology is a sign of the rootedness and maturity of a particular Church. So I am glad to welcome and introduce this pioneering effort by Rev. Fr. Joseph (Jojo) Fung SJ to develop a Malaysian theology of "Shoes-off".
BY REV. FR. JOSEPH MATTHEW FUNG JEE VUI ( JOJO ) SJ, was the Parish Priest of SFX Church (Petaling Jaya, Selangor.) from 1988 to 1992.
The Lord Jesus Christ, promised to us that our mission on this earth is really and utmost important for our own salvation.
"I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not be given repayment many times over in this present time, in the world to come, Eternal Life." - Luke 18:28-30 -
'Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?'
"Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He is like a man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built.
But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 -
Paul in Athens
Paul waited for them in Athens and there his whole soul was revolted at the sight of a city given over to idolatry. [ Athens was the intellectual metropolis of pagan hellenism and to Luke was a symbol. This is evident from the fact that Paul's sermon there, the only sample of his preaching to the pagans, is the only one in which he argues philosophically.] In the synagogue he held debates with the Jews and the God-fearing, but in the market place he had debates everyday with anyone who would face him. [ The one explicit mention in Acts of this kind of preaching (though cf. 14:7f).] Even a few Epicurean and Stoic philosophers [ The two prevailing philosophical systems.] argued with him. Some said, 'Does this parrot know what he's talking about?' [ Lit. 'What does this seed-picker want to say?' The local Athenian word spermologos was used of birds that peck, crows etc. It came to mean 'beggar', one who picks up food wherever he can find it, and also a garrulous man who speaks in cliches, parrot-wise.] And, because he was preaching about Jesus and the resurrection, [ Cf. v. 32. They assume Anastasis ('Resurrection') is the name of a goddess, consort of Jesus.] others said, 'He sounds like a propagandist for some outlandish gods'. [ Socrates was accused of the same thing.]
They invited him to accompany them to the Council of the Areopagus, [ A hill to the S. of the Agora. The word means also the Athenian supreme council which held its seasons there. The text may be inderstood in two ways: either the philosophers lead Paul 'on to (the hill of) the Areopagus', away from the city centre for easier listening or (preferably) they lead him 'before (the Council of) the Areopagus'.] where they said to him, 'How much of this new teaching you were speaking about are we allowed to know? Some of the things you said seemed startling to us and we would like to find out what they mean.' The one amusement the Athenians and the foreigners living there seem to have, apart from discussing the latest ideas, is listening to lectures about them.
So Paul stood before the whole Council of the Areopagus and made this speech: - Acts 17:16-22 -
Paul's speech before the Council of the Areopagus [ Paul preaches on the knowledge of God, a theme very popular in the propaganda of contemporary hellenistic Judaism. The pagans are accused of not knowing God, v. 23, the proof being that they worship idols v. 29. This ignorance is culpable, v. 30, since all men are capable of knowing God as creator and controller of the cosmos, vv. 24-29. Cf. the same line of argument in 14:15-17; Wisdom 13-14; Rom. 1:19-25; Eph. 4:17-19.]
'Men of Athens, I have seen for myself how extremely scrupulous you are in all religious matters, because I noticed, as I strolled round admiring your sacred monuments, that you had an altar inscribed: To An UNknown God. [ The pagans used to dedicate altars 'to the unknown gods' lest they provoke the vengeance of gods whose names they did not know. Paul turns the practice to his own purpose and thus parries the charge of preaching 'outlandish gods'.] Well, the God whom I proclaim: is in fact the one whom you already worship without knowing it.' - Acts 17:23 -
'Since the God who made the world and everything in it [ This idea was common in Greek thought and hellenistic Judaism; it is a form of the old scriptural/biblical theme in Amos 5:21f; 1 Chr. 29:10f; Psalms 50:9-13, etc.] is himself Lord of heaven and earth, he does not make his home in shrines made by human hands. Nor is he dependent on anything that human hands can do for him, since he can never be in need of anything; on the contrary, it is he who gives everything - including life and breath - to everyone.
From one single stock [ Var. 'of one blood', 'of one nation', 'of one race'.] he not only created the whole human race so that they could occupy the entire earth, but he decreed how long each nation should flourish and what the boundaries of its territory should be. [ Alternative translations 'determining the division of times' or 'determining the order of the seasons (cf. 14:17) and the bounds of human habitation' (man was not to occupy the whole earth but only part of it). The general meaning is the same: the order of the cosmos is enough to lead to a knowledge of God.] And he did this so that all nations might seek the deity [ Var. 'God' or 'the Lord'.] and by feeling their way towards him, succeed in finding him. Yet in fact he is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live, and move, and exist, [ Expression suggested by the poet Epimenides of Cnossos (6th c. B.C.)] as indeed some of your own writers [ Lit. 'of your people'. Var. 'of your poets' or 'of your sages'.] have said:
"We are all his children". - Acts 17:24-28 -
'Since we are the children of God, we have no excuse for thinking that the deity looks like anything in gold, silver or stone that has been carved and designed by a man'. [ This form of attack on idolatry has ancient precedent, cf. Is. 40:20+.]
