INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

When the risen Jesus was taken up into heaven (Acts 1:9), he left behind eleven apostles and a group of about a hundred and twenty believers. Their expectations were high. Jesus had promised that after he left he would send them the Holy Spirit from the Father (John 15:26).

When the Spirit descended on the apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), those present were convinced that this was not only a fulfilment of Jesus’ promise but also a fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel that the Spirit would be given to one and all (Joel 2:28-32). Filled with the Spirit, the disciples bore witness to their faith in Jesus and to his resurrection. More and more people came to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the long-awaited Messiah, who had been wrongfully put to death by the Jewish and Roman authorities and whose authority had been vindicated by his resurrection. In defence of this position, the disciples pointed to texts in the Jewish Scriptures that referred, they believed, to a Messiah who would die vicariously for his people.

The believers constituted a small segment of Jewish society. But as they studied the Scriptures and proclaimed the implications of their belief for the temple and the Jewish law, they attracted opposition.

One of the early preachers who spelled out this message was Stephen, a Jewish believer from a Greek background. His preaching so enraged the Jews that they stoned him to death (Acts 7). Persecution followed, and the disciples began to scatter from the region of Jerusalem and Judea. As they travelled, they bore witness to their faith in Jesus as the Messiah. People from other communities – Samaritans, Gentiles who worshipped the Jewish God, and finally, Gentiles who had previously shown little interest in Judaism – began to join the community of believers.

One of those who spearheaded the persecution was a young and determined member of the Jewish Council named Saul, who hailed from the town of Tarsus in the province of Cilicia (now part of Turkey). He was dramatically confronted by the risen Jesus while pursuing the fleeing disciples. Not only did he become a disciple, he also became a pioneer missionary (Acts 9:1-30). His initial base was the town of Antioch in Syria, and from there he and his colleagues set off to preach the good news of salvation in West Asia and Eastern Europe, where he was known by his Roman name, Paul (Acts 13:1-3).

As people responded to his preaching and put their faith in Jesus, he organised them into local communities of believers, instructed them in the faith and its implications for everyday life, and then moved on.

However, he made a point of keeping in touch with each community, visiting them when he could and writing to give them further instruction, advice on practical issues and answers to their questions.

These pastoral letters are the earliest of the documents that were later collected and included in the NT canon, where they are arranged according to length. The first nine letters are addressed to communities in towns that Paul regarded as under his pastoral oversight; the remainder are addressed to individuals. We can normally deduce his reasons for writing from the letters themselves.

For example, the letter to the Romans was written towards the end of Paul’s missionary career, when he was planning to visit Rome on his way to Spain. As part of his preparation for the visit, Paul wrote to introduce himself and the message that he normally preached to Gentile audiences. But he also addressed the situation in Rome at the time, for it appears that the Christians there, whose Jewish and Gentile backgrounds were very different, were finding it difficult to maintain unity. Similarly, in his first letter to the church in the city of Corinth, he dealt with various problems in the church – some of which had been reported to him, and others that the Corinthians themselves had written to ask him about. By the time he wrote his second letter to the same church, however, relations between him and the church had deteriorated. Knowing this helps one to appreciate what Paul has to say about such matters as the hardships of ministry, Christian giving and the like.

The NT also contains letters written by Peter, John, James and Jude, and a letter addressed to Jewish Christians who were not living in Israel and were under pressure to return to Judaism. Reading these letters, we can deduce something about the context of their readers.

In the period immediately following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the disciples remembered his teaching and deeds and referred to them in their preaching and teaching. Thus Paul’s letters contain allusions to the words and deeds of Jesus. It is clear that the apostle saw himself as both recalling and building upon the Jesus tradition by drawing out its implications for everyday life. As long as the original eyewitnesses were alive and present in the communities around the Roman Empire, it may be safely assumed that any appeal to the tradition would have been subject to their scrutiny.

With the passing of the years, and then decades, two developments took place. First, the expectation that Jesus would soon return began to dim; secondly, the original apostles and disciples began to pass away. The church became aware of the need for th Jesus tradition to be put down in writing, and this need was met in the writing of the gospels. The gospels tell the Jesus story. All four of the gospels included in the NT deal with the public ministry of Jesus and what is called the Passion Narrative, that is, the narrative of Jesus’ final days in Jerusalem and his suffering and death, followed by the narrative of the empty tomb and the appearances of the risen Jesus to individuals and groups of disciples. The gospels have different emphases and were written for different groups of readers, but all share the same evangelistic purpose – that the readers might come to faith or confirm their faith in the messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth and have life in his name.

The Gospel according to Mark was probably written somewhere in the late sixties and focused on Jesus’ deeds. This was followed, possibly ten to twenty years later, by gospels according to Matthew and Luke that covered the same ground as Mark but included more of Jesus’ teaching. Finally, the Gospel according to John represents still another form of the Jesus tradition.

The evangelist Luke, a Gentile disciple, was one of Paul’s colleagues. From the prologue of his gospel we gather that he wrote it for the benefit of a person called Theophilus, who was probably a Roman officer of some rank. But having written the gospel, Luke proceeded to write a second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, in which he told of the ongoing spread of the faith across the Roman Empire.

