Theologizing “Teing Hang” Ceremony In The Culture of Manggarai, Indonesia

The Teing Hang ceremony, which is practised by the Manggarai people in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, celebrates local wisdom regarding the relationality of the Manggarai people with the Highest Being, with one’s fellow beings who are still living and with the relatives who have died. The methodology is what I call “critical reading” of the dialectical model, which has been proposed by Stefan Bevans and Daniel Pilario. By using the critical reading method of the teing hang ceremony data (collected through interviews and reviews of related studies), I found that the local wisdom of Manggarai can explain and illuminate the content of the Catholic faith with regard to the communion of saints in three ways. First, the communion of saints is a participation in God's providence. Second, the communion of saints is a participation in the lives of one’s fellow beings. Third, the communion of saints is an intersubjectivity relationship between those who believe in Christ and are indwelt by His Spirit.

Toward a Pentecostal Understanding of Communio Sanctorum: Reflections on Peter Kuzmič & Miroslav Volf ’s “Theology of the Church as a Fellowship of Persons” in the Context of the Pentecostal-Roman Catholic Dialogue

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the Pentecostal understanding of the communion of saints by critically engaging with the ecclesiological vision of two world-class Pentecostal theologians from post-communist countries: Peter Kuzmič and Miroslav Volf. Th e paper has three sections: in the first one, a brief historical and theological overview of the doctrine of communio sanctorum is presented, to both set the stage for the core of the paper, and to point out the usefulness of reflecting on this particular ecclesiological topic. The second section offers an outline of “Perspectives on Koinonia” (the final report from the Third Quinquennium of the Pentecostal-Roman Catholic Dialogue), focusing on the first round of talks (Riano, Italy, 1985), which were on the topic of communio sanctorum. In the third section, the author presents and engages with Kuzmič & Volf ’s paper, “Theology of the Church as a Fellowship of Persons” which represents one of the earliest attempts to articulate a Pentecostal ecclesiology based on the notion of communio sanctorum. In the end, the author will attempt to show how this ecclesiological vision helps the shaping of a Pentecostal theology of public life.

Menyoal Keterjalinan Orang Hidup dan Mati menurut Tradisi Batak dan Ajaran Huria Kristen Batak Protestan

This research aims to discuss the teachings of the Protestant Batak Christian Church (HKBP) and the Toba Batak about the relationship between the living and the dead. Batakness believes the dead still have a relationship with the living, while HKBP denies it. To reconcile these two doctrines, we will reinterpret “the communion of saints” phrase in the Apostolic Creed, which always presents as one of the main elements in the liturgy of HKBP. We argue that the “communion of saints” is an association of all believers, not only cross-geographical (trans spatial) but also cross-age (trans temporal). The relation of the living and the dead in the association is not direct but via Christ. Therefore, the trans temporality of the communion is evidence of the connectedness of the living and the dead.