International Conference on Christian Studies

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An analysis of some contributions of the Lutheran Reformation on South Asia.
(The Department of Western Classical Culture & Christian Culture,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Somaratna, G.P.V.
Martin Luther lived in Germany in the first half of the sixteenth century. His travel was confined to a limited area around Wittenberg in what later became known as Germany. It is unlikely that he was aware of the religious concerns of the Indian subcontinent even though Portuguese had discovered it a few decades ago. However, his concern to convert Jews and Muslims to Christianity undoubtedly inspired his followers of the nations that created national Lutheran churches as well as other Protestants to take reformation ideals to South Asia. Luther’s historical context and the meaning of reformation were understood by different generations of different ages. However, the basic spirit of Lutheranism was introduced South Asia bringing many positive results associated with his teaching. Luther is a historical figure that transcended his life time in terms of meaning and inspiration which impacted many nations of several generations. The followers of Lutheranism contextualized it in the South Asian setting to grapple with socio-cultural issues vastly different from that of Luther’s environment. Missionaries of several nations and Indians who accepted Lutheranism applied Lutheran principles to deal with issues of personal as well as national significance to bring about hope for many a South Asian.
Analysis on Martin Luther’s Two Kingdoms Theory.
(The Department of Western Classical Culture & Christian Culture,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Nonis, R.
During this revolutionary period, Luther spoke of two kingdom theories. It was in 1523 that he brought out the idea in a book called Secular Authority. He separately brought out the idea of the kingdom of God and the church. He insisted that perfection would only come through the kingdom of God. Further he defended his idea analyzing the text in Acts 17:24-28 where he insists that membership of the church and religion has no meaning as it appears in the relationship with God alone. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth and into twentieth century it was fairly common to politize Luther’s thought, the two kingdoms doctrine was often equated with the understanding that regarding church and state each sphere is autonomous in its own right. Luther was influenced by two kingdom doctrine of Augustine of Hippo. After the fall of the Roman Empire (CE 410), Augustine constructed his theory on church and state in the book “City of God” as a theological response to the pagan or the old Romans who accused the Christians. He argued in the conflict between the City of God and The Earthly City ultimately the City of God will triumph. Luther insisted that how our relationship with God must be moderated. The leaders of the church of that era were simply going after secular values rather than seeking the values of the kingdom of God. So Luther clearly showed the meaning of the kingdom of God is absolutely different from state.
Beyond the Lutheran Reforms: Reflections on the Subandi (lay religious group) life of Spirituality of the Kithu Dana Pubuduwa (renewal Movement) that led to Reforms within the Catholic Tradition in Sri Lanka .
(The Department of Western Classical Culture & Christian Culture,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2017) Thusith, C.
The Christian Notion of the fall of the Human Being in Relation to Buddhism
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Atapattu, D.
The Bible holds a distinctive view of what has gone wrong with the human being. The story of the fall of Adam and Eve in the third chapter of Genesis is used to express the basic malady as it is experienced by both Christians and non-Christians. The Genesis story of the fall of human beings is a narrative which reveals the reason for death and the mystery of the human situation. There is a similar narration known as the Agganna Sutta in the Digha Nikaya of the Major Buddhist text the Tripitaka. It is several times longer than the Genesis story. The Genesis story as well as Agganna Sutta are myths. The term myth is not used in the sense of a fable, a figment of the imagination, but in the sense of a "literary form which describes other worldly matters in this worldly concepts". When thus considered, we see striking similarities in both stories, especially in regard to three fundamental matters (1) the fact of the fall, (2) the cause of the fall, and (3) the consequences of the fall. We do intend to trace how both Christianity and the teaching of the Buddha had dealt with the fall of human being under the above mentioned main three factors. It is an interesting fact to illustrate both stories which seek to account for the evil state in which the human being is, and point to a state of prior blessedness. Both stories also say that the human being has also fallen from that state of blessedness. In the Buddhist story beings lose their luster and descend from the Abassara world to dwell on earth where their bodies are solid and subject to mortality. In the other narrative of Genesis, the image of the human being is distorted and the human being is driven out of the garden. As systematic theologian Paul Tillich says, this is not an event that occurs in space and time, but, bears a trans-historical quality of all events in space and time. Apart from that we have identified that Christian teaching and Buddhism have taken desire or "Tanha" as the cardinal cause of the fall of human being. We analyze in detail how this common cause called "Tanha" (desire) causes the degeneration of a human being’s purity and blessedness into decay. This research is totally based on textual references from the Christian Scripture and Tripitaka. We have also included the studies of Lynn Alton de Silva to figure out the fundamental parallels in both Genesis story and the Tripitaka.