The first century AD was a period of Jewish hostility and opposition to the new faith and of persecution by the Roman state that peaked under certain emperors, particularly Domitian in the sixties and Nero in the nineties. The last book of the NT canon, called Revelation or the Apocalypse, was probably written during the latter part of the emperorship of Domitian. The book has some unique features, but clearly belongs to a genre called apocalyptic writing.

Books in this genre are intended to comfort readers who were being persecuted for their faith. The message is contained in a series of visions of the future when the period of persecution has come to an end and those who have persevered are vindicated. The visions of parallel happenings in heaven and on earth are intended to underline the truth that God is sovereign and that he will vindicate those wh remain faithful in spite of persecution.

As the Christian faith spread across the Roman Empire, various interpretations of the person and work of Jesus arose and were reflected in writings of various kinds. Faced with this situation, the church in the second century recognised that heretical teaching could confuse believers, and thus it had to make a decision regarding what writings would be considered as presenting orthodox doctrine – especially in relation to Jesus the Messiah.

One of the criteria used was apostolicity, which means that the books must have been written by an apostle or someone closely associated with an apostle. A second criterion was the importance of the community to which the book or letter was addressed. A third criterion was the conformity of the letter or book to the accepted beliefs of the Christian communities.

These criteria were used by the church to determine which of the many works in circulation could be regarded as normative or canonical – that is, works that were truly God-breathed and Spirit inspired.

By the fourth century AD, twenty-seven books were selected and put together to constitute the New Testament as we have it today.

Brian Wintle

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INTRODUCTION TO APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE

Mighty angels, a voice from heaven, the number seven, prophecies about “people, nations, languages and kings” (Rev 10:1-11) – all these are typical features of what is called apocalyptic literature. Such literature takes its name from the Greek word translated “revelation” in the opening words of the last book of the Bible. Apocalyptic literature sets out to reveal mysteries about heaven and earth, humankind and God, angels and demons, and the world today and the world to come.

In the Bible, the book of Revelation in the NT is clearly apocalyptic and so are parts of the books of Ezekiel, Zechariah and Daniel in the OT. Some other books of the Bible also contain apocalyptic passages. For example, Jesus’ discourse in Mark 13 (see also Matt 24; Luke 21) has frequently been called “a little apocalypse”.

Between 200 BC and AD 200 a number of other early Jewish and Christian writers produced apocalyptic texts that were modeled on these biblical books and claimed to have been written by ancient heroes. These pseudo-apocalyptic works include the books of Enoch, the Sibylline Oracles, 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra and the Apocalypse of Abraham.

The distinguishing features of the apocalyptic style include the following:

• Visions in which the writers are given particular insight into spiritual realities with regard to the present and the future.

• Angels who act as guides to the one seeing the visions and explain the meaning of the visions. God does not speak in person, but gives his instruction through these heavenly messengers. Sometimes the recipient of the vision is said to have been caught up into heaven; on other occasions an angel descended with the revelation.

• Symbols and images are used to describe realities that cannot be communicated in any other way. For example, the book of Revelation mentions numbers like 7, 12, 666 and 144,000; colours like white, red and green; and symbolic objects like crowns, trumpets and a throne. Those for whom the books were originally intended presumably knew the meaning of these symbols, although we sometimes are less sure of their exact meaning.

• Stark contrast between good and evil. In apocalyptic books, the antagonism between God and Satan is sharply emphasised. Every person, nation and supernatural being is seen as either an ally of one or the other. In the book of Revelation, for example, one is either on the side of God, who is holy, righteous and just, or on the side of Satan, who is surrounded by abominations, idolatries and wickedness.

• Concern with the end times. The future figures prominently in apocalyptic writings. The authors look ahead to coming events, on the one hand offering hope to those who long for justice and delivery from evil, and on the other issuing warnings to those who are in rebellion against God’s ways.

These literary features are used to deal with certain standard themes. For example, the writers frequently connect the arrival of the end times with the near future. They long for God to shorten the present evil days and quickly usher in his kingdom. Thus apocalyptic writers speak of “what will happen in days to come” (Dan 2:28; compare Rev 1:1) and ask questions like, “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?” (Dan 12:6). The end of the world is seen as something that affects the whole cosmos.

Apocalyptic literature takes the view that history has been determined by God before creation. The history of the world has been divided into fixed time periods, the most prominent of which are the present era and the world to come. The former is ruled by Satan and his legions and contaminated and corrupted by sin and evil. In the latter, wickedness will be abolished and God will rule supreme.

Whereas prophetic eschatology sees God working within human history to accomplish his purposes for humanity, apocalyptic writers believe that there is not enough in human history worth salvaging, and so God must begin again with something totally different if he is to accomplish his purposes and vindicate the faithful. Thus apocalyptic writers speak of a new heaven and a new earth, that is, a new creation where God will rule.

Many of the apocalyptic writings speak of a Messiah or mediator between God and human beings who will accomplish the final salvation of the world. In the book of Revelation, the Messiah is shown to be Christ, the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:16).

Understanding these features and themes will help us to see that the book of Revelation is not an isolated work. It exists as part of a complex literary genre, and needs to be interpreted in light of that genre. This means that certain elements must be treated as symbolic rather than as literal representations of future events.

Like the rest of the inspired Scriptures, the book of Revelation is reliable and authoritative. It draws together a massive amount of OT and NT theology. In the profundity of its visions, it has no equal.

