Internal or external devil

 On our ecclesial contact form Anthony Buzzard wrote:

Can you please explain how the Devil can be internal when in Matthew 4 he is said to approach Jesus from the outside? How can the tempter there mean a temptation from within when he is expressly said to come from the outside? Thanks for your answer.

It seems this questioning person has, like several others, a misunderstanding of our understanding or sight on satan, devil, seduction or temptation.

The Satan is according us and the Bible not a figure from a place underneath the earth where people are terrorised or tortured for ever (in hell).

Jesus called at a certain point the apostle Peter "Satan". Peter is a living being and as such the other satans are also real existing beings. Any adversary, but in particular the adversary of God is called a Satan.

When we are confronted with a satan we are confronted by a figure outside us. For us Christadelphians, it is not like for Catholics and Muslims that a good angel would be seating at our right shoulder and a bad angel on our left shoulder. The temptations come from outside, brought to us by circumstance outside us and by people outside us. But how we react onto the temptation is something which comes from inside us. It is our own will which shall either go in or go against the temptation which comes over us. It is our own decision which shall allow the evil to go deeper into us or to weapon us against the evil around us.

The Satan can be any adversary of God, being a woman or a man. But we, too, can be a satan or adversary of God. That is stated by our attitude against God. The stipulation of our attitude to God is determinating if we can be a lover and follower of god, but at the same time it also can determine that we are going against God's Laws. When we allow our thoughts go astray and away from God it is possible that temptation can come from within when we follow our wrong thoughts. That is what is meant by "coming from within".

Do you not think that we ourselves can have different thoughts and have to choose from those thoughts which ones to follow? The right half from the brain, which designates our emotions, whilst left activates the action we undertake, and it is the relation or the strength of the bridge between those two. When you want to come closer to someone it is the right half of the brain which can put on the brakes. Emotion and behaviour have to be balanced. The behaviour is greatly designated by the function of our brain and as such is it something from within us. When the Bible speaks about demons in people it is the disease or the impossibility of the human being to control oneself. In ancient times it was a way to describe ill or mentally sick people.

Those demons and devils naturally can be people around us, and as such are being outside us and have nothing to do with something inside us, except that we shall have to react to them when we are meeting them. That interaction shall demand reactions from us, and those reactions shall be triggered by the brain function in us; It shall be us ourselves who shall have to make decisions and choices how to react.

 

Remember:

There was a lovely harmony in the Garden of Eden. Man was free to walk around and live nicely. He also was free to think and to make choices. There it went wrong. The woman let her mind wander and got tempted by her thoughts, willing to know more.
We have seen that the yielding to the tempter or man’s mind doubting God‘s honesty is treated allegorically in the Edenic covenant as the serpent in the flesh. First man was full of life but now death had come to him. Temptation had taken over and evil had entered his mind. This evil is the “devil” or diabolos of the New Testament, which term is defined as “that which has the power of death” (Hebrews 2:14), elsewhere described as “the law of sin and death”, “sin that dwelleth in me”, “sin in the flesh” (Romans 7:20; Romans 8:2-3).

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Please find also to read:

1. A Book to trust #27 Also words from ordinary and foolish men
2. The figure of Adam
3. The 1st Adam in the Hebrew Scriptures #4 The Fall
4. The 1st Adam in the Hebrew Scriptures #5 Temptation, assault and curse
5. The figure of Eve
6. The Existence of Evil
7. Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 1
8. Forbidden Fruit in the Midst of the Garden 2
9. Epicurus’ Problem of Evil
10. First mention of a solution against death 1 To divine, serpent, opposition, satan and adversary
11. First mention of a solution against death 2 Harm or no harm and naked truth
12. First mention of a solution against death 3 Tempter Satan and man’s problems
13. First mention of a solution against death 5 Evil its law of death
14.  A solution for a damaged relationship 2 Sinful nature
15.  Messianic prophesies 1 Adversary – Root of the first prophecy
16.  Messianic prophesies 2 Adversary – Root of the first prophecy
17.  Has the devil got you?
18.  Fallen Angels
19. Satan or the Devil  
20. Devil, Satan, Demons, Evil Spirits and Hell 
21. Hell - Sheol or the Grave
    