'God overlooked that sort of things when men were ignorant, but now he is telling everyone everywhere that they must repent, because he has fixed a day when the whole world will be judged, and judged in righteousness, [ Cf. Psalms 9:8; 96:13; 98:9. The apostles set their appeal for repentance against the background of judgement, cf. especially 10:42-43; 1 Thess 1:10.] and he has appointed a man to be the judge. And God has publicly proved this by raising this man from the dead.' [ Christ's resurrection justifies belief in his coming as judge and saviour at the end of time, cf. Rom. 14:9; 2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5.]
At this mention of rising from the dead, some of them burst out laughing; others said, 'We would like to hear you talk about this again'. [ In the Greek world, even among Christians, the doctrine of the resurrection met stubborn resistance from preconceived ideas, cf. 1 Cor. 15:12f. The Jerusalem Sanhedrists condemned and attacked this Christian dogma: the Athenians of the Areopagus were content to mock. Paul's failure in Athens was all complete; from now on he refuses to use the devices of Greek philosophy, 1 Cor. 2:1-5.]
After that Paul left them, but there were some who attached themselves to him and became believers, among them Dionysius the Areopagite [ Luke's readers must have known him. He became the subject of legend, especially since the 5th c. when an author (the 'pseudo-Dionysius') published various mystical writings under his name. Later legend identifies him with Saint Denys, first Bishop of Paris (3rd c.)] and a woman called Damaris, and others besides. - Acts 17:29-34 -
Foundation of the church of Corinth
After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, [ Corinth, rebuilt by Julius Caesar, became capital of the Roman province of Achaia. Its population was largely Roman and Latin-speaking, but brisk trade had attracted people of all nations. It had a considerable Jewish colony. The immorality of Corinth was proverbial.] where he met a Jew called Aquila whose family came from Pontus. He and his wife Priscilla [ Also called Prisca, Rom. 16:3; 1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Tim. 4:19.] had recently left Italy because an edict of Claudius had expelled all the Jews from Rome. [ This edict, mentioned by Suetonius, was issued in 49 or 50. It was effective for a very short time, cf. Rom. 16:3; Acts 28:17.]
Paul went to visit them, and when he found they were tent-makers, of the same trade as himself, he lodged with them, and they worked together. [ Though Paul acknowledges the missionary's right to sustenance, 1 Cor. 9:6-14; Gal. 6:6; 2 Thess. 3:9; cf. Luke 10:7, he himself always practised a trade, 1 Cor. 4:12, not wishing to be a burden on anyone, 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8; 2 Cor. 12:13f, and in order to prove his singleness of purpose, Acts 20:33f: 1 Cor. 9:15-18; 2 Cor. 11:7-12. Only from the Philippians did he accept help, Phil. 4:10-18; 2 Cor. 11:8f. cf. Acts 16:15+. He recommended his followers to do the same to supply their own needs, 1 Thess. 4:11f; 2 Thess. 3:10-12, and those of the poor, Acts 20:35; Eph. 4:28.] Every Sabbath he used to hold debates in the synagogues, trying to convert Jews as well as Greeks. - Acts 18:1-4 -
After Silas and Timothy had arrived from Macedonia, [ It was after this that Paul wrote his two letters to the Thessalonians.] Paul devoted all his time to preaching, declaring to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. [ That Jesus was Messiah was the distinctive theme of the preaching to the Jews, cf. 2:36; 3:18-20; 5:42; 8:5,12; 9:22; 17:3; 18:28; 24:24; 26:23.] When they turned against him and started to insult him, he took his cloak and shook it out in front of them, [ Symbolically breaking off relations. The following sentence is scriptural/biblical, cf. Lev. 20:9-16, 2 Sam. 1:16, and means that the Jews must accept full responsibility for the consequences. Their 'blood' i.e. their punishment, is not Paul's affair; his conscience is clear (lit, 'I am clean').] 'Your blood be on your own heads; from now on I can go to the pagans with a clear conscience'.