Finny Philip

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INTER-RELIGIOUS MARRIAGE

In this era of individualism and sexual liberation, many constraints on the choice of marriage partners are being rejected. Sometimes this is a good thing. Christians should not continue to cling to prejudices against intercaste marriages. To do so is to forget the NT teaching that all are equal in God’s sight (Gal 3:28). But what about the constraints on inter-religious marriage?

Many in South Asia regard inter-religious marriage as not only permissible but even desirable; others, however, regard such marriages as a threat to their religion and their community. Christians have both embraced inter-religious marriage as a welcome sign that we are no longer shunned by the wider community and condemned it as unbiblical and sinful.

Those who advocate inter-religious marriage regard it as a way to counter religious fundamentalism. They speak of how couples in inter-religious marriages have found their lives enriched by the spiritual insights each brings and by the religious diversity they enjoy in the family. Such marriages, they suggest, teach us tolerance of those who are different from us. What is important to the success of a marriage is not religion but “love” or financial stability. They assume that religion will take a backseat if pushed into the realm of personal choice – neither partner has to convert to the other person’s religion, but both can follow their own convictions. For some, such marriages are to be encouraged as a necessary step to introduce an era of religious harmony.

But several questions remain. What do we do about the fact that our convictions are integral to our personalities? What we believe about ourselves and about other people shapes us and our relationships. To assume that religious convictions are unimportant is preposterous, especially in South Asia where religion is not merely a reality but the lens through which every other reality is interpreted.

And what about the children of such a marriage? It is often suggested that they can be taught both parents’ religions and left free to choose their own religion. While this seems liberating, for a Christian who desires a godly family with children growing in the fear and knowledge of God (Luke 2:52), it is far from an ideal environment to bring up children.

The advocates of inter-religious marriage also ignore the fact that beliefs of all kinds do not merely unite, they also divide. Sociologists have found that divorce rates are higher among couples from very different backgrounds. But the division is especially marked in the case of Christianity, where exclusive devotion to Jesus is at the heart of the Christian faith.

Despite the changes brought by Westernisation, marriage in South Asia continues to be a family affair. The bride often goes to live in the groom’s house with his family. Even if they live independently, family ties are strong. It will seem like an act of defiance if one partner is unwilling to participate in family rituals or opposes the family’s beliefs.

No wonder Paul asked Corinthians not be “unequally yoked” with unbelievers (2 Cor 6:14). In such a relationship, there is great pressure to compromise one’s faith. This is the point God made when he told the Israelites not to intermarry with those whose land they were blessed to possess (Deut 7:3-4). He warned, “They will turn your children away from following me, to serve other gods”. Centuries later, Ezra led the Israelites to repent of the “abominations” that had infiltrated the people of God as a result of mixed marriages with their neighbours (Ezra 9:1-2, 10-15). Samson and Solomon are examples of the type of compromise that arises from inter-religious relationships.

Some may object, pointing to examples like Zipporah, Esther and Ruth to suggest that God can use a believer to transform an unbeliever through marriage. However, the Bible offers very little information about the Midianite Zipporah’s faith post-marriage. Moses’ marriage is not held up as an ideal for others. Esther was chosen to marry the king for a particular purpose in an entirely different context from ours. Can God use someone like Esther? Yes, but those are exceptions rather than the norm. Ruth, on the other hand, made a choice to follow God (Ruth 1:17). One may marry hoping that the unbelieving spouse will change after marriage, but the odds are long and the stakes are high.

Some not only condemn inter-religious marriage but also encourage strong action to prevent it. The relationships between communities in South Asia are more complex than the myth of everyone living together in tolerance. An environment of mistrust often clouds relationships between communities. There is competition to see which group can dominate by having the greatest number of followers. Inter-religious marriage has been used to gain adherents for a religion and to reduce the numbers adhering to a different religion.

Thus inter-religious marriage is often regarded as a threat to the community and is met with family boycotts, social boycotts, heavy monetary penalties and even honour killing.

Christians should not imitate those who resort to social or physical violence to prevent inter-religious marriages. In fact, we should condemn such behaviour.

The Bible views marriage as a covenant that requires love and commitment. Paul acknowledges its sacredness, even when one spouse is an unbeliever. Writing about the situation when someone who is already married comes to faith in Christ, he advises the believer to stay in the relationship with the unbelieving spouse unless the other partner wants to move out (1 Cor 7:13-16). But both love and commitment become difficult when there are differences in fundamental convictions. “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to do so?” (Amos 3:3).

Charles Christian

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INDIGENOUS MUSIC AND WORSHIP

As South Asians, we are proud of our national cultures and indigenous music and would like to use these to enable believers to worship in their “heart culture”. Doing this requires a healthy understanding of both biblical worship and local culture.

First of all, what is biblical worship? Worship is the act of paying honour to a deity. In the OT, the word translated as “worship” literally means prostrating oneself, falling on one’s knees and touching the ground with one’s forehead. This used to be the way one showed respect for a human ruler. Today, “worship” refers to the reverential attitude of mind and body with which people should approach God. It symbolises religious adoration, obedience and service.

In the NT, the word translated as “worship” literally means kissing someone’s hand or the ground, and thus also implies prostrating oneself before a superior. It represents an acknowledgment of the greatness of God and of our own inadequacy, leading us to fall before him and acknowledge him as Lord.

