Understanding Folk Religion
Understanding Folk Religions by Paul Hiebert, Daniel Shaw, and Tite Tienou, seeks to draw the reader’s attention to the issue of two-tiered Christianity that has developed throughout the world (p.15). Many in the West may think this is a problem that other cultures and nations deal with, but the reality is that this phenomenon is present throughout all of Christendom as the syncretism of formal and folk religion has become common practice. In order to address this, the authors present a four-step model by which missionaries and church leaders can analyze, critique and evaluate the various types and expressions of folk religion they may encounter (ch.1). This model also provides the framework of the book as Hiebert, Shaw, and Tienou present …show more content…
According to the model, an ontological critique of these phenomenological events must involve a careful examination of how they line up with Christian theology derived from Scripture (ch.14). Following that step, the community of believers, aided by the Holy Spirit, is able to arrive at an agreed upon perspective that will ensure the continued advancement of transformational ministries focused on evangelism, discipleship, teaching, and prophecy of correction and hope to their community …show more content…
The extensive examples and case studies from around the world add a depth to the teaching points that brings the book into real life, especially if that life is unfamiliar to the reader. By continually including Christian examples along side of these, the author uncovers that Christianity finds its own roots in some aspects of folk religion, and that our present Christian expressions have some parallels as well. For example, our focus on the need for righteousness with God and others, the presence of creation and flood myths, and rituals that could be defined as rites of transformation (conversion) and intensification (baptism). At the end of each chapter, the “Christian Response” section was key to bridging the gap between folk religion and Christianity by explaining points of commonality and avenues for
Ancestral Lines Chapter Summary
614 Words | 3 PagesThey offer an explanation when presented with the death of a young adult, or when someone who seems to be of relatively good health becomes ill (Barker 2008:129). For example, the death of a young woman named Mona was blamed on sorcery in order to provide an explanation to the villagers since there were given no medical reason (Barker 2008:125). Barker concluded that although Christianity does not believe in sorcery, and both methods of understanding have different views, they can and do coexist in harmony within the Maisin people (Barker 2008:134). Hedican’s textbook “Social Anthropology” discusses the coexistence of Christianity and traditional beliefs among the Mi’Kmaq.
Bozeman To Banaras Chapter 1 Analysis
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Folk Healing Beliefs Case Study
842 Words | 4 PagesCULTURE AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES Martina Fernandez is a 65-year-old Hispanic woman who has had diabetes for 42 years. She is admitted to the hospital with extreme circulatory deficiency and evidence of early gangrene of the left foot. After speaking with her family members, she decides to go ahead with a below-the knee amputation. Following surgery, she had a stroke and the nurses gave her medications to dissolve the clot. As the day progressed, she got progressively worse; none of the medication seems to be working.
Huston Smith's 'Point Of Departure'
268 Words | 2 PagesIn order to focus on the foundation of religions, locations and time of events are limited to the minimum. It “does not attept to give a rounded view of the religions considered.” (p.2) It tried to do reasonable justice to several perspectives instead of attempting to catalogue many types. When he decides which view to present, the guideline
Summary Of Karen Marie Yust's Real Kids, Real Faith
1589 Words | 7 PagesShe introduces three aspects those will help parents and faith communities nurture children’s spirituality, they are, story, ritual, and relationship. Telling stories of faith and living lives in faith will become a great model for children’s own faith development and will help them establish their own “identities with God and with God’s story.” Children’s spirituality form and develop when they see adults participating faith community’s and family’s ritual regularly and consistently. The author introduces helpful examples of ways of participate in faith ritual which faith communities and families can practice together over and over because it needs discipline to become spiritual habit in our lives. This way, our children will more likely to “incorporate God’s value and God’s way of life into their lives as they move into adulthood.”
Half Jewish, Just Jewish And The Oddities By Sarah Imhoff: Article Analysis
1158 Words | 5 PagesFor example, people may choose to identify themselves as “half-Jewish'' or “just Jewish” depending on the audience and their surroundings. The author argues that religious identity is not fixed and unchanging, but it is flexible and changes depending on the context and individuals involved. Understanding the complexity of religious identity is very important for creating more inclusive and welcoming communities. Sarah suggests that having a more detailed understanding of religious identity can help us become more informed and respective towards the different ways people approach their religions and cultural affiliations. She says “recognizing the quirks of religious identifications can help us form communities that are more open, adaptable, and imaginative, and that can welcome and support a wide variety of religious and cultural appropriation.”
