Saturday, July 30, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Uncle John is with the Lord
My friend, mentor, and inspiration to ministry is now with the Lord. Uncle John (Stott) passed away. We met 27 years ago in London at All Souls and 6 years later, he would commission me missionary envoy to the US, beginning my ministerial career to this day. Uncle John wanted me to give my mind to the Lord's service and despite all my excuses, he hounded me until I made the decision to leave the world of legal practice for a ministry of the mind. He generously gave me his personal endorsement and opened many doors of opportunity everywhere I went. He remembered me to others whom he had influenced and tried to keep us all in contact with each other...but we were all 'too busy'. We kept in touch during my annual visits to London and his visits to New York City. I was privileged to introduce him at the American Bible Society to pastors in New York. We last spoke a few months ago when it was already apparent that he would soon be in paradise. Although I am glad that John is no longer in pain, I am saddened, deeply saddened beyond words.
Ron Choong
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
The Reason For God: If Jesus Is So Great, Why Are Some of His Followers Such Jerks?
The Reason for God-If Jesus is Great Why His Followers Such Jerks?
“Don’t you have doubts about any religion that has so many fanatics and hypocrites? Non-religious people can be more kind and moral than many Christians I know. If Christianity is true, why are so many non-Christians living better lives than Christians?”
The Christian faith actually teaches ‘common grace’: That no matter who performs it, every act of justice, wisdom and beauty is empowered by God who gives good gifts across all humanity to enrich and preserve the world. (James 1:17) So we should not be surprised that people who have yet to know Christ personally are capable of goodness and wisdom.
The gospel also speaks of the seriously flawed character of genuine Christians. Since we are justified by grace not by our works, we should expect the church to be filled with broken people who still have a long way to grow spiritually, morally and emotionally. They don’t have to ‘clean up’ their lives before becoming Christians.
“The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints”. It is not a self-help program.
RC Sproul: The Christian church is one of the few organizations in the world that requires a public acknowledgement of sin as a condition for membership. In one sense the church has fewer hypocrites than any institution because by definition the church is a haven for sinners. If the church claimed to be an organization of perfect people then her claim would be hypocritical. But so such claim is made by the church. There is no slander in the charge that the church is full of sinners. Such a statement would only compliment the church for fulfilling her divinely appointed task”.
Consider someone with a broken past who becomes a Christian and her character significantly improved over the years. But she still may be less secure or disciplined than someone who is so well adjusted in a non-Christian, stable family environment. Unless you know the starting points of their life journeys, you can easily conclude that Christianity is not worth much. But it would not be a fair conclusion.
Read on for the entire transcript
“Don’t you have doubts about any religion that has so many fanatics and hypocrites? Non-religious people can be more kind and moral than many Christians I know. If Christianity is true, why are so many non-Christians living better lives than Christians?”
The Christian faith actually teaches ‘common grace’: That no matter who performs it, every act of justice, wisdom and beauty is empowered by God who gives good gifts across all humanity to enrich and preserve the world. (James 1:17) So we should not be surprised that people who have yet to know Christ personally are capable of goodness and wisdom.
The gospel also speaks of the seriously flawed character of genuine Christians. Since we are justified by grace not by our works, we should expect the church to be filled with broken people who still have a long way to grow spiritually, morally and emotionally. They don’t have to ‘clean up’ their lives before becoming Christians.
“The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints”. It is not a self-help program.
RC Sproul: The Christian church is one of the few organizations in the world that requires a public acknowledgement of sin as a condition for membership. In one sense the church has fewer hypocrites than any institution because by definition the church is a haven for sinners. If the church claimed to be an organization of perfect people then her claim would be hypocritical. But so such claim is made by the church. There is no slander in the charge that the church is full of sinners. Such a statement would only compliment the church for fulfilling her divinely appointed task”.
Consider someone with a broken past who becomes a Christian and her character significantly improved over the years. But she still may be less secure or disciplined than someone who is so well adjusted in a non-Christian, stable family environment. Unless you know the starting points of their life journeys, you can easily conclude that Christianity is not worth much. But it would not be a fair conclusion.
Read on for the entire transcript
Friday, June 17, 2011
Nurturing The Imagination of Children
Chee Siew Hoong wrote in Kairos magazine: "Nurturing our children’s literary imagination takes place primarily through conversation. We can
discuss themes, characters, writing styles and ideas in the books that they have read. In classical education, discussions take on a more argumentative flavor as the child grows older; as she gives
an intelligent defence of her opinions, her thinking is both stretched in capacity and depth."
Welcome to the Children’s Library!
We are open every Saturday @ 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with story-telling sessions at 11:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.
The Children’s Library is a community library for kids in Puchong and the surrounding area. Everyone is welcome to enjoy the high-quality and award-winning story books available in the English language. Come and experience the cozy reading space and the fun story telling times with other children. The books are geared for children pre-school to age 12.
Do join us in encouraging your child/children to read and to be good listeners as stories are read to the whole group. For any questions or comments, please send us an email at childrens.library@puchong.cdpc.org.my.
PS: A group of us will be discussing the book "The Reason For God" by Tim Keller on the topic of hell and divine judgment this Sunday 19 June 2011 at CDPC Puchong. Guests are welcome!
Next Sunday 26 June 2011, I will be preaching on Suffering and the Sovereignty of God based on the book of Job at Klang Presbyterian Church (11 am). Feel free to drop in and worship with us.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Thots about Hinduism, Buddhism and the Conscious Brain
Here are some thoughts about Hinduism and Buddhism. Both are concerned with satisfying karmic debt. The Hindu quest for the right guru and the Buddhist quest to be awakened for parinirvana, assume no relationship between creator and creation.
The Christian Gospel announces the stunning news that at a moment in geohistory, God became man to reconcile man to God. The historicity of the incarnation of Christ makes the Gospel uniquely relevant to the urgent issues of a scientific age. It is this reality that makes the Christian Gospel worthy of consideration for both Hindus and Buddhists.
My personal conviction is that the Christian faith embodies revelatory truths rooted in geohistorical events that culminated in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. Such a belief is neither verifiable nor falsifiable by any discipline of human inquiry.
Christianity is a faith that seeks understanding and not a faith that results from understanding. Thus, the primary impulse to believe in the metaphysical must have been hard-wired in our minds. Indeed, contemporary neuropsychology suggests that the human brain is evolved for religious cognition. Our minds are optimized to interpret metaphysical signals that machines and our natural senses are unable to measure. Thus, belief in God finds corroborative support in our interpreted experience of the divine. This universal desire to make sense of our experience as human beings, who long to understand more than we know, marks us as the religious animal.