Different churches have developed different styles of worship, but the heart of worship must remain our acknowledging God as Lord and giving him glory and honour. Everything else about our worship is based on human culture and personal preferences.

We sometimes fall short of this biblical understanding of worship when our worship becomes more entertainment-oriented than Godoriented.

We attend church in order to “get something out of the service”, rather than to worship God and serve others who attend (Heb 10:25). We become observers rather than participants in the worship and do not “offer the sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of lips that openly profess his name” (Heb 13:15). This form of passive, self-centred, entertainment worship is not only wrong biblically, but is also at odds with South Asian culture. Worship in Asian religions is active and God-centred with the worshippers engaging in symbolic acts that demonstrate their piety.

Though some early Western missionaries tried to work with the available forms of worship in the local culture, many others, fearing syncretism, dismissed local culture as evil. This led them to steer Christians away from their local culture and from indigenous forms of worship. Converts were taught to worship in forms that were familiar to the West but alien to Asian culture. The influence of this type of teaching continues in South Asian churches today. But we cannot blame just the missionaries for our alienation from indigenous culture.

The scientific and technological advances of the West also impressed South Asians. In the early nineteenth century many uncritically embraced the culture of the colonisers without reflecting on its suitability for local worship.

Whatever the reasons for adopting Western forms of worship and music in the past, there has recently been a move to integrate indigenous music and worship styles in Christian worship. There is increasing use of bhajans and kirtans and of instruments such as the harmonium and tabla. Katha Kalatchepam (a traditional blend of songs, drama and storytelling) is being used to expound biblical stories.

It is worthwhile to mentioned the Northeast India indigenous music and worship, especially the Mizos. Indigenous Mizo music and worship are closely linked to their indigenous background. Having developed from oral traditions rooted in nature into a distinctive, colourful manifestation of Christian faith. In order to exalt God, this complex cultural synthesis mainly depends on community involvement, vocal harmonies, and traditional instruments.

In mission schools, congregational singing, tonic-sol-fa training, and translated evangelical hymns were the first forms of music. These eventually adopted native rhythms, fusing local poetic meters with Western hymnody.

Inkhawm Zai is one important aspect of indigenous worship. It is a robust, un-choreographed congregational singing practiced during regular church services

A quintessential Mizo communal singing tradition. It mainly takes place during events like Christmas or wakes, where villagers sit together for hours singing dedicated devotional songs called Lengkhawm Zai.

The Khuang (Drum) (khuong in Hmar) is a major traditional Mizo instrument popularized in modern church services. A famous Mizo proverb, Khuang lova chai ang ("a festival without a drum"), signifies that life and worship are incomplete without rhythm.

All these signify and edify the traditional and indigenous forms of worship. Using an indigenous musical instrument magnify and glorify the Living God in their own cultural context.

Churches and worship leaders are being called to develop cultural and biblical sensitivity and to be willing to contextualise worship, understand the cultural context of the church in their community and be aware of the heart language of the people. They need to be bold in their use of cultural forms that have not been used in the church before. They also need to have a deep understanding of the local culture of the church in each region and of its indigenous styles of music, traditions and history if they are to avoid syncretism and ensure that the people can truly express their worship and adoration of God in their heart culture, When we worship in this way, our worship will be acceptable to God while also being more contextually relevant, meaningful and spiritually uplifting.

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IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY

What do we mean when we talk about our “identity”, whether as individuals or as groups? Identity is a complex matter, for it involves our image of who we are in our own eyes and the eyes of others and the image we would like to project to the world. It is the basis on which we interact with those around us and on which they interact with us. This is as true for Christians in South Asia as it is for all others. We all have to deal with the question of who we are and how others see us.

Although our identity is intensely personal, it is not something we forge on our own. The world around us shapes how we view ourselves and how we engage with it. Thus our identity is affected by the geographic circumstances of our lives – that is, by the very fact that we live in South Asia. It is also affected by our social, economic and religious circumstances, such as the fact that in South Asia we live in a multi-religious context. History also plays a role in shaping our identity.

The historical reality is that most of the first missionaries to South Asia came from the West and brought Western forms of Christianity with them. This creates tension for South Asian Christians. How can we be both South Asian and Christian, without being considered Western? The result is that we are caught up in a constant struggle to develop a strong identity of our own while under pressure from external forces such as Western Christianity and other South Asian religions.

This issue is not a new one. In the past, South Asian converts to Christianity changed their names and adopted biblical or “Christian” names in order to proclaim their Christian identity; today many South Asian Christians opt for more indigenous names to assert their South Asian identity. Early converts withdrew from all cultural festivals and celebrated only Christmas and Easter; today Christians also join in the celebration of local cultural festivals, like harvest festivals, that have no religious connotations.

Our religious beliefs play a key role in defining our identity. They shape who we are and how others perceive us. But this should not happen only on a superficial level. At the core of our identity we should be formed by our relationship with God and our focus on our relationships with the world.

Our Christian identity is rooted in our theology – and we need to grasp that theology is not just about ideas and rituals. Our theology affects the way we see ourselves and the way we relate to others. For example, a key element in our theological identity is the fact that we have been called to be the people of God. But God does not want his people to be a closed-off community. We are to be active in the world.