Great Awakening Rationalism
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Western Esotericism In Religious Studies
1268 Words | 6 PagesIt is the purpose of this essay to explore what Western Esotericism is, through its seemingly debated definitions, in specific reference to its place within the study of Religion. It will be argued that Western Esotericism should be studied within Religious Studies due to the fact that it provides a re-conception of religious study from a sociological, psychological and philosophical lens. Through the exploration of repressed and censored esoteric features marginalised throughout history, we see a promotion of personal faith and religious experience explored through a new-found abandonment of scripture and ritual. This essay will feature works by Faivre, Stuckrad, Bergunder and Hanegraff as the main forms of literature which will support
Gospel Essentials Research Paper
1557 Words | 7 PagesBenchmark Assignment: Gospel Essentials “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1: l, New International Version). This is where it all began. God’s perfect Creation included night and day, sky and land and sea, the moon and the stars, all the birds and fish and animals, and humankind. Man quickly messed it up and the Fall hit hard. No more was humanity right with God.
Cultural Misunderstandings In Brian Moore's Black Robe
769 Words | 4 PagesA person’s culture is their way of life. From a young age, we learn to act within the norms of our culture and to be truly ethnocentric. What if one day someone came into your life and told you everything you were doing your entire life was wrong and stupid? Brian Moore’s Black Robe, tells the story of Laforgue, a Jesuit priest from 17th Century Québec who travels to an unfamiliar land called New France. Laforgue’s goal is to convert Algonquin Native Americans into God fearing Christians. Laforgue faces many cultural misunderstandings with the Natives along his journey; he finds the most difficulties understanding the native’s concept of death, why they value dreams, and overcoming ethnocentrism.
The Holy Ghost People Sociological Analysis
932 Words | 4 PagesThe Holy Ghost People by Peter Adair, was created in 1967. It exposes people of the Pentecostal religion, and their unusual rituals and ceremonies that they partake in. While watching the movie I kept on wondering why someone would want to sit through one of their services and participate in such odd rituals and behaviors. After reviewing the sociological theories we have learned in class, I concluded that Durkheim’s Social Consensus theory and Collins Interaction Ritual Chains theory both best explain the motivations for joining and staying in a religion that has such unusual rituals and extreme commitments.
The Four Theological Voices Model
1843 Words | 8 PagesMethodology The Four Theological Voices Model The Four Theological Voices Model was developed by the Action Research: Church and Society team (ARCS), consisting of Helen Cameron, Deborah Bhatti, Catherine Duce, James Sweeney and Clare Watkins. In the book Talking about God in Practice, the ARCS team explains four theological voices which they discovered as they examined the practice of the Church. The four voices are: (i) normative theology, (ii) formal theology, (iii) espoused theology and (iv) operant theology.3 Cameron et al argue that these voices are intertwined, and that together they express the whole of Christian theology.4 The team 's main thesis is that practice is essentially theology, and that theology subsequently is embodied throughout the life of the Church and expressed in the lived practice of the Church through these four theological voices.5 Cameron et al is clear that this model should not be seen a complete description, but rather serve as a interpretative working tool for theological reflection upon how practice and theology are connected.6 Critique of the method While Cameron et al do not explicitly describe any specific direction of movement in the communication between the four voices, they argue that there may be a rather significant relationship between the normative and formal theology on the one hand, and the espoused and operant theology on the other.7 They also suggest that the model enables a challenging of formal and normative
Zoroastrianism And Christianity Similarities
828 Words | 4 PagesGiven the vast number of issues that Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity share, it is not contestable that there must be clear connection between them. The concern, therefore, should not focus on the existence of connection, but how the connections came into existence. Considering the religions from another point of view, they still reflect a dozen of differences. The current paper seeks to compare and contrast the three religions: Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity. Beginning with the similarities, the three religions trace their origin and early history in the Middle-East.
Primitive Religion
2802 Words | 12 PagesElementary Forms of Religious Life is an attempt made by Durkheim to explain the most primitive religion known to man. His work focuses on his methodology, the role of rituals and belief and how primitive societies are helpful in understanding the most primitive religion. A religion is considered to be primitive, if it meets the following two conditions: first, if it is found in a society whose organizations is surpassed by no other in simplicity; secondly if it can be explained without making use of any element taken from a previous religion. The study of such a primitive society gives us the assurance that it is present in reality.
Eschatological Nature Of Jesus Ministry Essay
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