Muslim perspective of God!

Tauhid is the term used to describe the oneness of God in Muslim perspective. Muslim faiths believe in one supreme sovereign Creator-God. God is not described by Muslims. That is why the way to understand God both Muslims and Christians actually refer to the same subject which is God. But, both start from different perspective. Who God is necessarily goes beyond saying that God is. The Muslim creed “There is no God except God”, indicated that the existence and lordship of Allah were known and recognized in pre-Islamic Arabia. The Prophet’s mission therefore was to deny the existence of all lesser deities. Muhammad erased all practices of idolatry and multiple gods (polytheism) and proclaimed the true worship to the only real God (Allah). Muhammad then proclaimed God in a sequence of descriptives (titles) in 99 Divine Names of God. The relation between God and humankind hinges upon the fact of revelation. The Holy Book (Koran) is the climax of revelation. Adam was the first and Muhammad the last. Belief in God therefore involves also belief in God’s prophets, angels, and books. By these God makes God’s self is known and recognized by humankind in the divine law. Muhammad was the final instrument of revelation of God so his life provides the framework in which Muslims may understand the God revelaed.

Leonardo Boff on The Trinity!

Boff stresses the aspect of communion in understanding the Trinity. It expresses not only the essence of God but also the concrete dynamic of every being of the whole creation. But in reality it has fallen into oblivion both in the area of the political and religious sphere. In the political sphere, the idea of Trinity has contributed to a concrete historical concentration of power while in the religious sphere, it has supported the hierarchical conception in the Roman Catholic Church. Boff argues that communion is the first and last word of the mystery of God and the mystery of the world. He then articulates how the Trinity is understood in the specific context in Latin America. It is more than a dogmatic truth.It is an existential actualization of the mystery of communion. The Trinitarian roots of a Christian commitment have to transform the society to bear an equal dignity, equal love and full reciprocal communion of love and life. Here “The holy Trinity is our social program”. The reflection on the Trinity starts from the historical Jesus that makes possible the presence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the idea of Trinity is very practical. It is present in the attitudes and words of Christ and in the action of the Spirit in history and in people’s lives. In terms of human reason Trinitarian mystery has been understood in different ways. It depends on the starting point we are using.
Boff offers a liberative conception of the Trinity by reflecting on the Trinitarian mystery as a mystery of communion among distinct persons. God is communion that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are ever together, emerging together and constantly face to face. So the communion of God has to be a pattern for the Church as a community. In the last part of this article, Boff repeats that we acknowledge the insufficiency of our human concepts to signify the mystery of the Trinity.

Playing music!

Rita, Valery, Gue, Nita and Matheus.
Rehearsal!

Busy again!

This week it's gonna be very busy for me. I have two more papers, daily quiz, and reflection in ministry practicum. The registration for next semester has to be done soon. Fortunately, I have a very nice advisor, fr. Gil yesterday came over here to sign all registration forms. So I don't worry about that. I have two advisors for my M.div and MA program. For next semester I will take only three classes for good reason actually. I don't want to torture myself with so many papers and readings and then I will not grasp deeply the subject. It wil be disaster for me since I am a great proscrastinator. Let say I have four MA classes, each has to write at least one research paper. I have to visit the library very often, read a lot of articles and so forth. Everyday I have to spend more than four hours to study. It seems impossible. That means I don't have time anymore to play badminton, or even to cook for the community. No way! Three classes are god for me. My concern is to know deeper every single subject. I have to take advantage concerning the materials that are always available here. Good luck!

Bahasa

Sudah berminggu-minggu aku nggak mengupdate blog kesayanganku ini. Ehm..aku sibuk dengan kelas yang seolah memenjarakan aku untuk memaku pantat ini di kursi. Seabrek bacaan menunggu, ada book report, research paper, persiapan perpetual vows teman, dan yang satu ini "Greek". Sejak aku ambil bahasa malaikat yang satu ini, setiap hari sepertinya hanya ada satu hal melintas di benak "Greek". Sekarang sudah bisa bernapas lega karena perlahan tapi pasti metode-nya sudah kepegang. Kalaupun mentok jurus lama di gunakan, wayangan. Setiap jalan ke sekolah bawa catatan kecil isinya vocabulary Greek. Wah ceritanya ngulang waktu SMP waktu mau ujian. Belajar bahasa selalu menguntungkan. Menguasai banyak bahasa menjadi salah satu impianku sejak dulu kala. Dulu waktu di rumah aku belajar bahasa Jawa dari ngoko sampai krama inggil aku pelajari. Di rumah aku ngomong krama inggil ama orang tuaku. Sekarang sudah hampir sepuluh tahun aku tidak menggunakan bahasa Jawa. Tapi aku kira aku masih ingat dengan baik karena kalau nulis surat ke ortu pasti pakai bahasa Jawa. Belajar bahasa berarti mengenal cara pikir orang lain. Karena melalui bahasalah orang mengungkapkan kerangka berpikir. Dalam bahasa Mentawai misalnya sangat jarang konsep abstrak, karena orang Mentawai sangat praktis. Dalam bahasa Inggris (USA) misalnya sangat kaya dalam kata sifat seperti excellent, great, good, wonderful, unbelieveable, hilarious, perfect, incredible, marvelous, amazing etc. Mungkin orang Amerika punya karakter suka memuji. Bahasa Jawa lebih kaya pada ungkapan kata kerja dan kata sifatnya. Beberapa kata bahkan tidak ditemukan terjemahannya dalam bahasa Indonesia seperti "kunduran" yang arti literalnya "tertabrak mobil atau apa saja yang sedang berjalan mundur". Atau ada banyak kata untuk "makan" mulai dari yang paling halus sampai paling kasar. Munculnya ataupun keunikan kata-kata tersebut mungkin dipengaruhi oleh karakter ataupun filsafat keseharian orang Jawa. Dalam Bahasa Jawa, hampir setiap detil dari benda atau warna tersedia nama khusus. Misalnya "ijo" artinya hijau. kalau hijau sekali menjadi: ijo royo-royo (wonogiri jadi "ijur"). Bahkan bunga dari berbagai tanaman mempunyai nama tersendiri. Bahasa Indonesia dibanding bahasa Jawa sangat miskin dalam ungkapan. Makanya banyak istilah yang kemudian diserap dari bahasa asing. Aku tidak bisa membayangkan kalau seandainya harus belajar bahasa Yunani dalam bahasa Indonesia. Ada beberapa tenses atau istilah (misalnya deponen, aorist) dalam bahaya Yunani yang tidak ada terjemahannya dalam bahasa Indonesia. Tetapi yang lebih mengasyikkan dalam belajar bahasa adalah melatih ketekunan. Aku bisa belajar di mana saja di jalan, di tempat tidur bahkan di kamar mandi.