Abraham was called to be a blessing to the nations (Gen 12:3). The same call was repeated to the Israelites, who were told that God wanted them to be “a light for the Gentiles” (Isa 42:6; 49:6). Paul stresses the abiding relevance of that calling to the church when he underlines that as children of Abraham by faith we are also called to be a blessing to the nations (Gal 3:14). Combine this with Jesus’ teaching that we are to be salt and light in our communities (Matt 5:13-16), and it becomes clear that our identity includes being involved in the communities in which we live. We should both contribute to them and critique them. Our faith as Christians should lead us to challenge unjust elements of our local communities, whether these take the form of unjust systems of labour or discrimination based on caste or ethnicity.

As Christians, we are to build our identity around beliefs derived from Scripture. But what does this mean in practice in South Asia? It means that our identity and vision are set by Christ our Lord, but we have to express that vision in ways that are intelligible to those around us. We are called to work out our salvation in the world in which we live (Phil 2:12). Ours is a dynamic engagement with identity as we seek to steer between questionable Western forms of Christianity and the dangers of syncretism with South Asian religions.

As we seek to express our Christian identity while also affirming that we are rooted in our local contexts and in our South Asian church traditions and spirituality, we cannot simply shrug off our common heritage, whether positive or negative. We live with it and must use its resources. One way of doing this is to use our cultural musical resources to make our worship more South Asian, rather than relying exclusively on Western hymns and worship songs. Other details of how we will do this will vary depending on the unique community in which we live.

We have received elements of our Christian identity from our history. By the same token, we need to remember that the Christian identity we construct today will become the heritage we bequeath to the generations that follow. The entire Christian community is thus responsible for a mature stewardship of our identity. The responsibility to drink from our own wells is vital, for the identity we create needs to be integrally South Asian and definitely Christian.

South Asian, because it will express our unique particularity, our rootedness in a particular time and place; Christian, because it will articulate the claim to universality, that is ours by virtue of the God we worship: the God of the nations, the God of the universe.

Paul Joshua Bhakiaraj

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HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Human trafficking is one of the largest criminal industries in the world today, being exceeded only by trafficking in drugs and weapons. The UN estimates that nearly two million women and children are trafficked globally every year, and millions more are trafficked within their home countries.

Factors like poverty, discrimination, ignorance, illiteracy and migration increase a person’s vulnerability to trafficking. Trafficking may involve family members selling a vulnerable member of the family, often because this is demanded in order to settle a debt. Young people may be lured with promises of jobs or an education or may simply be abducted.

Those who fall into the hands of traffickers may be sold and resold in a network of exploitation. Some may be forced into bonded labour working on farms, in factories or in homes. Others may be forced to become child soldiers. Women and girls may be forced into the sex trade. The Indian government estimates that every day about two hundred girls and women are forced into prostitution against their will. This problem is severe in India, but it is not just an Indian problem. No country in South Asia is free from this affliction.

Traffickers use physical and emotional violence to control their victims. Women may be beaten, raped, and told that they are now social outcasts, making them dependent on their abusers. Others may be locked in factories that are also jails. All suffer health risks, whether from sexually transmitted diseases, dangerous working conditions or inadequate food. Deprivation and misery leave them vulnerable to disease. In an attempt to forget their misery and humiliation, they may turn to drugs and alcohol. They find it difficult to trust others and they live in fear.

Those who escape are left with shattered self-esteem and deep emotional scars. They still fear others and fear rejection. They find it very difficult to accept unconditional love, the fatherhood of God, and forgiveness.

The Bible includes instances of slavery and trafficking. Joseph was sold as a slave to Ishmaelites (Gen 37:28). Naaman’s servant girl was trafficked and worked as domestic help (2 Kgs 5:2). Daniel and his friends were also trafficked (Dan 1:3-6). In each case, the context and purpose for the trafficking were different. The prevalence of slavery and such trafficking in biblical times necessitated laws that God’s people should follow. The OT law commanded God’s people to protect the widow and the fatherless – that is, the people who are vulnerable (Exod 22:21-23). When Christ came, he said that he had been sent to free the captives (Luke 4:18). We are called to follow in his steps. We should be salt and light and should work to release the oppressed by delivering them from physical captivity, breaking their shackles of shame, and welcoming them with love. Our calling is to offer them physical, emotional and spiritual freedom. We must reach out to them with the news that God can bless them with a new identity, a future of hope and eternal life.

Mathew K. Daniel

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HUMAN SEXUALITY

India is a land of contradictions. These reach their zenith when it comes to the issue of human sexuality. The land of the Kama Sutra and of temples with friezes showing naked women and different sexual poses is also the place where any discussion of sex is culturally taboo. It is a place where virginity is prized but there is rampant rape and sexual abuse.

And India is not alone in this. Throughout South Asia it is difficult even to talk about human sexuality because the topic is bound up with many cultural, sociological and religious issues.

Young people today are torn between the ancient ideal of an ascetic life in which human sexuality is at best a necessary evil and the brazen display of human sexuality and images of erotic licentiousness. Christians need to grasp the biblical understanding of human sexuality if they are to remain strong in their convictions.

The Genesis account of human creation is key to our understanding of human sexuality. That account makes it clear that sexuality is and always has been part of our personhood. God specifically created humans as “male and female” (Gen. 1:26). When he proclaimed that what he had created was good, he was saying that their sexuality was good too – whether we use that word in relation to their gender differences or to sexual activity. The reference to their becoming “one flesh” (Gen 2:24) points to God’s intended design for authentic sexual union as a place for love, intimacy, union and procreation, within the context of marriage.

