Lupupa, Lastone R. (2003) Chelston Parish, a Church-as-Family Subsisting in its Small Christian Communities. Licentiate thesis, Hekima College Jesuit School of Theology.
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Abstract
The notion of church, like the one of the Kingdom of God, is not clearly defined in the New Testament. It is used, in fact, as a metaphor bringing out the wealth of several images, which, according to the New Testament, would help us understand most important aspects of our Christian lives. The Easton Bible Dictionary gives the following meanings to the translated word of church, ecclesia, in the New Testament in the following way: (a) It is translated as "assembly" in the ordinary classical sense (Ac 19:32,39,41). (b) It denotes the whole body of the redeemed, all those whom the Father has given to Christ, i.e., the invisible Catholic Church (Eph 5:23,25,27,29, Heb 12:23). (c) A few Christians associated together in observing the ordinances of the gospel are an ecclesia (Ro 16:5 Co14: 15). (d) All the Christians in a particular city, whether they assembled together in one place or in several places for religious worship, were an ecclesia. Thus all the disciples in Antioch, forming several congregations, were one church (Ac 13:1) so also we read of the "church of God at Corinth" (lCo 1:2) "the church at Jerusalem" (Ac 8:1) "the church ofEphesus" (Re 2:1) etc. (e) The whole body of professing Christians throughout the world (1Co 15:9 Gal 1: 13 Mt 16: 18) are the church of Christ. In 1973, the AMECEA Bishop's conference met in Nairobi and proposed the image of family for the Church in Africa. They looked at the Church as a family of God whose reality could be realised in the SCCs. In other words, the Church is like a family of God with its home in SCCs. Here, family is used as a symbol to understand the Church in a new way. Consequently, we will also need to understand what the notion of family means in the African context before we can apply it to the family of God with many of its implications.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Licentiate) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity |
| Divisions: | Afro-Christiana |
| Depositing User: | JHI Africa |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Oct 2014 06:03 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Mar 2018 12:10 |
| URI: | http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/121 |
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