22. Hell fire
    
23. Human Nature, Sin, and Responsibility to Judgment
24.  Messenger of Satan
25. New publications: Resisting the Devil
26. Lord in place of the divine name
27. Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences
28. Philosophy hand in hand with spirituality
29. People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations
30. Marriage of Jesus 8 Wife of Yahweh
31. Autumn traditions for 2014 – 2 Summersend and mansend
32. Autumn traditions for 2014 – 3 Black Mass, Horror spectacles and pure puritans
33. Autumn traditions for 2014 – 4 Blasphemy and ridiculing faith in God
34. Joseph Priestley To the Point
35. Those willing to tarnish
36. Literalist and non-literalist views
37. 1st thought for today “The world may be wicked” (January 16)
38. Christians at War? Christians using violence?
39. To will being present in us but to do it not always evident
40. Words Have Meaning: Devil, Diábolos, Slanderers, and False Accusers
41. It continues to be a never ending, exhausting battle for survival.
42. Reactions against those of the other sex
43. The false prophets in the present world
44. A New Year and a New Person
45. Easter: Origins in a pagan Christ

Wereld van een Bijbels analfabetisme is ontstaan

In onze kapitalistische maatschappij valt het op dat wij tegen een Bijbels analfabetisme opkijken; Velen mogen zich dan wel Christen noemen maar weten niet echt wat er juist in de bijbel staat en praten dikwijls als een papegaai de kerkelijke doctrines na of denken dat hun kerkgemeenschap iets heel anders leert dan wat hun basis regel is. Zo treft men in België heel wat Katholieken aan die beweren dat Jezus niet God is en er op staan dat Jezus de zoon van God is, maar er ook op staan dat hun Kerk dat leert, wat dan weer niet zo is.

Ook vinden wij in onze contreien mensen die beweren dat in het protestantisme er de liefde voor de Heilige Schrift en voor Christus is, terwijl ze soms over het hoofd zien dat daar meermaals meer aandacht wordt gegeven aan de omvangrijke muziek- en zangcultuur.

Wat mensen wel opmerken is hoe er in de Kerk heel wat gaande is dat helemaal niet volgens de ethiek is en dat meerdere kerkgenootschappen ziek zijn in hun levenshouding naar omgang van hun geestelijken met kinderen of jongeren in het bijzonder.

Opvallend is dat er in de protestante gemeenschappen het effectieve Woord van God zo weinig aan bod komt; Men zwaait er wel met enkele zinnen, dikwijls nog uit de context genomen. Alsook kan men er een verwaarlozing van het sacrament, met name van de betekenis van avondmaal en eucharistie aantreffen.

Wat meerdere mensen tegen de borst stoot is eerst en vooral de houding van de Kerk tegen haar pedofiele priesters of hen die een voorbeeldfunctie bekleden alsook de verdeeldheid, voortdurende splitsingen en een moeizame interne oecumene: "zoeken naar waarheid zonder liefde."

Katholiciteit behoort niet enkel tot de Rooms Katholieken en bewaart protestanten voor individualisme 
en kerkelijk sektarisme, aldus 
dr. De Reuver, scriba van de Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, die zich primair beschouwt als christen.

„Dat is mijn naam, protestant is mijn bijnaam. Verder ben ik als protestant katholiek. Het is in strijd met het belijden van de kerk om katholiek gelijk te stellen met rooms-katholiek. Hoe persoonlijk geloof ook is, de kerk is een gemeenschap van mensen: twee of drie, samen in de Naam van Christus.”

 Verder zegt hij

 „Protestants geloven is persoonlijk, maar nooit exclusief of individualistisch, los van anderen. Een protestant moet in de ruimte van de katholiciteit ademen. Wie dit niet doet, versmalt geloof tot een privé-aangelegenheid en maakt van de kerk een religieus clubje. Ofwel, die amputeert het lichaam van Christus.”

Vorig jaar september vond bisschop De Korte dat Christenen elkaar wereldwijd steeds meer vinden, maar Dr. De Reuver is genuanceerder.

 „Op het grondvlak zie ik juist een moeizame relatie. De moeite om avondmaal en eucharistie samen te vieren, is niet uit te leggen. Anderzijds: je ziet tegenwoordig ook een nivellering ten aanzien van de verschillen: wat maakt het uit of je protestant of katholiek bent. Ook dat is verlies.”

