Text

E-book The Kingdom of God and the Poor

---

Penilaian

---

This study investigates the specific Contextual Bible Study among particular groupsof poor Christians in the Southwestern part of Tanzania. The main objective isto research and discuss the relationships between text and context when poorChristians undertake Contextual Bible Study. To this end, I use the InterreligiousCommunity Bank Bible Study groups (IR-VICOBA)1. IR-VICOBA groups aregroups of religious people who are relatively poor, mostly peasants or street vendorswho earn just a loaf of bread each day through their businesses and low-paid work.These Christians come together to read the Bible with their pastors within theEvangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania-Konde diocese.They meet once a week to discuss the Bible readings on different themes withinand outside of the Bible. At these meetings, the IR-VICOBA groups contributeat least a dollar per week. The money is kept in IR-VICOBA’s account, and theaccount’s records are well kept, so that, when a group member has problems or anyother business, they are encouraged to come and take a loan. A member is allowedto borrow three times the amount of their savings and is expected to return theprincipal with a small amount of interest little by little each month (in many cases,the interest rate is about one-third of bank interest as agreed upon by the group).The IR-VICOBA groups are not allowed to have more than 30 members; groupsare divided into smaller groups of five people who function as cells of the group.When they discuss matters, they use those cells. The cells function as follow-upcells for loans and interests among the respective members.2Section 1.2.3 providesmore explanations of the IR-VICOBA. The project serves to answer the question:How do poor Christians in the Southwestern part of Tanzania reflect the relationsbetween text and context in their Contextual Bible Study?In my research, I observed how the IR-VICOBA, in their Contextual Bible Study,read the Bible together with the learned theologians in their groups. I studied howthey relate their Bible study reading to the social context in which they are living. Moreover, I searched how they relate their reading to their liberation from povertyand other predicaments that they are experiencing. Werner Jeanrond writes thatHermeneutics is more interested in the analysis of the dialectic between the reader andthe text and in the effect of this dialectic for the self-understanding of the individualreader or groups of readers. Thus, hermeneutics reflects activities done through languagerather than upon the history and grammar of particular historical languages.3The IR-VICOBA members connect their reading in the text with their context.The context helps them to understand the text, and sometimes the texts help themunderstand the context. This will be reflected in this dissertation.The research questions applied are the following. First, how do the members ofthe IR-VICOBA groups relate the relationship between the Bible and social reality?Second, what kind of Contextual Bible Study is practiced in the IR-VICOBA groups?Third, what are the main topics in their implied theology of the Bible readings?The objective mentioned above and the study questions led me to probe howthis type of Bible reading is used. One crucial aspect in the discussion will be howthis kind of Contextual Bible Study (theology from below) is profiled, compared toother Contextual Bible Study readings, especially that developed by Gerald Westin South Africa.

---

Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

-

No. Panggil

230.041 EDW t

Penerbit

USA : BRILL., 2024

Deskripsi Fisik

242 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9783666503658

Klasifikasi

230.041

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

-

Subjek

Biblical Theology

Info Detail Spesifik

-

Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

-

Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

Komentar

---

Anda harus masuk sebelum memberikan komentar