DALIT - About
1500 BC the light skinned invading Aryans set themselves above the darker
skinned aboriginal people in the HINDU
caste (varna meaningcolor) system. The Brahmins (priests),
Kshatriyas
(warriors), and
Vaishiyas (merchants and farmers) were the twice
born who wore the sacred thread. The darker skinned Shudras (servant
caste) were viewed as inferior. At the bottom of the pile were the outcastes
or untouchables. That social stratification continued unchanged for three
thousand years. Since Indian independence (1947) the government has made
the caste system illegal, but this made little difference in social attitudes.
In 1956 Dr. Ambedkar persuaded thousands of his oppressed people to join
him in becoming Buddhists, but in the last forty years the condition of
the untouchables (now renamed Dalits) has hardly improved. On November
4, 2001 a new leader named Ram Raj gathered 100, 000 representatives of
the Dalit people in Delhi and told them to "Get out of casteism! All human
beings are equal . . . go and convert to any faith of your choice." Then
he shouted, "Let my people go!" (a quotation from Exodus 5:1, 8:1).
It seems likely that a proportion of the 300 million Dalits of India will
now experience their Exodus (liberation) from the oppression of caste as
they are accepted as brothers and sisters in the Christian churches of
India.
DALMATIA see ILLYRICUM
DAMASCUS This is one of the most
ancient cities in the world. It was founded by
ARAMEANS
(c. 2000 BC) and became the capital of Syria. It was a focus of trade for
the Middle East, and it had a flourishing church that Paul wanted to destroy
(Acts 9:1-22). At that time the Syrians of Damascus spoke ARAMAIC,
but when they were absorbed into the Arab nation and became ARABS,
their language became ARABIC which
was very similar.
DAMASCUS CALIPHATE Muawiya (Ibn
Abu Sufyan) had been Commander in Chief in Damascus for fifteen years,
and his army took over Egypt and Arabia, When Ali, the fourth Caliph was
killed by a poisoned sword, Muawiya was soon accepted as the fifth Caliph
(661-680) to begin the Ummayad Dynasty (661-750). In contrast to the second
Caliph, Omar, who expelled Jews and Christians from Arabian soil, Muawiya
placed capable Christians and Jews, as well as Copts, Greeks and Persians,
in important administrative posts. "His minister of finance, his court
poet, his doctor, and even his wife were Christians (Anthony Nutting, The
Arabs, Mentor Books, 1965, p.72). He moved the CALIPHATE
away from Arab tribal rule, delegated his authority, appointed independent
judges, and allowed the poorest and weakest to bring their complaints direct
to him. A later Caliph, Abd al-Malik, replaced Greek and made Arabic the
official language of Syria, which it has remained to this day. He also
built the DOME OF THE ROCK (687-691)
in Jerusalem. Walid 1 (Caliph 705-715) built asylums for the blind, lunatic,
and lepers. He also built the Ummayad mosque in Jerusalem, and the magnificent
mosque in Damascus. By 715 the Omayad Arab empire stretched from Spain
and southern France to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and down into Africa.
No wonder Syria eyes Israel as a bitter enemy and would love to see the
restoration of the Caliphate in Damascus.
DAMASCUS Church The Syrian capital
was only 80 miles (128 km ) from Capernaum, which was where Jesus began
his preaching. So there were Christians there, and Paul decided to exterminate
them. "From them I also received letters to (against) the brothers in Damascus,
and I went there to bind those who were there and to bring them back to
Jerusalem for punishment" (Acts 22:5) But when Jesus met him on
the road, and he was blinded, he went into the city where he stayed on
the street called Straight (still in existence to this day, Acts 9:11),
and was probably at a loss as to what to do. Later he told how "A certain
Ananias, who was a devout man according to the law and well spoken of by
all the Jews living there, came to me; and standing beside me, he said
'Brother Saul, regain your sight!' In that very hour I regained my sight
and saw him . . . 'And now why do you delay? Get up be baptized, and have
your sins washed away, calling on his name'" (Acts 22:13). Then
"for several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately
began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues" (Acts 9:19-20). But soon
there was a plot to kill him, and "his disciples took him by night and
let him down through an opening in the wall" (Acts 9:23-25). From
there he went into ARABIA for a
time and returned to Damascus (Galatians 1:17).
DANCE Dancing has always been a
sign of joy. "You shall take your tambourines, and go forth in the dance
of the merrymakers" (Jeremiah 30:19). There was music and dancing
when the prodigal son came home (Luke 15:25). David sang "you have
turned my mourning into dancing" (Psalm 30:11), and Jesus contrasted
the wedding dance of his good news with the funeral mourning of John the
Baptist (Matthew 11:17). There is a long tradition of dancing as
a solo performance to please men (as did Salome, Matthew 14:6).
But the last two of the psalms invite us into the greatest kind of dancing
of all. "Let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise
his name with dancing" (Psalm 149:2-3). And if this can be with
a full orchestra, all the better (Psalm 150:3-5). Perhaps we will
learn from African Christian who dance to the singing of their hymns.
DANCING As an expression of individual
JOY
people would
DANCE and clap their hands. "You
have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and
clothed me with joy" (Psalm 30:11). But dancing was also
an expression of praise to God. "Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre" (Psalm 149:3). It
was evidently part of public worship accompanied by strings, woodwind,
and percussion instruments. "Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise
him with strings and pipe! Praise him with clanging symbals" (Psalm
150:4-5). In the New Testament dancing is not mentioned as part of
public worship. "Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the
Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father" (Ephesians 5:18-20).
This was perhaps because the early Christian weekly gatherings were much
smaller than the thousands who gathered three times a year to celebrate
in the temple. Also there was a strong emphasis on teaching one another.
"Let the Word of the Messiah dwell in you richly and admonish one another
in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs" (Colossians 3:16).
DANIEL Among those taken into exile
by Nebuchadnezzar (597 BC) were four Jewish young men, who were chosen
to be educated in "the literature and language of the Chaldeans." This
was with a view to them being given senior administrative posts in the
Babylonian empire. They were already "without physical defect and handsome,
versed in every branch of wisdom, endowed with knowledge and insight" (Daniel
1:1-4). The transition to Babylonian would have been easy because Hebrew
was the language of the CANAANITES,
and the Bible views them as belonging to the HAMITIC
group of languages (Genesis 10:6), as closely related as Italian,
French, and Spanish. The four men were given permission to be vegetarian
(Daniel 1:8-17). This was probably to avoid having to eat pork and
seafood which were not KOSHER.