Wat ook enorm opvalt als men op fora gaat op het net zowel bij specifieke website forums als op Facebook Groups over religieuze of geloofsaspecten, dat de gebezigde taal echt beneden peil is; Men kan er leden vinden die beweren christen te zijn maar anderen de huid vol schelden en het allerlelijkste toewensen. Een grote meerderheid toont er helemaal geen houding Jezus Christus waardig. Ook laten zij in hun kaarten van onkunde of weinig Schriftkennis zien. Men zal dan ook niet veel referenties naar Schriftplaatsen vinden of diepgaande studies over Bijbelgezegden vinden.

Normaal gesproken zou een kerk een gemeenschap van mensen moeten zijn en zou men denken dat waar twee of drie mensen samen zijn in de Naam van Christus, dat men dan een kerk vindt.Maar bij die groepen vindt men wel meerdere mensen die beweren christen te zijn maar door hun houding weinig getuigenis afleggen van dat christen zijn.

Het zou fijn zijn dat diegenen die beweren christen te zijn en zich op zulke groepen aldus willen profileren eerst en vooral die houding gaan aan nemen die Christus van een volgeling van hem zou verwachten. Vervolgens hoop ik dat zij ook wat meer moeite zullen getroosten on de Bijbel wat beter te kennen.

Prediking is meer dan nodig. Met die afschuwelijke taal die sommigen gebruiken zal men op die forums geen mensen kunnen bekeren tot het ware geloof. Het is een vast staand feit dat die forums mensen eerder doet afstappen van het geloof in het algemeen en hen er toe brengt om zich meer en meer tegen religie te gaan verzetten.

Believe and speak and act in ways which show we have life in Christ's name

When Jesus said,

 “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19)

 it is evident that he was not talking of normal human life. His resurrection will reveal that it will turn their hearts from utter despair – to absolute wonderment! Jesus is saying to all who listen to him through reading his word,

 “Because I live, you also will live”.

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“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Let us  “believe” and speak: and act in ways which show this – every day.

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Related articles

• Sayings of Jesus, what to believe and being or not of the devil
• Beliefs
• God son king and his subjects
• For Getting to know Jesus
• The Young Messiah
• The believer's authority
• Meditations on the Lord's Prayer - Part 1 of 12
• Credo of the Christadelphian
• DIG for Thursday the 8th of September.....look at your new identity.....2 Corinthians 5 v 17

Looking at the September 2016

Lots of people are enjoying their holidays. It is Summer time and most of us do not want to think yet of the new academic year.
For our planning we have already a look at what September might bring for us.

After the time of relaxation is time again to take things serious and to look at the rest of the world. For some weeks we may have concentrated on our own family not at all being interested what went on in the world around us. Though more than once by the news editions we got reminded how this world is evolving to a state where many people are having fear and do not feel safe in their own surroundings.

In the month of September we'll find the children going back to school and everything normalising again, though this year will not be like the previous years one where most are sure about what will be coming.

The threat of terror hangs like the word of Damocles above our heads. Lots of people are also afraid of those who enter Europe with an other religion than theirs. But should they be afraid?

The coming weeks we shall discuss the present situation and the attitude real Christians should take.

Each year we exercise our minds, each day seeking to think through the words we read and gain in the book of books for more understanding. Hopefully away from school or work the family members got more time to spend in their Bible  and could take some extra lessons for themselves from them.

At your holiday resort you perhaps got also some time to talk about what is going on in the world and about your view and faith around those matters. Meeting people from different cultures it was the time and place to have the right words in your mouth and show others why you are a follower of Christ and welcoming all those who are in need and looking for a place of shelter.

When the Christadelphian shall go into the new year several ecclesiae shall try to contact people in their surroundings and invite them to their meetings.

Beginning at 9:30 AM Saturday 3rd September the Solihull Christadelphian hall  will offer coffee and a weekend aimed to publicise their Family Fun Open Day to be held from 2:00 PM on the 10th September, God willing.

At the same Saturday in  Croft Waterpark, Bredons Hardwick, Tewkesbury Gloucestershire adolescents will come together for a day to catch up with friends and to make some new ones.

Those days all also can talk about the coming days, weeks and look forward to better times. With the knowledge that man is so 'miniscule' and that though we think we can do a lot, we are just useless for a lot of things. We are often really making a mess of it. But God is in control and that is for many of us our hope.
That will the matter of thought when the Christadelphians shall be able to reflect on the time the people shall be delivered. With a talk on "The King of the North and Turkey" and "The role of Tarshish at the Time of the end" Bros Matt Davies, Mike Jenner and Simeon Guntrip shall have enough to say on Saturday September 24th at the Princess Royal Theatre, Port Talbot.