One of the most important questions Christians may ask of its own tradition is, “Did God reveal himself outside the Judeo-Christian cone-of-experience?” How can we account for the fate of the 99+% of humans who ever lived, and who died without having heard the Gospel because they existed outside the geohistory of the biblical faith? Does being born in the wrong time or wrong place doom one to damnation? How does the limited cone of experience generated by any religion, say Christianity, with its focus on Palestine from c.1500 BC to AD 30, count as a universal revelation of God to creation?
Another area worth observing is the effort made by many Buddhist communities to engage the maturing disciplines of the neurosciences. Both Hinduism and Buddhism have long been concerned with the nature of human consciousness and its collateral effects on personality, emotions and memory. The sense of a unified consciousness that we all experience (unless we suffer from schizophrenia, multiple-personalities or other forms of memorial dementia) as colonies of trillions of individual cells, let alone the mitochondrial cells within our somatic ones, cannot be readily explained scientifically. Indeed, in consciousness studies, neurotheology is as much a resource as the philosophy of mind and the neurosciences. The achievement of trance in Hindu rituals and altered states of consciousness in Buddhist meditation remain little understood by modern science and beyond the scrutiny of even powerful machines such as functional MRIs. There is much debate concerning the veracity of interpretations of what these machines measure. Do they measure the cause or the effects of such meditations and mind-controls? Are there Christian analogues practiced by medieval mystics, long forgotten when the Church adopted modern philosophy in its theological doctrines? Can an interdisciplinary approach yield a more holistic understanding of what these ancient religions seek to convey?
These and other such questions are well beyond the scope of this introduction. But I hope to convey the immense amount of interesting work that remains to be labored over by investigators and practitioners of these living faiths. The Christian world ought not to fall behind in understanding how we think and what transpires when our brains are traumatized by physical or psychological stimuli. As we learn to delay our demise and live longer, the essence of what it means to be human, to be alive and to prepare for death takes on new dimensions of urgency.
What we can begin to answer is how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can be relevant to a Hindu or a Buddhist seeking alternatives or simply curious about what other faiths of the Axial Age have produced. Although the basic quest of the Hindus and Buddhists reflects those of other faiths, only the Gospel of Jesus expressly claims a divine will to reconcile us to our maker.
I hope this introduction to the great wisdom beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism has helped you begin to think through a set of worldviews shared by a quarter of the human race.
Perhaps … if the Buddha met the Christ,
there might not have been a need for Buddhism at all.
PS: What is consciousness?
The notion of a unified consciousness shared by a colony of trillions of cells, which make up a human body is a cognitive illusion performed by the brain and interpreted by the mental operations of the mind. A further consequence of our thoughts is the brain’s capacity to navigate the perception of time at each instance of a moving present, and then stitch up the instants seamlessly into a moving duration. Finally, it needs to recall past awareness as memories by consolidating experiences into memorably recallable units of cognition. These collective calibrations of experiences conspire to delude us into believing that we are indeed a singular person with a unified volition.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
What the hell is Hell?
Do you remember the first time someone preached the gospel to you? Was it a good or bad experience? My first experience with a classmate who tried to share the good news with me was not very pleasant. It was a rather forceful presentation with heavy emphasis on eternal punishment, hell fire and brimstone. I can’t recall the exact words but the gist of it was something like: “Hey, do you know where you go after you die? Let me tell you. If you don’t believe in Jesus, you will suffer forever, like barbecue roasting in hell. You will gnash your teeth and scary worms will crawl all over you”. You catch the drift… Have you come across zealous evangelists like that?
My friend’s evangelistic approach actually worked quite well for other classmates. There was a mini revival in school! Certainly God, in his sovereignty, can use even less-than-perfect methods like this to work out his good purpose. But the more he threatened me with the lake of fire for not believing in Jesus, the more determined I was to pick a quarrel with him.
Now that I look back on it, as a believer, I can understand that he actually means well. If there is such a thing as hell, then it would be loving and compassionate of him to warn me about it even if I don’t like to hear it. It’s like if you are asleep in a house that’s on fire, you would wish that the people who saw it will wake you up and tell you to escape quickly from danger. If hell exists, it would be cruel of him to keep quiet and let me die just because he is afraid of offending me. Yes, I can see that now…
But…Even though he probably means well, some classmates and I still think that his way of sharing the good news probably has plenty of room for improvement. Not sure about you but I felt like he’s trying to manipulate people with scare tactics. There was a hint of superiority and pride. Yes, it’s true that Jesus preached about hell and judgment, but He also cried and wept for sinners to turn away from sin and be rescued. Where is the sense of sadness? Where is the sense that: “Unless I am saved by the grace of God, I will end up in hell too? I am not any better than you are. All of us deserve hell unless Christ took our punishment on the cross, for us.”
You see… Unless people sense that Christ-like humility and earnest compassion in us, they may easily be put off by such graceless attitude and become hardened and reject the gospel because it seems to portray a God who is cruel, random and narrow, happy to burn people forever in hell if they happen to disagree with Him.
But… What about good atheists who are kind to other people? Are they going to hell too? How narrow-minded is that? How can God be full of love and yet send people to hell at the same time? These are difficult and serious questions that prevent people from coming to faith. How can we give a reason for our hope to people who ask such questions?
On the other extreme, for many people today, if they think about hell at all, they think of it as a joke or a cartoon strip. Probably you have heard of the one about: “How can there be gnashing of teeth in hell if some people die without any tooth left? Punch-line: False teeth will be provided.” And people go ‘hahaha’… With common jokes like that going around, it’s no wonder that the reality of hell is so often ignored, laughed at, ridiculed and trivialized. We hear people saying, “Oh I’d rather go to hell because all my friends are there and we are gonna party and play mahjong together. It’d be loads of fun.”
And if we are really honest, very often, even Christians are often embarrassed to talk about hell at all for fear of making people uncomfortable. “Let’s focus on the positive side of things instead and forget about all this hellish stuff”. As a result, the biblical teaching about hell is simply never discussed or preached from the pulpit. Most church goers do not even miss it all that much. Do you ever wonder, “Gee… I just can’t wait. When is pastor going to preach on hell again?” Over time, we just neglect and dismiss this doctrine altogether. So how do we affirm a biblical teaching of hell in a culture where tolerance is supreme and divine judgment is not taken seriously?
We probably cannot address everything in a couple of minutes. There is great mystery about the afterlife and what we cannot speak; we must pass over in silence. But we can look at what God has revealed in His word and say something about THREE questions that may help us get a more balanced perspective on hell, help us to comfort the spiritually fearful and at the same time, terrify the spiritually complacent.