As a result of being able to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Daniel was
made governor of the province of Babylon and his three friends had important
posts under him (Daniel 2:48-49). For refusing to worship the golden
statue of the emperor Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into
a fiery furnace, but they escaped unhurt (Daniel 3:1-30). Similarly
Daniel was thrown into a den full of lions, and God "sent his angel and
shut the lions' mouth" (Daniel 6:16-24). Because the book was written
after Malachi, who was viewed as the last of the Old Testament prophets,
and partly in Aramaic, it was placed among the WRITINGS
in the Jewish Bible (see CANON,
Old Testament).
DANTE (1265-1321) was orphaned.
As a young man he fell in love with Beatrice who died before he could marry
her (she is referred to in his Divina Comedia). He was trained under
the
DOMINICANS, but when he opposed the
Pope his property was confiscated and he was exiled from his home in Florence.
In De Monarchia (c.1313) he advocated a sharp separation between
church and state. In the next few years before he died he wrote La Divina
Comedia which vividly pictures the torments of the damned. The poem
is brilliant, but a total misrepresentation of the New Testament (see HELL,
ANNIHILATION).
DARWIN, Charles (1809-82) After
sailing round the world (1831-36) on the survey vessel, H.M.S. Beagle,
the naturalist published his observations of small continual changes in
plants, birds, and other animals (1859). On the basis of this and later
research he proposed that complex species evolved by natural selection,
and only the fittest for their biological purpose survive. The theory was
published in The Origin of Species (1850), The Descent of Man
(1871).
ATHEISMassumes
that chance mutations are quite sufficient to explain the EVOLUTION
of all species, including man, without the need to believe in God. THEISM
does not deny the fact of change and development among species and the
survival of the fittest for their purpose. But the astonishing complexity
of the working of human, animal, and plant DNA cannot be explained without
a personal CREATOR (see QUILT,
Making). This model is set out in Creative
Love, 1999.
DAVID was a man after God's own
heart (1 Samuel 13:14), but he had problems with his unruly instincts
(as we all do one way or another). "It happened, late one afternoon, when
David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king's
house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful."
(2 Samuel 11:2). As a result he committed adultery with the wife
of one of his army commanders, and when she got pregnant he had her husband
killed in battle. God used the prophet Nathan to show him the enormity
of what he had done. Among the many psalms that he composed for all the
world to sing there are the words we need when we have failed miserably.
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; blot out my
transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from
my sin." He not only asked for forgiveness, but knowing his frailty he
asked for the Holy Spirit to keep him in the future. "Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and put a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from
your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me" (Psalm 51:1-2,
10-11).
DAVIDIC LINE The keeping of an
exact GENEALOGY was (and still
is) important to establish the right to royalty (John 7:42). Jesus'
mother Mary came from NAZARETH, but her child was born in
BETHLEHEM.
Joseph had this recorded in the census records there (Luke 2:2-4).
Joseph was apparently the only surviving heir of the royal line of DAVID
(Matthew 1:1, 16, see Psalm 89:3, Isaiah 9:7, 11:1, 16:5, Jeremiah
33:15-26). And when Joseph accepted Jesus as his legal heir, no one
ever questioned Jesus right to be the Messiah (this would have been easy
to check from the census records in Bethlehem).
DAY OF THE LORD Most of the time
the Messiah Son of God does not interfere in our personal and national
lives. But he never lets things get out of hand. The Old Testament prophets
noticed what they called a periodic "Day of the Lord" (Isaiah 13:6,
9, 22:5, 34:8, Jeremiah 46:10, Joel 1:15, 2:1, Amos 5:18, as in 1 Corinthians
1:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:2). Isaiah often shortened the expression to
"that day" (Isaiah 7:18-23, 10:20, 11:10-11, 17:4, 7, etc. as Paul
does (1 Corinthians 1:8, 3:13). Such interventions were also called
comings of the Lord ( Genesis 11:5, 18:21, Exodus 6:1, 12:12, Isaiah
13:6,9, 19:1, 31:4, 40:10, Zechariah 14:1, 5, as in Matthew 21:40,
24:27, 30, 37, 42, 50, Revelation 2:5, 16, 25, 3:11) For some there
was terrible wrath and for others redeeming, deliverance, or vindication
(Exodus 12:51, 15:6-7, Isaiah 34:8, 52:9). The day of the Lord of
Babylon's destruction (539 BC) is pictured with portents in the sun (emperor),
moon (empress), stars (dignitaries), foundations shaking (Isaiah 13:6,
9, 10, 13). And Jesus used exactly the same words to describe his Day
of the Lord coming in the generation of his hearers (AD 70) to destroy
the temple and city of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:28-30).
DEACON A servant (Greek diakonos)
has been defined as someone whose task is to free others to do their work.
.And in that sense we can all engage in deacon ministry. The gift of being
a servant (deacon) is one of the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians
12:28 calls it "forms of assistance"). Paul mentions Phoebe as the
deacon of the church at Cenchreae, the seaport for the city of Corinth
(Romans 16:1-2). Deacons (diakonoi) were servants of local
church congregations (1 Timothy 3:8). And John Mark was the assistant
or secretary for Paul and Barnabas as they went out on their first missionary
journey (Acts 13:4-5). When we feel we are not given a function
in our local congregation, a good way to begin is to notice which people
are doing a worthwhile job, and quietly help them. As Paul said, "Those
who serve well as deacons (helping others) gain a good standing for themselves
and great boldness in the faith" (1 Timothy 3:13). Jesus himself
"took the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7) and explained "The
Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom
(for the freedom) of many" (Mark 10:45, see RANSOM).
DEAD SEA SCROLLS The Wadi Qumran
flows down from the Judean Hills into the Dead Sea 20 miles due east of
Jerusalem. On the north side of the wadi one can visit the excavated ruins
of the Qumran community (established c.135 BC). They lived as celibates.
Like the ESSENES, they emphasized
separation from the world and purity by ritual cleansing with water. But
in contrast to Jesus, they excluded the lame, blind, and others with deformities.
