The death of the total man:

Abstract

"The death of the total man" is a phrase taken from the Confession of Torajanese Church. There are several reasons why the present writer uses the phrase as the title of this dissertation. First of all, according to the mandate of Christ to his disciples, they should preach the gospel to all people. To preach the gospel is to spread and to relate the gospel to a certain context. The Toraja Church preaches the gospel in the context of Torajanese people. The writer is interested in doing theology in the Toraja context. Secondly, the Toraja Church faces a situation which is different from the situation in Europe and America. Anyone who wants to study theology in Asia should give attention to the situation in Asia. Therefore, the writer is interested in what ATESEA and SEAGST call the Asian Critical Principle. This has challenged the writer to think frequently about how to do theology in the context of Torajaland. Thirdly, since the writer is interested in doing theology, he wants to participate in promoting contextualization in theology. Thinking about the Toraja context, one should note at first that the Torajanese people has their own culture and traditional religion which is called Aluk Todolo. Nowadays Aluk Todolo is recognized by the Indonesian Government as a branch of Hinduism. Long before the first missionary came to Torajaland, from generation to generation was passed down the belief that when someone dies only his body experienced corruption, but his soul continued to live. Up to the present, there are many Torajanese who still hold to the Aluk Todolo religion. They believe that the soul is immortal. Some of the Torajanese converted to Islam. Immortality of the soul is also taught in Islam and Hinduism. Toraja Church members are constantly in contact with Moslems. It is clear that Toraja Church members who live in Torajaland are sorrounded by the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Furthermore, missionaries coming from Gereformeerde Zendingsbond (GZB) also taught the immortality of the soul. The Toraja Church become one Synod in 1947. The first generation of the Torajanese who were ordained to be pastors, also taught the immortality of the soul. But in 1981 the Toraja Church agreed on its own confession, Pengakuan Gereja Toraja. The confession talks about the death of man. According to the confession of the Toraja Church, when a person dies, he dies totally. Such a confession raised questions in the minds of some church members. Though this confession has been ratified for more than ten years, up to the present there are still some church members who do not understand and refuse to accept the doctrine of death of the total man. They think that the statement that man dies totally is not based on the Bible. So some questions arise: Why do some Torajanese Church members disagree with the confession? Is the formulation "the death of the total man" not based on the Bible? The main goal of this dissertation is: First, to try to find out the cause of church members not understanding the phrase "the death of the total man" in the Confession of the Toraja Church. Second, to try to understand the concept of death in the Bible and its implications for the Toraja Church. In order to achieve the goal, in Chapter 1, the writer investigates the concept of man in Aluk Todolo particularly the concept of death. In Chapter 2 the writer examines out the concept of death in the history of Protestant dogma, including in the GZB. Chapter 3 exposes the concept of death in the sciences particularly medicine, and in philosophy as well as religion. At the end of Chapter 3 the writer examines the concept of death in the Bible. Then in Chapter 4 he talks particularly about the concept of "Man" in the Confession of the Torajanese Church. After that in Chapter 5. We come to focus our attention on the concept of death in Confession of the Toraja Church in relation to the Torajanese context. Finally, as in Chapter 6, the writer makes a summary and recommendation. After outlining the chapters mentioned above, there are some conclusions and recommendations to be listed: 1. 2. There are some Torajanese Church members who still do not understand and even reject the formulation "the death of the total man" because they are still influenced by Aluk Todolo. The doctrine of Hinduism and Islam concerning the immortality of the soul is the same as the concept in Aluk Todolo. Some of the Torajanese converted to Islam, and frequently they meet with Moslems. Furthermore, they sometimes see television program about Islamic doctrine. As a result, they think that the concept of death in Christian doctrine is the same as the concept of death in Islam or Hinduism. There is also the influence coming from inside the Toraja Church. This is the doctrinal heritage from GZB missionaries. The missionaries taught the immortality of the soul. Since the doctrine of the missionaries was the same as the doctrine in Aluk Tadolo. Hinduism and Islam, the church members are even more convinced in their view of the immortality of soul. Misunderstanding of the concept. Some of the church members try to understand the concept, but they only consider the phrase consisting on the words “the death of the total man" without connecting them with other sections or chapters. As a result, they think finally that the phrase "the death of the total man" means there is nothing beyond death. According to the Bible, the first man was created as wholeness. All aspects of his being were created by God. He was not half God, nor was he half angel. There was nothing of the substance of God in him. Since all aspects of his being were created, he was merely a "creaturely being". He was totally a creature (ef. nefesh hayyah in Gen. 2:7). Therefore, when somebody dies he dies totally. Death effects not only the body, but also the soul. The Bible docs not teach dichotomy nor trichotomy, but man as a unity. The words soul and body are used, because there is no better way of explaining both aspects (dimensions) of man as a totality. So the word body is used to express the "outer aspect" of the wholeness of man, and the soul means the "inner mind" of the wholeness of man. According to the Confession of the Torajanese Church, when someone dies, he dies totally. The implications of the confession arc as below. First, through the confession, the Torajanesc Church rejects the belief in the "immortality of the soul" in Aluk Todolo. Second, the Toraja Church also rejects the belief in the soul/spirit of the ancestors being able to bless their descendants who are still alive. Third, the Torajanesc Church rejects Platonistic philosophy, particularly the doctrine of soul/spirit as the most important part of a human being. The Toraja Church wants to teach that both soul and body are important, as they are different aspects of man as a totality. Fourth, by the confession, in relation to other religions, the Toraja Church expresses its view concerning death. In death, both soul and body die. The only eternal one is God (1 Tim. 6:16). The Toraja Church rejects dichotomy and trichotomy. Fifth, by the confession, the Toraja Church teaches its members that mankind is a creature and a mortal being. No aspect of man is as such eternal. The only way for mankind to have eternal life is by the "grace of God" through Jesus Christ. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3.16). Jesus Christ died but has risen again from death totally. Now he is in heaven. Believers will also be totally in heaven. Clearly, the phrase "the death of the total man” stresses the wholeness of man when he comes to die. But according to the Bible, on the Day of Judgment the believer will experience perfect salvation bestowed by Christ. That is the hope of Christians, even though they are going to die totally. And that is how contextualization works when doing theology in the Torajanese context. Finally the writer recommends that churches in Indonesia, as well as theological seminaries, study the concept of "the death of mankind" seriously in order to respond from the Indonesian context. In addition, they should open themselves to be renewed by the Holy Spirit in the light of the Bible. We have to open our minds to be guided by the Holy Spirit in order to experience renewal. Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda. That is the correct attitude in "doing" contextualization theology, and the way in which, we can participate in performing the Asian Critical Principle. To God be the glory.