The Contextual Significance of the “Less Popular Saints” of the Archdiocese of Colombo
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayatunge, M.
The paper is a study of the contextual significance of the “less popular saints” venerated by the Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Colombo, Sri Lanka. While many churches have been dedicated to the so called popular saints such as St. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, St. Anne, the Grand Mother of Jesus, St. Joseph, the Foster Father of Jesus, St. Anthony of Padua and St. Sebastian, it is observed that only a very few churches have been dedicated to saints such as St. Isidore, St. Augustine, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Martin de Porres, St. Barbara, St. Cecilia, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. Gerard Majella, and St. Blaise. This study inquires into the historical, social and cultural significance of each of these saints to the respective faith communities. Patron Saints of churches have a deep significance for the worshipping communities and the present research studies this phenomenon in detail.
The Discovery and Affirmation of the Concept of ‘Human Person’ in Christian Philosophy
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Rohan, P.
The concept of the ‘Human Person’ has a long history and has become the subject matter for many branches of study. Human beings are characterized as ‘Persons’ apart from all other kinds of entities. ‘Person’ is a comprehensive name which expresses the entire nature of the human being. The term person in English is derived from the Latin persona which is also traceable to the Greek prosopon (πρόσωπον). The direct meaning of prosopon is face which was originally used in the Greek theatre to denote the made-up faces or the masks worn by an actor. For Romans, persona had a juridical sense which expressed a kind of dignity, recognized by the law. For them only a Roman citizen was persona. With the advent of Christianity a new world vision was opened. This vision influenced the outlook on the human being as well. Human beings were considered unique because of their special place in nature and their superiority over other creatures. According to the Christian metaphysical tradition, human being is unique because of the endowment of the immortal rational soul and being created in the image of God. Severinus Boethius, a Christian philosopher of early 6th century, defined the concept of ‘Person’ for the first time. This was considered a classical definition which provided a firm theoretical base to a new humanism, that is, to view all the human beings as persons who have equal rights and dignity. Thus, Christian Philosophy pioneered to discover and affirm the concept of ‘Human Person’ in an innovative way, discarding the previous oppressive and narrow perspectives. My research focuses on this aspect in order to declare once more the value and dignity of each individual as a ‘Human Person’. There is a serious need for it in the contemporary society, to provide a theoretical forum to affirm the personhood of all individuals, so that all may become ‘persons’ and allow others to be ‘persons’ and construct a society based human values.
The Diverse Musical Traditions of Sri Lankan Passion Plays
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Samarakoon, K.
The primary objective of this study is to present an analysis on the different genres of music that is embedded in Sri Lankan Passion Plays. Sri Lankan Passion Play music is influenced by musical disciplines of several countries such as Portugal, India, and Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka Passion Play tradition can be traced as far back as 1602 with the arrival of the Franciscans (1553) and then the Jesuit missionaries (1602). When the Passion Plays were enacted in different parts of Sri Lanka they were accompanied by different regional musical traditions. Thus through the Sri Lankan Passion Plays one can trace European, South Indian as well as Sri Lankan musical elements with regional cultural and linguistic differences. To achieve my objective I have selected three Sri Lankan Passion Plays, namely, Pesalai (1907), Boralessa (1924) and Duwa (1939).
Does the theological dialogue of the Lutheran Reforms pose an impediment to Ecumenism among the Churches?.
(The Department of Western Classical Culture & Christian Culture,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Hemachandra, M.S.J.
Edifices in Dark Days: Origin, Types and Development of Oratorian Missionary Churches in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayasinghe, S.
The early 19th century Catholic churches in Sri Lanka built by the Goan Oratorian missionaries mainly follow the unique Indo-Portuguese architectural concepts which were adapted to the political and economic demands of Sri Lanka as well as to certain aspects of the local climate and culture. However, the distinctive architectural model of missionary architecture of Sri Lanka has not been identified in-depth in available historical references and in modern research. First, during the Dutch occupation and the period of persecution of Catholics and later, with the advent of the British, the members of the Oratorian order have played a crucial role in the restoration and reconstruction of a territorial network of Catholic churches to its former stronghold. This study intends (i) to discuss the origin and the development process of the network of Oratorian churches in Sri Lanka and (ii) to analyse the impact of Indo-Portuguese architecture on those churches built by the Oratorian mission in the Island during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Effective Evangelization through Contextual Theologies
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Wanjala, F.