The community was destroyed (68 AD) by the Roman advance before the fall
of Jerusalem (AD 70). They just had time to put their precious scrolls
of the Old Testament and other writings into pottery jars (Jeremiah 32:14),
some of which were preserved till they were found by Bedouins in 1946.
In November 1947 Eleazar Sukenik realized their importance and purchased
them for Hebrew University. Since then every book of the Hebrew Old Testament
(except for Esther) has been identified among the fragments. Among the
scrolls was a complete book of Isaiah, which proves that there was no division
of this book between Isaiah chapters 39 and 40 ten centuries before the
first Masoretic text of the Jewish Bible. They also prove that the emphasis
on light and darkness was already a common idea among the members of the
Qumran community. This demolishes a main argument for a late date for John's
Gospel.
DEATH When Jesus was on the cross
his certainty of coming out the other side of death was his experience
of the Holy Spirit who had conceived him and empowered every part of his
ministry (see HOLY SPIRIT).
But by his death and resurrection there was an astonishing change. "As
all die in Adam (our human body), so all will be made alive in the Messiah"
(1 Corinthians 15:22). Instead of going down into sheol
(the abode of the dead), resurrection is now guaranteed for all. Paul pictures
it as moving from a tent to a permanent building. "If the earthly tent
we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens." But it is only by the Spirit that
we are given this assurance. "He who has prepared us for this very thing
is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee" (2 Corinthians 5:1,
5). That means death is conquered, though many live with no assurance
of the resurrection. In addition to our physical death, Paul uses the metaphor
of spiritual death. "You were dead . . . following the course of this world"
(Ephesians 2:1). And John reminds us of the awesome freedom of those
who reject the light and love of God and deliberately choose the darkness
of eternal death
( John 3:19)
DEATH, Causes The World Health
Organization reported (May 12, 2003) that in the year 2000 four times as
many people were killed in traffic accidents than in wars. The figures
were : Deaths in car accidents 1,260,000, Suicides 815,000, Violence between
individuals 520,000, Drowning 450,000, Killed in wars 300,000. Deaths from
Malaria have been estimated at 3,000 a day, which would mean 1,100,000
in a year, which is still less than deaths from traffic accidents. A few
years ago AIDS was news in Canada,
but now the media hardly notice the human tragedy in other countries. The
number of deaths from SARS in Canada (April-May 2003) was infinitesimal,
but it gained huge media attention when Toronto was declared a dangerous
place to visit by the Word Health Organization. The point is that what
is reported in the newspapers and on television in our country bears very
little relationship to the actual numbers who die all over the world. Nor
do the media ever report that death is God's way of moving us from this
life to the life of heaven. That is no reason to be hard-hearted. We mourn
with the bereaved in any country, pray for them, and do what we can. We
learn to love neighbors. We also care about
HEALTH
and avoid unnecessary risks. Drinking and driving is never right. And we
look to the Holy Spirit for wisdom about our DIET
and life-style. We keep informed, but every day we put the media into God's
perspective by reading the Bible.
DEATH OF GOD The announcement by
some theologians that "God is Dead" was taken up with delight by the media,
but it has turned out to be premature. There is no evidence that less people
are talking to God or that God is inactive in our world. The root of the
idea is usually ascribed to DietrichBONHOEFFER
(1906-45). What he wrote was that he did not need the support of church
services or proofs about the existence of God to survive in the prison
where he was hanged (1945). Another influence was a book by Paul Tillich,
The
Shaking of the Foundations (1949). He used the term "Ground of all
Being" which changed the meaning of the word God as Creator to whatever
is ultimate reality. In his best selling book
Honest to God (1963)
Bishop John A. T. Robinson expressed his debt to Tillich and Bonhoeffer.
Then
ROBINSONdecisively
abandoned Christian THEISM, and
proposed a form of MONISM. He did
not admit that this was a 2500 year old Hindu model since the time of UPANISHADS(see
Religion:
Origins and Ideas
chapters 3 & 9). Thorough-going secularists
then felt free to declare the very idea of God was dead. In fact all that
had happened was a model shift from the Trinitarian Theism of the Christian
CREEDS
to a model already known among the Greeks in which matter is the only reality.
DEFINITION Science works by using
precise definitions. In botany there can be no doubt that Cistus incanus
creticus cv is a Pink Rock Rose. But this definition completely misses
my joy in the petals and color and FRAGRANCE
of an actual ROSE. . The human animal
is defined as
homo erectus because it stands erect and can walk
on two feet. But anthropologists deduce the species merely by the shape
of their skull and dry bones. In that sense we belong to a long line of
HOMINIDS
that go back seven million years. These days humans are defined by their
DNA, but that fails to capture our enjoyment of roses, sunsets, classical
music, or Zimbabwe marimba music. The Bible works with Genesis Man, and
his or her definition is nothing to do with skull or bone shape. "Let us
make humankind in our image, according to our likeness . . . so God created
humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female
he created them" (Genesis 1:26-27). We therefore define human life
as the ability to talk to God, thank God, hear God's voice. Our most important
characteristic is the ability to choose among alternative models (see VISION)
for living our life. Each species of spider has made webs of exactly the
same pattern for a million years. They can't live any other way. Admittedly
humans can train animals to go against their natural instincts. Cats use
kitty litter, dogs learn to mind sheep, trainers can put their head inside
a lion's mouth. But it is humans who are free to become artists, musicians,
scientists, work among lepers, love enemies, pray for others. That freedom
is what gives us our precise definition.
DEFINITIONS Created Words and concepts
do not have inherent meanings (see
WITTGENSTEIN,
LANGUAGE
GAMES). Languages are
continually changing as people give new meanings to words for particular
purposes (as in science, medicine, politics). This is illustrated in Edward
Schiappa, Definining Reality: Definitions and Politics of Meaning,
Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, May 2003. He shows that
many arguments in law are based on how concepts are defined. On this website
we use MODEL THEOLOGY to
work at the internal logic of 24 personal religions and ideologies, and
in each case we can see how definitions are created to distinguish each
model from other visions. In the first chapter of God
of Many Nameswe show how the word GOD
is given alternative definitions by the use of metaphors. We then go on
to clarify how words (e.g. DEATH,
LOVE,
SALVATION)
are defined very differently in each religion and ideology, and also within
Christian Theism (e.g.