The idea that sex is good stands in contrast to those ascetic ideals that distinguish between body and spirit and regard sexuality as belonging to the earthly and lower realm of the body alone. This point is important because in South Asia asceticism has often been held up as an ideal. Humiliation of the body and deprivation of sexual pleasures are praised. Many in India consider suppression of sexuality (because it is carnal) as essential for anyone committed to a spiritual pursuit. The church has taken a similar stance, spiritualising or allegorising the Song of Songs to strip it of its erotic overtones. In so doing it indicates an underlying belief that sexuality is evil.

By contrast the Bible holds sex in high esteem, provided it takes place within the prescribed moral boundaries of marriage. The Song of Songs, which could be considered to belong to the genre of “adult literature”, is part of the biblical canon. The writer of the book of Proverbs tells a young man to rejoice in the wife of his youth and find pleasure in her (Prov 5:18-19). While the Apostle Paul conceded in the course of argument that “It is good for a man not to marry” (1 Cor 7:1 (1984), in another context he puts those who “forbid people to marry” in the same category as “hypocritical liars” (1 Tim 4:1-5). He commands couples not to deprive each other but to meet each other’s sexual needs (1 Cor 7:5).

These days, however, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction and asceticism is dismissed as “old-fashioned”. The entertainment industry encourages us to make pleasure the yardstick for determining what is good. Traditional understandings of morality are replaced with the hedonistic slogan: “if it’s pleasurable, it’s permissible.” Accordingly pleasure has come to be the chief aim of human sexuality.

The same Bible that places sex on a pedestal is also teeming with teaching against adultery and unrestrained cravings for pleasure. The stories of Samson and Solomon illustrate the consequences of unchecked lust. The Bible clearly censors ways of pleasure-seeking – bestiality (Exod 22:19; Lev 18:23), homosexuality (Lev 20:13), incest (Deut 27:20-23) and adultery in general (Exod. 20:14) – that go against the divinely stipulated design of heterosexual marriage.

Since sexuality is part of who we are by virtue of our creation as sexual beings, how we are treated sexually affects our personhood.

This understanding makes it impossible for us to accept the distorted view of sex, presented in pornographic materials that glorify sadistic tendencies and self-gratification at the cost of denigration of the other person.

Combining the idea that pleasure is all that matters with a patriarchal culture gives birth to the idea that women were created solely for men’s pleasure, to meet men’s needs. The result is that women are seen as objects, passive elements in sex. Some have even gone further and demonised women by blaming Eve for Adam’s fall.

This view is supported by many South Asian proverbs and stories that degrade women’s sexuality. Such lopsided views about the relationship between men and women are grossly mistaken and do not fit with the bigger picture in the Bible, which portrays men and women as equal in worth and complementary in their roles (Gen 1 27; 2:18-25). To despise women and ignore their sexuality tarnishes our relationship not only with God but also with other human beings.

South Asian countries also have a grim record in their treatment of the group known as hijras. These people identify with the eunuchs of the Bible, rather than with the Western categories of transsexual or transgendered. Many of them were born without sexual organs or with deformed sexual organs, and others were castrated at a young age.

They describe themselves as a third gender – “neither male nor female”. Though the law of Moses may seem to discriminate against eunuchs (Deut 23:1-2), God later assures them that if they, like anyone else, “choose the things that please” God, they will receive “an everlasting name” (Isa 56:4-5). An Ethiopian eunuch is remembered for his sincere faith (Acts 8:27-29). While not being lenient of those who experiment with their sexuality for personal indulgence (Deut 23:1-2), the God of the Bible opens his arms for those who have been born eunuchs or made eunuchs by others (Matt 19:12).

The Bible puts the issue of human sexuality in perspective. It recognises that sex can both enrich and enslave, and that wisdom and discipline are needed to direct one’s sexuality properly. A joyous sexuality that is restrained by the divinely appointed boundaries is needed to create a society that glorifies God and encourages harmony with God and his people.

Charles Christian

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HOLY WAR

The world of the OT is replete with intertribal skirmishes, full-fledged incursions, prolonged periods of war, raiding and besieging. When we first encounter examples of this type of violence in the patriarchal narratives, God is presented merely as a family deity who cares for, provides for and protects the patriarchs to whom he promises land.

There is no question of their resorting to war to obtain what he has promised.

At the time of the exodus from Egypt, God appears as a national deity, a deliverer and “warrior” (Exod 15:3). In the book of Joshua, he appears as the “commander of the army of the LORD” (Josh 5:14), which leads naturally into the repeated description of him as “the LORD of hosts” (NRSV – see, for example, 1 Sam 4:4, where the less literal NIV translation reads “the LORD Almighty”). The word translated “hosts” can refer to any combination of forces, from the inhabitants of heaven (1 Kgs 22:19), to celestial bodies (Deut 4:19), to all kinds of natural forces including wind and water (Exod 14:21; Josh 10:9-11).

Consequently, it can be said that the Lord “fights” using various agents to fulfil his purposes. The first time the Israelites themselves become his instruments of war is in the battle against the Amalekites recorded in Exodus 17:8-16. By the time of David, the Lord was hailed as his peoples’ refuge in times of trouble, a deliverer, a stronghold and the one who trains people for war (2 Sam 22).