The presentation, guided by the theme “Contextual Theology” seeks to argue that contextual theologies are the indispensable means through which the Good News of the Kingdom of God can successfully touch the hearts of the human race. God’s revelation, as transmitted to the world through Scripture and Church Tradition, bears an essentially universal hallmark and as such its kernel is relevant for the entirety of humanity. In communicating the divine message, however, God has chosen to employ a secondary cause, namely the human language. The implication for this is that this Good News is couched in a specific human language though its utility is intended for humankind in general. Relying principally on John Paul II’s Encyclical Fides et Ratio which maintains that the Church has no preferred philosophy on the one hand, and that all cultures have an inherent philosophical system, on the other, the paper reaches four basic inferences, namely, (i) the need to comprehend the divine message in its original setting so as to pinpoint the substance behind the wordings of God’s communication; (ii) the need to interpret the retrieved immutable content using the purified contextual philosophy of specific peoples, thus creating a contextual theology; (iii) the need to disseminate the contextualized Good News among the people from whom the contextual philosophy has been previously gotten. The procedural last step above is what the presentation proffers as effective evangelization. This is the category of evangelization which spontaneously leads to the inner positive transformation of a person.
The Emergence of Israelite Monarchy: Political or Theological
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Gunasekera, S.I.A.
The monarchical form of government in Israel was established roughly around the year 1000 BCE. Thereafter, the people of Israel lived under monarchical rule until the Babylonian exile in 587/6 BCE. However, the exercise of monarchical power created a very strong negative impact on the life of the people in many ways. The political blunders, thirst for power, and religious infidelity on the part of several kings led the entire nation to ruin. The oppressive measures of certain kings created division within a nation which boasted about its unity as the ideal. The prophetic literature abounds in condemning the oppression of the monarchical institution. The text which is being subjected to the present research, namely 1Sam 8 has given rise to centurieslong discussions on the emergence of Israelite monarchy. When dealing with these issues, in the first place one could see that 1Samuel 8 has different compositional layers among which the most visible being the antimonarchical layer. The need for a standing army in the wake of invasions from the neighbouring kingdoms would have been an existential necessity. Hence the ancient Israelite demand for a king around 1000 BEC was probably historical. Hence 1Samuel 8 could be considered as a response to a political crisis in ancient Israel.
Ethics of Mercy: From Being Perfect to Being Merciful
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Wasalathanthrige, E.L.
Ethics, in general, is defined as the science of voluntary human behaviour based on accepted customs and norms of conduct of a particular context. This is self-explanatory in its etymology. In the course of history, this term has been used to indicate three interrelated ideas, namely, (i) the general patterns of human living, (ii) a science that formulates rules or moral codes of human conduct (normative science based on pure reason), and (iii) philosophical description of human behavior (descriptive science based on practical reason). Hence, we can say that the goal of ethics is not merely to know objectively what one ought to do and avoid in general but also to know how to make practical moral decisions in concrete situations. Philosophers developed normative aspects of ethics. Plato presented good as the resemblance of the pure/universal form of good - the perfection. For Aristotle, right actions and virtuous characters are the means of achieving personal happiness and social welfare. Theologians laid emphasis on descriptive aspects of ethics. For St. Augustine the final goal of human life is happiness. It is found only in God and cannot be achieved by merely living a so-called perfect life. It is attended only through the union of love. St. Thomas Aquinas adopted Aristotelian and Augustinian ethics and in him both speculative and practical aspects of ethics are bound together. For Aquinas, ethics is not just a science of purely theoretical knowledge (know how human beings ought to behave) but a practical science of becoming good (know how to make correct moral decisions). The pure reason tells every rational being that they can meditate on objective truth/objective moral laws. However, the practical reason, the experience tells them that every moral agent is in tension, conflict, limited, finite … sinful. The concretization of the objective moral principles in a moral context is a difficult process, a difficult journey that every sinful moral agent has to make through constantly making morally right decisions. Hence the sinful moral agent can reach only the ‘excellence that is humanly possible’. Hence, contextual ethics must be based on realism and not on idealism. The followers of Jesus Christ are invited to understand this moral struggle and be merciful with everyone who is in the struggle. The Gospels witness to Jesus’ merciful approach to the sinners who are struggling in their moral journey inviting all to be merciful: ‘be merciful just as your Father is merciful’.
The Garden of Communion and the Ground of Dominion: Genesis 2,4b-3,24 as an Aetiology of Domination
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Wijesinghe, S.L.
