PAUL AKOTH OKENO

Edward VI ruled through two main regents, and under him the Church moved distinctively in a protestant direction. During the reign of Edward two major acts of parliament were passed. The act of the Book of Common Prayer, whose principle of reform was Lutheran. The aim of the Act of Uniformity was to make England uniform in its belief and worship. The Book of Common Prayer was to be used in all Churches by law. Mary reversed all the reforms that had been done under Edward VI. Elizabeth 1 reversed the counter-reform done under Mary, and the Church finally settled as Protestant.

Protestant historians normally divided Reformation into two. The first is Magisterial Reformation or Reformation from the top. They are called so because they were from a theological background and well-versed in Biblical teaching/knowledge. Reformers like Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Calvin are called Magisterial Reformers. Second, out of the turmoil of the Reformation, there exists a strange group who seek to obey God rather than men. Church historians called this movement the Radical Reformation or Radicalists. This movement is called Radical Reformation or Reformation from below because its leaders were often laymen, working among laymen, and some of them were from the ‘roots’ of society; peasants and small craftsmen. George H. Williams divided the Radical Reformation into three groups: the Lutheran Spiritualists, the Anabaptists, and the Evangelical Rationalists. Reformation did not destroy Rome, but on the contrary, gave Rome such a shock that it had to reform itself. The counter-reformation brought great spiritual renewal through spiritually minded Popes.

Reformation refers to regeneration and change. This was a religious, social and political revolution. Reformation movement was triggered by the conditions in the Church and society in the late medieval period.
This paper seeks to assess the situation of the Church and Society on the eve of the reformation and Compare this with the situation of the Church and Society today. Further, Analyze why Martin Luther hanged the ninety five thesis to the Church door at Wittenberg and give the thought why the Church in my country needs reformation.

Is the Bible’s language of judgment too condemnatory to patiently deal with human sins? Clearly, the Biblical language on the fate of a sinner definitively sounds condemnatory, yet there are also texts in Scripture that could be interpreted differently (as tolerant). When these contradictory texts are encountered in the same Scripture, a dilemma is created for the believer. The Bible presents two strands of texts: condemnatory and clemency, which in turn have given rise to various strands of interpretations, such as Universalism, Particularism, and Annihilationism.

Gnosticism derived from the Greek word “gnosis; knowledge” has been called “the shadow of the church” (Van Oort, 2001:120) and the mother of all heresies. The teaching of Gnosticism questioned and contradicted the teaching of the church on some of the fundamental truths. Consequently, the proponents of Gnosticism met with Christian opponents and critics such as Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian and Hippolytus of Rome in the late second and early third centuries (Walker, 1997:62).
This paper will show, using the doctrines of God and Trinity how this strand of Christianity has continued influencing Christianity to date.

Monotheists believe that there is only one God and Christians agree. There is only one God. But the One God is three Persons in one God. We see that God is one through various passages. The Shema, the Jewish and Christian confession from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Christians affirm that there is only one God and that God alone must be worshiped. Christians affirm the deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This essay seeks to explain how God in his intrinsic being is one in three persons.

The word “revelation” means to “unveil” or ‘disclosure’ of something hidden. God is a communicating God. He wants to show us himself, he wants his creation to know about him and even to know him individually. God reveals his divine power and his will for humankind, so that we might come to know him.

Many theories have tried to explain the origin and existence of the universe as it is today and its source.  Antimatter theory has as well attempted to explain the source and how the universe came into being implying pre-existence of material (Antimatter) God may have used in creating. All we have today in existence is made of matter; antimatter theory tries to explain how matter came into existence.

Charles Nyamiti proposes Inculturation as the more apt methodology of doing theology in Africa towards achieving an authentic expression of the Christian doctrine presented in accordance with African mentality and needs. The tasks of this paper is to explore Nyamiti’s rationale and justification for choosing inculturation ahead of liberation theology, and to identify the steps in the process he proposes for this methodology.