BAPTISM,
CHURCH,
FAITH,
HELL,
LAW,
SIN).
In the New Testament the Gospels can be viewed as the creation of definitions
by means of the life, parables, and teachings of Jesus. The Book of Acts
illustrates the use of these definitions in the life of the early churches.
The Epistles are designed to correct definitions which confuse the clarity
of theTrinitarian Theistic model. The CREEDS
give an outline of the definitions which the church lives by. And Christian
Theology is the study of attempts to change these definitions to yield
other religions and ideologies.
DEISM From the Latin deus which
is the ordinary word for God deism is a model in which God does nothing
more than create our world, and there is no life after death. It emerged
in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. But ROUSSEAU
(1718-78) extended the deistic explanatory model into a form of naturalism
applying to politics and children's education. If the model includes some
moral intervention by God in our world, it is better to label it as a form
of
THEISM.
DELEGATING In a small business
the owner knows everything and makes all the decisions. But when the organization
grows there has to be delegation. It is hard to improve on the advice given
by Jethro. "The next day MOSES sat
as judge for the people, while the people stood around him from morning
until evening. When Moses' father-in law saw all that he was doing, he
said, 'What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone,
while all the people stand around? What you are doing is not good. You
will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you; you
cannot do it alone. Look for able men among all the people, men who fear
God, are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain; set such men over them as
officers over thousands, hundreds, and fifties. Let them sit as judges
for the people at all time; let them bring every important case to you,
but decide every minor case themselves" (Exodus 1813-22). Similarly
Paul wrote "What you have learned from me through many witnesses (by witnessing
what I did on many occasions) entrust to faithful people who will be able
to teach others as well" (2 Timothy 2:2). Again and again Timothy
had seen Paul entrust churches to others and move on. This was why Paul
could say "From Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum (present day Croatia)
I have fully preached the good news of the Messiah" (Romans 15:19).
DELEGATION It is a wonderful experience
having a leader who trusts you to learn by your mistakes. Nobody enjoys
working for someone who is insecure, fussy, possessive, interfering, trying
to do it all. Greatness comes by delegation. Jesus quickly trained twelve
very ordinary disciples to do all that he was doing. "The one who believes
in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works"
(John 14:12). In the Gospels the Messiah has outlined our mission
statement, and then leaves us to do as much as we are willing to do. We
get to make the plans and work out the details. He loves to be in touch
with us and hear how we are doing. And when we fail, as Peter did, the
Lord is right there to pick up the pieces and encourage us to try again
without guilt or reproach. So when people complain about the church's faults,
they are faulting the Lord for allowing weak, sinful human beings to be
responsible. They want regimentation instead of his delegation.
DEMOCRACY The American ideal of
the rule of the people by the people for the people is not as simple as
it sounds. Major decisions have to be made at the top by a President or
Prime Minister, and in each city by a Mayor. And these depend on laws that
have to be passed, and then enforced by officials at every level of government.
Judges and a police force are needed. And there are many ways of choosing
those who are responsible. The ideal is that the will and/or best interests
of the people are effected by those who serve them. This ideal is reflected
in the terms minister, civil servant, secretary, representative, delegate,
councillor. But a bureaucracy quickly becomes an OLIGARCHY
of those entrenched in power. Jesus said that "Among the nations those
whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great
ones are tyrants over them (see AUTOCRACY).
. But it is not (will not be so) so among you; but whoever wishes to be
great among you must be your servant" (Mark 10:42-43). We can observe
among nations that genuine democracy can only flourish where sufficient
people in a country have moved from the ideal of feathering their own nest
to engaging in SERVANT LEADERSHIP.
That involves choosing "not to be served but to serve, and to give one's
life a ransom for others" (Mark 10:45). Here the word lutron
suggests
the costly sacrifice needed for others to enjoy freedom).
DEMYTHOLOGIZING In relation to
the Bible the term means the discarding of stories, metaphors, and other
kinds of language which deny the known facts of science (see
BULTMANN).
That means the rejection of miracles and other interventions of God in
the normal course of our world. In his Honest to God Bishop John
ROBINSON
said that modern man can no longer believe in a God "up there." In some
cases the problem disappears when we understand metaphorical language.
Sunrises, sunsets, falling in love, and most experiences of what is important
in life are stated in unscientific language. Science is also discovering
that things which were considered impossible are perfectly normal. Modern
man now takes for granted the power of mind over matter, telepathy, the
effectiveness of prayer, the navigation of salmon, a cat finding its way
home across Toronto, birds migrating by the stars, and more recently the
discovery of the phenomena of QUANTUM
ENTANGLEMENT. If there is a God who created our world and loves
us, the fact of his interventions are not surprising.
DENOMINATIONS In the New Testament
there is only one church in each city (Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica,
Athens, Corinth, Rome). But in a big city there will be numerous buildings
where members can meet for worship, prayer, and instruction. These will
be given names to identify the location and the characteristic emphasis
of that meeting place. Denominations perform an important function as franchises
to offer training, ordination and support for ministers for each kind of
local church expression. But they go wrong when they demand exclusive loyalty
and view themselves as competing branches of a divided church. These days
church members feel free to attend any of the different kinds of meeting
place in their city, and work together to build up the body of the Messiah
in that area (Ephesians 4:16).
DENOMINATION, Claims Fifty years
ago J.B.Phillips wrote about our denominations: "They give the outsider
the impression that God works almost exclusively through the machinery
they have erected, and what is worse damns all other machinery which does
not bear their label." He rightly denounced this as "the outrageous folly
and damnable sin of trying to regard God as the Party Leader of a particular
point of view" (Your God is Too Small, London: Epworth Press, 1952,
p.36 & 37). Happily by the beginning of this century most Christians
no longer believed the outrageous claims of their own denomination, and
they feel free to learn and attend church wherever they feel nourished.
They also read books by members of other denominations, pray and do Bible
Study with each other, sing hymns and songs without asking who wrote them,
and have no doubt that all sorts of people of every denomination or no
denomination will be welcome into heaven by our loving God. There are still
churchmen who refuse communion to members of other denominations. Their
theory is that until all denominations are merged (or swallowed) into their
system it is premature to share at the Lord's Table. But, apart from a
few bigots, no one believes the theory. The useful function of DENOMINATIONS
is that they support a wide variety of different clumps of flower in the
Lord's garden.
