Marbaniang, Domenic

Business Advisor: You should get clandestine about your Christian identity and faith when you're in the secular world, or face closed doors. Christian: Sorry, the world can't have me without my Christ! - Simple Living -

Board: Pastor, but we don't have the money!!! Pastor: Does that "we" also include God? - Simple Living -

The question is usually approached through an analysis of the three major views regarding other faiths. We can't accommodate that discussion here, but let me point some of my earlier writings that deal with the views, viz pluralism, inclusivism, and exclusivism or particularism as preferably known. Theology and Philosophy of Religion Three Divisions of Philosophical Theology Poll Results: Are all Mission Fields "Harvest Fields"? There is also an extension of this discussion around the debate between Calvinism and Arminianism; the Calvinist stance usually maintaining that salvation is the sovereign act of God that involves divine predestination, unconditional election, and irresistible salvific grace. Some may see that such a view can render the preaching of the gospel meaningless, as in the voice of the man who countered Carey's proposal to evangelize the heathen: "Sit down, young man, if God wants to save the heathen, he will do it without your help or mine!&q

It is usually understood that modern Indian literature entered a new era in 1800 when the Fort William College was established in Calcutta and when the missionaries at Serampore brought the printing press to print Bibles in Indian vernacular languages. G.P. Deshpande (b.1939), who served as Professor of Chinese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, noted in his essay "Dialectics of Defeat" ( First published in Economic and Political Weekly, 12 December 1987 ): "The singlemost important intervention that colonialism made in the cultural life of India over the last two centuries was the establishment of Fort William College in Calcutta in 1800... The College, established by the East India Company to train its administrators in the languages of India, provided facilities for teaching Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Hindustani, Bangla, Tamil, Marathi, and Kannada.... Close to Calcutta, in Srirampur, missionaries had established the first printing press and begun publishing the

This page contains notes and quotes apart from posts published on the blog. Following are links to some important posts related to the topic: Three Divisions of Philosophical Theology Rational Fideism and the Concept of God: Can God Be Rational and Yet Experienced? Is Philosophy Dead? Is Science All That Is?   The Anthropic Principle and Epistemic Issues Estrangement and Belongedness in the Ultimate Sacrifice of God Four Principles of Rational Fideism The Trinity and the Existential Paradox of Reality Epistemics of Divine Reality – Synopsis (Powerpoint) Truth & Reality: Epistemology & Ontology Zeno’s Arguments for the Irrationality of Plurality and the Rationality of Monism Faith as Substance – Hebrews 1:1 Faith as Ground or Foundation – Hebrews 1:1 Is Faith in God Different From Faith In Other Things? The Search for Reality in Greek and Indian Philosophy Theology of Revelation in the Bible What is Truth? What is Reality? Indian Criterion for Revelation (Sabda Pramana) The Apol

We believe in One God, irrespective of nation, language, or creed. He is the Creator of all that is visible and invisible and is the God of all nations. We believe in the Holy Community of the Divine Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ, who by virtue of His pre-existent divine nature (uncreated) could not be born (created) of any human union, but incarnated as the Son of Man by the power of the Holy Spirit once for all. We believe in the equality, dignity, and fraternity of all humans, made from one blood and created in the very image of God (Slavery, Racialism, and all forms of anti-human discriminations are contrary to the divine order). We believe in the equality and sanctity of the human sexes, created by God in His own image and likeness, created as male and female. We believe that marriage is divinely instituted by God as a covenant between one man and a woman, and whom God has joined no man shall put asund

In his paper "Indic Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism" (K. Pathil (ed), Religious Pluralism, ISPCK, 1991, pp. 252-299), R. Panikkar points out 29 ways in which cultural change can be brought about. Below is a short outline of them: Cultural change can be brought about by: 1. Growth . It comes from a natural exchange with the surrounding cultures. Growth comes from within, but it is nourished from the outside. 2. Development . Its meaning extends from a shared belief generating compulsory practices transforming "social relations and nature into commodities to be bought and sold on the market" (Gilbert Rist) to any type of social progress according generally to modern Western standards. 3. Evolution . It implies a change promoted by a more or less natural selection of cultural values. The fittest culture, that is well adapted, will survive. 4. Involution . It expresses the retrieval from more recent changes, in one particular society, because the latter chang

Also discussed as "God of the Rationalist or God of the Empiricists " at Philpapers.org Philosophical theology can be basically divided into three classes: Rationalist theology, Empirical theology, and Intermediate Theology. Rationalist Theology  includes isms such as monism (e.g. Parmenides and Zeno) and non-dualism (Advaitins of India) whose assertions are usually supported by arguments that rationally dismiss experience as false and irrational. This they do with reference to ultimate concepts such as unity, necessity, infinity, immutability, and transcendence (none of which can be predicated of the things of experience). Thus, God becomes the "wholly other" transcendent reality that can only be talked about  via negativa. Empirical Theology,  on the other hand, is quite the opposite of the previous. It actually brings religion down to the earth. The gods and goddesses are more human like, and earthly; and, of course, positively understandable in empirical categor