Source-critical studies on Gen 2,4b-3,24 had assigned a very early pre-exilic date to its composition. But recent research has challenged this century long hypothesis. There is a growing consensus that the final text of the second creation narrative was completed during the post-exilic period. There are similarities between in Gen 2,4b–3,24 and late texts in Ezekiel, Second Isaiah and Job. Furthermore pre-exilic texts of the OT hardly refer to the second story of creation. These reasons prompt the exegetes to posit a post-exilic date to the final version of the text. Without excluding the possibility that the text contains redactional layers, it is possible to consider it as a post-exilic work. Interpreting the symbol of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” as “freedom” and the serpent/ground as the unorganised appetite, it is possible to see an evaluation of the Ancient Israelite History in Gen 2,4b-3,24. Israel was expelled from the garden of communion because of the loss of equilibrium between the world of freedom and the world of the appetite. While presenting a historical evaluation, the second story of creation also functions as an aetiology of domination.
The Honest Lutheran Claim to the Catholic Tradition of Sola Scriptura .
(The Department of Western Classical Culture & Christian Culture,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Rev.Edward, Naumann.
Many if not most of the theological arguments during the Reformation revolved around a fundamental disagreement concerning the authority of Scripture, in relation to the authority of the Papacy. Remarkably, these arguments continue today, as the Roman Catholic papacy continues to claim the authority to interpret Scripture by the extra-biblical inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the importance of the disagreement grows ever greater, as an increasing number of Protestant churches adopt the same claim of the Papacy. The Lutheran doctrine of Sola Scriptura, meanwhile, is commonly mischaracterized, even among Lutherans, as a rejection of Catholic tradition—something the Lutheran Confessions explicitly deny. This paper will outline the Lutheran claim to the historic Catholic tradition of Sola Scriptura, and demonstrate some of the manifest historical and modern-day causes of theological dishonesty, in contrast to which Confessional Lutheranism remains a shining beacon and a summons to all people, to reflect a sincere, devout acceptance of the quiet whisper of God’s Word alone, amid a noisy, babbling, polluted world.
The Impact of the Lutheran Reformation on Culture
(The Department of Western Classical Culture & Christian Culture,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Nilukani, I.
Martin Luther, being the pioneer of the Protestant Reformation (1517) introduced a radical reformation in order to change the prevailing corruptive system of the 16th century Western Catholic Church which absolutely had a great impact not only on religion but also on political, social, cultural and economic world of that era. The reformation paved the way to (1) the vernacular translation of the Bible, (2) changes in the liturgical celebrations, and (3) changes in Christian art and church architecture. The translation of the Bible into vernacular languages afforded the opportunity to read the Sacred Scriptures in their own languages and to judge for themselves whether the teachings and religious practices were in accordance with the Sacred Scriptures. The simple forms of worship adopted in small groups and home based communities shifting the stone made altar to a table of fellowship were significant changes in conformity with the first Christian community. These changes helped people to become active participants in liturgy rather than passive observers. The introduction of simple art and architecture as an alternative to complex church art and architecture of the Western Catholic Church bridged the gap between the clergy and the faithful.
Jurisprudential significance of Lutheran reformation on freedom and conscience in European legal thought.
(The Department of Western Classical Culture & Christian Culture,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Amarasinghe, P.
From a theological perspective it will be an absurd argument to connect Martin Luther to the development of legal thought in Europe, because once Luther himself had coined the expression “Lawyers-bad Christians”. But Luther’s concept of conscience and freedom had galvanized the new dimensions of European legal thought before the dawn of nation state mechanism and this influence has been unmarked by many of modern legal historians and jurists. In such a context this paper intends to trace the Lutheran roots in freedom and conscience of European legal thinking in secular affairs. Unlike Aquinas Luther never insisted that conscience should be an application of knowledge, he rather focused on the conscience of freedom. Lutheran notion of conscience of freedom stands as a mystical sphere and it is the ultimate temptation. Under this reason, for Luther conscience of freedom became significant than the freedom of conscience. The union of church as the ultimate authority and its executive power was dramatically disrupted and modified by the Lutheran reformation. Luther’s rejection of Papal Bull sprang out of his conscience of freedom and his wide spread criticism against the canon authority agitated the temporal politics in Europe. In fact Luther’s idea on conscience of freedom was essentially centered on one’s personal approach to God without canon influence. This concept later developed the constitutional theory in West on liberty of conscience. Especially documents like Bill of Rights included the liberty of conscience as the liberty to worship God according to the dictates of one’s own conscience. Moreover this Lutheran foundation on the conscience and its freedom led the path to the constitutional concept called “Sovereignty of people”. This paper will further discuss deep theological influence laid down by Martin Luther in European temporal legal thought which eventually carved the modern nation state formation.