For our English brethren it may also be the time to wonder how the voting for the Brexit results in many their daily life.

That daily life which we are all confronted with demands from us to show others our stance. going into the new academic year we again shall have to face many and shall be confronted with many news-facts people may find disturbing and getting them react in a certain way. How we react is very important. That way to react shall be matter of lots of debates and discussions in the weeks of September.

Whilst many may show their fear for the present situation of terror threat and more Muslims entering our regions we should not be afraid to show them that when standing in a firm faith we do not have to fear any Islamisation so many talk about and have them taking a very unchristianlike attitude.

Going deep into cultures to reach lost people looks at the phenomena of refugees and reactions of the local population. The present situation makes it even more important to look at Discipleship.

September shall be a month to think about that discipleship and our present role in the society. It will be a time to reflect at Evangelisation, local preaching opposite overseas evangelism and to talk about the reasons why you may not miss the opportunity to go to a Small Church and 3 reasons why you should go to a small church.

Not forgetting how Christ should be our anchor and our focus we should try to reach others and tell them about those lovely promises we are looking at. 

For those who still  would find time or would love to leave Europe for a few days there is the possibility to go to the Holy Land where the Christadelphians shall keep a Bible School at Bethlehem.

Find more about it:

1. Solihull Christadelphian hall preaching activity 3 September 2016
2. 3 September 2016 A day to catch up with friends + make some new ones
3. South West Wales Prophecy Day 2016 September 24
4. Is Brexit a fulfilment of Bible prophecy?
5. Going deep into cultures to reach lost people
6. Discipleship to look at
7. Evangelisation, local preaching opposite overseas evangelism
8. Reasons why you may not miss the opportunity to go to a Small Church
9. 3 Reasons Why You Should Go To A Small Church
10. Many forgot how Christ should be our anchor and our focus
11. Bible schools in Israel in October/November 2016

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• Fulfillment of the Dead Sea Prophecy Has Begun
• End Times Prophecy Headlines: August 10, 2016
• The Abomination of Desolation
• Prophecy Update End Time Headlines 8/15/16
• 'One will be taken, and one will be left behind'
• Israeli Sovereignty is a key take-away for Tisha B'Av
• Religious matters
• 'Harbinger' ancient curse uttered, again, in Israel

Faith, storms and actions to be taken

Today it is very windy. Storms are coming over West Europe. With winds up to 150 km per hour and hail going against the windows we do hear a lot of noise.

In the past Jesus once stilled a storm and got the other men in the boat surprised, wondering who such a man could be that he had control over the weather. they were afraid of the storm but we can imagine that they also could get some fear from that man who could use his voice in such away that even wind and sea obeyed him. (Mark 4:41).

We have already read in Mark of Jesus doing many marvellous healings; a paralysed man, a leper, a man with a withered hand, etc., so that “his fame spread everywhere” (1:28): yet when he stills the storm and “the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (4:39) the  disciples of Jesus then asked each other “Who then is this?”.

Jesus had asked those fishermen to follow him and they had trusted him, being convinced this was a special man sent from higher regions, namely the promised Messiah. though at that time they probably still thought he would come to fight the Romans and get them liberated from this worldly oppression.

Knowing the risks at sea, that storm seemed to have come like not foreseen or not announced. They were very familiar with the lake, so we can imagine that they also knew how the water was behaving. But that time it seemed so different and they were really frightened. Surely they had learnt when there was a risk of weather of this this nature they would not venture out. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record this dramatic event, it was etched in their memory. It is described as “a great windstorm” and the “waves were breaking into the boat”.

As Jesus dramatically stills the storm, he asks, “Have you still no faith?” (verse 40). Faith is something which seems difficult to blend with mankind. People seem to have faith in lots of things, like being it dangerous to walk under a ladder, or to live on the 13th floor, having faith in a lot of people even making some of them into their gods. But having faith in God is a total different matter. who wants to believe in some one or something which can not be seen nor heard, nor felt?

Abraham is one example of faith we do have who showed what happens when a person has the right faith and does the right works. Lots of Christians do not want to believe we need to have works of faith, but in the Holy Scriptures we get many examples of people who showed their faith and got called righteous also because their works. We even find people like the prostitute Rahab and king David who had killed some one to have sex with his wife.

Though at moments going into the wrong the Old testament (and the New testament with Peter for example), shows us how they were taken by faith and regretted their wrongdoing. They repented and took the path of God.

