[Download] "Reflections on the Priority of Belonging." by Currents in Theology and Mission # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free

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eBook details

• Title: Reflections on the Priority of Belonging.
• Author : Currents in Theology and Mission
• Release Date : January 01, 2004
• Genre: Politics & Current Events,Books,Religion & Spirituality,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 237 KB

Description

There is an African proverb, "To be is to belong" or "To be human is to be in family." (1) This perspective contrasts to a world in which the focus is on thinking or doing rather than belonging: "I think, therefore I am" or "to be human is to be a co-creator with God." A yellow sign board on Interstate 90 coming into Chicago shouts out in large letters: "I do therefore I am." In North America, to be is to think and do. Western theology sometimes reflects these two perspectives by distinguishing between the search for truth (faith as doctrinal truth) and the search for love and speaks of the tension between the two. (2) It seems self-evident that being human necessarily includes belonging and also includes thinking and doing. In this essay I reflect on the priority of belonging. This reflection began for me when I was teaching in Nigeria from 1957 to 1966. It was immediately apparent that within African culture belonging and family had a priority I had not encountered before. Individual interests were again and again subordinated to the well-being of the family and the community. Families made decisions about who should receive an education and for what vocation people should prepare in order to benefit the whole community. Students often came to seminary because their church and community had decided that was to be their vocation. Within the tribe, clan, or family, persons had corporate responsibilities that took priority over personal desires.

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