“Justice” in Rerum Novarum (1891) and After
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Abeyasingha, N.
The present author has found it rather difficult to obtain an overview of the content of “justice” as found in Catholic Social Teaching. Study of the relevant documents seems to point to the fact that the scope of the content of justice has changed – indeed expanded - over the years. The obvious starting point is the classical framework of justice as commutative and distributive. That was the basic framework in which Rerum Novarum (1891) emerged. It placed the issue of distributive justice in the context of virtue, in the light of the common good. But even more important was the situation in which the encyclical came. Not very much earlier, Pius IX had refused compromise with the emerging world scenario through his syllabus (1864). But in many parts of Europe, there were emerging movements that sided with workers. Leo XIII did not attempt a theoretical defence against his predecessor’s refusal to adapt to the emerging world. He simply went ahead and offered a proposal of adaptation to the emerging world. With Pius XI, Leo’s basic approach found a further vocabulary in regard to distributive justice as social justice (Taparelli) and social justice was presented as the justice between human and human – a relationship that presupposes and fosters equality. And so, the elaboration of content over the centuries has linked other terms and concepts with social justice – subsidiarity, community, socialization, human rights, solidarity, the subjective dimension of labour, development worthy of human being, and most recently ecology. Obviously, this paper cannot treat each of these expansions in depth, but it outlines a possible framework for understanding “justice” as an expanding concept in Catholic Social Teaching.
Luther and Vatican II: ‘Liturgical Reform Experiment’ of the Kithu Dana Pubuduwa (renewal movement) in the Sri Lankan Catholic Church.
(The Department of Western Classical Culture & Christian Culture,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Fernando, W.S.
Luther’s Antagonism towards Jews: Some Lessons for Religious Conflict with Special reference to Sri Lanka.
(The Department of Western Classical Culture & Christian Culture,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Saddajeeva, N.
base on the Hebrew text in which he translated into German. He attempted conversion of Jews into Christianity through the relationship he maintained which he failed and there commenced his ideological battle with the Jews. He deployed his knowledge of the First Testament to take a position that his contemporary Jews are not really Jews and that they cannot be the chosen people of God. This position was further aggravated by the use of the crucifixion of Jesus and he instigated German royalty and people against the Jews which also had a social background and the regular practice of the Jewish masses, caricaturing them as money lending Jews and accusing them for poisoning the wells to kill German people. These acts led to an overall displeasure towards the Jews, and many Jews left Germany expanding its Diaspora. The second phase of Ani Jewish sentiments can be identified with the rise of German Nationalism under Hitler who seemed to have admired Luther. It is in this background I wish explore the religious conflicts in Sri Lanka. Obviously there are inter religious and intra religious suspicions among all religious communities in Sri Lanka, they love and hate each other for various reasons. Some of that can be described to be historical, socio-political, about space and majority- minority dispositions and their implications. The complex confrontations are among the communities, they come alive and recede depending on the issues that float across the country among Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims also other groups that campaign for each of the above traditions. This paper will draw some of the ideas that Luther maintained on Jews and to focus particularly on the early Lutheran ideological positioning and determine some parallels in order to propose some lessons that Sri Lanka could learn from such hegemonic ideological explanations that could have devastating influence such as on the Third Reich and German Nationalism. Ethnic nationalism once woken unjustifiably, then it is proven beyond that its reciprocal responses are equally antagonistic.
Lutheran Reformation: Challenging the Sub-cultures of Catholicism
(The Department of Western Classical Culture & Christian Culture,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Kaushalya, N.
This paper focuses on Luther’s contribution towards the renewal of sub-cultures of the Catholic Church of the medieval times. These sub-cultures prompted a voracious desire for wealth, high taxation, the worship of relics, indulgences and superfluous popular pilgrimages. These also paved the way to a non-biblical culture in the church leading to a moral collapse. The biblical meaning was turned into temporal leanings and the church lost the liberative message of her master. Due to the evolution of these sub-cultures the ecclesiastical leadership became corrupt. Hence, Luther was no accident. He was timely and prophetic vis-a-vis the sub-cultural ethos of the era. He challenged the status quo culturally and structurally. He not only brought a new ideology to the prevailing society but also insisted upon opting for a renewal of the then theological culture, which would replace the then prevalent harmful sub-cultures. This renewal was brought about by introducing a new culture of Scripture and tradition and by insisting upon a collective conscience of the people.