Read on or download the full transcript
What the Hell is Hell?
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Christian Spirituality
This Malaysia Bible Seminari course is a pastoral, historical and theological reflection on our life of faith in Christ. It seeks to work out among fellow practitioners ( students of the class) what is required to be more and more conformed to the image of Christ. This is in accordance with the Pauline emphasis that that the gospel has the power to transform men and women to become “mature in Christ” (Col 1.28)
We would seek first to “think” about our life of faith. These are some questions that we would need to engage with :
What is God like?
Who is Man? Sinner or Saint?
The nature of our salvation
How do we progress spiritually to become “Mature in Christ”?
Secondly we will need to dig deeply into the collective wisdom of the Church of Christ over two millennia and learn from godly church fathers and theologians how to “live” out our life of faith. We will explore together :
· Life of prayer
· Spiritual disciplines
· Rule of life
· Various biblical and practical approaches to spiritual formation and discipleship
Evangelical Christians in Malaysia have very little knowledge of Christian traditions and spiritualities outside their own traditions and denominations. This course seeks to help us rediscover that the Holy Spirit has been at work within and outside our respective churches.
Instructor: Dr Tony Lim
Malaysia Bible Seminary
Wednesdays (9am - 12 pm)
Main Text : Simon Chan’s Spiritual Theology
Part One
The Theological Principles of Spiritual Theology
Part Two
The practice of the Spiritual Life
Knowing God and Knowing Self
Dealing with Sin and Temptation and crisis of faith
Spiritual Disciplines and the Rule of Life
Spiritual Formation
Journal writing
We would seek first to “think” about our life of faith. These are some questions that we would need to engage with :
What is God like?
Who is Man? Sinner or Saint?
The nature of our salvation
How do we progress spiritually to become “Mature in Christ”?
Secondly we will need to dig deeply into the collective wisdom of the Church of Christ over two millennia and learn from godly church fathers and theologians how to “live” out our life of faith. We will explore together :
· Life of prayer
· Spiritual disciplines
· Rule of life
· Various biblical and practical approaches to spiritual formation and discipleship
Evangelical Christians in Malaysia have very little knowledge of Christian traditions and spiritualities outside their own traditions and denominations. This course seeks to help us rediscover that the Holy Spirit has been at work within and outside our respective churches.
Instructor: Dr Tony Lim
Malaysia Bible Seminary
Wednesdays (9am - 12 pm)
Main Text : Simon Chan’s Spiritual Theology
Part One
The Theological Principles of Spiritual Theology
Part Two
The practice of the Spiritual Life
Knowing God and Knowing Self
Dealing with Sin and Temptation and crisis of faith
Spiritual Disciplines and the Rule of Life
Spiritual Formation
Journal writing
Monday, May 30, 2011
Faith Confronts Power
Kairos Magazine: Faith Confronts Power (May 2011) is out! Check out the highlights in this issue:
Prophets and Kings: Faith and Power in the Old Testament
Christ and Caesar: A New Testament Perspective
Confronting the Nazi State: Bonhoeffer and The Barmen Declaration
Le Chambon: A Beacon of Hope in Darkness
Witnessing Church Under Hostile Authorities in the Book of Revelation
Persecution and Destruction of Eastern Christianity
History and Power
Truth and Public Life: The Heritage of Lesslie Newbigin
The Christian and Politics (free article, click to download)
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
Movie Review: The Social Network
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Reason For God: How Can a Good God Send People to Hell?
The Reason for God- What the hell is Hell?
Here are some notes culled from Tim Keller's book The Reason For God, for a study group at CDPC Puchong next month.
How Can God send Good people to hell? How Can God be full of Love and Wrath at the same time?
Does "Love Win" or... is it more complex and wonderful than that? Check it out
Here are some notes culled from Tim Keller's book The Reason For God, for a study group at CDPC Puchong next month.
How Can God send Good people to hell? How Can God be full of Love and Wrath at the same time?
Does "Love Win" or... is it more complex and wonderful than that? Check it out
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Malaysia negara Kristian?
Media Statement: Authorities must take action against irresponsible, baseless and provocative reporting
A national Malay language daily, Utusan Malaysia, today (7th May 2011) carried a report under the headlines “Malaysia negara Kristian?”, (Malaysia, a Christian country?) where it was alleged that Christian leaders (paderi-paderi or priests/pastors) who at a closed door meeting in Penang had vowed to make Malaysia the official religion of Malaysia and to install a Christian as its Prime Minister. It was further reported that a meeting was to take place this evening at the Catholic Christian Centre (Pusat Kristian Katolik) in Penang and a public lecture will be organized tomorrow.
On behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Malaysia, I would like to categorically refute the allegation that such a meeting had taken place or will take place in a Catholic venue in Penang . It is clear that this reporting is baseless and highly irresponsible as the reporters and editors of the above newspaper have not taken any reasonable steps whatsoever to verify the allegations made by anonymous bloggers. Furthermore, this report comes after the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF), one of the organizers of the above meeting, having refuted the claims of those bloggers and the same was carried on online media. The NECF has further clarified that this meeting only covered the topic of ethical leadership and had no treasonous agenda as alleged by the bloggers and news report.
It is clear that such reporting has the effect of creating religious disharmony, inciting hatred and heaping odium on Christians. We therefore call upon the authorities and the police to immediately make a thorough investigation of this matter to determine the source of these insidious, provocative and malicious lies and to take the necessary action against those who seek to threaten the multi-cultural and multi-religious harmonious make-up in this country.
We, Christians constantly pray for good governance by political and civil authorities. We also teach our people to be God fearing, law abiding citizens and conscientious decision makers based on justice which is reflective of moral and divine laws. In the recent statements of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) regarding the Al-Kitab issue, we had always reiterated our commitment and readiness to dialogue and work together with the government and all parties for a just and reasonable solution. It is clear that our position has never been treasonous nor have we advocated hatred, antagonism or animosity towards any religion or groups of persons.
I continue to call upon all Catholics, Christians and all Malaysians to pray, dialogue and work together to strengthen national unity and harmony. May God bless our leaders with a firm vision and the courage and strength to uphold and realise it.
Tan Sri Datuk Murphy Nicholas Pakiam DD
Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur
President, Catholic Bishops of Malaysia
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Right For You But Not For Me?
The Reason for God-Moral Relativism
Moral Relativism says, “Every person or culture has to define what is right and wrong for themselves.”
