Marbaniang, Domenic

CLEANSING OT & NT Holy Unholy; Clean & Unclean Only the Clean can be Holy; but, in order for the clean thing to be holy, it must be sanctified by the altar. Jesus said that the altar sanctifies the gift. The clean vessels had to be sanctified by water and blood. For example, clean and unclean animals..... Interestingly, about animals etc.. Jesus declared them clean by His word Acts 10:15 And, they are sanctified made holy by word and prayer (1Tim.4:5) Jesus made it clear that the things from outside don't make us unclean; but, uncleanness proceeds from inside and corrupts a man. (Matt 15:11) The OT contained shadows of the NT. It foreshadowed NT truth. In other words, material symbols were used to teach us spiritual truths. E.g. The Temple; but, the real temple is our body. In Jesus, the physical and the spiritual blend into unity. Col. The OT is the shadow; but, the Body is Christ. OT - Leper unclean; Jesus cleansed (The word cleanse the lepers can be understood in physica...

Last year, I wrote about the three F's of our great Constitution. Our Constitution asserted our 1. FREEDOM. We were a sovereign republic. 2. FORM. The word “Constitution” itself speaks of form and identity. The Constitution declared the nature, form, and identity of the nation. It answered questions like “What is this nation?” “What is its form?” “Who is its citizen?” “Who are the officials?” 3. FUNCTION. The Constitution established the various functions of the State: of the governing officials as well as the citizens. As responsible citizens, we are called to abide by the rules of the Constitution of our nation. Let me add another 'F' to the above: 4. FUTURE. The Constitution also foresaw a future for the nation. It was not without its futurist vision. It foresaw a nation in which all people together will enjoy Justice, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Citizens who are not aware of what our Constitution actually looks like can download the entire text from here. Chec...

He walked groping for the ground; by which I discerned that he must be blind. He held an umbrella open in his other hand, which did slow his motion. He crossed the road and came to where we were. “Who is he?” Inno asked. “Oh, so there’s really someone there?” he remarked. “A sweet little one, I presume. And who is your friend there?” “I’m her uncle, Sir… just two of us here. It does seem to be a rather very lonely road,” I answered. “Yes, it is. All the citizens were summoned to the Gula’s Banquet, you know. She has arranged a magnificent treat for her subjects; so, they have all herded to stomach as much as they can… By the way, if you haven’t got an umbrella, please do come under mine.” “Thanks,” I replied as we slipped under it, “Are you on way to there?” “Yes. I just stayed back because I didn’t want anybody to feel I was dependent. Once I knew they were all gone, I started on.” “Do you think you’d find the way?” “No problem. My brother, Sensus will soon be here to pick me in his c...

Dialetheism is a thesis about truth that certain statements can be be both true and false at the same time. Motivations for such come from cases such as the Liar's Paradox: "This sentence is false." To assert that the sentence above is true is to also assert that it is false at the same time. Similarly, to assert that it is false is to also assert that it is true at the same time. Similarly, The statement in this box is false. Other motivations include the paradoxes of Zeno in which both reason and experience seem true (The arrow seems to be moving, empirically speaking; but, rationally, an arrow that occupies any set of points in space-time isn't moving at all). Nonsensical Statements This refers to semantic issues in dialetheism. In the two cases cited above, of course, the Liar's paradox is about the meaningfulness of the statement; we ask the question: Does it make any sense? Does it communicate anything? If it doesn't convey any sense of meaning, then it ...

Arles, Siga & Thomas, Joy. Christian Mission in the Midst of Violence, Bangalore: CFCC, 2013. Pages – 232 Price – Rs.300/- US$20 Christian mission is always mission in context, to a context, towards a context. The towardness of mission stirs context to a particular shape which in turn forces mission to take shape - the dynamic interactions continue. One of the contexts in which mission occurs is the context of violence. Certainly, one cannot do mission in such a context without properly analysing the situation and also finding means to accomplish mission in such a context. To understand the same, the 2013 FOIM (Fellowship of Indian Missiologists) Conference was hosted at Punalur, Kerala. 12 papers from this conference were compiled and published in Christian Mission in the Midst of Violence under the editorship of Dr. Joy Thomas SVD, director of Ishvani Kendra of Pune and Secretary of FOIM and Dr. Siga Arles, director of the Centre for Contemporary Christianity of Bangalore. The t...

Written 19 June, 2012. Forthcoming in Festschrift for Dr. Siga Arles. I am a newcomer to Dr. Siga Arles, and I must confess that I haven’t read much of his writings either. But, we have had few moments, first at a Seminar in Andhra University, then on two of the 4/14 Window Consultations at Patna. This month I had the privilege of joining his tact-team of resource persons for an MTh/PhD module at CFCC and was greatly enriched by his life and input. So, when I was told that a Festschrift was due in honor of him, I was very keen to also pen down something before the honors were frozen into a book. I decided to do that by means of this reflective article based on his original input. During the module, each day, Dr. Siga took us on a devotional trip to the Mount of Beatitudes, which was a great source of blessing and enrichment to all of us. He was only able to go on till verse 9 of Matthew chapter 5, during the time I was there. But, each talk was a compressed hour of intense reflection ...

"...pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you." (2The 3:1) The Gospel must spread rapidly and be honoured! We are in the 21st century now where anything can spread across the globe at lightning speed. Consumer brands like coca cola have reached to the ends of the world. They can't save the world; only the Gospel can. It's no use just sitting with the same 99 righteous sheep at home while the world is perishing in sins. It is evil to be immersed in our petty little domestic dreams and neglect the large vision of God. It is evil to not give any thought to give to the world the only antidote available for its cure. God's true message of salvation and healing must spread; it must ignite, spark up, turn into flames and consume the entire world; burn all sin, save the people and transform their lives. From Notes on Evangelism (Dec 2008) Procedures Needed Infiltration - Measure: The Gospel must penetrate deeply t...

