Man's Response to God Through Faith and Love

Sub-Theme 1: Man's Quest for God

A.

(I) Present Situation

The student is aware of his/her own and other people's uncertainty in the quest for God. Education and even Christian teaching have contributed to doubts and questions about traditional views of God without offering adequate understanding. Man seeks meaning beyond himself (for reality, for God).

(II) African Tradition

Belief in God and the spirit world expresses a sense of order in teh universe. People have acquired the religious beliefs of the society in which they were born and educated. Religion has pervaded the whole of life.

(III) Church History with Emphasis on Africa

World religions other than Christianity which have had a major influence in Africa: have the attitudes of the churches towards them changed? Man's search for meaning and some reactions of the churches to such efforts in the past and today.

B. Bible

Old Testament

A history of one people who experienced God's revelation in a particular way and were moved to a response; no suggestion that only the Israelites knew God. Genesis 1-11 describes the situation of mankind in general: created by God for union with him, unable to respond fully to God or to fellow men because of sin, but included in God's plan for salvation. Psalm 19:1-4: God reveals Himself through events in their own history (e.g. the Exodus) and calling for a personal response from them (Exodus 24:1-8). The prophets help to interpret events and lead their people to a proper response to God. Hope of God's salvation tended to become exclusive but the prophets tried to widen the people's understanding (stories of Ruth and Jonah). Isaiah insists on the universality of salvation (Isaiah 45:18,23; 49:1, 12-13; 55:5).

New Testament

Hebrew 1:1-2: Climax of Old Testament revelation. Jesus affirms that he has come for all men (Luke 3:6; 6:35; 10:14); that non-Jews would be more open to accept his message (Luke 11:29-32; 13:22-30). The Good News was not a reformed Judaism but something new and unexpected (the Kingdom of God). Jesus himself is the center of mankind gathered together in unity (John 11:45-54). Romans 1:18-32; Acts 17:22-23: attitude of the early Christians; recognition that the gentiles received God in some way. Peter: a new understanding of God's revelation (Acts, 10). Paul: Ephesians 3:1-13: the mystery once hidden is now revealed.

C. Synthesis

There should be an appreciation of God's revelation in African traditional religions. There is one mediator, Jesus Christ. The otherness of God and His closeness, when held in balance, give a proper sense of sacredness.

Sub-Theme 2: Man's Evasion of God

A.

(I) Present Situation

Secular education encourages analysis and questioning, even of faith, in search of demonstrable truth. Difficulty in appreciating religious aesthetic, or poetic truth. Aspiration tend towards power and wealth with education as key to them. Unchristian attitudes may influence politics, business and economics. Man tends to reduce God to what he can understand and accept, as well as to reject the limited views of God which he has learned. There is a danger that, for what they consider religious reasons, people can close themselves to God's ongoing revelation. Ritual can become meaningless ritualism.

(II) African Tradition

Belief in magic. A fatalistic attitude reduces responsibility for religious reasons. A tendency to abandon organized religion can be a result of abuses of religion: ritualism, rituals of power, competition between religious groups leading to confusion, manipulation by theocratic governments. Any willful break in relationships is seen as an offence against God and the spirits. There is uncertainty and confusion concerning one's obligation to submit to traditional tribal ritual and hesitancy about the propriety of a Christian's participation in it.

(III) Church History with Emphasis on Africa

Tendency to commit oneself to something other than God or as well as God ("idolatry"). Experiences in the early Church: Judaism, factionalism. Middle Ages and Reformation. Modern Africa: particular practices, devotions, catchwords. Christian commitment sometimes expressed in refraining from (e.g. fasting, not smoking). Tendency towards secularism appears to date from the Renaissance onwards. Various reasons why some people have opposed or abandoned Christianity or other forms of organized religions.

B. Bible

Old Testament

The Israelites had a tendency to presume that God would act in a certain way to protect them. Isaiah 40:21-26: denounced the temptation to think the Babylonian gods were stronger than Yahweh. Shuffling off responsibility: seeing the covenant as a pledge that God will never fail them. (2 Samuel 7:1-16; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 7:1-15).Even among the prophets there is a tendency to think of the restoration in terms of the reestablishment of David's kingdom (Jeremiah 30:18).