DENOMINATIONAL Doctrine At the
turn of the century Mark Parent made a prediction. "The Pentecostal emphasis
upon the Holy Spirit will become dominant within the Christian tradition.
Denominational groups which cannot find doctrinal room for the activity
of the Spirit will be marginalized and in some cases disappear. An emphasis
on sin and redemption will give way to an emphasis upon creation and recreation"
(Spirit Scapes: Mapping the Spiritual & Scientific Terrain at the
Dawn of the New Millenium, Kelowna, B.C.:Northstone, 1998, p.41). The
problem is that during the previous century hundreds of new denominations
began, and they imagined their first priority was to issue a statement
of faith to explain what distinguished them from all others. Those antique
statements are still posted on websites. But when the Holy Spirit begins
to explain "That is not what I had in mind," it is very hard to change
what is graven in denominational stone. The safe way is to stick with the
Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, and leave the way open for the Holy Spirit
to guide us "into all the truth" (John 16:12). What do you do if
dancing is forbidden by the head office, but you find yourself praising
the Lord as you dance in the Spirit?
DEPRESSION We all feel depressed
when things have not worked out as we had hoped. Paul said about one occasion
in Ephesus. "We were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of
life itself." But this made him "rely not on ourselves but on God who raises
the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). His faith enabled him to face "imprisonments,
floggings, five lashings, three beatings, a stoning, terrible journeys,
three shipwrecks (2 Corinthians 11:24-28). In one storm, when all
the passengers and crew had given in to DESPAIR,
he was able to renew their courage (Acts 27:20-25). But such examples
do not help those who are depressed due to a chemical imbalance, and in
danger of committing
SUICIDE.
They should seek medical help from a psychiatrist without delay. Having
done that it is also good to take Paul's prescription when he cried out
"Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" His
solution was to turn from minding his FLESH
(his natural instincts and the demands of his body), and set his mind on
the Holy Spirit to do in him what he could never do himself (Romans
7:28, 8:4-6).
DERBE After being stoned in LYSTRA,
Paul moved 25 miles (40 km) south-west to Derbe. He and Barnabas did not
move back into his home Province of Cilicia (TARSUS
was only 120 miles, 192 km further east). But they retraced their journey,
and ordained
ELDERS in each church
(Acts 14:23). Paul and Silas revisited this church during the second
missionary journey on their way across Turkey, and that was when Timothy
joined their team (Acts 16:1-3). Paul again visited the churches
in Galatia at the beginning of his third missionary journey (Acts 18:22-23).
DESIRES As originally taught by
Gautama Buddha, the root of misery is in our desires. Happiness is therefore
the eliminating of desire. This was best done in a monastery with others
who were committed to the discipline needed to achieve this. Nirvana or
perfect bliss would be the eradication of every last desire. Christian
perfection is the exact opposite. "You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul" and "you shall love your neighbor
as yourself." In the Psalms love for God is not the elimination of desire
but expressing them boldly. "Yahweh, heal me" (Psalm 41:1). "Oh
that you would bless me and enlarge my border" (Jabez in 1 Chronicles
4:10). When a child is dying a perfected Buddhist will say "Whether
my child lives or dies I have no desire." But loving parents genuinely
care about the rich variety of their children's longings. And God is much
more than a loving parent. "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give
you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). That may take time
but it is what God has in mind for us.
DESPAIR "Hope dawns eternal in
the human breast." But despair sets in when HOPEdies.
"Hoping against hope" Abraham had hope in God "who gives life to the dead
and calls into existence the things that do not exist." Though there was
no hope of having a child, and no sign of being a blessing to all nations,
he believed what God had revealed (Genesis 12:1-3) that he would
become "the father of many nations" (Romans 4:17-21). In a humanly
hopeless situation Paul wrote "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair" (2 Corinthians 4:8). On another
occasion Luke included himself when he said "When neither sun nor stars
appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being
saved was at last abandoned" (Acts 27:20). But he describes how
Paul had hope in what God had said about surviving the storm. And when
this life comes to its end we can give in to the resignation of despair.
But, like Jesus bleeding to death on the cross, we can choose to believe
that "the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to
your mortal bodies" (Romans 8:11). The Christian blessing is "May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you
may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans15:13).
DETERMINISM see SKINNER
DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE Having
left the Church of England and made his submission to the authority of
the Bishop of Rome (1845), John Henry NEWMAN
wrote his
Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845).
The VINCENTIAN CANON
(c. 440 AD) had defined universal Christian Doctrine as "what has been
believed everywhere, always, and by all." Obviously that could not be true
of some of the doctrines Newman had to assent to as a Roman Catholic. These
included transubstantiation, Mary's perpetual virginity, her assumption,
her name as Mother of God, and her mediation. His solution was to view
the Roman Catholic Church as appointed to define doctrine by the guidance
of the Holy Spirit. That would permit the Pope to be defined as infallible
in matters of faith and morals (1870), and for Anglican and other ordinations
to the priesthood to be declared as invalid (1896) and not in the APOSTOLIC
SUCCESSION.
DEVIL Many people say there is
no such thing. Others are obsessed with the devil at work in their lives
and the lives of others. It is hard to explain all that keeps going wrong
with our world without some power of evil at work. Jesus was certainly
conscious of very personal opposition to the good news he came to bring.
"Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the
devil (Greek diabolos, French
diable). This term was used
in the Old Testament as a translation of hasatan as in Job 2:1,
Zechariah 3:1 (see SATAN) meaning
slanderer. He is constantly on the attack, not by physical force, but by
lies (John 8:44) that cause us to doubt the love of God.. "Like
a roaring lion, your adversary the devil (diabolos) prowls around
looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith" (1
Peter 5:8-9). But we have the weapons to resist him by the Word of
God (Ephesians 6:16-17, James 4:7, 1 John 3:8, Revelation 12:11).
Whenever we are conscious of a destructive force at work in our work or
family or nation, rather than be paralyzed by fear, we can look to our
MESSIAH,
the Son of God, to intervene. He is more powerful than any power of evil
in our world (1 John 4:4).
DHARMA Hindus describe their religion
as sanatana dharma (the eternal law). And dharma includes
both the ideas of law and religious commitment (see HINDUISM).
