Ecumenical Pedagogy

The goals of the dialogue among churches cannot be achieved without a system of education that ensures that church communities come to the knowledge of what the dialogue is all about. It also means a system of reception in which what dialogue experts have done among themselves are broken down into practical elements. This is important because knowledge remains abstract and inaccessible until it is made concrete and practical. The author of the famous book The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paolo Freire, in his other book, The Pedagogy of Freedom, argues for an educational system that integrates theory and praxis. According to … Continue reading Ecumenical Pedagogy

Other Important Questions

“One day all these churches will close down and all of them will return to the original Church of Christ, the holy Catholic and apostolic Church. So, you guys can keep deceiving yourselves, pretending to be church,” said John Gandu.  He was just having a heated argument with his friend Precious Vareba.  Precious isn’t taking any of this from John.  And so, Precious retorted, “my brother, leave that thing. You see, you people don’t understand that Christianity is about living in the Spirit and believing in the Word of God. You only live out human traditions of religion and claim … Continue reading Other Important Questions

L. SANNEH: ON RELIGION’S SELF-DROWNING

Gambia’s Lamin Sanneh (1942-2019) was indeed one of African’s finest scholars in the field of religion. Prior to his death on January 6 this year, Sanneh was the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale Divinity School and Professor of History at Yale University. There he taught for 30 years. In The New York Timestribute, Sanneh was described as a “champion of cross-cultural exchange”, and former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams described him as “probably the most significant theologian of mission in the English-speaking world today.” Sanneh’s major concern as a scholar was on the reality of … Continue reading L. SANNEH: ON RELIGION’S SELF-DROWNING

FORTRESS ADAM, INSOUCIANT CAIN

Indifference is never a virtue! It was never my intention to post anything on this blog this morning since I am having a very crowded month. But the content of the calls that I have received recently, and the news I have seen in past few weeks are quite sickening. All I could hear in my head as I pulled myself together to pray was the voice of Pope Francis in his July 8, 2013 homily at Lampedusa. He asks “Adamo, dove sei?” “Chi ha pianto?” “Chi ha pianto oggi nel mondo?” These questions ring through the Scripture, beginning from … Continue reading FORTRESS ADAM, INSOUCIANT CAIN

Bleach, Demons and Prophets

Narratives of Faith and Non-reason And so, the story goes: About 27 persons in Zambia were reported dead and about 19 are said to be in critical condition after drinking a bleaching detergent, the JIK brand. How did it happen? The story and reports state that these individuals belong to a certain church in Zambia. On that fateful day, the prophet had convinced them that drinking the detergent would help in exorcising them of all the demons that have been tormenting their lives. A report claimed that about 40 people came for the ‘altar call’ for the exorcism, including two … Continue reading Bleach, Demons and Prophets