The poor widow in Mark 12:41-44 is praised for her generosity shown in contributing what she had to the Temple treasury. Because she contributes “out of her poverty,” she is actually more generous than all the rich people who contribute large sums out of their surplus. This seems to hold up the widow as an example of the true piety and generosity that exists among God’s people. However, the context of Mark 12:41- 44 raises the question whether the generosity of the poor widow should be taken as an occasion for praise as it has been traditionally held or for lament, as some scholars have suggested. When interpreted as cause for Lament, the widow’s action would illustrate the perils of institutional religion whereby the Temple establishment manipulated this generous woman into parting with what little she possessed. This research has discussed the meaning of the poor widow’s story, by means of an exegetical analysis of the pericope and, subsequently, by the contextual reading of this pericope within its immediate narrative context, as well as in the broader context of the whole Markan narrative. The research has followed the steps of exegeting a biblical text such as historical approach, literary approach, text and translation, biblical and theological approach as well as application among others. The research has proposed a theological concept, “A concern for God’s Law on widows.” The argument has been that the poor widow should not be thought of as the exemplary giver.  Rather, she is more properly to be understood as the exemplary victim of a corrupt religious establishment. This research has established that Jesus’ words concerning the widow and her offering, is not a commendation, but is the crowning condemnation of the temple establishment.  Further, it has established the single sin of the scribes which Jesus condemns them (Mark 12:40) and which is aggravated by their office as the official teachers of Israel’s religion. Their sin had a direct impact on the economic welfare of the widow in particular and the entire people in general. They compounded their sin of hypocrisy by actually overturning the Law of Moses, thus robbing those in society who were the most needy and vulnerable. On this understanding the research has shown that, the widow impoverished condition alone is a scandal in Israel in the light of Torah. But the circumstances of her poverty make the scandal far more grievous, for it has come at the hands of those who are teachers in Israel: the guardians of Torah and the true religion of Yahweh.

The Nicene Creed was written centuries ago to help Christians remember the important beliefs of the faith. In the Nicene Creed we identify the four marks of the Church. The four marks of the Church are not characteristics that the Church creates or develops or learns. They are qualities that Jesus Christ shares with his Church through the Holy Spirit. In the Nicene Creed we confess: "We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church." Moreover these Mark of the Church may identify the Church not just a building where believers gathers but it should be a living image of Christ where Holy Spirit brings individuals to personal faith and nourishes believers in the corporate worship in the Christian community.

There are deep aspirations throughout the world for liberation. This word, “aspirations”, is a common term in recent church documents, and means the “in-most stirring movements” of people. People wish to be free, and responsible for their own destinies. It is a sign of the times, that persons desire a say in how their world is being run, and, at the same time, wish to be free from all that hinders their freedom. So we can see the quest for freedom from disease, from ignorance, from colonial rulers, from the oppression of a foreign culture, freedom from racism, and sexism.
Yet, at the very same time, the paradox occurs that this world is, more than ever, threatened by bondage, e.g., colonialism changed the foreign rulers, but, sometimes, the new local rulers were as bad, if not worse, than the foreign ones. Diseases have been cured, so that we live longer, and this can mean the tragic situation of so many old people, who are lonely and neglected, as in the developed countries, which now sees euthanasia as a way of solving this “problem” of the aged.
So, it is, that the more man freed himself from the danger of nature, the more he experienced a growing fear confronting him . . .what forces can protect man from the slavery of his own domination?

The expressions of law and of love, which are a well covered in the New Testament, ethically provide a tension on believers. The tension is on whether to put much emphasis on law or on love and whether to observe the law or not. The tension is further expanded by the assertion that the greatest commandment is love, for love is the fulfilment of the law. Therefore, just as laws are commandments, love becomes a commandment as well. It is further said that Christ is the fulfilment of the law, and therefore believers are supposed to fulfil the law of Christ. The tension is also seen in the claim that those who are in Christ are not under the law and there is no condemnation against them. But they are bound to fulfil the law of Christ, which is considered to be the love of God and neighbour. It is clear from the aforesaid that the New Testament is not antinomian, having no room for law but only for love. But when all things are considered, it is essential to establish the relationship between law and love in the New Testament. The question is on the place of law and love in the Christian life, which we need to establish by looking at what the New Testament has to say about law and love with special reference to Jesus and Paul.

This paper seeks to evaluate the historical development of New Testament theology and show the contribution of Rudolph Bultmann to it. This is done through the discussion of distinguishing biblical theology, historical developments and the Bultmannian School.