Given that there was no separation of politics and religion in ancient West Asia, wars there were always waged under the patronage of the national deity. Thus Israel’s wars are spoken of as Yahweh’s wars (1 Sam 18:17; 25:28), and going to war involved religious rituals that included sacrifices, consecration of the soldiers through purification ceremonies, vows, and inquiries of oracles to find Yahweh’s expressed command for war (Josh 6:2; 8:1-2). The strength of the physical army and its sophistication in weaponry were considered insignificant. The soldiers were to trust in Yahweh alone and not fear their enemies. He was the one who granted victory (Deut 2:31-33).

Victory was equated with divine blessings earned through obedience, and defeat with divine judgement because of disobedience (Num 21:3; Deut 2:33-34; Josh 10:30). Unfaithfulness to the Lord resulted in foreign nations dominating Israel; repentance was rewarded with the raising up of human agents who delivered the nation.

A component of many ancient West Asian wars was the devoting of an entire city to the deity by totally annihilating it, burning it and destroying everything associated with the enemy including their women, children, animals and possessions. This type of action received divine sanction in Deuteronomy 20:10-18 and 1 Samuel 15:3.

The extent to which Israelite practice was similar to that of their neighbours is clear from a Moabite victory stele erected by King Mesha of Moab in the ninth century BC. On it he reports that he followed the directions of his god, Chemosh, when he attacked the city of Nebo and slaughtered all its inhabitants as an offering to Chemosh. In many respects, his account parallels the way the Israelites were instructed to treat the inhabitants of the promised land when they entered it after the exodus from Egypt.

However, there are also significant differences that must be noted. Whereas the Moabites regarded the slaughter of their opponents as an offering to their god, the God of the Israelites neither desires nor accepts human sacrifice. Nor was he motivated by hatred for other people groups. Rather, the slaughter he commanded was a divine judgement on wicked people (Lev 18:24-30; Deut 9:5). His goal was to replace unjust kingdoms with his just kingdom (Josh 3:9-13; 8:30- 35). Moreover, he warned that if the Israelites turned their backs on him and resorted to idolatry, they would suffer the same fate (Deut 13:12-18). Significantly, those among the Canaanites who turned to the Lord were spared, as in the case of Rahab and her family (Josh 6).

Achan, a fellow Israelite, was executed for unfaithfulness (Josh 7). This type of holy war, which was standard military practice of the day, became God’s instrument for judgement at the time of the conquest and settlement of Canaan. As the centuries passed, the practice faded out in ancient West Asia. Accordingly, it is seen with decreasing frequency in the period of the monarchy.

Religious warfare has been resurrected today in the form of jihad, a type of religion-sanctioned war waged primarily to wipe out infidels. Jihad seems to closely resemble the biblical practice of holy war. Both claim to be sanctioned by God, and the participation of the soldiers is presented as a sacred duty. But there are striking differences. The scope of the wars described in the book of Joshua was strictly limited. The Israelites were allowed to conquer only specific areas and were to leave the boundaries of other nations intact (Deut 2). Jihad, however, aims to conquer the whole world.

Moreover, the wars described in the Bible were never used to propagate faith, whereas jihad seeks to establish Islamic hegemony. Unlike jihad, biblical holy war was a practice in keeping with ancient times. As such, holy war has no sanction today, and Christian nations have no mandate to practise it.

Prince Kumar

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HIV AND AIDS

When someone becomes infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus multiplies within the body and gradually destroys the systems that defend the body against illness. The person initially looks healthy, but eventually the virus overwhelms the body’s defences and causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which often leads to early death. HIV infection cannot be cured; all that doctors can do is slow the progress of the disease.

HIV is transmitted through contact with the body fluids of an infected person. Thus it can be transmitted by having unprotected sex (that is, sex without using a condom) with an infected person, by reusing needles used to inject an infected person, and even through the breast milk of an infected mother. Despite the perception that HIV is associated with sexual activity between members of the same sex, the truth is that in Asia the main means of infection are sex between men and women and injections with infected needles.

South Asian societies and South Asian Christians have been quick to judge all those infected with HIV as immoral. Their families have often been stigmatised too. This attitude has resulted in our not doing enough to improve social conditions like poverty and illiteracy that increase people’s vulnerability to HIV infection. We have also failed to recognise that the low status of women across South Asia makes it difficult for them to protect themselves against HIV infection. Even though a husband is being unfaithful, a wife cannot insist that he use a condom when he beds with her. Thus even faithful wives are being infected. Moreover, many poor and illiterate women are forced into sex work as a means of survival and are at high risk of infection.

The emergence of HIV and AIDS has challenged the church to think through its beliefs about gender, sexuality and the salvation Christ offers. Our response must be based on biblical teaching rather than on society’s expectations and prejudices.

We know that all sex outside of marriage is wrong, whether heterosexual (Matt 5:28, 1 Cor 7:2, Heb 13:4) or homosexual (Gen 19, Rom 1:26-27; 1 Cor 6:9-10; 1 Tim 1:9-11). We can teach this and discourage people from accessing material that devalues sex and responsible sexual behaviour. This has been identified as a significan factor leading to increased sexual interaction among unmarried youth in South Asia.

But while upholding the Bible’s teaching about sex, we must also demonstrate Christ’s grace to those who have disobeyed this teaching.

