Journeying in Faith, Hope, Love and Unity: Indian Christian Conversations is an important addition to the discussions on Christian faith and practice in the Indian context. The Pauline triad, "faith, hope and love," with an addition to "unity" is deliberated from Biblical, Ministerial, History-Missional, Religio-Philosophical, and Theological perspectives. This volume's multi-disciplinary perspectives and contextual grounding are what set it apart.
Journeys are inevitable in every individual's life. Christian preachings are replete with the emphasis that following Christ and living a Christian life are journeys. This is best portrayed in the well-known Christian classic by John Bunyan, Pilgrim Progress. Christian life (journey) is a journey of faith, hope, love and unity. Considering how these basic Christian tenets are so important for us, we at the Seminary chose the theme Journeying in Faith, Hope, Love, and Unity for the academic year 2023-24.
Journeying in faith, hope, love, and unity is about more than just personal growth; it's also about the welfare and progress of a community. Resistance, empathy, and a dedication to creating a better world for everyone are necessary for such a journey. It also envisages the path, the destination and also fellow travelers. Each of these virtues plays a pertinent role in shaping the lives of every individual in particular and a community as a whole. Our shared journey ought to be a reflection of our unity both "within" and among others. There will undoubtedly be challenges along the path, but Christ assures us that he is accompanies us in this journey. Therefore, with St. Paul we too can say, "we walk by faith not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7).
The articles in the book are divided into five sections: Biblical, Ministry, History-Mission, Religio-Philosophical, Theological reflections. It contains eighteen articles from renowned (and upcoming) scholars from Indian theological fraternity.
O.V. Jathanna, in his Foreword explores in depth the biblical-theological facets of the biblical triad of faith-hope-love and unity.
Aravind Jeyakumar Moniraj, in his article: A Socio-Scientific Reading 2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34: Decoding the Josianic Reformation from the perspectives of the Margins using socio-scientific method argues for unearthing 'hidden' agendas of Josianic reformation and its impact on the populace especially those from the marginalized sections. Akanksha Samuel, in her article: Uniformity. A Mistaken Unity. A Psychological Reading of Genesis 11:1-9, examines the narrative of the Tower of Babel from a psychological reading using Donald Woods Winnicott's Object Relations Theory. It highlights that true identity is not achieved through isolation or detachment but through the negotiation of relationships and the integration of diverse perspectives. Shanthi Gopu, in her article: Monotheism: A Journey of Israel's Faith in a Religiously Pluralistic Context speaks of the evolution of monotheism from polytheism in the Israelites' faith journey. It also highlights, how the neighboring countries' faith influenced and brought changes in Israel's faith journey and how it can be model for Christian faith in a pluralistic context. Vishwanth Jeyaraj, in his article: Deconstructing the identity of Rahab, an 'Unsung heroine of faith explores the identity of an 'unsung' heroine of faith in the Bible Rahab. A deconstructive historical-biblical approach is employed to unearth this identify Franklin Joseph, explores in his article: Loving the Strangers: Embracing their Identity in God's Land the importance of Loving strangers which is a biblical mandate. The aim is to show our solidarity with the strangers and embrace their identity as a Christian virtue.Makanmi Kasomva, investigates in his article: Paul's Green Eye: A Church Response for the Hope of Glory the ecological concerns faced in today's world through the lens of St. Paul. Ravi G., in his article: Markan Fallible Christology: Hope for Vulnerable Communities in India examines the Christological motifs in Markan Narratives, especially the suffering and death of Christ on the cross, and its relevance for vulnerable communities in India.
Moakumla Longkumer, in her article: Hope in Times of Uncertainty: Pastoral Initiatives for Transformation focuses on the importance of Christian ministry (pastoral) during and after COVID-19. Jessy George, her article: Exploring Theological Dynamics of "Aging" in the Journey of Faith, Hope. Love, and Unity offers a Christian ministerial perspective to the importance and challenges faced due to aging.