Then he left the synagogue and moved to the house next door that belonged to a worshipper of God called Justus. [ Var. 'Titus Justus' or 'Titius Justus'.] Crispus, presudent of the synagogue, and his whole household, all became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. A great many Corinthians who had heard him becme believers and were baptised. [ Western Text add. 'believing in God through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ', cf. 8:36+. The converts had therefore been pagans.] One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, 'Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you. I have so many people on my side in this city that no one will even attempt to hurt you.' So Paul stayed there preaching the word of God among them for eighteen months. - Acts 18:5-11 -
The Jews take Paul to court
Page 54
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless. Paul waited for them in Athens and there his whole soul was revolted at the sight of a city given over to idolatry. [ Athens was the intellectual metropolis of pagan hellenism and to Luke was a symbol. This is evident from the fact that Paul's sermon there, the only sample of his preaching to the pagans, is the only one in which he argues philosophically.] In the synagogue he held debates with the Jews and the God-fearing, but in the market place he had debates everyday with anyone who would face him. [ The one explicit mention in Acts of this kind of preaching (though cf. 14:7f).] Even a few Epicurean and Stoic philosophers [ The two prevailing philosophical systems.] argued with him. Some said, 'Does this parrot know what he's talking about?' [ Lit. 'What does this seed-picker want to say?' The local Athenian word spermologos was used of birds that peck, crows etc. It came to mean 'beggar', one who picks up food wherever he can find it, and also a garrulous man who speaks in cliches, parrot-wise.] And, because he was preaching about Jesus and the resurrection, [ Cf. v. 32. They assume Anastasis ('Resurrection') is the name of a goddess, consort of Jesus.] others said, 'He sounds like a propagandist for some outlandish gods'. [ Socrates was accused of the same thing.]
They invited him to accompany them to the Council of the Areopagus, [ A hill to the S. of the Agora. The word means also the Athenian supreme council which held its seasons there. The text may be inderstood in two ways: either the philosophers lead Paul 'on to (the hill of) the Areopagus', away from the city centre for easier listening or (preferably) they lead him 'before (the Council of) the Areopagus'.] where they said to him, 'How much of this new teaching you were speaking about are we allowed to know? Some of the things you said seemed startling to us and we would like to find out what they mean.' The one amusement the Athenians and the foreigners living there seem to have, apart from discussing the latest ideas, is listening to lectures about them.
So Paul stood before the whole Council of the Areopagus and made this speech: - Acts 17:16-22 -
Paul's speech before the Council of the Areopagus [ Paul preaches on the knowledge of God, a theme very popular in the propaganda of contemporary hellenistic Judaism. The pagans are accused of not knowing God, v. 23, the proof being that they worship idols v. 29. This ignorance is culpable, v. 30, since all men are capable of knowing God as creator and controller of the cosmos, vv. 24-29. Cf. the same line of argument in 14:15-17; Wisdom 13-14; Rom. 1:19-25; Eph. 4:17-19.]
'Men of Athens, I have seen for myself how extremely scrupulous you are in all religious matters, because I noticed, as I strolled round admiring your sacred monuments, that you had an altar inscribed: To An UNknown God. [ The pagans used to dedicate altars 'to the unknown gods' lest they provoke the vengeance of gods whose names they did not know. Paul turns the practice to his own purpose and thus parries the charge of preaching 'outlandish gods'.] Well, the God whom I proclaim: is in fact the one whom you already worship without knowing it.' - Acts 17:23 -
'Since the God who made the world and everything in it [ This idea was common in Greek thought and hellenistic Judaism; it is a form of the old scriptural/biblical theme in Amos 5:21f; 1 Chr. 29:10f; Psalms 50:9-13, etc.] is himself Lord of heaven and earth, he does not make his home in shrines made by human hands. Nor is he dependent on anything that human hands can do for him, since he can never be in need of anything; on the contrary, it is he who gives everything - including life and breath - to everyone.
From one single stock [ Var. 'of one blood', 'of one nation', 'of one race'.] he not only created the whole human race so that they could occupy the entire earth, but he decreed how long each nation should flourish and what the boundaries of its territory should be. [ Alternative translations 'determining the division of times' or 'determining the order of the seasons (cf. 14:17) and the bounds of human habitation' (man was not to occupy the whole earth but only part of it). The general meaning is the same: the order of the cosmos is enough to lead to a knowledge of God.] And he did this so that all nations might seek the deity [ Var. 'God' or 'the Lord'.] and by feeling their way towards him, succeed in finding him. Yet in fact he is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live, and move, and exist, [ Expression suggested by the poet Epimenides of Cnossos (6th c. B.C.)] as indeed some of your own writers [ Lit. 'of your people'. Var. 'of your poets' or 'of your sages'.] have said:
"We are all his children". - Acts 17:24-28 -
'Since we are the children of God, we have no excuse for thinking that the deity looks like anything in gold, silver or stone that has been carved and designed by a man'. [ This form of attack on idolatry has ancient precedent, cf. Is. 40:20+.]