Pastoral Care is the care provided by pastors and leaders for their congregations. It is attentive to issues of spiritual growth and thus is not only an intrinsic component of spiritual leadership but is also vitally connected to the wider mission of the church. Pastoral care can be broadly defined to include many aspects of caring for God’s people: teaching, preaching, mentoring, baptizing, administering communion, church discipline, general discipleship, visiting the sick, conducting funerals and weddings, and the list could go on. So pastoral care isn’t something only reserved for crisis moments or unusual difficulties. Pastoral care is also positive and proactive. Spiritual leaders are shepherds (1 Peter 5:1-4) who care, in a variety of ways, for the flock. Pastoral care nourishes spiritual growth and is intrinsic to pastoral leadership.  It is care because it has charge of, and is deliberately attentive to, the spiritual growth and destiny of persons. Pastoral care is analogous to a physician’s care of the body. Since that particular sphere over which one exercises care is the psyche, pastoral care is also appropriately called the care of souls.2

Counselling is a face-face relationship between a client and a counsellor in a confidential setting. The counselor helps the client to clarify his needs, feelings or motivations so that he can make the appropriate decision for himself. For the success of counselling an appropriate environment cannot be ignored.

Pastoral leaders have traditionally sought to provide biblically-based solutions that are oriented toward mission, anchored in scripture, centered on Christ and the Gospel, dependent upon the Holy Spirit and prayer, and directed toward sanctification for those in trouble (AAPC, 2016; Johnston, 2016). Additionally, pastoral leaders “have listened intently to personal problems for centuries and have developed religious counseling responses to those who suffer from mental and emotional illness and relational difficulties” (AAPC, 2016, para. 1). During the past century, a diversity of definitions of this kind of counseling had been set forth by pastors. Hiltner (1949: 80) described pastoral counseling as a process and “the attempt by a pastor to help a parishioner help himself, granted that certain conditions are present.”

The Portuguese were among the first group of people to sail to Africa South of Sahara, however the main interest was to go to the Far East for trade and for Africa their focus was on slave trade, and so mission work was not their main aim. The Portuguese mission to the Bakongo was mainly expedition .Their main mission was trade, however the same ship which carried the traders also carried administrators and missionaries. Nevertheless missionary work was secondary. (Baur, 2009:56)

The Christian Missionaries came to East Africa as early as 1844, when the CMS sent J. L. Krapf to the East African Coast. Krapf who had been a missionary in Ethiopia had set out to work among the Galla of the Kingdom of Shoa. After failing to reach these people, he asked permission from his home Secretary to approach the same people from the Eastern Coast of Africa. He reached Zanzibar in January 1844, after calling briefly at Mombasa which impressed him as a promising starting point for his work. Krapf settled in Mombasa with his wife in May 1844. He travelled extensively around the outskirts of Mombasa with the aim of discovering a suitable site for a mission station. This he found in the village of Rabai, only a few miles inland from Mombasa. On June 10, 1846 Krapf was joined in Mombasa by the Reverend J. Rebmann. Together Rebmann and Krapf travelled to Rabai to obtain permission of the local elders to found a mission station there, which they did the same year. These two were sent by the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S) and was later joined by Erhadt. The C.M.S, a missionary wing of the Anglican Church, was founded in 1799 following the evangelical revival in England in the 18th century (Odwako, 1975).

Unity of missions in Africa was possible because the missions had a lot of similarities. They had the same cultural background and most of them had arisen out of the evangelical renewal. They all stressed on individual conversion, which brought moral change. They all tended to denounce worldly amusements such as tobacco and alcohol. They all minimized the importance of African culture and saw it as an enemy of the gospel. They did not value the world and most of the Africans saw them as a unified front. Conversion in Christ was a major unifying factor and superseded doctrinal issues. Co-operation was achievable at the beginning in Kenya, because the missionaries had worked together. Krapf, a German Lutheran led the first Anglican CMS mission and later led the Methodist mission in East Africa. However, when the missions moved to the interior, there was overlapping of the work, confusion and competition.

