IF IT IS NOT IN THE BIBLE I REFUSE TO BELIEVE: the error of being a catholic

Most Catholic today are happy and proud to profess their faith without having a basic scriptural understanding of what the church believes and teaches and as a result when challenge by other Christians they will abandon the church and when confronted they will claim that most of what catholic churches believes and teaches are not scripture-based and once engage in discussions regarding Catholic faith or doctrine they usually ask, “Where is it in the Bible?” or “Is it in the Bible?” If, as a Catholic you cannot point out which part of the Bible these are found, their comments will also be if it is not in the bible I don’t want to believe it or hear it, whatever you say is totally heretical or its only human doctrines. Blinded by ignorance and biases, those Christians or run away Catholics who believe that everything must be in the bible fail to recognise that not everything was written in the bible; St. John say that

“There was much else that Jesus did: if it were written down in detail. I do not suppose the world itself would hold all the books that would be written (John 20:25)[1]”, Again He further state categorically “there were many other signs that Jesus worked in the sight of his disciples, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name(John20:30-31)[2].

This shows how much of the actions and Teachings of Jesus that were left undocumented in the Scripture, The unwritten ones were being enacted by the Apostle and their converts. They kept them and taught them to others as part of their tradition[3]. These show how important traditions are St. Paul exhorts Thessalonians “Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you whether by words of mouth or by letter(2 Thess 2:15)[4]”. Does it mean that those actions and teachings that are unwritten were not important?  It is not in vain that the scripture says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge (Hos 4:6)[5]”. This problem is hardly surprising, for even in the early years of Christianity the Apostle Paul predicted it when he said: The time is sure to come when people will not accept sound teaching, but their ears will be itching for anything new and they will collect themselves a whole series of teachers according to their own taste, and they will shut their ear to the truth and will turn to myths(2 Tim, 4:3-4)[6].

THE NECESSITY OF STUDYING BIBLE AS CATHOLICS

The Bible is the most read book, but also the most misunderstood and abused book in the world because we can easily find a handy verse to justify our vices or weaknesses and make the Holy Bible say what we want. People often do this by taking just one sentence out of context and distorting its meaning[7]. As Catholic for you to stand firm there is urgent need for you to be conversant with the scripture so that you can defend your faith when the need arise and doing this is an obedience to God as he commanded in the book of Joshua

 “this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall study, meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous and then, you shall have good success(Josh 1:8)[8]

Towering this path and given heed to this teaching St. Paul charged timothy “study to make yourself worthy of God’s approval, a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, following a straight course in correctly teaching the message of God’s truth(2 Tim 2:15)[9]”. It is a necessity for a Catholic faithful to be people of scripture studying God’s word with the view to understanding the doctrine and traditions of the church and to defend their faith and believe.  Sacred tradition in this article refers to all the teachings and practices of Jesus and his Apostles, which are not explicitly described in the scripture, and other articles of faith that continue to unfold under the breath of the Holy Spirit, which the Church preserves, practices and passes on to succeeding generations(Dei Verbum.no7)[10].

SOURCES OF CATHOLIC DOCTRINE AND TEACHINGS

The sources of Catholic Church believes and teachings are the sacred traditions and the Holy Scripture thus “Sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the word of God, which is entrusted to the Church(Dei Verbum.no10)[11] “. The two complement each other because they all “flow out from the same divine well-spring ... and move toward the same goal” — that is, making “present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ” As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, “does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the Holy Scripture alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence (CCC, no. 82)[12]”. The sacred traditions comes into mine because the Apostles did not write down everything about their faith and what they saw Jesus did the reasons are as follows, In the first place, while the Apostles were still very strong and active, they did not see the need of writing because they could go about to teach and supervise their new converts in person. Secondly, not all the Apostles were educated (Acts 4:13)[13], but they too had to teach others about Christ. Examples of relying on sacred tradition are abounding in the scripture itself for example Paul praised the Christians of Corinth for adhering to the traditions he taught them. He said: “I congratulate you for remembering me so consistently and for the traditions’ exactly as I passed them to you (1cor 11:2)[14]”. This is about oral tradition. Paul neither wrote a Bible nor did he write down everything he taught the people. John the Apostle did the same with the group he looked after. He thought it wise not to write everything down for his community, but would normally prefer to visit and teach them in person (2 John 12)[15]. And further states that there are several things I have to tell you, but I have thought it best not to trust them to paper and ink. I hope to visit you instead, and talk to you in person (3 John 13- 14)[16]. Catholic hold unto both scripture and traditions because they follow the instruction of the bible, as St. Paul says  Pass on to reliable people what you have heard from me through many witnesses, so that they in turn will be able to teach others(2 Tim 2:2)[17]. And further says: Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by words of mouth or by letter (2 Thess. 2:15  )[18]. And in Philippians St. Paul instructs us to keep doing everything you learnt from me as you were told and have heard or seen me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you (Phil 4:9)[19]. Then why are people fond of saying if it is not in the bible they will not believe it? I’m not saying you should believe anything but there are some traditions that are right. Please don’t forget that Jesus never wrote any bible for his followers, but only taught them and send them out to teach others. What we see in the scripture is what they remembered of that teaching through the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and their collective experiences many years after Christ had left them. The canon of the Bible is closed, and no new things can be added to it, but Christ’s promise that the Holy Spirit will lead the Church to complete truth