But if you ask, “Is there anyone right now doing things you believe they should stop doing no matter what they personally believe about it?” people will invariably say, “Yes of course”. Doesn’t that mean that we do believe there is some moral reality that is not defined by us, that we must abide whether others like it or not? For example, genocide is not just impractical or unpleasant (i.e. we don’t like it done to us) but wrong…
There is a sense of sacredness to human life.
The irony is this: Relativists can't accuse others of wrongdoing. They cannot consistently oppose racism, exploitation, genocide. They can't demand justice and promote tolerance. If ethics are relative to each culture, then anyone outside the culture loses the right to critique it. Essentially that was the argument of the Nazi leaders during the Nuremberg Trials. A moral reformer like a Martin Luther King, Jr. would be immoral by definition because he's violating the rules of society. 'We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.’-CS Lewis. Christians have a consistent foundation to speak out against social evils based upon God’s revelation. Moral relativists do not
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Sermon: Suffering Job And The Sovereignty of God
Listen or Download the Audio Podcast for the sermon below at CDPC Puchong website.
Topic: If God is Good and All-Powerful, Why is There Evil and Suffering in the World?
Date: 8 May 2011 (Sunday)
Time: 10 am
Venue: City Discipleship Presbyterian Church, Puchong
There will be an open discussion after the message where your questions and feedback are most welcome.
There will be an open discussion after the message where your questions and feedback are most welcome.
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Why Is There Evil and Suffering?
The Reason for God-Why Evil and Suffering
Where is God in the midst of our pain? Why doesn’t He do something about the evil and suffering in this world?
David Hume: Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is cruel. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?
This serious objection against the existence of God is sometimes called the Archilles’ heel of the Christian faith. How would you answer? It becomes a profoundly difficult question (both intellectually and emotionally) if you believe in a biblical vision of God as holy, loving and all-powerful. For people who experienced terrible tragedy, this is a personal issue not just philosophical. Empathy and pastoral care are more appropriate. Remember Job’s friends.
The first thing to note is this: The Bible recognizes, allows, and even invites such questions. If you are troubled by the reality of sin and suffering in the world, you are not alone. Listen to the wailings of suffering Job, the laments of prophet Jeremiah, the angry complaints of Habakkuk or Psalm 22; leading to the climax of Jesus’ cry on the cross: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” You can hardly find any faithful saint who does not wrestle with the why questions. The Bible recognizes, allows, and even invites such questions.
While we cannot explain the detailed purpose behind every specific case of suffering, the Bible gives us clear answers on two other important questions that help us to trust in God’s goodness and power:
1) “Does God care? Where is He in our pain?”
God is with us when it hurts: He is not far away, looking indifferently at our struggles. Rather he has come in the person of Jesus and suffered personally on the cross on our behalf. The answer cannot be that God doesn’t care. Only the Christian faith shows us a God who suffers injustice, rejection and pain with us and for us.
Albert Camus, the existential philosopher: “The god-man (Jesus) suffers too, with patience. Evil and death can no longer be entirely imputed to him since he suffers and dies. The night onGolgotha is so important in the history of man only because, in its shadows, the divinity ostensibly abandoned its traditional privilege, and lived through to the end, despair included, the agony of death”
“Jesus of the Scars” (a poem by Edward Schiltoff)
2) Will evil and suffering be resolved one day?”
God will renew the heaven and earth: We despair with the question of whether evil will eventually be overcome because it appears so powerful and pervasive. But Jesus promised that God will intervene and stop evil one day. He will wipe the tears from our eyes and turn weapons of war into instruments of peace. There will be future resolution when relationships will be restored, all creation restored and healing justice in society.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the ultimate sign that God’s righteous rule will eventually prevail over sin and death. Evil shall not have the last word.
Perhaps our need is not to have evil explained. A more urgent question is:
What are we doing about the evil and suffering in our world? It’s a call to action, not just reflection. Are we actively working as individuals and church to alleviate suffering of the poor and marginalized?
Read the attached article in Scribd for more details on some Christian and non-Christian approaches to theodicy
Where is God in the midst of our pain? Why doesn’t He do something about the evil and suffering in this world?
David Hume: Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is cruel. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?
This serious objection against the existence of God is sometimes called the Archilles’ heel of the Christian faith. How would you answer? It becomes a profoundly difficult question (both intellectually and emotionally) if you believe in a biblical vision of God as holy, loving and all-powerful. For people who experienced terrible tragedy, this is a personal issue not just philosophical. Empathy and pastoral care are more appropriate. Remember Job’s friends.
The first thing to note is this: The Bible recognizes, allows, and even invites such questions. If you are troubled by the reality of sin and suffering in the world, you are not alone. Listen to the wailings of suffering Job, the laments of prophet Jeremiah, the angry complaints of Habakkuk or Psalm 22; leading to the climax of Jesus’ cry on the cross: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” You can hardly find any faithful saint who does not wrestle with the why questions. The Bible recognizes, allows, and even invites such questions.
While we cannot explain the detailed purpose behind every specific case of suffering, the Bible gives us clear answers on two other important questions that help us to trust in God’s goodness and power:
1) “Does God care? Where is He in our pain?”
God is with us when it hurts: He is not far away, looking indifferently at our struggles. Rather he has come in the person of Jesus and suffered personally on the cross on our behalf. The answer cannot be that God doesn’t care. Only the Christian faith shows us a God who suffers injustice, rejection and pain with us and for us.
Albert Camus, the existential philosopher: “The god-man (Jesus) suffers too, with patience. Evil and death can no longer be entirely imputed to him since he suffers and dies. The night on
“Jesus of the Scars” (a poem by Edward Schiltoff)
The other gods were strong. But Thou wast weak.
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to Thy throne.
And to our wounds, only God's wounds can speak,
and not a god has wounds but Thou alone.
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to Thy throne.
And to our wounds, only God's wounds can speak,
and not a god has wounds but Thou alone.
God will renew the heaven and earth: We despair with the question of whether evil will eventually be overcome because it appears so powerful and pervasive. But Jesus promised that God will intervene and stop evil one day. He will wipe the tears from our eyes and turn weapons of war into instruments of peace. There will be future resolution when relationships will be restored, all creation restored and healing justice in society.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the ultimate sign that God’s righteous rule will eventually prevail over sin and death. Evil shall not have the last word.
What God has done in Christ on Easter morning, He would do on a cosmic scale for the entire creation, including us! In the meantime, we are to live today as if the future is already present. The way we live should point forward to what God’s kingdom in its future fullness would look like (like a movie preview). Therefore we have every reason and motivation to be His agents of healing justice in a sinful and suffering world.