Throughout much of the twentieth century, the emergence of so-called African Independent, Indigenous or Initiated Churches  was one of the most fascinating religious developments in Africa, contributing heavily both to the growth and indigenisation of Christianity outside the Western-initiated mission churches.  African instituted churches is a widespread phenomenon whereby a large number of former adherents of the mission Churches have separated in order to assert their right or freedom from the larger ecclesiastical control- founding new movements or organizations independent from direct or indirect control of the western world. Most of them emphasize the combination of Christianity and African culture. Most of the Churches have an African character and interact with the African world view. They try to appropriate the gospel within the African context. Their historical and theological significance has been well-captured by Allan Anderson (2001: 5) with the term African Reformation, meaning that “the entire AIC movement in all its many forms throughout represents such an indigenous Reformation and transformation of Christianity on a continental scale unprecedented in the history of the worldwide church.”

The British colonial authorities in Kenya had to find a way to legalize land control, as it had no rights over natives’ land. The colonial authorities, therefore, enacted a series of Crownland ordinances to formalize the dispossession of the natives’ land (Mazrui, 2008). These ordinances led to the appropriation of millions of acres of land that became white highlands. The appropriation of white highlands by settlers was a scheme to exploit natives’ free labor for their capitalist economy (Southall, 2005). Further, to facilitate the economic viability of the white highlands, the colonial authorities transformed the natives’ mode of production to suit the colonial capitalist economy (Rutten & Ombongi, 2005). This violated the Indigenous People’s subsistence economy, identity, and customary ways of life. The British also established the African Reserves designed to confine the natives within specific settlements to supply cheap labor to settlers’ farms (Rutten & Ombongi, 2005).
Capital was a key component for the establishment of the colonial cash economy. Therefore, the colonial authorities established the hut and poll tax to earn revenue for colonial projects (Elkins, 2005). The locals, to enable the payment of taxes, were forced to abandon the customary subsistence economy and engage in wage employment. The colonial authorities also introduced the Pass or the Kipande System in which all natives were forced to hang a metal on the neck that contained a paper with personal identification, employment history, and rules restricting movement (Anderson, 2005).

West Africa, according to the Economic West Africa (ECOWAS), is a grouping of 15 states which were formerly colonized by Britain, France and Portugal. Direct European contact with West Africa dates back as far as the fifteenth century AD, when Portuguese traders first made contact with the coastal peoples. They were followed by the Spanish, Dutch, British and French. In addition to trade, exploration and missionary work were also part of the interest in the region.

Enterprising liberated slaves resolved to have an outreach to their homes. They were trained as teachers and missionaries. Freed slaves of Nigerian origin trained in Sierra Leone as evangelists, they took the gospel to their own areas, hence started evangelism of Africa by Africans.

The term slavery and Slave Trade are often confused with each other. However, there are differences between them. The former had been in existence before the slave trade. In fact, it had been part of the African tradition. On the other hand, slave trade is the act of buying and selling of human beings. The concept of slave trade as understood and practiced by the Europeans in Americas and elsewhere is quite different from the Africans. To a European, a slave was the personal property of his master. There was no consideration for him or her and he or she could be maltreated and killed, whereas, the African concept of a slave is different. A slave to them is regarded as a member of a member of his master’s household and if he is capable, he could rise to a position of honour of authority. (Curtin, 1964:303) Most of the slaves in African communities were always assimilated as members of societies which they were taken into. Slaves in Ghana were often seen as part of the family with significant rights including the right to marry without their master’s permission; they had the right to food, clothing, housing and the privilege of children while with their owners. They were privy to an independent income, legal protection, social, political and economic mobility. (Gambia Guide, “Treatment and Rights of Slaves, accessed February 10, 2011)  African slaves were often assimilated into kingship groups, so that within a generation the slave might acquire freedom and an honorable position in a new family or clan. (Bentley & Ziegler, 2008:706)

Marriage across cultures in Kenya is not totally acknowledged by many ethnic communities, even among those who have embraced Christianity there is still some opposition. A mixed marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman who come from dissimilar ethnic communities with distinct cultures. Levirate marriages refer to a man marrying his dead brother’s wife in order to sire children to ensure continuity of his line and it is termed as wife inheritance. There is also the issue of a woman taking the initiative in proposing marriage to a man which is normally not the norm in Kenya.