“I still have many things to tell you, but they would be too much for you to bear now. However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to complete truth, since He will not be speaking of his own accord, but will say only what He has been told; and he will reveal to you the things to come (John 16:12-13  )[20]”.

The above portion of the bible indicates that there are bound to be innovations in the Church, which are not described in the Bible. These will continue to form part of the tradition of the Church. This is why you can’t discard tradition in the Church teachings

 CONFUSION AMONG CHRISTIANS

We have to remove the log in our eyes first in order to be able to see the speck in other people’s eyes. The log in this case stands for ignorance, many people have very little or no understanding of the faith, which they profess and this has lead to confusion, today Christians hardly see other Christian as a believer simple because they have different doctrine, in fact most Christian denomination hardly recognise catholic worshippers as Christians, they only see them as sinners, those on their express way to hell fire. My questions is, is it, also recommended in the bible for the founders of churches to place their pictures and their wife’s in a billboard advertising their church?, let them also follow bible ad verbatum, why are they confused, the mode of their worships is it also specified in the bible? How can we explain the multiple churches we have today, is it also in the bible? When Jesus even pray for unity among us and yet we are not united, what unite us today is the fear of Boko Haram not even Jesus because most Christians don’t even believe that a fellow Christian is a believer once he is not member of his/her church

CONCLUSION

The only way we can save ourselves from confusion is to search scripture prayerfully in order to grow in the knowledge of God and his church and Holy Spirit our helper is always there to guide us treasure the wisdom that has guided the church of Jesus Christ from it foundation unto this day

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[1] John 21:25

[2] John 20:30-31 

[3]  Agbo J Boniface, Your Questions on Catholic Faith a Simplified Response, Snap Press LTD Enugu. 2003

[4] 2 Thess 2:15 

[5] Hos.4.6

[6] 2 Tim, 4:3-4

[7] Wolfgang Schonedke, Are Catholics Saved? Africa: Paulines. 2002

[8] Josh 1:8

[9] 2 Tim 2:15

[10] Dei Verbum.no7

[11] Dei Verbum, no.10

[12] Catechism of the Catholic church, no. 82

[13] Acts 4:13

[14] 1cor 11:2

[15] 2 John 12

[16] 3 John 13- 14

[17] 2 Tim 2:2

[18] 2 Thess. 2:15 

[19] Phil 4:9

[20] John 16:12-13 

CATHOLIC CONFESSION: is it about past or future?

Of all the seven sacraments in the catholic doctrine, it is confession which people have the biggest problems with. The sacrament of reconciliation or confession is explained in the Catholic catechism in a way that you as parents or children can understand. However, one frequently-asked question by non Catholics, sometimes even the Catholics remains: Why do Catholics confess to a priest?  Paradoxically I have also witnessed vividly in Protestant revival meetings, Penitents rush to the front of a church or auditorium, sometimes making public confession of their sins, longing for a word of absolution from minister or evangelist, for a visible sign of their faith and redemption, but confession in Catholic Church is questioned. It is certain we are not spirits floating in a void in direct relationship with God. We are flesh and blood, bodies in world and as such we are imperfect and prone to make mistakes, sometimes soiled our relationship with God, in fact bible teaches “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and the wages of sin is death (Romance 3:23, 6:23), This means everyone need salvation. To amend our relationship with God, sometime is mediated to us through others - pastors, teachers, parents, spouses, friends or ourselves, etc. We need that human element; the audible word of affirmation, the visible sign, and the question is no longer why confessed to a priest but catholic confession: is it about past, or future?