As a preliminary to the search for moksha (release from the miserable
round of REINCARNATION)
there are ceremonial duties to observe. These might improve our KARMA
for this life or a future existence, but they cannot enable us to attain
union with the Absolute. In modern India the idea that Hindu dharma
requires
the maintenance of the caste system has been abandoned, and the making
of caste distinctions is officially illegal.
DICTATORSHIP see PROPHETIC
IMAGINATION
DICTIONARY "There can be no definitive
dictionary definitions, but only an interim report on what a word generally
means for the time being" (Kenneth Hamilton, To Turn from Idols, Erdmans,
1973,
p.45). WITTGENSTEIN said
that the meaning of a word is the way it is used (its LANGUAGE-GAME)
in a particular human activity (FORM
OF LIFE). And since human activities and the use of words change
continually, there is no "correct" meaning for any word. A science may
choose to adopt a DEFINITION to give a
precise meaning to a word for a particular purpose but that is always open
to change in every generation.
DIET Many religions think diet
is very important. Hindus don't eat beef. Muslims forbid pork. Pythagoras
said "Abstain from beans." Western secular religion creates more and more
rules for a longer life. Many Jews still keep kosher according to
the animals, fish, and birds listed in Leviticus chapter 11. But Jesus
abolished all diet rules by saying "Do you not see that whatever goes into
a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but
the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?" Mark, the gospel writer, added
the comment "Thus he declared all foods clean" (Mark 7:18-19). Jesus'
rule for health was "do not worry about your life, what you will eat or
what you drink" (Matthew 6:25). That is why after coming to faith
in Jesus the Messiah, Paul wrote, "Do not let anyone condemn you in matters
of food and drink" (Colossians 2:16). It was the false prophets
who "demand abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with
thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth" (1 Timothy 4:3).
Obviously being thankful is a powerful healing agent. That leaves every
person free to assess what is good for his or her health in every country
of the world..
DIET, Family It is interesting
that the foods commended in the New Testament have all been proved to be
part of a healthy diet. Jesus called himself the Bread of life (John
6:51). In an ordinary household WINE was served with the bread (see
BREAD
AND WINE). The little boy who offered his lunch for Jesus to multiply
had five barley rolls with two small FISH
to flavor them (John 6:9). Children were given milk before they
were ready for solid food (1 Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:12-14),
and he suggested that children need eggs (Luke 11:12-13). LAMB
was eaten for PASSOVER, and beef
was appropriate for a family celebration (Luke 15:23). Jesus obviously
enjoyed FIGS which we might apply
to the eating of fruit from every other area of the world (Luke 13:6-7).
We also need fresh water (John 4:10; Matthew 25:35). In the Old
Testament Jews already knew that fat was not good for health (Leviticus
7:23), and blood should be drained from meat before eating it (Leviticus
3:17, 7:26, Acts 15:29). It seems there is not one item of food commended
in the Bible which is dangerous to eat. The Jews were given a list of prohibited
animals, fish, birds, and insects, which they must not eat in their wilderness
journeys (see KOSHER). But the
Apostle Peter (knowing Jesus words in Mark 7:18-19) was shown that
the many kinds of food enjoyed by Greeks were permitted for Christians
(Acts 11:6-9). But we know the caution that some of these, such
as seafood must only be eaten in season with care.
DIGNITY "Michal daughter of Saul
looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before
the Lord; and she despised him in her heart" (2 Samuel 6:16). She
said sarcastically "How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering
himself before the eyes of his servants' maids, as any vulgar fellow might
shamelessly uncover himself" (2 Samuel 6:16, 21). We need not judge
whether David behaved appropriately on that occasion, but obviously a
LEADER
is expected to behave with dignity and proper decorum. There is "a time
to mourn, and a time to dance" (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Paul wrote that
"a bishop must be above reproach, married only once (as opposed to keeping
a harem) temperate, respectable" and "deacons likewise must be serious,
not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine" (1 Timothy 3:2, 8).
But dignity in speech, dress, manners, and the ceremonial rituals of the
occasion, should not be confused with the stuffy, gloomy pomposity of joyless
leadership.
DIGNITY, Right to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross'
book (On Death and Dying, New York:Macmillan, 1969) brought to our
attention the importance of letting people die with dignity. Dignity has
also become a basic concept in relating to the living in our modern world.
There
is a United Nations
Declaration of Human Rights, and dignity includes
the right to freedom and respect. People should not be humiliated. In the
Bible human dignity begins with the fact that men and women are created
in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). They can become children
of God (John 1:12, Romans 8:15-17, 21). They are also invited to
share the ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
of the Son of God in his KINGDOM.
And they have a right to discuss the work with him and to influence the
details of his plans at any hour of the day or night by prayer. Perhaps
most astonishing of all, they have a right to be given by the HOLY
SPIRIT all the wisdom and the power of God needed to serve
in the world. Hopefully nations will respect the dignity of their
people. But assuring people of their dignity in the mind of God is the
best news we can give them. And when we plant and nurture churches that
do this the idea of human dignity works like
LEAVEN
to permeate the society around them..
DIMENSIONS When you can measure
something (across, lengthwise, up and down) you have what we call the three
dimensions in geometry. We can also measure the passage of time, for example
by hanging a pendulum in a room and counting each movement. We are can
therefore be located exactly in the four dimensions of space and time.
But by that definition we could add other dimensions such as energy, gravity,
light, sound, smell, each of which can now be measured by scientists. There
are other experiences that cannot be measured, such as fear, joy, beauty,
love, melody, justice, compassion. So we cannot "prove" their existence
or locate them in the dimensions that are defined by measurement. This
is why none of the proofs for the existence of God can ever work. How could
you quantify God? (See
GOD, Location).
