{"id":1099,"date":"2012-10-10T21:42:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-10T21:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/the-difference\/"},"modified":"2012-10-10T21:42:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-10T21:42:00","slug":"the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"The Difference . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

“Asato Ma Sad Gamaya; Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya, Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya; Om Shanti Shanti Shanti”. This ancient Sanskrit prayer \/ mantra\u00a0 is recited regularly by the philosophical Brahmin disciple to his Guru. It translates as follows: Lead Us From the Unreal To Real, Lead Us From Darkness To Light, Lead Us From Death To Immortality, Aum (the universal sound of God) Let There Be Peace Peace Peace. <\/em>(Wikipedia n.d.)<\/span><\/p>\n

This mantra unveils the heart of Hindu theology and is quite depictive of the natural tendency of the Hindu to search for the \u2018Truth\u2019 and the \u2018Light\u2019.\u00a0 One enters a land of the mystics and mysticism the moment one steps on the soil in India.\u00a0 As E. Stanley Jones describes it well, \u201cyou can feel it in the air\u201d <\/span>(Jones n.d.)<\/span>.\u00a0 It is everywhere.\u00a0 India has been called as the land of the seeker. It is the birth place of five religions. Generally, Hindus who are a majority of the population are very theologically oriented.\u00a0 But there is a difference. <\/span><\/p>\n

The current reading Theology A Very Short Introduction by David G. Ford<\/em> constantly led me to reflect on my own background and context.\u00a0 A noticeable difference emerges between Hindu and Christian Theology.\u00a0 It lies in the central agenda.\u00a0 Hindu theology revolves around self and places God on the periphery. Much of it is inward focused.\u00a0 It seeks self realization. It begins with the \u2018self\u2019 and moves towards God. \u00a0\u00a0All search is in relation to Self. This has resulted in such great emphasis on Anthropomorphic expressions (idols) of its Gods and goddesses \u00a0and a religion based on works? <\/span>(Hindu Theology 2012)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u2018Christian theology\u2019 on the other hand centers in God.\u00a0 It begins with God and moves toward everything else. \u201cIn the beginning God…\u201d (Gen1:1 NIV)\u00a0 Theological reflection then becomes a search for relevant answers to life from standpoint of this Christian Faith. \u00a0It is firmly anchored. \u00a0Ford so poignantly states: \u201cOnce \u2018God\u2019 is genuinely on the agenda, there can be no arbitrary limiting of enquiry\u201d (Ford 2000) .\u00a0 No matter where one begins and how far one may go on the index between type 5 and type 1 as described in part I, the anchor holds. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The reading also reminded me of someone whose works I read during my seminary days.\u00a0 Panikkar a catholic theologian born in Spain but of partial Indian parenthood wrote after his first trip to India: \u00a0\u201cI left Europe [for India] as a Christian, I discovered I was a Hindu and returned as a Buddhist without ever having ceased to be a Christian.\u201d<\/span> (Thomas 2010)\u00a0 The theology that India needs today is one that is first and foremost anchored in the Trinity and unapologetically rooted in the Word; \u00a0yet, \u00a0one that\u00a0 will boldly reach into the heart of the people at their level of every need including mysticism. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

My questions: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Does \u2018Folk theology\u2019 which is predominant in the Church, have a natural and more compelling androcentric leaning?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Are contemporary expressions of idolatry, \u2018distorting\u2019 and \u2018polluting\u2019 \u201cthe ecology of life\u201d as Ford describes,(Ford 2000, 53-53), the result of a growing self centered theology? \u00a0How should I as Christian leader and a \u2018reflective practitioner\u2019 address this?<\/span><\/p>\n

Ford, David F. Theology A Very Short Introduction.<\/em> New York, New York: Oxford University \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Press Inc., 2000.<\/p>\n

Hindu Theology.<\/span><\/em> 2012. http:\/\/www.hinduonline.co\/HinduReligion\/AllAboutHinduism7.html<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>(accessed <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>October 7, 2012).<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones, E. Stanley. The Christ Of The Indian Road.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas, T. Jacob. Indian Christian Theology.<\/em> September 2, 2010. http:\/\/jacthanni.blogspot.in\/\u00a0<\/a>(accessed October 7th, 2012).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>BIBLIOGRAPHY
\n\u00a0<\/span>l 1033 <\/span><\/span>Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Brihardaranyaka Upanishad. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Brihadaranyaka_Upanishad<\/a> (accessed October 10th, 2012).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Asato Ma Sad Gamaya; Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya, Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya; Om Shanti Shanti Shanti”. This ancient Sanskrit prayer \/ mantra\u00a0 is recited regularly by the philosophical Brahmin disciple to his Guru. It translates as follows: Lead Us From the Unreal To Real, Lead Us From Darkness To Light, Lead Us From Death To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,197],"class_list":["post-1099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-ford","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}