CREATED HOLY, BORN SINNERS:

Contrary to the belief that we are all born holy, Scripture teaches that we do not become sinners, but that we are born sinners. David, whom God described as a “man after my own heart” (Act 13:22) said “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). This always proof one fact that we are imperfect striving towards perfection. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, a person is cleansed of original sin and receives the grace of a new birth in God the Father, through His Son, in the Holy Spirit (CCC no. 683). Through this regeneration in water and the Spirit, a person becomes a Christian, born again as a son or daughter of God (Jn. 3:3-6; Rom. 8:14-17).

After becoming a child of God, one may freely damage or break off his relationship with God through sin. Venial sin damages our relationship with God while mortal sin actually severs the relationship through the loss of God’s supernatural life of grace within us (CCC nos. 1854-64). When a person chooses to kill that life of grace through mortal sin, God, who is full of mercy, seeks to reconcile His prodigal son or daughter to Himself (Lk. 15:11-32). God alone can forgive sins (CCC, no. 1441), yet God the son empowered the Apostles and their successors (bishops and priests) to carry out His ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-21). St. John writes: [Jesus said,] As the Father has sent Me [with all authority, Mt. 28:18], even so I send you. And with this, He breathed on them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained (Jn. 20:21-23; Lk. 10:16; Mt. 16:19, 28:18-20).

The Church’s power to bind and loose (Mt.16:19, 18:18) provides further scriptural evidence for this sacrament. As the Church has taught for years, that priest exercises this ministry in persona Christi (that is, in the person of Christ). This means that in confessing one’s sins to a priest, one truly confesses one’s sins to Christ Himself and receives pardon from God. Because the priest acts in persona Christi, he is the spiritual head or father of the community (1 Cor. 4:14-15). Thus, Confession reconciles us with Christ and His Body, the Church, whom we have wounded by sin.  Again At the ascension, Jesus again charged His Apostles with this ministry: "Thus it is written that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. In His name penance for the remission of sins is to be preached to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of this (Lk 24:46). Clearly, Jesus came to forgive sins, He wanted that reconciliation to continue and He gave the Church a sacrament through which priests would continue to act as the ministers of this reconciliation. Twice in Sacred Scripture do we find God breathing into human beings. We can recall that First, in the Genesis account of creation, God breathes the life of a soul into the man He has created. (Gen 2:7) Now, Jesus, the Son, breathes His life into His Apostles His priests, so that through them He will "breathe" life into the souls of contrite sinners (Jn 20:21-23). In this scene, Christ instituted the sacrament of penance and made His Apostles the ministers of it.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SACRAMENT

The Catholic Catechism (1447) states: “Over the centuries the concrete form in which the church has exercised this power received from the Lord, has varied considerably.”

In the history of this sacrament, one will not find reconciliation rooms for many centuries. In the early years of Christianity, the Church exercised her ministry of reconciliation in a variety of ways. Three such ways were:

Ø  Participation in the Eucharist removed sin. It is stated that “the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins” (CCC 1393).

Ø  Anointing of the Sick. Jas 5:13-15 states that the prayer of faith prayed during the anointing “will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.”

Ø  Works of charity. Scripture tells us that charity covers over a multitude of sins (Lk 7:47, 1Pet 4:8).

During the second to the fifth century, an Order of Penitents developed to help the Church deal with serious sins like murder, idolatry and adultery. Penitents had to perform rigorous penances to show that they had converted from their sinful ways. In the seventh century, Irish monks introduced to Europe the practice of private confession, which also introduced people to spiritual direction. This was the beginning of private or one-to-one confession that we know today. In 1974, the Vatican promulgated a new Rite of Penance for the Church. The new Rite has three forms.

Ø  Private, one-to-one confession with an option to confess face-to-face to a priest.

Ø  Communal penance service with individual confession. This form emphasizes the communal nature of sin and reconciliation. No matter how secret sin is, it is never private. It not only hurts our relationship with God but also diminishes our relationship with our Church family. When we are less than we can be, our community is diminished by our failure.

Ø  Communal penance service with General Absolution. This form, which is rarely used, occurs when there is a large number of people and an insufficient number of priests present to administer the sacrament.

EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENT

 Each sacrament has spiritual effects for the one receiving it. The spiritual effects of the sacrament of reconciliation are threefold:

Ø  Reconciliation with God and the Church

Ø  Restoration of peace to the soul

Ø  Reception of divine strength to fight the battle against temptations to sin (CCC 1496)

CONCLUSION:

Jesus entered this world to forgive sins. Jesus preached about the forgiveness of sins Jesus Himself forgave sins: remember the story of the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1) or the woman who washed His feet with her tears. (Lk 7:36) He also taught us to pray for forgiveness in the "Our Father:" "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." His mission of reconciliation would climax in His passion, death and resurrection: Jesus suffered, died and rose to free us from sin and death. Why so, because none of us can carry the load of our sins, we can’t change the past. No one can wipe the past clean but in Jesus we are relieved of these load, he carried the weight of all our sins on the cross. Therefore the movement of return to God, called confession and repentance, entails sorrow for and abhorrence of sins committed, and the firm purpose of sinning no more in the future. Confession touches the past and the future, and is nourished by hope in God’s mercy (CCC1490). Conversion is the way we begin to live the new life of Christ, by having our sins of the past forgiven and receiving the freedom to walk into the future. In his letter to the Irish church Pope Benedict XVI encouraged us to discover anew the sacrament of reconciliation and to avail ourselves more frequently of the transforming power of it grace.

This sacrament is so important in our sharing in the life of Christ; the Church has even mandated its practice. To prevent laxity, the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 required that "every faithful of either sex who has reached the age of discretion should at least once a year faithfully confess all his sins to his own priest. He should strive as far as possible to fulfill the penance imposed on him, and with reverence receive at least during Easter time the sacrament of the Eucharist." This rule is still a precept of the Church. The Council of Trent in 1551 in its Doctrine on the Sacrament of Penance asserted that since mortal sin "kills" the life of God in our souls, these sins must be confessed and absolved through the sacrament of penance, a principle repeated by Pope John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor. This wonderful sacrament is about your future not about your past. Go to confession and Walk in the freedom of your future and not to be enslaved by the sins of the past. Avail yourself for confession regularly.

    

ZINGKASEWEBA: Just a Name! 0r True Exposition of Mumuye Identity?

                                                                 INTRODUCTION

The power of name and its value has long been immortalized in prose, poetry and religious ceremony, every person recognizes himself or herself by name. The only thing that separate human beings from the animal kingdom is human mind, which has the ability to reason on a conscious level. To think consciously one must use language, it is impossible to think without language. Language itself is an instrument for expressing and not for concealing or preventing thought, each word expresses what it mean or intended to be and much about language are expressed in names; that is why names for newborns are commonly chosen from a selection of existing names belonging to the cultural and linguistic group of which the parents are part. In many instances, the choice is intended to perpetuate the memory of forebears or to honour members of the family or cultural heroes. Names were/are uniquely created to express parental sentiments at the time of birth. It may be gratitude to the God, as with the name of Samuel (I Sam. 1:20). It could be a prayer for the newborn's future, as with the name Joshua, or a re-affirmation of the parents' belief in God, as with the name Elitzur (Num. 1:5), or other emotions predominating at that moment. In some society such as Mumuye society names seem to represent a description of historical epochs and their development, At times, it also have predictive connotations for example SONKPANTIROVI and ZINGKASEWEBA. In most instances, however, it is left to the reader to explore what is implied in the name which has been created. Often a variety of interpretations are possible. It is true that name is what differentiate us and gives us identity no wonder Izu M. Onyeocha once said “it is the African who must define himself”[1]  therefore; it is the Mumuye person who must define his society and all it practices which names are inclusive in other to give the true picture of his society The lessons of History teach that ideas create conditions, trends dictate the way of life, Public opinion rules, evil institutions cannot prosper, unless a majority accept and follow corrupt views which are seen in phenomenon.  Today zingkaseweba has become the way of life for the Mumuye people.

DUALITY OF THOUGHT

There may be two class of thinker among Mumuye some view Zingkaseweba just as a name while other view it as the true identity of Mumuye person. Personal due to the happening in our society i have come to align myself to those that believe that Zangkaseweba is not just a name but true exposition of Mumuye Person and  if you disagree proof us wrong in writing my reasons are below

TROJAN HORSE OF ZINKASEWABA IDENTITY

The term Trojan horse comes from Greek mythology, It simple mean somebody or something that is meant to disrupt, undermine, subvert, or destroy an enemy or rival, especially somebody or something that operates while concealed within an organization. Because of mental laziness among Mumuye people, good numbers of Mumuye persons have recourse to this Trojan horse that is why ZINGKASEWEBA has become Mumuye identity even in matters that require rigorous scrutiny, analysis and appraisal. Paradoxically, an irrational event has gain popularity in Mumuye land. We have today rapid proliferation of social crisis in our society where brothers hardly see themselves as brothers because of social  differences. What are these Trojan horse? They are

