Attacking Punitive Retribution at Its Heart – A Restorative Justice Thrust

Restorative justice, aimed at restoring human relations instead of just punishing offenders, is often defended with reference to biblical values like reconciliation, forgiveness, and mercy. Advocates of retributivism, which is the philosophy that underlies the practice of punishing perpetrators with the sole goal of inflicting hardship on them, regularly ridicule such defenses. In response we will not directly defend restorative justice, but critically inquire in the main theoretical arguments with which advocates of retributivism seek to rationalize their view. We point out the weaknesses of these arguments and why we believe that restorative procedures can do much better in serving the goals of (criminal) justice.

Liberal Feminism: from Biblical Tradition to the Emergence of CEDAW

: Liberal Feminism is an ideology that advocates for equal opportunities for men and women in a variety of areas, including employment, health, education, marriage, and family life, as well as public life and politics. Ideologically, Liberal Feminism emerged from the belief that Biblical Tradition, as documented in its verses, set women apart from men. This study would look at the connection between Biblical culture dominating women's positions in Western civilization and the advent of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The investigation would include the patriarchal ideology found in Biblical Tradition, the notion of gender emancipation. In order to answer this research question, this research will use the method of ‘Discourse Analysis' to address the roots of Liberal Feminism as they are found in the Biblical Tradition and the method of ‘Document Analysis' to elaborate on CEDAW records. This study concludes that there is a strong connection between Biblical values and the concept of Liberal Feminism as it is embodied in CEDAW.

Hva handler menighetsutvikling egentlig om?

This article aims to provide an academic founded answer to the question why it is imperative that con- siderations concerning church development should be grounded on a holistic ecclesiological thinking – and not only on the attempt to develop one or a selective range of church developing factors. The model (Fig. 1) serves both as a starting point for classifying four different approaches to church devel- opment thinking and practice, and as theoretical basis for a critical theological assessment of the cur- rent approaches to church development. Thus, the assessment is made in light of what Fig.1 calls the church's double context and two dimensions, and it shows that all the four approaches captures im- portant ecclesiological and strategic issues concerning church development – but it also shows that the strength of each approach is their weakness too – namely one-sidedness. In light of a holistic ecclesio- logical thinking, each approach can be judged as reductionist, since they all restrict the congregation’spotential for development to a specific part of church life. The last part of the article argues for the importance of developing the church: a) both as a Spirit-made, unique entity and a "real" human com- munity, and b) as simultaneously biblically and historically rooted and culturally relevant. One main standpoint defended here is that the church's theological dimension must never be detached from the sociological context – and vice versa. If this happens, it may have serious consequences – not only for views on the organization and management of the church, but also for the spiritual character of the church. Regarding the question of how one can conceive a congregation in the sense b) above, the article argues for what might be called a normative-contextual approach. This implies that the church always must relate itself to contemporary culture – and at the same time must show resistance to ele- ments in contemporary culture which conflict with essential biblical values.

Christian Oughtness for Today: Biblical Perspectives for Christian Living

The world has traveled on a path that has presented inherent complexities and untold challenges as well as difficulties to the living of the ‘religious’ life in general and the Christian life in particular. Often, modern-day values offer a contradiction to traditional, religious, and biblical values which most of the time eclipses the Christian understanding of how one ought to live in the awareness of one’s Christian identity and vocation. This has culminated in the laxity of awareness in the Christian oughtness, in other words, of how the Christian ought to live in response to one’s identity and calling. This paper has sought to re-present the Christian oughtness anew situating it in its biblical-ethical perspectives. The paper used a narrative paradigm to reflect on biblical Christian ethics in the light of imperatives from the Old and New testaments. The paper envisages deepening a treatise on the awareness of the Christian oughtness from the biblical ethical perspective as a new paradigm through which Christians and people of goodwill would live as they ought to live, in promoting justice, progress and development of all people and their nations. Keywords: Christian Oughtness, Ethics, Biblico-imperatives

Contextualisation: A case study of a team within an international missional order