Orentsani Shitrie, in her article: Revisiting the Lotha (Naga) Traditional Life for Fostering Unity explores the community's history to uncover examples of how to promote unity in the modern society. A. Jabesh, in his article: Christian Virtues of Faith, Hope, Love and Unity in the Life and Ministry of Ms. Betty R. Shelton provides a historical review of one of the pioneers of Christian missionary endeavours in Villupuram in Tamil Nadu. K. Vijayan, in his article: A Missiological Exploration of Faith Communities in the Postmodern Context of India explores the reconstruction of mission in the postmodern context and provides an alternative way of doing mission in the India today. Pranay Bin Hiyal, in his article: Exploring Integral Mission in India: The Role of Conversation in Overcoming Challenges and Seizing Opportunities illuminates the importance of integral missions in a pluralistic context like India. He uses genuine 'conversation' as a model for integral mission.
"And now faith, hope and love abide, these three;
and the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13)
My Japanese friend Keiji Kasai presented me and my family with a beautifully hand-painted Bible verse just before returning to Japan. This was just after the completion of Keiji Kasai's doctorate in Systematic Theology in the early 1980s at the University of Basel, Switzerland. It was written with Japanese characters that read "Shinkou, Kibou, Al," that is "Faith, Hope, Love." This might be taken as an indication of how deeply loved and cherished the biblical triad of faith-hope-love is in the world-wide Christianity.
Paul in 1 Cor. 13:13 asserts that love is the greatest of the triad "faith, hope and love." Thereby he tacitly acknowledges that faith and hope too are great, as they are comparable to love and are associated with love. To put love on the top within the triad, he employs the comparative form meizon (from megas = great) 'elatively', i.e., using the comparative form in the superlative sense "greatest". By using the singular verb-menei (abides) for the triad, he shows that faith, hope and love are to be seen together in their unity, a point that does not become evident in the English translations. The twin crucial concerns of his unfold here: while upholding the close bond between faith, hope and love, as well as their continued importance both here and now and also here-after in all eternity, he is intent on accentuating the greatness of love within this triad.
Thus, his focus in this section of the Letter is perceptibly on articulating the greatness of love. The use of mega points to the vastness, intensity, importance and sublimity of love. This demonstrates beyond any doubt that Paul does not conceive the relationship of love to faith and hope antithetically in terms of what remains and what vanishes. Such a relationship is directed in their triadic togetherness over and against the charismatic gifts, which, as Paul discloses, are temporal, given for the upbuilding of the church here and now, such as prophecy, speaking in tongues and knowledge. It comes to expression in the context of his attempt to show what is "a still more excellent way" (12:31), while pondering over the spiritual gifts given their positive role in the life of the believing community, as well as their actual and possible misuse. As to why, in Paul's assessment, the charismatic gifts cannot be put on par with faith, hope and love, we may note the following: (a) It is certainly not because of Paul's denigration of the importance of charismatic gifts. For, he is well aware of their due importance in the life of the believing community (1 Cor. 12:29-31a; 14:1, 39). For, these gifts are especially beneficial in building up the koinonial life of the believing community, by way of contributing towards mutual edification and equipping themselves together for the missional task of witness and service, besides strengthening them in their Godward spirituality. (b) Bearing in mind the coming eschatological new age, in comparison with faith, hope and love, all the charismatic gifts, such as prophesying, speaking in tongues and acquiring mystery-unravelling knowledge, need to be seen in their essential provisionary nature, as being temporal, and belonging only to life here and now. Paul clubs them all together as belonging to this present age of incompleteness, and, thus, sees them as comparable to the age of infancy, vagueness and fragmentariness in distinction to the eschatological completion and perfection that is yet to come. (c) Whatever is done without love, i.c., bereft of love, fails entirely to be and to act as an effective sign and instrument of God's love in this world. Charismata sans love is, thus, utterly devoid of any value in and for the Christian life, which by definition is life-together. (d) Further, when the charismatic gifts are not used for the purpose for which they are given, but, on the contrary, are misused for self-aggrandizement and self-seeking, they not only fail to serve the purpose for which they are meant but also, instead, become a fertile ground for unhealthy competition, envy, strife and division in the church and Christian institutions.
This, in turn, raises the question, of if all three of the triad-faith, hope and love-continue in the eschatological new age-and, in truth, in all eternity-in what sense and in what way love is to be regarded as the greatest of the three, and what kind of love that Paul is speaking about; and what role then faith and hope will continue to play in the eschatological fulfilment and all eternity? We shall consider the second part of the question first, and take up the first part of the question thereafter.
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