Marbaniang, Domenic

'मुझे इसलिए न घूर कि मैं साँवली हूं, क्योंकि मैं धूप से झुलस गई। मेरी माता के पुत्र मुझ से अप्रसन्न थे, उन्होंने मुझ को दाख की बारियोंकी रखवालिन बनाया? परन्तु मैं ने अपनी निज दाख की बारी की रखवाली नहीं की!' (1:6) उपरोक्‍त आयत में शूलेमी अपनी दु:खपूर्ण गाथा सुना रही है। उसका अपने प्रेमी से प्रेम होने की वजह से उसकी माता के पुत्र अर्थात उसके अपने ही भाई अत्‍यधिक नाराज गये, उन्‍होंने उसे दाख की रखवालिन बना दिया। अत्‍यधिक तेज धूप में दाख की रखवाली करने के कारण शूलेमी के शरीर का रंग सांवला हो गया। शूलेमी को अपने ही परिवार के लोगों ने सताया तथा उसके सच्‍चे प्रेम को तोड़ने की कोशीश की। शूलेमी ने तो वफादारी के साथ अपने भाइयों की दाखबारियों की देखभाल की परन्‍तु वह अपनी बारी की रक्षा न कर सकी। जब एक विश्‍वासी मसीह की ज्‍योति में आ जाता है तभी उसे अपने पूर्वजीवन का सारा कालापन दिखाई देता है। तभी सारी कमजोरियां दिखाई देती हैं। शूलेमी की सतावट घर से ही थी। बाहरी पीड़ा से घर की पीड़ा अधिक कष्‍टकर होती है। जो लोग सच्‍चाई के मार्ग में आगे बढ़ना चाहते हैं उन्‍हें घरवाले ही रोकेंगे। यीशु ने भी

"Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ..." (Titus 1:1). A freeman, a citizen of this world, though I be, I'm a bondservant of Jesus Christ. I am a slave without rights, bought by the price of Christ's very life, By the blood that He shed as my price. I'm bought by His love, sold to His love, and bound by His love to His love Not just for a day but for eternity, I'm His irrevocable possession, His trophy, His prize, and His symbol of victory; I'm bought by the blood of Jesus Christ for all eternity. I have no vision of my own, but of my Lord; No dreams of my own, but of my Master. I'm a servant in His house, my Temple, and my Heaven. Can I ever forget the cage of iniquity from which He freed me? Can I ever forget my sinful misery? From the dark depths of sinful hatred, He pulled me up with cords of love. He washed me with His blood of righteousness And filled me with His Spirit from above. What did I do to ever deserve this grace? W

"मैं काली तो हूं परंतु सुन्दर हूं, केदार के तम्बुओं और सुलेमान के पर्दे के तुल्य हूं।" (1:5) इब्रानी भाषा का शब्द जो कालेपन के लिए यहां प्रयोग में लाया गया है वह 'शोरा' है जिस का अर्थ है धूप के कारण आनेवाला कालापन। यह कालापन पुराने पापमय जीवन को दर्शाता है। स्वाभाविक रूप से काली होने पर भी वह ईश्वरीय प्रेम में सुंदर है। मसीह का प्रेम भी परिवर्तन लाने वाला होता है जो हमें अर्थात कलीसिया को सर्वांग सुंदर बना देता है। प्रेमी भी अपनी प्रेमिका को जिस प्रकार सर्वांग स्वीकार करता है ठीक उसी प्रकार प्रभु यीशु मसीह ने कलीसिया को ग्रहण किया है। प्रेमिका अपनी तुलना केदार के तम्बुओं तथा सुलेमान के पर्दों से करती है। यह पवित्र लोगों में पाई जाने वाली पवित्रात्मा की सुन्दरता के तुल्य है। पवित्र लोगों के धर्म के कार्यों की तुलना चिरकाल तक स्थिर रहेगी (प्रकाश. 19: 8)। डॉ. कुरियन थामस की पुस्तक परिणयगाथा से। © Dr. Kurien Thomas, 1989

Anatomy of   Religious Violence The history of religion has been a seriously blood-bathed one. It reveals the intense power, weight, and depth of religion within the human heart. No wonder, the word “religion” itself comes from the Latin religare meaning “to bind”. Religion binds the adherent to its belief, authority, and community. It holds an intense power over the individual. Of course, there are several instances of religious faith opening itself to philosophical dialogues and investigations in the past. However, it is a fact undeniable that much of religious faith is a matter of faith alone and not rational discussion. Therefore, they have the potential to invite physical opposition by not submitting to any force of logic. That is why in some cases words are silenced by blows – with the sanction of some religious authority. Religious violence may be defined as violence committed in the name of religion. It is both intra-religious violence and inter-religious violence; i.e. violen

Thy Kingdom come... Night dragged on clumsily as the disciples snuggled miserably against their drowsy companions. From a distance, the painful cries of their Master fell heavily on their dull ears. One silently observed in the moonlit darkness, the thickness of the Master’s sweat-drops in prayer falling like drops of blood to the ground. In agony, the Lord cried ‘Father, if it’s possible, let this cup pass from me….’ Darkness gloomed terribly, as if with incisors ready to devour patience, before the Lord steadily continued ‘nevertheless not as I will, but as You will it.’ Matthew tells us that Jesus repeated the same words not once, but thrice before He was arrested in Gethsemane that Passover evening of April, 32 AD (Matt. 26: 44). Indubitably, those words sum up the whole struggle of spirit against flesh from the creation till the end of the world. While disobedient Adam and the adamic race lost the battle and fell into the voracious jaws of death, Jesus Christ submitted to the will

20 th Century Christian Contribution to Philosophy The twentieth century has also witnessed the same kind of interaction between theology and philosophy as in the early church age. On one side are those who with Tertullian (c.160-230) would ask ‘What is there in common between Athens and Jerusalem? What between the Academy and the Church?’ [1] In other words, Christianity and philosophy are two poles apart. On the other hand, there are those who feel that philosophy can be a great tool in elucidating and establishing theology. One must understand that though philosophy is not recognized to be the ultimate source of theology, yet philosophical categories such as substance, ousia, etc have found a significant place in Western theology. A study of the history of Christian theology shows how St. Augustine was influenced in his theology by Platonic philosophy while St. Thomas Aquinas was influenced by Aristotle in formulating his systematic theology. In the modern period, philosophies such