DISCIPLES Throughout the ancient
world the usual method of learning anything was by finding a teacher (guru,
tutor, rabbi, coach) who could deliver what one needed. Usually the teacher
taught disciples one on one, as did the Sophists (in our day people have
a personal counselor). When numbers increased a school was opened. Among
the Greeks there were the schools of Pythagoras, the Academy, the Lyceum,
the Stoa, the Garden of Epicurus. In Jerusalem there were the schools of
Hillel, Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and many others. In our day we have short
term music, Judo, and business schools. For extensive learning you join
a college or university. In each case there is an enrolment before you
begin intensive learning. John the Baptist and Jesus both used BAPTISM
as
their means of enrolling disciples (John 4:1). Jesus had a traveling
school, and he also appointed some of his disciples as apostles to go out
and teach. But ordinary disciples would join him when they could for a
day of teaching (as in the Sermon on the Mount). After the Day of Pentecost
disciples of Jesus (CHRISTIANS, Acts
11:26) could be enrolled in any country of the world (Matthew 28:19-20)
at no cost, and taught in a school of the Holy Spirit (see CHURCH,
SCHOOL).
DISCIPLINE, Church What do we do
in a congregation when someone breaks a law of the country we live in (child
abuse, sexual abuse, peddling drugs, violent behavior, stealing)? Paul
ordered a man guilty of incest (which was a crime according to Roman law)
to be handed over to be judged by the civil magistrates. "Hand this man
over to the god of this world (as opposed to God's kingdom) for fleshly
ruin" (1 Corinthians 5:5). When there is outrageous behavior, which
is not viewed as criminal by the state, we cannot hand a person over to
the police. But we have no business setting up a church court to assign
physical punishment, as in the INQUISITION.
And the use of
EXCOMMUNICATION
(which made it hard for the person to survive in that community) has usually
been unjust and divisive. A member of a loving family is never excluded
from the family table. It is in the community gathered around the bread
and wine that the Holy Spirit changes us. But what we can do is to avoid
associating ourselves with the behavior we disapprove of (1 Corinthians
5:10). That decision has to be made and enforced by each member one
on one. "If you insist on immoral behavior, getting drunk or abusive, you
are no longer welcome in my home." That is far more creative than dividing
the congregation by making church decisions which some will not agree with.
DISCIPLINE, Self Any purposeful
activity (engineering, driving, dancing, medicine, quilt making) requires
learning and abiding by its rules. But those rules only apply if we have
chosen to engage in that form of life. Self-discipline is relevant to what
we have chosen to do. There are of course consequences for those who reject
the rules a particular group has agreed to live by. If everyone else drives
on the left and stops at stop signs, and you reject that discipline, you
will be in trouble. As Wittgenstein pointed out, we cannot understand each
other in any language without the discipline of agreeing to use words in
the same way. And those rules change subtly every year. Many rules get
out of date, and lose their usefulness. But good rules have a logic which
ordinary people can easily understand. The problem of discipline is that
people love to make the "correct" rules for others, and there are no "correct"
rules for language or any other activity unless we agree with others to
obey them to achieve what we want to do. Even with the TEN
COMMANDMENTS the content of each moral principle needs to be worked
at. LEGALISM is the attempt to
force others to abide by religious rules that we have made for ourselves
or inherited from our elders. And what Jesus did was to question the burdensome
rules the PHARISEES had made.
DIVORCE By Old Testament law a
man could divorce his wife because "she does not please him." The only
requirement was to give her a bill of divorce to indicate she was free
to marry another (Deuteronomy 24:1, Matthew 5:31). A woman had no
right to divorce. Jesus said "But I say to you that anyone who divorces
his wife, except on the ground unchastity, causes her to commit adultery"
(see Matthew Commentary under
5:32).
Obviously a woman cannot be caused to commit adultery by her husband divorcing
her. Whatever the good or bad reasons, a divorce is always the adulteration
of what both partners hoped would be a happy lifelong relationship. That
means a woman (or a man) who is divorced has her life and family adulterated
(Mark 10:11,12). That means Jesus views every divorce as a disaster,
even it should be necessary in the case of child abuse, or abandonment
(as in
1 Corinthians 7:12-13, 15). It should be recognized as such,
and like a sea captain who has lost his ship on the rocks in a storm, there
are painful consequences, but he can still hope one day to go back to sea
again.
DNA When Watson and Crick discovered
the structure of DNA (see James D. Watson, The Double Helix:
A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA, 1968)
the science of modern genetics opened up. But it was not new facts that
they discovered. What they were able to picture was a model based on a
double helix (a spiral staircase) that explained and interrelated hundreds
of already well-known facts. It is now clear that all the complex instructions
for making every part of plant and animal life is written into their DNA.
Spider DNA tells every spider how to construct a web of a particular shape.
In the DNA of the Manx Shearwater gull there are all the instructions needed
for a baby gull to take off from South America and fly by the stars and
the earth's magnetic field to land (without having been there) within a
few meters of its parents in the Isle of Man. Human DNA is encoded with
all that is needed for us to enjoy and create music, engage in moral discussion,
and choose among alternative scientific and religious models (see IMAGE
OF GOD). It is becoming more and more difficult to imagine how
our DNA could have evolved by chance. And some even suggest it must have
been designed as part of the "big bang" of the creation of the universe.
DREAMS The dream I remember when
I get up often includes a coded message from the Holy Spirit. He
does not force ideas into our minds, but prefers to leave us the option
to explore what he has in mind for us. This morning I dreamed I had a fat
envelope to post for Kay Mein, who twenty years ago was secretary to the
Dean of McArthur Teacher Training College here in Kingston. I conducted
her funeral service back in 1999. As I walked by a trash can I threw the
letter away because I couldn't be bothered to go to the post office and
put stamps on it. That is something I cannot imagine doing, and happily
in my dream I went back, pulled out the soiled letter, and decided to put
it in a new envelope for posting. The dream must have originated because
I was writing the Word Thought about wearing "the belt of truth around
your waist" before engaging in spiritual warfare.I decided it was a good
idea to ask the Holy Spirit to warn me, if necessary through a dream,
if ever I was set on a disaster course, and perhaps encourage me in anything
that he thought needed doing.
DISPENSATIONALISM How do we relate
to the Jewish Old Testament? Dispensationalism claims there was a dispensation
of law for the Jews, but we live under the dispensation of grace and faith.
Some suggest that Jewish people are saved by obeying Old Testament laws,
and the teaching of Matthew's Gospel only applies to Jews. What Jesus actually
did in the Sermon on the Mount was to enrich some interpretations of Jewish
laws and customs. Similar "But I say to you" corrections are needed for
the culture and traditions of every nation. But no one can ever be saved
(put right with God), in any other way than by faith looking to the Son
of God. There are no exceptions to "I am the way, and the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
Some may only be groping for his light (Acts 17:27). Babies, retarded
persons, and the ignorant, may not have the ability to explain how their
heart is looking towards the love of God. And many have wrong opinions
(religions) to explain how he saves us. But it is heart direction towards
the light of the Son (John 1:9, 3:19), not a correct explanation,
that God welcomes. There may be dispensations in a political sense within
the story of a nation, but there is no dispensationalism of salvation with
God.