We must lovingly minister to all who are infected with HIV even if sinful behaviour contributed to their infection. Since salvation is not only about people’s souls but also about their lives, we must also work to change the social conditions that force people into sinful lifestyles. This will include teaching women that they have the same status as men before God (even if we have traditionally assigned women roles that have given them lower status). A woman need not blindly obey her husband if obedience will result in her being infected with a fatal disease.

Sundar Daniel

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HEBREW POETRY

The Bible opens and closes with poetry. Poetic refrains are embedded in the creation narrative in Genesis 1 while hymns interrupt Revelation’s bewildering sequences of catastrophes. Poetry dominates the OT. It seamlessly inserts itself into narrative prose. It comforts, cautions and pronounces judgement in the prophetic books. It is the vehicle of expression in books like Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

The poetry of Psalms provides a hymn book, and the Song of Songs provides a collection of verse. Throughout the OT both human and divine voices speak in verse that plumbs the depths of emotion and probes the far frontiers of reasoning.

South Asia too is steeped in poetry. Both Pakistan and India have made movies immortalizing the ghazals of the Sufi mystic Mirza Ghalib. Rabindranath Tagore’s poems are sung on either side of the Indo-Bangladesh border – indeed, he wrote the national anthems of both countries. From the Aryan Upanishads to the Dravidian Thirukkural, from bhakti hymns to Bollywood sing-alongs, poetry has long been our medium of expression in South Asia. South Asian readers can thus readily appreciate biblical poetry.

Our appreciation will grow still more if we gain understanding of some of the forms used in Hebrew poetry. For example, it is important to recognise that Hebrew verse makes much use of parallelism. We see this clearly in Psalm 19:1

Line 1: The heavens declare the glory of God;

Line 2: the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Recognising this parallelism helps us to avoid the trap of putting too much weight on the difference between words that are actually meant to be read as synonyms. On other occasions, the two parallel lines present a contrast: “Gossips betray a confidence / but the trustworthy keep a secret” (Prov 11:13).

Like all poetry, Hebrew poetry is a form of condensed expression. Thus it makes much use of allusions. When it says, “The sea looked and fled / the Jordan turned back” (Ps 114:3), we are expected to remember the events of the exodus and the entry into the promised land. It also makes extensive use of imagery or word pictures embedded in similes such as “A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof” (Prov 27:15) and metaphors such as “The name of the LORD is a fortified tower” (Prov 18:10). Sometimes the metaphors are developed at some length, as in the shepherd-sheep imagery of Psalm 23. Because of the allusive nature of such imagery, it has an impact that a straightforward assertion would not have. “The LORD is my shepherd” expresses far more than “The LORD looks after me”.

The ancient reader would have associated God’s shepherding with the care of a king, for at that time kings were often described as shepherds of their people.

Rhyme is rare in Hebrew poetry, but Hebrew poetry makes much use of alliteration (the repetition of consonants) and assonance (the repetition of vowels). These literary devices catch the ear, lodge in the memory, provide an aesthetic element and, sometimes, amplify the meaning. Unfortunately, these elements seldom survive translation into another language.

Some Hebrew poetry is written in the form of an alphabetic acrostic in which the first letters of each unit are in the same order as the Hebrew alphabet. Psalm 119, for example, owes its unusual length to the fact that each verse in each eight-verse stanza begins with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The first stanza begins with aleph, the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, the next with beth, and so on until all 22 letters of the alphabet are represented.

The use of this acrostic structure displays the skill of the poet and also suggests that the subject has received comprehensive treatment.

Thus the acrostic in Proverbs 31 represents the fullest, most complete compliment to a wife. It says everything there is to be said, from “A to Z”, as we would say. Since the alphabet is at the heart of a people’s language, alphabetic acrostics are also well suited to expressions of group identity, whether in the corporate celebration of Israel’s sacred texts (Ps 119) or in the outpouring of communal grief at the fall of the national capital (Lamentations).

When it comes to the book of Psalms, nearly a third of the psalms can be classified as individual laments, calling on God to address an unjust accusation (Ps 140) or grant healing from an illness (Ps 38).

Others are communal laments, referring to national crises and calling on God for deliverance (Ps 74). These laments are counterbalanced by psalms that give thanks for God’s blessings of health and victory over enemies (Ps 30 and 52).

Other psalms take the form of hymns of praise, such as the songs of Zion that celebrate Jerusalem (Ps 87), the enthronement songs that exalt the Lord as king (Ps 97) and poems to the Creator (Ps 10). Royal psalms were composed for the king (Pss 2, 45) and Torah psalms commemorate the value of the word of God (Pss 1, 119).

Hebrew poetry was used on many occasions. The poems of the Song of Songs were used the way songs from movies are today.

Lamentations was recited in national mourning on the anniversary of the day Jerusalem fell. The Songs of Ascent (Pss 120–134) may have been sung by pilgrims making their way up Mount Zion to the temple.

The psalms also formed part of the worship liturgy. For example, Psalm 92 is labelled as being for singing on “the Sabbath day”. Poetry was sometimes recited responsively by the worship leader and the congregation (Ps 136) and was also sung, as indicated by the many directives for musical accompaniment in the psalms. The instruments and melodies have long fallen silent, but OT poetry remains a lively part of our personal and corporate conversations with God.

Havilah Dharamraj

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