Contextualisation is a process of seeking meaning and relevancy in a constantly changing world. It is a theological imperative if biblical values were to be relevant to everyone in the world. This research is a case study of InnerCHANGE South Africa (ICSA) efforts to be contextual. InnerCHANGE South Africa is part of an international missional order called InnerCHANGE, which was started in 1984 in the United States of America. International organisations face the danger of coming up with uniform principles and practices. Such uniformity is never innocent of cultural bias. It rendered their principles and practices relevant in some contexts and irrelevant in others. InnerCHANGE is an incarnational ministry that focuses on identification in communities of poverty. It described incarnational ministry as a model of Christ, a method, a message and a spiritual discipline. This study investigated how ICSA has been able to contextualise these four elements of incarnational ministry. It concluded that these contextualisation efforts are still work in progress. It pointed out the encouraging signs of seeing many local community members aligning themselves behind ICSA vision of seeing the gospel as the good news made visible. It finally pointed out the challenges of contextualisation it is still facing.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article is based on the field of missiology. It engaged development studies, specifically grassroots community development, to point out one of the roles of the church in society, which is to participate in improving the quality of life of the vulnerable.

Biblical Values

What are the Bible’s highest values? When the early first-century CE rabbi Hillel was asked by a prospective convert to explain the whole Torah while the prospective convert was standing on one foot, Hillel reportedly replied: “What is hateful to you, do not do to...

PERAN GURU DALAM MEMBENTUK SIKAP DISIPLIN SISWA KELAS I SEKOLAH DASAR MELALUI PENGHARGAAN DAN KONSEKUENSI [THE ROLE OF TEACHERS IN SHAPING THE DISCIPLINE ATTITUDES OF GRADE 1 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS THROUGH REWARDS AND CONSEQUENCES]

<p>During their teaching Field Experience Program, the researchers noticed that many students showed undisciplined attitudes during learning. The purpose this paper is to describe through a qualitative descriptive method the role of Christian teachers in building the disciplinary attitudes of grade 1 elementary school students through rewards and consequences. In Christian education, Christian teachers are called by God to help students develop character traits that are in accordance with the character of Christ, one of which is the attitude of discipline. Discipline can not grow properly without motivation. Therefore, Christian teachers need to motivate students continuously. A disciplined attitude that is instilled early on will help students have obedient personalities. The formation of students' disciplinary attitudes can be done by using rewards and consequences in the classroom. Rewards and consequences applied by Christian teachers must be guided by biblical values so that students realize that the attitude of discipline they have is not for themselves but for the glory of God. Thus Christian teachers play a very important role in shaping students' disciplinary attitudes in accordance with Christian values. Christian teachers should apply rewards and consequences to suit students' age, development, and biblical values.</p><p><strong>BAHASA INDONESIA ABSTRACT: </strong>Selama menjalani Program Pengalaman Lapangan khususnya dalam mengajar, peneliti memperhatikan banyak siswa yang menunjukan sikap yang tidak disiplin selama pembelajaran. Tujuan dari penulisan paper ini adalah untuk memaparkan peran guru Kristen di dalam membangun sikap disiplin siswa kelas 1 sekolah dasar melalui penghargaan dan konsekuensi melalui metode kualitatif deskriptif. Dalam pendidikan Kristen, guru Kristen dipanggil Tuhan untuk membantu siswa memiliki karakter yang sesuai dengan karakter Kristus, salah satunya adalah sikap disiplin. Sikap disiplin tidak dapat bertumbuh dengan baik tanpa adanya motivasi. Oleh sebab itu, guru Kristen perlu untuk memotivasi siswa secara terus menerus. Sikap disiplin yang ditanamkan sejak dini akan membuat siswa memiliki kepribadian yang taat. Pembentukan sikap disiplin siswa dapat dilakukan dengan menerapkan penghargaan dan konsekuensi di dalam kelas. Penghargaan dan konsekuensi yang diterapkan oleh guru Kristen harus berpedoman pada nilai Alkitabiah sehingga siswa menyadari bahwa sikap disiplin yang dimilikinya bukan untuk dirinya sendiri melainkan untuk kemuliaan Tuhan. Jadi guru Kristen memegang peran yang begitu penting dalam membentuk sikap disiplin siswa yang sesuai dengan nilai kristiani. Hendaknya guru Kristen dalam menerapkan penghargaan dan konsekuensi harus disesuaikan dengan usia, perkembangan, dan tentunya nilai-nilai Alkitabiah.</p>