RELIGION: with the condemnation of traditional religion Christianity and Islamic religion was presented as the alternative new religion. The Mumuye person was told to abandon his traditional religion that was Cosmocentric, localised within the circumference of private shrines for a new religion that is theocentric, that demands an act of faith in GOD, expressed through private and collective acts of worship and with a universal orientation. Everything about the traditional religion was condemned in favour of the new religions (Christianity and Islam). To mark the switch over from old religion to the new, converts were made to undergo a rite of passage through Baptism in Christianity and janabah (ritual bath) in Islam which indicates separation from old religious modes of living to a new life, in some villages the converts were transferred from their natural family to new religious family. This entails among other things, a total separation, not only from the old religious practice, but from their family and friends. Thus the imposition of a new religion led to disintegration of Mumuye cultural set up. Families were/are divided among themselves, and a notable conflict of division was/is inflected between Christians and Muslims

EDUCATION: beside religion schools (both western and Arabic) were built to impart knowledge, however, every package of education be it western or arabic in whichever way it was designed and parcelled, was not meant for good of the people, the school system was designed for the real intellectual formation of the people but was motivated by a morbid interest meant to exploit every bit of the human resources for the benefit of the educationist.. The school became rather a sinister process of indoctrination. Indeed, it represented a potent organ for the infusion of less realistic and unauthentic information about reality. People were overdosed with false opinions; false values were passed on as substitutes for real ones. The education did not equip people with a critical framework to differentiate between a fact and an opinion about other religious practises, or to distinguish between established principles and debatable one rather it help the convert to view other religion as unbeliever.

New LANGUAGE: every human society is remarkably distinguished by its unique mode of communication manifested in its possession of a particular linguistic system of interaction. Through education system English and Arabic language was imposed, the ability to communicate effectively through English or recite Quran or prayer in Arabic became more than any other symbol of formal education, the hallmark of a learned person. Beside the fact that the new language helped Mumuyes to understand their new religion in their own language, it equally made many of them bilingual and as such it led the mumuye to abandon their native language and this is leading to the extinction of Mumuye language. For you to pray to God and for him to answer you, you must use Arabic or English, this seems to me that the God of the new religion only understand English or Arabic not Mumuye.

THE TRUE NATURE OF MUMUYE SOCIETY TODAY

There is a notable crisis in Mumuye land. There is a notable disorientation in differentiation and a clear lack of sense of direction in different sphere, it is difficult to determine with a type of mathematical exactitude, the diminishing rate of old mumuye societal values and the increasing rate of the new one, this state of uncertainty gives rise to a frustrating state of confusion, where people are overburdened by the guiding principles of two opposing cosmological frameworks. The coming of religion should have brought good to Mumuye instead it brought Evil and frustration. Today Mumuye society has become a society where people have lost the basic orientation for a meaningful existence; where evil deeds and actions have been gradually installed as acceptable values where criminals of all ranks are hailed and crowned for making it. It is a society where the poor are continually being oppressed and marginalised, where poor parents who are blessed by God with children have no means of sustenance, no means of proving their children with a good education; where parents, even without willing it , starve themselves to death in order to train their children; where parent work themselves to death in their subsistent business and trading centres in order to provide for their children; where the majority die of malnutrition and starvation; where funeral ceremonies have become a daily event. Where talents and capabilities are not given due attention; where you have no means of achieving your intellectual desires and great visions for a significant existence; academic certificates have no meaning and systematic knowledge have no place and the cult of mediocrity and blatant obscurantism are paraded in stylish modes. All these anomalies are in existence largely because of religious differences and selfish interest, today if a graduate is seeking for job or there is any opportunity for appointment the criteria for you to get the appointment is your religion not qualification.

LIGHT AT END OF THE TUNNEL

Hope is not completely lost now that we are starkly aware of the fact that the good our elders never undertook is on our hands now, we are to redefine ourselves to whoever we want to be if we want mumuye person to advance and his community to develop a step further, we must turn over a new leaf, we must work new concepts of our names and attitudes, we must break the coils of the past, recreate our history. We must decide whether we shall remain zingkaseweba and underdeveloped transcend that idea, no one can force us toward this but there is a future world waiting for us, many futures, one is the future of our children, not yet born or just beginning but wanting to live, grow and become their possible best in a good and developed society. This will not happen unless we change our perspectives.

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[1] Izu M. Oyeocha, “Africa: The question of Identity” in identity and change, ed. by Theophilius Okere Washington D.C: Paideia Pub 1996, p38