From Epistemics of Divine Reality , © 2007, 2009, 2011. (Available in Lulu, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & Ibookstores) Rational Fideism and Divine Reality The results show that divine reality cannot be known except through a revelation of itself. For this to be possible, divine reality must at least be personal and concerned. Further, a knowledge of divine reality must not be either purely rational (in the sense that the rational attributes [1] are the divine attributes) or empirical (in the sense that the empirical attributes [2] are the divine attributes). If it is purely rational, then it would mean the negation of the empirical, as demonstrated by the arguments of both Zeno and Gaudapada. If it is purely empirical, then it would mean the negation of the rational, as demonstrated by the theological positions of animism, polytheism, pantheism, and panentheism; and the non-theological positions of skepticism, logical positivism, and mysticism. A rational fideistic epistemics of

Published in REVIVE, May 2012 (Malayalam Edition) A simple and literal definition of “theology” would be “the science of divine things”. It comes from two Greek words theos meaning “God” and logia meaning “discourse or speech”. In modern times, it is the stream of knowledge that differentiates the secular pursuit of knowledge from the sacred one because of its starting point: all secular studies begin with reason and experience while theology begins with faith. The starting point for all extra-theological studies is the world (Latin: saeculum); the starting point for theology is the Word of God. So, while one may say that theology is the study of God, the factual definition would be that theology is the science that rationally pursues the understanding of the self-revelation of God in the Scriptures. It would be interesting to note that many of the universities had originally begun as seminaries and theology was once known as the Queen of Sciences. However, with the dawn of theAge of E

On Monday, April 30, I started a poll on the following question: Jesus said: "The fields are ripe for harvest... I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor." (Jn 4:35,38) DOES IT APPLY 2 NON-JUDEO LANDS AS WELL? They don't need preparation and sowing? Rather, they are as equally ripe for harvest as Judea-Samaria was because of previous labor by somebody (local indigenous religions and prophets!)? A total of 18 votes were cast with the following main results: YES = 9 I believe it wherever the gospel is preached and people respond. = 5 NO = 1 I'M NOT SURE = 0 One Scholar responded saying: "I think God's Spirit is at work with all people all the time through various way, and sundry ways as Hebrews says. hence they are ready for harvest... but the church is too slow to go." A Pastor responded saying: "I do believe that even in the remotest areas, the fields are alread

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." (James 4:8) He is not far from any of us, but unless one turns towards God one is still far from Him. 1. The Only Way to Be Able To See God Better is To Get Closer To Him. We never get any good view of anything from far. Though God is close to each one of us, unless we turn our hearts to get closer to Him, we won't be able to see Him in our lives. But, the moment we turn to Him the veil is removed and we get into the Spirit and become free, reflecting His very glory (2 Corinthians 3:16-18). Walking in the light is like the choice of turning the lights on or off. One moment we can be in the fullness of light, the very next moment in pitch darkness. Remember Peter, how for a moment he was praised because he spoke by divine revelation that Jesus was the Son of God, but the very next moment he had to be rebuked with the words "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but

Do not worry for you're in your Father's care, Do not worry for worry'll get you nowhere -- Worry won't make you grow an inch tall, Worry can't save anyone from fall; Worry only adds to today's sorrow; So, let worry be banished to tomorrow. Do not worry-- See how the lilies of the field do grow, They neither toil nor spin, won't remain till tomorrow; But, today, are more gorgeously dressed than Solomon was in all his grandeur. So, do not worry 'bout what you will eat or wear, See how the Father feeds all the birds of the air. He decks the grass of the field with colors, He watches each little one with care; They neither toil nor spin, they neither sow nor reap, But they're all fully replenished by what God bountifully gives. So, trust in your Father who cares for you 24/7; And where He is there'll you'll find life's true heaven. ~ JESUS CHRIST ~ Matthew 6:25-34 © Domenic Marbaniang, May 3, 2012.

1. Exo. 14:10-12 Don't panic at your SITUATION God is never late for SALVATION He is the ARCHITECT of Time 2. Exo. 14:13 When all you can do is nothing, then be silent and wait patiently on the Lord (Ps.40:1; Job) 3. Exo.14:15 When professional logic says "It is impossible", God will lead you to do what seems crazy and impossible; because God's crazy ways are remarkable. (walking on water! mud-spit....) --However, waiting doesn't mean doing nothing (Keep preparing, practicing) 4. Exo. 15:22-27 When you face a problem, choose what you'll let it do to you, make you. - You didn't choose the problem, but you can choose your reactions - You can't control times, but you can compose your responses - You either turn pain into profanity or into poetry, the choice is yours (Robert Schuller) 5. Exodus 16 Happiness is the balance between Vision and Commitment Killer fantasies create lack of contentment Commitment= Contentment + Godliness 6. Exodus 17 Faith never t