What are we doing about the evil and suffering in our world? It’s a call to action, not just reflection. Are we actively working as individuals and church to alleviate suffering of the poor and marginalized?
Read the attached article in Scribd for more details on some Christian and non-Christian approaches to theodicy
PROTECT AND DEFEND CHRISTIANS' RIGHT TO USE THE ALKITAB
CFM Media Statement - Protect & Defend Right to Use Alkitab 30.03.11
We are grateful to Almighty God for bringing together Christian leaders from across churches in Semenanjung, Sabah and Sarawak to address the current controversy surrounding the impounding of Bahasa Malaysia Bibles, the Alkitab, at Port Klang and Kuching. This decision weighs heavily on us because of the implications not only for Christians but for all Malaysians.
We are united in our reaffirmation of the freedom of religion and worship. Therefore, our position is that there should be no restrictions, proscriptions or prohibitions whatsoever on the Bible or the use of the language of our choice in the practice of our religion, as it was in the days before and after the formation of Malaysia.
Christians, like any other Malaysians, are not demanding for anything beyond our constitutional and fundamental human rights as enshrined in Article 11(1) of the Federal Constitution and Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The current controversy surrounding the Alkitab is just one of many issues that concerns Christians. There has been a systematic and progressive pushing back of the public space to practice, to profess and to express our faith. For example, the wearing and displaying of crosses and other religious symbols, using religious words and constructing places of worship have been restricted.
When Christians express this concern, we do so not just for ourselves but on behalf of all Malaysians. Our faith forms a critical component of our identity as Malaysians in nation-building as enshrined in the first pillar of our nation's Rukunegara: Belief in God.
As regards the offer made by the government on 22 March 2011, we respectfully state that this does not address the substantive issues. In point of fact, our previous offer made in 2005 to use the term "A Christian Publication" was only honoured in respect of one shipment of the Alkitab. Subsequent shipments were similarly held up and subjected to further arbitrary conditions for release.
In order to move forward, we call on the Government to commit itself once and for all to remove every impediment, whether legal or administrative, to the importation, publication, distribution and use of the Alkitab and indeed to protect and defend our right to use the Alkitab.
This includes revoking all orders made under the Internal Security Act 1960, which have declared the Alkitab as a threat to national security. Neither can the Alkitab be considered a threat to public order under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984. We categorically reject the characterisation of our Holy Scriptures in this manner.
Instead, we see our Holy Scriptures as providing enlightenment and direction. In the words of the psalmist, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119 : 105). In the New Testament is stated the teaching that we hold dear and true : "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (II Timothy 3 : 16)
We remain committed to work with the Government for a viable and long-term solution where the detailed processes and procedures are made clear and unequivocal and so long as our fundamental liberties as enshrined in the Federal Constitution are not infringed.
As for the copies of the Alkitab that have been impounded and desecrated, we reiterate our position that the action of the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN) in stamping the Bibles amounts to an act of defacement, disrespect and treating with disdain the holy book of the Christians.
Given the unfortunate experience of KDN's tendency of taking arbitrary action without consulting affected parties or respecting the religious sensitivities of the Christian community, any decision to collect copies of the Alkitab which have been stamped and serialised would be with a view to prevent the possibility of further arbitrary acts of desecration, disrespect or destruction being committed against the Holy Scripture of the Christians by KDN and its officers.
We have left it to the 2 importers to decide whether or not to collect the Alkitab, based on their different specific circumstances and level of trust in the authorities and the processes in their local context.
Nevertheless, no matter what their decision is, we remain united in our common stand to uphold the principle of freedom of religion which includes the free availability without hindrance or obstacle of the Alkitab and all sacred scriptures in Malaysia.
We continue to call on all peace-loving Malaysians to pray for a dignified resolution to these critical issues in the life of our nation.
Dated this day 30th March 2011
Bishop Ng Moon Hing
Chairman and the Executive Committee
The Christian Federation of Malaysia
We are grateful to Almighty God for bringing together Christian leaders from across churches in Semenanjung, Sabah and Sarawak to address the current controversy surrounding the impounding of Bahasa Malaysia Bibles, the Alkitab, at Port Klang and Kuching. This decision weighs heavily on us because of the implications not only for Christians but for all Malaysians.
We are united in our reaffirmation of the freedom of religion and worship. Therefore, our position is that there should be no restrictions, proscriptions or prohibitions whatsoever on the Bible or the use of the language of our choice in the practice of our religion, as it was in the days before and after the formation of Malaysia.
Christians, like any other Malaysians, are not demanding for anything beyond our constitutional and fundamental human rights as enshrined in Article 11(1) of the Federal Constitution and Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The current controversy surrounding the Alkitab is just one of many issues that concerns Christians. There has been a systematic and progressive pushing back of the public space to practice, to profess and to express our faith. For example, the wearing and displaying of crosses and other religious symbols, using religious words and constructing places of worship have been restricted.
When Christians express this concern, we do so not just for ourselves but on behalf of all Malaysians. Our faith forms a critical component of our identity as Malaysians in nation-building as enshrined in the first pillar of our nation's Rukunegara: Belief in God.
As regards the offer made by the government on 22 March 2011, we respectfully state that this does not address the substantive issues. In point of fact, our previous offer made in 2005 to use the term "A Christian Publication" was only honoured in respect of one shipment of the Alkitab. Subsequent shipments were similarly held up and subjected to further arbitrary conditions for release.
In order to move forward, we call on the Government to commit itself once and for all to remove every impediment, whether legal or administrative, to the importation, publication, distribution and use of the Alkitab and indeed to protect and defend our right to use the Alkitab.
This includes revoking all orders made under the Internal Security Act 1960, which have declared the Alkitab as a threat to national security. Neither can the Alkitab be considered a threat to public order under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984. We categorically reject the characterisation of our Holy Scriptures in this manner.
Instead, we see our Holy Scriptures as providing enlightenment and direction. In the words of the psalmist, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119 : 105). In the New Testament is stated the teaching that we hold dear and true : "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (II Timothy 3 : 16)
We remain committed to work with the Government for a viable and long-term solution where the detailed processes and procedures are made clear and unequivocal and so long as our fundamental liberties as enshrined in the Federal Constitution are not infringed.
As for the copies of the Alkitab that have been impounded and desecrated, we reiterate our position that the action of the Ministry of Home Affairs (KDN) in stamping the Bibles amounts to an act of defacement, disrespect and treating with disdain the holy book of the Christians.