Today we also see lots of people who live like the nation of Israel which had witnessed miracles, the plagues, walking through the sea on dry land and the destruction of the Egyptians armies at the hands of their all-powerful God – the one whose name / reputation was being established by these events, grumbling like their ancestors did against Moses [because of the lack of food (verse 2)]. Moses then could have said, “Have you still no faith?” and we also could ask those who got to know about those miracles and who received so many blessings if they still have no faith.

When we look at how the world is going we can see many who call themselves Christian, but have a life which is not worthy of a Christian. so called Christians do enjoy having sex with more than one person of the opposite or even same sex. Lots of them do not mind telling lies (so called for the good), or taking things from others (it is from work and as such does not belong to a person or would not do any harm, they say as excuse). They use public transport trying to avoid paying for their fair. They look for the cheapest bargain,no matter if their had to be children or other slaves working for it. they do not mind using articles with a big ecological footprint. Many of them also do not mind bullying others at work or in their club. They think they have to live today and not to worry about tomorrow.

Such attitudes we can hardly call an attitude of a real Christian.
Jesus in his parables also warns his listeners about the danger when we do not do the right works that we can miss the entrance of the gates of the Kingdom of God.

Are we willing to here that story or do we prefer to enjoy our life like we have ever done before? do we prefer to follow those teachers who mislead the world saying Christians are saved for ever?

We better listen to what is written in the Holy Bible and see that the storms of God’s judgements are starting to break out on this world. They are going to get worse. News bulletins are full of the detail of countries with problems and catastrophes.
We all need to really get to know our Lord and develop such a measure of faith that makes us certain God is in control whatever may come on this earth.

Meditate on James 1:5-8 and on the second chapter about faith and works.

Please also look at our series on From Guestwriters:

1. Leading people astray!
2. Restitution
3. Comments to James remarks, about Faith and works
4. Luther’s misunderstanding
5. January 27, 417, Pope Innocent I condemning Pelagius about Faith and Works
6. Our life depending on faith
7. Romans 4 and the Sacraments
8. Is Justification a process?
9. Justification – salvation is by grace through faith – JI Packer
10. Faith itself not the cause of justification – Louis Berkhof
11. Letter to the Romans, chapter 3
12. Letter to the Romans, chapter 4
13. Additional comments to the 3rd Letter to the Romans
14. Additional comments to the Letter to the Romans 4
15. Which is worse–works without faith, or faith without works?
16. James 2:14-23 — Justified Dynamic Faith & works
17. James 2:24 – You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
18. James 2:25. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

and read also other articles as:

1. A god who gave his people commandments and laws he knew they never could keep to it
2. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
3. Christ’s ethical teaching
4.  Being Justified by faith
5. Faith Alone Does Not Save . . . No Matter How Many Times Protestants Say It Does
6. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
7. A Living Faith #6 Sacrifice
8. Faith and works
9. Bearing fruit
10. Observing the commandments and becoming doers of the Word
11. The first on the list of the concerns of the saint
12. Be holy
13. She who sows thistles will reap prickles
14. Love for each other attracting others
15. Outflow of foundational relationship based on acceptance of Jesus

Related articles

• DIG for Wednesday the 3rd of February.....yes, even in a grace church there is need for repentance.....Romans 2 v 4
• Pelagianism, abundant sex, no works and refugees
• Romans 4:22-25
• The Thorn and The _nd
• To die is gain, no. 1
• Scripture Of The Day - February 5th
• Pefect. One Thing At Which Christians Are Perfect.
• Luther's misunderstanding
• Daily Devotion - Tuesday, January 12, 2016
• The Mountain: Radical Obedience

Inculturation today calling for a different attitude

This January the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church told the press he is aware of the fact that the problem of formation today is not easy to deal with:

“Daily culture is much richer and conflictual than that which we experienced in our day, years ago. Ourculture was simpler and more ordered.

Inculturation today calls for a different attitude. For example: problems are not solved simply by forbidding doing this or that.

Dialog as well as confrontation are needed.

To avoid problems, in some houses of formation, young people grit their teeth, try not to make mistakes, follow the rules smiling a lot, just waiting for the day when they are told: ‘Good. You have finished formation.’

In Rio the Pope identified already clericalism as one of the causes of the

 “lack of maturity and Christian freedom” in the People of God.

It follows that:

 “If the seminary is too large, it ought to be divided into smaller communities with formators who are equipped really to accompany those in their charge.