'God overlooked that sort of things when men were ignorant, but now he is telling everyone everywhere that they must repent, because he has fixed a day when the whole world will be judged, and judged in righteousness, [ Cf. Psalms 9:8; 96:13; 98:9. The apostles set their appeal for repentance against the background of judgement, cf. especially 10:42-43; 1 Thess 1:10.] and he has appointed a man to be the judge. And God has publicly proved this by raising this man from the dead.' [ Christ's resurrection justifies belief in his coming as judge and saviour at the end of time, cf. Rom. 14:9; 2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5.]
At this mention of rising from the dead, some of them burst out laughing; others said, 'We would like to hear you talk about this again'. [ In the Greek world, even among Christians, the doctrine of the resurrection met stubborn resistance from preconceived ideas, cf. 1 Cor. 15:12f. The Jerusalem Sanhedrists condemned and attacked this Christian dogma: the Athenians of the Areopagus were content to mock. Paul's failure in Athens was all complete; from now on he refuses to use the devices of Greek philosophy, 1 Cor. 2:1-5.]
After that Paul left them, but there were some who attached themselves to him and became believers, among them Dionysius the Areopagite [ Luke's readers must have known him. He became the subject of legend, especially since the 5th c. when an author (the 'pseudo-Dionysius') published various mystical writings under his name. Later legend identifies him with Saint Denys, first Bishop of Paris (3rd c.)] and a woman called Damaris, and others besides. - Acts 17:29-34 -
Foundation of the church of Corinth
After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, [ Corinth, rebuilt by Julius Caesar, became capital of the Roman province of Achaia. Its population was largely Roman and Latin-speaking, but brisk trade had attracted people of all nations. It had a considerable Jewish colony. The immorality of Corinth was proverbial.] where he met a Jew called Aquila whose family came from Pontus. He and his wife Priscilla [ Also called Prisca, Rom. 16:3; 1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Tim. 4:19.] had recently left Italy because an edict of Claudius had expelled all the Jews from Rome. [ This edict, mentioned by Suetonius, was issued in 49 or 50. It was effective for a very short time, cf. Rom. 16:3; Acts 28:17.]
Paul went to visit them, and when he found they were tent-makers, of the same trade as himself, he lodged with them, and they worked together. [ Though Paul acknowledges the missionary's right to sustenance, 1 Cor. 9:6-14; Gal. 6:6; 2 Thess. 3:9; cf. Luke 10:7, he himself always practised a trade, 1 Cor. 4:12, not wishing to be a burden on anyone, 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8; 2 Cor. 12:13f, and in order to prove his singleness of purpose, Acts 20:33f: 1 Cor. 9:15-18; 2 Cor. 11:7-12. Only from the Philippians did he accept help, Phil. 4:10-18; 2 Cor. 11:8f. cf. Acts 16:15+. He recommended his followers to do the same to supply their own needs, 1 Thess. 4:11f; 2 Thess. 3:10-12, and those of the poor, Acts 20:35; Eph. 4:28.] Every Sabbath he used to hold debates in the synagogues, trying to convert Jews as well as Greeks. - Acts 18:1-4 -
After Silas and Timothy had arrived from Macedonia, [ It was after this that Paul wrote his two letters to the Thessalonians.] Paul devoted all his time to preaching, declaring to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. [ That Jesus was Messiah was the distinctive theme of the preaching to the Jews, cf. 2:36; 3:18-20; 5:42; 8:5,12; 9:22; 17:3; 18:28; 24:24; 26:23.] When they turned against him and started to insult him, he took his cloak and shook it out in front of them, [ Symbolically breaking off relations. The following sentence is scriptural/biblical, cf. Lev. 20:9-16, 2 Sam. 1:16, and means that the Jews must accept full responsibility for the consequences. Their 'blood' i.e. their punishment, is not Paul's affair; his conscience is clear (lit, 'I am clean').] 'Your blood be on your own heads; from now on I can go to the pagans with a clear conscience'.
Then he left the synagogue and moved to the house next door that belonged to a worshipper of God called Justus. [ Var. 'Titus Justus' or 'Titius Justus'.] Crispus, presudent of the synagogue, and his whole household, all became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. A great many Corinthians who had heard him becme believers and were baptised. [ Western Text add. 'believing in God through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ', cf. 8:36+. The converts had therefore been pagans.] One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, 'Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you. I have so many people on my side in this city that no one will even attempt to hurt you.' So Paul stayed there preaching the word of God among them for eighteen months. - Acts 18:5-11 -
The Jews take Paul to court
Page 54
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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