Given the unfortunate experience of KDN's tendency of taking arbitrary action without consulting affected parties or respecting the religious sensitivities of the Christian community, any decision to collect copies of the Alkitab which have been stamped and serialised would be with a view to prevent the possibility of further arbitrary acts of desecration, disrespect or destruction being committed against the Holy Scripture of the Christians by KDN and its officers.
We have left it to the 2 importers to decide whether or not to collect the Alkitab, based on their different specific circumstances and level of trust in the authorities and the processes in their local context.
Nevertheless, no matter what their decision is, we remain united in our common stand to uphold the principle of freedom of religion which includes the free availability without hindrance or obstacle of the Alkitab and all sacred scriptures in Malaysia.
We continue to call on all peace-loving Malaysians to pray for a dignified resolution to these critical issues in the life of our nation.
Dated this day 30th March 2011
Bishop Ng Moon Hing
Chairman and the Executive Committee
The Christian Federation of Malaysia
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Isn't the Bible a Myth?
The Reason for God - Can We Trust the Bible?
We had the second discussion based on The Reason for God centering on the question of the Bible and its reliability and interface with science. These are two huge topics which require some careful reflection, and we didn't have time to do them justice.
But I'm glad that some issues surface: That one can never be perfectly neutral or purely objective when it comes to the Bible. The stakes are too high and personal. We come with prior inclination to either disbelieve or believe it.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle noted that people form their beliefs on the basis of three factors:
logos (the rational dimension: we don't want our beliefs to be mere wishful thinking)
pathos (the emotional/beautiful dimension that resonates with our deepest longings)
ethos (the social dimention of persuasion: beliefs influenced by our upbringing and circle of friends we trust)
I believe all three factors come into play whether you are a believer or a skeptic. The notes above are part of our reading material which interacts with the Reason for God DVD. In the video, a participant asks:
"Is there a dichotomy between myth and truth? Does it have to be factually true in order for it to be important? Art is true for the moment and does not need to be authenticated by history. More importantly, does it emotionally true? Does it resonate with your heart?"
At one level, for example ethical teachings in Jesus’ parables, its truth does not depend on whether the good Samaritan is historical or not. It resonates with theological truth even when it is not authenticated by history.
But on another level, Christianity is not just a set of ethical principles but about God acting to rescue his people in space-time events. That’s why some acts of God in history such as the death and resurrection of Christ are important and need to be verifiable. It is not just collective imagination of believers but something that really took place in order for it to have the meaning it claims to have.
Other participants in the DVD think history is important: The resurrection of Christ is a clincher: It changes everything if Jesus really rose from the dead. Why?
That would be a vindication of the claims Jesus made about Himself – a miracle that authenticates His claim to be God and has authority over everything.
There are two approaches to come to the conclusion that the Bible is God's word.
The classical view starts with the existence of God (based on some theistic proofs) and then inductively looks at the evidence in the Gospels for what Jesus said and did on earth. At this point, we are just taking the biblical texts as generally reliable ancient documents rather than an inerrant Scripture. From there, we could confidently discover that Jesus claims to have divine authority and equal with God. Not only that, His death and resurrection make the most plausible explanation for the historical facts that confront us: an empty tomb and the emergence of the Christian movement. Therefore, Jesus has divine authority and we are justified to embrace His high view of Scripture as our own.
The presuppositional view starts deductively with the self-testimony of the Bible as God's Word and then, proceeds to show how only with this starting point that all our human experiences and knowledge are meaningful and not reduced to absurdity. It is a transcendental argument i.e. unless you presuppose the Bible as God's infallible Word, everything else (morality, knowledge, beauty etc) falls apart.
We had the second discussion based on The Reason for God centering on the question of the Bible and its reliability and interface with science. These are two huge topics which require some careful reflection, and we didn't have time to do them justice.
But I'm glad that some issues surface: That one can never be perfectly neutral or purely objective when it comes to the Bible. The stakes are too high and personal. We come with prior inclination to either disbelieve or believe it.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle noted that people form their beliefs on the basis of three factors:
logos (the rational dimension: we don't want our beliefs to be mere wishful thinking)
pathos (the emotional/beautiful dimension that resonates with our deepest longings)
ethos (the social dimention of persuasion: beliefs influenced by our upbringing and circle of friends we trust)
I believe all three factors come into play whether you are a believer or a skeptic. The notes above are part of our reading material which interacts with the Reason for God DVD. In the video, a participant asks:
"Is there a dichotomy between myth and truth? Does it have to be factually true in order for it to be important? Art is true for the moment and does not need to be authenticated by history. More importantly, does it emotionally true? Does it resonate with your heart?"
At one level, for example ethical teachings in Jesus’ parables, its truth does not depend on whether the good Samaritan is historical or not. It resonates with theological truth even when it is not authenticated by history.
But on another level, Christianity is not just a set of ethical principles but about God acting to rescue his people in space-time events. That’s why some acts of God in history such as the death and resurrection of Christ are important and need to be verifiable. It is not just collective imagination of believers but something that really took place in order for it to have the meaning it claims to have.
Other participants in the DVD think history is important: The resurrection of Christ is a clincher: It changes everything if Jesus really rose from the dead. Why?
That would be a vindication of the claims Jesus made about Himself – a miracle that authenticates His claim to be God and has authority over everything.
There are two approaches to come to the conclusion that the Bible is God's word.
The classical view starts with the existence of God (based on some theistic proofs) and then inductively looks at the evidence in the Gospels for what Jesus said and did on earth. At this point, we are just taking the biblical texts as generally reliable ancient documents rather than an inerrant Scripture. From there, we could confidently discover that Jesus claims to have divine authority and equal with God. Not only that, His death and resurrection make the most plausible explanation for the historical facts that confront us: an empty tomb and the emergence of the Christian movement. Therefore, Jesus has divine authority and we are justified to embrace His high view of Scripture as our own.
The presuppositional view starts deductively with the self-testimony of the Bible as God's Word and then, proceeds to show how only with this starting point that all our human experiences and knowledge are meaningful and not reduced to absurdity. It is a transcendental argument i.e. unless you presuppose the Bible as God's infallible Word, everything else (morality, knowledge, beauty etc) falls apart.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Book Review of Miroslav Volf's Allah: A Christian Response
Volf, Miroslav. (2011). Allah: A Christian Response, New York, NY: HarperOne. Miroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at the Yale Divinity School and founding director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture.
Using "political theology", Volf's main thesis is that the God of Christians and Muslims is the same. His approach is from that of a Christian but he is able to balance that with a few quotations from the Koran and Hadith. He argues persuasively that since "normative" Christianity's description of God's attributes is similar to "normative" Islam's description of Allah's attributes, therefore both religious traditions worship the same God.