Dialogue must be serious, without fear, sincere. It is important to recall that the language of young people information today is different from that in the past: we are living through an epochal change. Formation is a work of art, not a police action. We must form their hearts. Otherwise we are creating little monsters. And then these little monsters mold the People of God.”

The Pope then insisted on the fact that formation should not be oriented only toward personal growth but also in view of its final goal: the People of God.

It is important to think about the people to whom these persons will be sent while forming hem:

“We must always think of the faithful, of the faithful People of God. Persons must be formed who are witness of the resurrection of Jesus. The formator should keep in mind that the person in formation will be called to care for the People of God.

We always must think of the People of God in all of this. Just think of religious who have hearts that are as sour as vinegar: they are not made for the people. In the end we must not form administrators, managers, but fathers, brothers, travelling companions. ”

Finally, Pope Francis wanted to highlight a further risk:

 “accepting a young man in a seminary who has been asked to leave a religious institute because of problems with formation and for serious reasons is a huge problem.

The pope was not just speaking about people who recognize that they are sinners:

 we are all sinners, but we are not all corrupt.

Sinners are accepted, but not people who are corrupt.”

Nobody can escape temptation except God Who can not be temted. Jesus was tempted more than once but did not go into the temptation and managed to stay clear of sin.

The present pope is not afraid to go away from difficult questions concerning the may priest who had young children in their care, but misused their power. Pope Francis I recalled Benedict XVI’s important decision in dealing with cases of abuse:

“this should be a lesson to us to have the courage to approach personal formation as a serious challenge, always keeping in mind the People of God.”

Religious should be witnesses of the humanizing power of the Gospel through a life of brotherhood.

The present pope does know the problems, but he also knows that the bishops are not always acquainted with the charisms and works of religious. Qe also should ask the question if the local headquarters are willing to inform the higher hierarchy of what is going wrong in their coutnry.

The Belgian Jesuit Jan Berchmans (1599 -1621) knew already very well this problem. True to his favorite mottos: Age quod agis (Do what you are doing well) and Maximi facere minima (Do the most with the least), he succeeded in accomplishing ordinary things in an extraordinary way and became the patron saint of community life.

To come to a healthy community everybody should be honest and open to each other. No secrets should go around. Once matter do have to be covered up, like we have seen the last few years, there is not only something going really wrong, but it also

"creates a pressure cooker that will eventually explode. A life without conflicts is not life.”

It becomes high time that 'bishops' and all those who are to take care of the flock need to understand that consecrated persons are not functionaries but gifts that enrich dioceses.

"The involvement of religious communities in dioceses is important. Dialogue between the bishop and religious must be rescued so that, due to a lack of understanding of their charisms, bishops do not view religious simply as useful instruments.” 

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Continuation of Church has to grow through witness, not by proselytism