DNA of God In discussing
the mystery of God as a Trinity it is helpful to move from mathematics
to organic chemistry. A mathematical unit tells you nothing about the content,
or purpose, or function of something. And there is no such thing as equality
anywhere in nature. Are ants equal to one another? Can parts of our body
ever be equal? This is why a living thing is best defined, not by mathematics,
but by its genetic structure. Every cell in our body is stamped by the
DNA of what we are. And this can still be recognized long after we are
dead. But even without knowing their DNA we can learn to recognize the
uniqueness of others from their voice and behavior. We do not have access
to the DNA of God, but we can learn to recognize his uniqueness. In the
first chapter of Genesis we look at our world as a masterpiece and we picture
God as the Artist. He can't be a vegetable, or an ordinary human, and he
speaks of himself in the plural (Genesis 1:26). But that tells us
nothing about character. Does the Artist care about us, intervene in our
world, answer prayer, condemn or forgive us, have a purpose for us beyond
death? The Bible helps us to notice those aspects of God's uniqueness by
what he does in history and how he relates to us personally (see TRINITARIAN
Oneness).
DOCTRINE see DEVELOPMENT
OF DOCTRINE
DOG LOVERS There is not one example
of a dog being kept as a pet in the Bible. But we know from history that
they were trained for hunting. Some breeds are wonderful sheep dogs. Dachshunds
(rudely called wiener dogs) apparently went down badger holes. And retriever
dogs bring back ducks that fall dead in the water. Police dogs can follow
a scent and confront a criminal. Who would want to send a child to play
with a Rotweiler. People describe fox hounds as great pets, but Oscar Wilde
described fox hunting as the pursuit of the uneatable by the unspeakable.
But why do so many prefer a dog as a companion for a walk? They get wildly
excited, and love every moment of human company. They greet you when you
come home, and wag their tails when you talk to them. But they don't expect
you to listen to their frustrations. And they never complain about human
faults. Rev. Warren J. Keating, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church
of Yuma, AZ, said that the best prayer he ever heard was: "Lord, please
make me the kind of person my dog thinks I am." The main thing to learn
from pet dogs is to be a friend who overlooks faults, welcomes a chance
to go walking, and listens enthusiastically without needing to share every
detail of medical history.
DOME OF THE ROCK The rock under
this dome has a long history. Abraham ate there with
MELCHIZEDEK
king of Jerusalem (Genesis 14:18). He also went to sacrifice his
son on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2). Arabs claim it was ISHMAEL
who was willing to be sacrificed. King David offered sacrifice there (2
Samuel 34:18, 24-25). That was where Solomon (960-926) built the first
temple (1 Chronicles 21:26, 22:1, 2 Chronicles 3:1). The temple
of Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians (586 or 587 BC) and rebuilt
on the same rock seventy years later (516 BC). As Jesus had predicted (Matthew
24:1-20) the temple was destroyed in that generation (AD 70). Abd al-Malik,
Calph in Damascus, built the Dome of the Rock (687-691) again over the
same location. Muslims believe that MUHAMMAD
ascended to heaven from that rock. The Crusaders occupied Jerusalem (1099-1187)
and to the horror of all Muslims their kings actually lived in the Al Aqsa
mosque next to it. The Dome was damaged by grenades in the war of 1948
(when Israel was established) and devoutly reconstructed by Jordan, Egypt,
and Saudi Arabia. Some Fundamentalist Christians imagine it will be destroyed
and a new temple built, but in each city there is now TEMPLE
of the Holy Spirit made up of living stones (1 Peter 2:5).
DOMINICANS The order was established
in Bologna (1220-21). They wore black cassocks, and so were named the Black
Friars (Jacobins in France). Their main interests were preaching, study,
and education, and they adopted the summa Theologica of THOMAS
AQUINAS (c.1225-74) as their main text book. By establishing houses
in the universities that had been founded (Bologna c.1100, Paris 1150,
Oxford 1167, Cambridge 1209) they supplied most of the leaders of Europe.
The Popes used them to preach the
CRUSADES,
go on diplomatic missions, run the INQUISITION,
and follow the early explorers as missionaries. Martin LUTHER
(1483-1546) preached against a Dominican named Tetzel (c.1465-1519) who
was sent to raise money by selling INDULGENCES
for St. Peter's in Rome. As a result, Dominican teaching was both a long
term and immediate cause of the REFORMATION
and they opposed it tooth and nail.
DREAM Some of the great turning
points of the Bible took place as a result of a dream. By seeing a ladder
going up to heaven Jacob was changed from a deceiver to be the ancestor
of the twelve tribes of Israel (Genesis 28:12 -17). When he told
his brothers of a dream that they would bow down to him Joseph was hated
and sold into Egypt (Genesis 37:5-11). By interpreting the dreams
of the butler and baker, and then the Pharaoh of Egypt, Joseph became the
chief executive of that country (40:8, 41:25, 40-41). Joseph of
Nazareth was told in a dream "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,
for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20,
see other dreams in 2:12-22), and as a result Jesus was given the
legal right to the throne of David. Paul dreamed that a man of Macedonia
was inviting him over into Europe. To his surprise when he arrived in Philippi
this turned out to be a business woman named Lydia (Acts 16:9-10, 14-15).
DONATISTS A group of African Christians
refused to accept Caecilian as Bishop of Carthage. (Bishop 311-c.345).
They complained that he was consecrated by traditors who had surrendered
the Scriptures to save their lives during the persecution of the Emperor
Diocletian (245-313, emperor from 284). When they appealed to CONSTANTINE
to settle their case he heard the opinions of two church councils and sided
against the Donatists. The Donatists were again condemned at a council
in Carthage (411) but they persisted in opposition till the African churches
were taken over by the advancing Arabs and Carthage fell (698). For all
practical purposes North African countries have been Muslim to the present
day.
DRUNKENNESS see WINE
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