When it comes to the issue of the Trinity (Muslims believe that Christians worship three gods instead of one), Volf brings in the masterful argument set forth by theologian Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 1464) and that of Reformer Martin Luther. Volf gave a good summary of the explanation of Nicholas of Cusa of the Trinity to the Muslim so that there is "no dispute between Christians and Muslim about God's unity" (51). One part of his explanation is that "[n]umbers are for creatures. God is not a creature. Therefore God is beyond number - beyond the number one as much as beyond the number three" (52). It must be noted that Nicholas of Cusa came up with this ingenious explanation of the Trinity after the fall and rape of Constantinople in 1453 by the Muslim armies of Sultan Mehmed II and the Christians were trying to sue for peace. The argument by Martin Luther as explained by Volf was a bit confusing except that "the main emphasis of Luther's theology: God's unconditional love" (73). However it must also be noted that Luther's thinking was in the context of Sulaimen the Magnificent capturing Hungary and laying siege to Vienna. If Vienna falls, then the whole of Europe will follow. The Christians were again trying to find common grounds.
Having set the groundwork by appealing to Nicholas of Cusa and Martin Luther, Volf set forth to argue in the second half of the book that the common attributes of the Christian God and Islam's Allah are the same thus concluding that both are the same. All other points of differences are then explained under "eternal and unconditional love". Though I appreciate Volf's attempt to set a common ground for dialogue, and suspect his affirmation that "If Muslims and Christians have a common God, are not Islam and Christianity just two versions of the same thing?" (191), I am not comfortable with his approach.
As Volf himself has pointed out, the Apostle Creed reveals two essential aspects of Christianity - who God is and what He has done. One cannot explain away so easily the Trinity- God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit in one Godhead (Christians believe in one God, not three Gods). Also the work of Jesus Christ on the cross cannot be explained away by just using the term "unconditional love" without going into atonement and Jesus' words "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). In the index of this 314 page book, there is only three references to Jesus' death on the cross.
The second sentence Volf's introduction chapter almost broke my heart. He writes, "Christian responses to Allah - understood here as the God of the Quran - will either widen the chasm or help bridge it" (1). In Malaysia, the Christians have been trying to appeal against the government who wants to restrict the use of the word Allah to Muslims only. In one sentence, Volf gives away all that the Malaysian Christians have been fighting for all these years. Volf is aware of this issue in Malaysia (80-81). Allah has been used as synonymous with God by the Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) speaking Christians in Malaysia long before Malaysia became a country. Allah is an Arabic word meaning God.
This book is an excellent scholarly monograph in bridge building between two religious traditions. If it is from the Christian perspective, then one must be careful not to give away the basic tenets of one's faith.
Addentum (18 March 2011)
How does Volf "gives away" the battle for the name "Allah" for the Christians in Malaysia. This was at the very beginning of the book. Volf in naming his significant terms gave the term "Allah" to the Muslims and "God" to the Christians. We know what he is trying to do and if his thesis is correct it does not matter.
But if he is wrong then as a Christian he have given away the term to the Muslims.
The general reading public may not understand 'significant terms". All they will know is from this book, Volf suggests Christians and Muslims worship the same God which the Muslims call "Allah, and the Christians "God". It is likely most Muslims will reject this statement. However, they will be happy to point out that a prominent Yale scholar and theologian has used the term "Allah" exclusively to refer to the God Muslims worship and differentiated the term from the Christian God.
While I appreciate that he is writing from the North American context, however he must realise that the world is very interconnected and he has to be sensitive in his use of terms. Especially when he is aware of what is happening in Malaysia.
.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Argument From Desire
KPC-Thirsting for God
It was a great privilege to preach at Klang Presbyterian Church (English service) at 11 am today on the topic of Thirsting After God based on Psalm 63. I get the chance to refine the sermon further (for the third time) by incorporating some thoughts on Buddhist views about desire, attachment and suffering;
It was a great privilege to preach at Klang Presbyterian Church (English service) at 11 am today on the topic of Thirsting After God based on Psalm 63. I get the chance to refine the sermon further (for the third time) by incorporating some thoughts on Buddhist views about desire, attachment and suffering;
In Buddhism desire is considered to be the problem of humanity. Desire drives us to attachment and binds us to suffering. Since desire itself is the problem, the solution is to get rid of desire and attain Nirvana. But in order to get rid of desire, you must have the desire to get rid of desire. It seems you need the problem in order to get the solution....the dynamics of hidden idols in our heart (hats off to Tim Keller's Countefeit Gods), explaining further the powerful Argument from Desire for the existence of God....
But for the Christian, desire is not a bad thing in itself. The problem is when we desire lesser goods more than a greater Good. For example when we love money more than our family, this is wrong because our family is more valuable, a higher good compared to money. We have sacrificed a greater good for a lesser good. And when we desire anything in the world – be it work, ministry, family, career, ambition (things that are good in themselves) – when we desire them more than God, it becomes a problem. It becomes idol worship. That thing has become our true source of satisfaction and security. It is functionally our god, no matter what we say we believe.
So the solution is not to get rid of desire per se (you can’t do it even if you try). The solution is to have our love replaced and captivated by the Supreme Good – that is God Himself. Only a greater desire awakened by the Holy Spirit can expel our attachment to worldly things. Every day, we are faced with these questions: What is your deepest desire? What is your true source of satisfaction? What gives you courage to face the future? Denial of worldly pleasures alone is not enough. We need to have our desires transformed, redirected and fulfilled in what is ultimately satisfying and most glorious – in all that God is for us in Christ.
According to C.S. Lewis, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy (this longing)… Probably, earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing." Perhaps these yearnings for meaning, relationship and purpose in our heart are clues and hints that point us to the God who truly satisfies.And this meaningful song by Chris Rice called “Thirsty”...
But some may say: “Well, just because I feel the desire for “fried ice cream” doesn’t mean that I will get it. Just because we want something doesn’t mean it exists.” But doesn’t the appetite for food in us mean that food exists somewhere? Isn’t it true that our innate desires correspond to real objects that can satisfy them, such as sexual desire (corresponding to sex), physical hunger (corresponding to food), tiredness (corresponds to sleep) and relational desires (corresponding to friendship)? And we have a longing that no amount or quality of food, sex, friendship or success in this world can fulfill. That is a powerful clue that the vacuum in our hearts is God-shaped and only a relationship with the infinite God can make it whole again. If our hunger points to food and our thirst points to water, could our desire for something beyond this world be a clue to something else? Perhaps we are made for another world beyond this material world that we can see.