Another tendency: to see men as self-sufficient (Genesis 3). Ezekiel 28:1-5: the king of Tyre thinks he has no need of God. The prophet Jeremiah reproaches King Jehoakim for practically denying relationship with God (Jeremiah 22:13-17). Psalm 53: self-worship and self-centeredness lead men to denying God a real place in their lives.

New Testament

Jesus exposed both these tendencies. He condemned the exclusivism of the religious leaders who thought of Judaism as being for the Jews only, who thought that because they worshipped in the temple and followed the law scrupulously, they were truly serving God (Matthew 24:1-2; Mark 2:18, 27; 7:1-13, 24-30). Luke 12:13-21; 16:19-31: he exposed, likewise, the false attitudes of men who refused to believe in anything beyond the material or who lived for themselves only. Jesus showed complete openness to God. Matthew 4:1-11: he chose the way of self-giving for others rather than the way of power, wealth or presumption on God. His miracles were worked, not to impress, but to elicit a faith-response (Matthew 7:7-11) and the readiness to put one's faith into practice in loving concern for others (Matthew 7:21; 25:31-46). Paul: our lives are in God's hands and God works through us for His own purpose (Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:13). Each person is called to commit himself with all his gifts to the task entrusted to him (Matthew 25:14-30).

C. Synthesis

Man is called to an attitude of trust and openness towards God and the world, acing responsibly within his circumstances.

Sub-Theme 3: Christian Involvement in the World

A.

(I) Present Situation

The young are increasingly in need of, and are searching for, ways of relating faith to daily life within the community. The question of the lives of people whose religious convictions lead them to dissociate themselves from worldly activities, such as politics or business. There is effective Christian witness to God's saving presence in the world.

(II) African Tradition

Integration of Christianity and culture. As Christianity is reflected on by people of one culture with people of another culture, the richness of the mystery of Christ is more deeply penetrated.

(III) Church History with Emphasis on Africa

Religion demands commitment. Early African Christians: commitment to God and to each other; commitment to transformation of the world. Renewal, Revival, and reformation in the Church. Christian commitment to God and to the transformation of the world should be summed up in the community worship, especially in the Eucharist.

B. Bible

Old Testament

Isaiah 44:9-20: God (Yahweh) is acknowledged as the only creator and Lord. He is experienced as being active in the lives of his people. (Exodus 19:1-15). The faith-response to Yahweh is expressed in the daily living out of the covenant. Psalm 100: faith is expressed in worship, remembering God's saving act gratitude and adoration. The prophets help to educate their people to a faith-response to contemporary events (Isaiah 39:1-8). Psalm 139: God is near to each individual, knows each one intimately and yet is transcendent.

New Testament

Jesus is Emmanuel (God is with us), revealing God as Father. He makes the Father's will the goal of his life (Matthew 4:1-11), reading His will in the circumstances that face him (Mark 1:32-39), risking the opposition of the religious leaders (Mark 3:1-6), realizing that they want to arrest him (Mark 14:1-2) and accepting inevitable death (Mark 15:10-15). On the cross He appears truly as Son, responding with trust in a hopeless situation (Mark 15:34, 39). The resurrection is God's seal on his fidelity. Hebrews 11:1-6, 32-40; 12:1-2: for those who follow him commitment means constant openness to God and to one's fellow men (Matthew 25:31-46). 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; Acts 2:24: the Eucharist expresses Christian involvement in the world and God's action in men's lives: a call to fellowship. Luke 11:1-13; Matthew 6:5-6: personal prayer and reflection help us to be aware of God's presence in people and events and respond with love (John 3:8).

C. Synthesis

Commitment to God includes: being open to people, events and circumstances; discovering through personal prayer and reflection how to respond to the Father; and expressing shared faith, commitment and response in worship.