Basically, there are two kinds of government or rules: the rule of people and the rule of law. The rule of people is manifest in democracy (mobocracy) where majority rule or in dictatorship where the whim of a single man pilots the state. Obviously, the rule of law is preferred above the rule of the mob. - The Rule of Law Vs The Rule of People Today, women protested against the Delhi Law Minister, Somnath Bharti's "raid" in the night hours against women being accused of running a drug and prostitution racket. The police didn't want to cooperate with Bharti since they stated that this was an illegal move. However, the idea of a "people's government" was hot on fire, and it seems Bharti was zealous to be sensitive to the complaints. The AAP justify Bharti's move by stating that since the police weren't responding to the local people's complaint, and usually crime flourishes under the patronage of the police, the Law Minister had to take a move....

Idolatry is a visible religious phenomena in India, despite the fact that some religious reformers like Nanak, Dayananda Saraswati, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy opposed it. One of the most sympathetic apologetics that anyone ever presented was Swami Vivekananda. The story goes that once when he visited a king, the king who disbelieved in idolatry questioned Vivekananda's support of idol worship. The king argued that an idol is just an image and was nothing but clay, stone, and metal. Swami Vivekananda was not disturbed by this. He looked at a painting of the king hanging on the wall and asked an official there to take it down and spit on it. The official refused saying that it was a dishonor to the king. Then, the Swami rhetorically objected: "If a piece of paper with a painting of the king was to be so respected, then why shouldn't we understand the idol to also bear the same amount of value for the worshipper? The idol is not god; it is clay or stone or whatever, but the worsh...

Francis Schaeffer had geniously pointed out the problems with compartmentalizing theology. He observed that Thomas Aquinas' division of theology into natural and revelational was what propelled a history that ended up in the secularization of theology: the lower story (nature) ate up the upper story (grace). The basic problem was the failure to establish a proper connection between the lower and the upper story. He talked of the division as a house made up of the lower and upper story, but having no connecting stairs. The problem seems similar to Plato's division of the reality into ideas and instances; but, there doesn't seem to be a stair between them. Contrary to such compartmentalization, the Bible tells us about Jacob (the Patriarch Israel) who dreamt at Bethel that a stair connected earth to heaven and the angels of God ascended and descended to it. The vision speaks volumes; but one fact is that God is not just a disconnected transcendent; He is connected to this wor...

Kejriwal is a bit theological when He brings his faith in God to issues of personal security. But, what about the police concerns? Obviously, there is no atheistic prong of approach taken. Nobody seems to have hurled a skeptical or agnostic concern arguing that we don't know if God exists and if He does whether He is interested enough in the affairs of mortal men. Not that India is not ripe for atheism; but, I think it has tried and abandoned atheism in the far distant past. We are a people, despite the various religious traditions, who believe in the Supreme God. In the past few decades we have also learnt to not mix organized religion with politics. When religion is politicized, religion is polluted, instantly. History stands as witness to this fact that where politics became custodian of a particular strand of religion, the religious spirit was violated. However, this doesn't disallow politicians from being religious. It is better for a politician to be a believer in the God...

Doesn’t matter if it’s just a drop… We may be a drop.. But many drops make an ocean. Don't be dismayed by your size; You are the right size for the spot God wants you in... Each life is a chapter in God’s book, Written in His book.. He wrote our biography before the world began. (Psalm 139:16) Every flame has a name… A special name that no one else knows; God relates to us personally. (Acts 2:3; Rev. 2:17) Jesus was not fascinated with the big buildings. He said that not a stone would remain upon another; He had no home to call His own; but, He has prepared us a place in heaven. (Matt.24; John 14)

On the Cross, the devil was totally deterritorialized, disinherited, deprived, and destroyed. The crucifixion of Christ meant the judgment of the world and the overthrow of the devil. In one shot, our Lord atoned for our sins, pleased the Father, reconciled us to God, justified sinners, condemned the world and abolished the kingdom of darkness. Let's be light, walk in the light, and spread God's light in all the world!! ~Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. (John 12:31,32)~ I sincerely believe that the word "BIG SHOT" is very sinful! ~Who says that you are any better than other people? What do you have that wasn't given to you? If you were given what you have, why are you bragging as if it weren't a gift? (1Co 4:7 GWN)~ ~Every mother caressing her baby dreams big dreams for her; but, God's dreams are bigger - He made us.~ "Yo...

Published in Journal of NATA, Vol. 3. No.1,2. 2013. Bangalore, pp.37-43. Christian scholarship is a strong theme of the Bible. For instance, the Old Testament commends Ezra a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses (Ezra 7:6) and one who had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel (Ezra 7:10). The four qualities of a scholar are already present in that one statement: preparation of faculties, study, practice, and communication. Certainly, these disciplines were what defined the vocation of Ezra as a skilled scribe. The New Testament indicates to us that lack of a scholarly attitude, appetite, approach, and aptitude lead to schisms, sectarianisms, and suffering within the Body of Christ. Gullibility is not a virtue (2Tim.3:6); mere “learning” without assimilation is folly (2Tim.3:7); ability to criticize and oppose doesn’t promise wisdom (2Tim.3:8-9; 1Tim.6:4). The call is to diligent, determined, and directed scholarship. “Be ...

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