From the "Wake up the world" press conference January 2014

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  On November 29 the Pope met with 120 leaders of men’s religious orders at the Vatican. A full transcript of the three hour question and answer session was published by Jesuit journal, La Civiltà Cattolica, today. Here is a selection of some of the key quotes…
• Liturgy and Inculturation in the Caribbean (continuingindaba.com)
  What occurred in these days of the cricket matches resembled how Caribbean people celebrated the Liturgy of the Recognition Service held at St. Michael’s Cathedral. It was unlike T20 cricket matches. Perhaps many may state that this disconnect was appropriate. While the St Michael’s congregation was offering to God praise and worship under the Anglican liturgical rubric, “doing things” in decency and order, spectators at our various cricket grounds in Guyana, St Lucia and Barbados were out to have a good time. But one has to question whether our worship in Anglicanism has forced persons to become “liturgically and spiritually schizophrenic”. One behaves one way at work and another way at celebratory events. Lambert St. Rose, a Roman Catholic theologian, in an article entitled, “Keep Traditions, Local Customs and Christianity Together”, lamented that the missionaries who came to St. Lucia treated local heroes, art, music movements, domestic customs and folklore and all we were as a people as, “fetishstre”, superstitious, pagan and barbaric.”
• Inculturation in the Church (mumbailaity.wordpress.com)
  As Mumbailaity and Association of Conserned Catholics you seem to be gifted with a charism of the Holy Spirit which is still developing in the early stages. Charisms are always for the growth of the community. You seem to be in the learning curve and will make mistakes till you learn your area of focus.
  Recently you wrote about your annual general body meeting where you decided your goal for the next one year. I do not see it in the content posted regularly on the blog. Instead you seem to be scattering your energies on anything and everything that seems to be going wrong with the administration of the church according to your personal or anyone’s viewpoint. I understand you want to promote freedom of expression so you publish a wide range of topics. However this approach has its drawbacks.
  What is happening is that you are passing judgements and making condemnations in areas which are perhaps not your expertise . e. g. inculturation. As a convert from Hinduism who has respect for the Indian culture inspite of being strictly faithful to the teachings of the catholic church , I personally know how difficult it is for people of non-christian faith to appreciate the Christian faith due to its foreign garb . As Catholics we all have a hierarchy of truths which are expressed in the ‘I Believe’. These are central to the faith whereas ‘kneeling’ or ‘standing’ while receiving Holy Communion is not central to the faith.
• Does the Church still practice exorcism? // How important is so-called "popular piety"? (travismikhailblog.wordpress.com)
  At every Baptism a so-called simple exorcism is performed, a prayer in which the person being baptized is taken away from the devil and is strengthened against the “principalities and powers” that Jesus overcame. Major exorcism is a prayer offered by Jesus’ authority and in his strength through which a baptized Christian is delivered from the influence and power of the devil; the Church rarely uses this prayer, and only after the most rigorous examination.
• Sinners yes, the corrupt no, in seminaries, says Pope Francis (notforattrib.wordpress.com)
  Not to say from what? Italian? Spanish? Other popes nowhere near as quotable, but friends of Francis raised the translation question as to Evangelii Gaudium. I’d like to see that pursued.
• Inculturalization (centrefortransformationanddevelopment.com)
  There can be only one Truth, but there are many ways of communicating and presenting it. The process of making it culturally sensitive and relevant is known as inculturalization. This is a process we cannot ignore. Or else our message can become irrelevant and may cause animosity too.
• Blessed John Paul II and the Church's Missionary Mandate (newhitherthitherandyon.wordpress.com)
  Two years after writing the Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles laici, John Paul II wrote a major encyclical entitled Redemptoris Missio, On the permanent validity of the Church’s missionary mandate (1990). He writes this document because he observes a negative tendency in which missionary activity specifically directed “to the nations” appears to be waning (RM 2). He reinforces that the Church still believes in the real possibility of salvation in Christ for all mankind (RM 9). Why do we need missions? Because in Christ alone are we set free from all alienation and doubt, he is the Good News for man and women of every age. “Those who are incorporated in the Catholic Church ought to sense their privilege and for that very reason their greater obligation of bearing witness to the faith and to the Christian life as a service to their brothers and sisters and as a fitting response to God”
• The Frontiers of our Evangelization (combonischolasticate.wordpress.com)
  The origin of Religious life is in a well-defined context in the history of the Church. In other words, the challenges faced by concrete historical situations in the history of the Church gave birth to every congregation or religious institute that we have nowadays.  Just as the Scriptures tells us about the action of the Spirit during Pentecost, so also the gospel meditated in those days by the founders was inculturated and lived in different historical and cultural context. It is most importantly worth no to forget our roots and where we come from; not only how our congregation came about but also our Families, friends, etc.
• Understanding Inculturation: Manifestations of Culture (beforecaesar.wordpress.com)
  One way in which culture manifests itself in any society is in the common methods of accomplishing a given function. For instance, our basic human desires lead us to eat, but the distinctive methods we employ to produce, harvest, preserve, prepare, present, and consume the food may vary from society to society. Consider, too, the great variations in societies’ modes of entertainment, our means of production, and in our methods of commerce. This just scratches the surface of cultural methods of accomplishing functions. Implicit within this category is the types of technology employed in the society.
• Atiemo, "Religion and the Inculturation of Human Rights in Ghana" (clrforum.org)
  Based on fieldwork conducted in Ghana, Abamfo Ofori Atiemo here establishes a convergence between human rights and local religious and cultural values in African societies. He argues that human rights represent universal ‘dream values’. This allows for a cultural embedding of human rights in Ghana and other non-Western societies. He argues that ‘dream values’ are usually presented in religious language and proclaimed, for example, by prophets and seers or expressed in certain forms of taboo, proverbs or legal norms. He employs the concept of inculturation, adaptation of the way Church teachings are presented to non-Christian cultures, as a hermeneutical tool for developing a model to understand the encounter between universal human rights and local cultures.