I’m so thirsty, I can feel it
Burning through the furthest corners of my soul
Deep desire, can’t describe this
Nameless urge that drives me somewhere
Though I don’t know where to go
Seems I’ve heard about a River from someone who’s been
And they tell me once you reach it, oh, you’ll never thirst again
So I have to find the River, somehow my life depends on the River
Holy River, I’m so thirsty
Other waters I’ve been drinkin’
But they always leave me empty like before
Satisfaction, all I’m askin’
Could I really feel this thirsty if there weren’t something more?
And I’ve heard about a River from someone who’s been
And they tell me once you reach it, oh, you’ll never thirst again
So I have to find the River, somehow my life depends on the River
Holy River, I’m so thirsty
I’m on the shore now of the wildest River
And I kneel and beg for mercy from the sky
But no one answers, I’ve gotta take my chances
‘Cause something deep inside me’s cryin’
"This is why you are alive!"
So I plunge into the River with all that I am
Praying this will be the River where I’ll never thirst again
I’m abandoned to the River
And now my life depends on the River
Holy River, I’m so thirsty
Thursday, March 10, 2011
CFM: Fed-Up By Detention of Alkitabs Again
Christian Federation of Malaysia: Detention of BM Bibles Yet Again
The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) is greatly disillusioned, fed-up and angered by the repeated detention of Bibles written in our national language, Bahasa Malaysia. This time yet again at the Port of Kuching in Sarawak.
30,000 copies of the “Perjanjian Baru, Mazmur dan Amsal” i.e. the “New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs” are currently being withheld.
This is notwithstanding that the Government in its attempt to to justify its position against the use of the word "Allah" in the Alkitab, the Government had given the assurance that the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, will be freely available, at least in Sabah and Sarawak.
Since March 2009, all attempts to import the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, i.e. the Alkitab, whether through Port Klang or the Port of Kuching, have been thwarted.
The previous consignment of 5,000 copies of the Alkitab imported in March 2009 is still being held by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Port Klang. This is despite repeated appeals which resulted in the Prime Minister making a decision to release the Alkitab held in Port Klang in December 2009 which was reported to CFM leaders by several Cabinet Ministers and their aides.
In absolute disregard of this decision, the 5,000 copies of the Alkitab remain detained. The Prime Minister when told about the continued detention of these 5,000 Bibles at a hi-tea event last Christmas expressed surprise that the order to release the same held in Port Klang had not been implemented. However, nothing has been done by the authorities to ensure their release.
Prior to March 2009, there were several incidents where shipments of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia were detained. Each time tedious steps had to be taken to secure their release. It would appear as if the authorities are waging a continuous, surreptitious and systematic programme against Christians in Malaysia to deny them access to the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia.
Malaysian Christians, many of whom have grown up with Bahasa Malaysia as their principal medium of communication as a result of the Government’s education policies, must have access to Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia in order to read, comprehend and practise their faith.
The freedom of religion guaranteed as part of the fundamental liberties under our Federal Constitution is rendered meaningless if adherents to a religion are denied access to their religious texts in a language that they can understand.
It is an affront to them that they are being deprived of their sacred Scriptures. Many are wondering why their Scriptures are considered a threat to national security. All these actions in relation to the detention of the Bibles continue to hurt the Malaysian Christian community.
We would ask how the Government’s transformation programme can be successfully implemented if civil servants can blatantly refuse to obey the Prime Minister’s order? Is the Government powerless to act against these “little Napoleons” who substitute their own interests and agenda in place of the Prime Minister’s directives?
We call upon the Government to act now and prove their sincerity and integrity in dealing with the Malaysian Christian community on this and all other issues which we have been raising with them since the formation of the Christian Federation of Malaysia in 1985.
As an immediate step, we insist upon the immediate release of all Bibles which have been detained.
Bishop Ng Moon Hing
Chairman and the Executive Committee,
Christian Federation of Malaysia
The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) is greatly disillusioned, fed-up and angered by the repeated detention of Bibles written in our national language, Bahasa Malaysia. This time yet again at the Port of Kuching in Sarawak.
30,000 copies of the “Perjanjian Baru, Mazmur dan Amsal” i.e. the “New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs” are currently being withheld.
This is notwithstanding that the Government in its attempt to to justify its position against the use of the word "Allah" in the Alkitab, the Government had given the assurance that the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, will be freely available, at least in Sabah and Sarawak.
Since March 2009, all attempts to import the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, i.e. the Alkitab, whether through Port Klang or the Port of Kuching, have been thwarted.
The previous consignment of 5,000 copies of the Alkitab imported in March 2009 is still being held by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Port Klang. This is despite repeated appeals which resulted in the Prime Minister making a decision to release the Alkitab held in Port Klang in December 2009 which was reported to CFM leaders by several Cabinet Ministers and their aides.
In absolute disregard of this decision, the 5,000 copies of the Alkitab remain detained. The Prime Minister when told about the continued detention of these 5,000 Bibles at a hi-tea event last Christmas expressed surprise that the order to release the same held in Port Klang had not been implemented. However, nothing has been done by the authorities to ensure their release.
Prior to March 2009, there were several incidents where shipments of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia were detained. Each time tedious steps had to be taken to secure their release. It would appear as if the authorities are waging a continuous, surreptitious and systematic programme against Christians in Malaysia to deny them access to the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia.
Malaysian Christians, many of whom have grown up with Bahasa Malaysia as their principal medium of communication as a result of the Government’s education policies, must have access to Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia in order to read, comprehend and practise their faith.
The freedom of religion guaranteed as part of the fundamental liberties under our Federal Constitution is rendered meaningless if adherents to a religion are denied access to their religious texts in a language that they can understand.
It is an affront to them that they are being deprived of their sacred Scriptures. Many are wondering why their Scriptures are considered a threat to national security. All these actions in relation to the detention of the Bibles continue to hurt the Malaysian Christian community.
We would ask how the Government’s transformation programme can be successfully implemented if civil servants can blatantly refuse to obey the Prime Minister’s order? Is the Government powerless to act against these “little Napoleons” who substitute their own interests and agenda in place of the Prime Minister’s directives?
We call upon the Government to act now and prove their sincerity and integrity in dealing with the Malaysian Christian community on this and all other issues which we have been raising with them since the formation of the Christian Federation of Malaysia in 1985.
As an immediate step, we insist upon the immediate release of all Bibles which have been detained.
Bishop Ng Moon Hing
Chairman and the Executive Committee,
Christian Federation of Malaysia
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