Archive for July, 2007

Project Timothy Bible Conference

Monday, July 16th, 2007

We love to share our priceless experience during our "expedition" in Singapore to attend the "Project Timothy Bible Conference" (PTBC). First of all, three of us (Soly-Syenny-Taufik) would give thanks and just appreciations to our brother Rev. Benson who shown us generosity earlier before we studied it in the conference by inviting, picking up, and treating us both lunch and admission. Thanks also to Mr & Mrs Peter Ng who accompanied us during the conference and kindly took us to Harbour Front.

Well, PT is an independent and inter-denominational organization. It works in partnership with other like-minded evangelical churches or organizations (para-churches?) in Singapore and overseas (incl. GKI & GPIB someday?) to promote confidence in the Bible’s authority and to equip Christians to faithfully handle the bible (it sounds very fundamentalist). But my view changed. They are faithful evangelicals, but are not like what I used to think about fundamentalist evangelicals, who blindly faithful to the doctrine of inerrancy and become "the defender of church’s dogma". They are not. I can see their reliable reasons in apology, they put reason in its place. I also saw their publishings, consist of reliable methods why we should hold the bible’s authority.

We left Batam Friday morning 07.50 a.m. Indonesia and arrived in Singapore around 40 minutes after it. We should queue for immigration and soon after it we met Rev. Benson waiting for our coming. We had some coffee on upstairs of Harbour Front, Pak Soly bought a towel, sightseeing in Vivo city, then we had our lunch. After lunch Rev. Benson took us to Prince George’s Park, NUS’s student flat. It was very comfortable and high tech, we were given a "transponder" to open  the room’s door.

After taking shower we began the conference. Let’s check it out…

We began each session by singing praises (mostly hymn), responsive scripture reading and prayer. Then the speaker, Reverend Michael Raites, the principal of Bible College of Victoria, started his speech. The expositions are from the parables connected to richness and poverty, mostly Luke ch. 16, and some taken from Proverbs and other verses of the Scripture.

One thing surprised me, when Rev. Mike told us that the Lord has only once ever said "difficult" and "impossible". Isn’t he God? Is there anything difficult for God? "It is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, it is easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than a rich man entering the kingdom of heaven."

Usually, after one session completed, we took a rest and coffee time.  There was also "Berean Strands Group" between two sessions, where we discuss about the authority of the Bible, and the methods used to understand the bible correctly.

Another session was about  "serving  two masters". There are slight differences between serving God and Money. God, our Master told us to love him, and also our neighbours; while Mammon told us to love money and not to love our neighbours. Both God and money promises us that He will take care of us if we trust him and rely our life in him. Both God and money ask us to love him.

The next session was about greed and generosity. There are some false teachings nowadays covering their greed motives in religious appearance. They accommodate the sinful nature of human’s greed by offering the "Prosperity Gospel". What is wrong with that? Prosperity gospel measures God’s providence and contentment by physical-material blessings.

One bible’s best example of Christian’s contentment is Paul’s letter to Philippians. Philippians 4:10-13, Paul wrote the letter not in a fortunate situation, he was in jail, waiting for his execution. Paul gave us example to be content both in sufficiency and in want. Contentment in the Scripture is satisfaction in whatever we have got; while prosperity gospel says never enough.

We also gained many Christian friends in there. We found them slightly more enthusiastic in welcoming newcomers like us. They came from different churches, mostly Presbyterian. Something funny said by Mike, when he was contrasting between "Messiah and Humiliation", between "Cross and glory" and finally, said Mike, "Dynamic and Presbyterianism". Audience laughed loudly. Presbyterian/reformed/Calvinist churches are supposed to be dynamic to counter the challenge of false teachings.

That is all my souvenir.

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YESUS SESUDAH PENYALIBAN

Saturday, July 7th, 2007
Saya percaya kesaksian kitab suci, Tuhan memang bangkit, Dia memang sudah ada sebelum Abraham, DiaOknum Trinitas, menampakkan diri. Namun, berangkat dari kesaksian kitab suci itulah saya mengajukan pertanyaan kritis.
Teks:
"Kepada mereka Ia menunjukkan diri-Nya setelah penderitaan-Nya selesai, dan dengan banyak tanda Ia membuktikan, bahwa Ia hidup. Sebab selama empat puluh hari Ia berulang-ulang menampakkan diri dan berbicara kepada mereka tentang Kerajaan Allah." Kis. 1:3
Nah, pertanyaan kritisnya, apakah Dia yang bangkit itu masih memakai tubuh lamanya, atau "tubuh kebangkitan" (I Kor. 15)? Dia bisa menembus rumah terkunci (Yoh. 20:26) sekaligus bisa diraba Thomas (Yoh. 20:27). Dia menampakkan diri tanpa sekalipun pernah berlama-lama. Pokoknya, begitu tujuanNya meyakinkan para murid tentang peristiwa kebangkitan tercapai, Dia lenyap. Tubuh insani lamaNya-kah?
Dari tradisi Reformed (yang didalamnya termasuk GPIB) ada warisan konfessi-konfessi yang diterima oleh gereja-gereja Calvinis. Salah satunya pengakuan iman Westminster, yang sangat berpengaruh di gereja presbyterian. Berikut saya kutipkan konfessi Westminster, artikel ke empat, pasal delapan:
"On the third day He arose from the dead, with the same body in which He suffered, with which also he ascended into heaven, and there sits at the right hand of His Father, making intercession, and shall return, to judge men and angels, at the end of the world."
Jika tulang belulang Yesus masih ada di dalam kubur, salahkah mereka yang merumuskan konfessi di atas? Bukankah mereka dipimpin Roh Kudus? Apakah serta-merta konfessi ini "diamandemen" karena temuan James D. Tabor?
Hemat saya, setiap zaman punya "anak zamannya", dengan trendnya sendiri. Dan pandangan zaman sekarang tidak harus lebih benar dari zaman Bapak Reformator, zaman Augustinus, zaman para penulis PB. Mungkin trendnya sekarang orang gandrung pada Yesus Sejarah, siapa tahu nantinya orang akan menyukai "Yesus yang lain lagi".
Namun apapun kata dunia, "Yesus Kristus tetap sama, baik kemarin maupun hari ini dan sampai selama-lamanya". Ibrani 13:8. Dan semua orang dapat mempunyai interpretasi masing-masing. Toh nantinya teori didukung teori, lalu dipatahkan dengan teori lain.
Salam,
A.M.T. Harrisakti

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ARTI PENTING MITE DALAM IMAN

Saturday, July 7th, 2007
Malin Kundang, siapa tidak kenal? Buyuang dari Sumatera Barat ini tokoh fiktif yang berperan antagonist namun amat berjasa. Saya tidak berani melawan mama saya karena takut dikutuk menjadi batu. Sekarang, setelah saya "sudah besar" pun, masih bertekad untuk tidak akan mendurhakai orangtua seburuk apapun keberadaan mereka. Bukan lagi karena takut seperti Malin Kundang, melainkan terlebih karena they do deserve my honour.
Myth ini terbungkus "bukti-bukti autentik" yang membuatnya seolah "based on true story". Memang ada batu menyerupai kapal terdampar plus patung manusia bersujud minta ampun. Onde… mande… urang awak ini pintar sekali membuat mitos dengan kemasan histori. Ingat pula novel Marrah Rusli "Sitti Nurbaya", cuma novel, bukan biografi orang yang betul-betul ada, tokoh-tokohnya Sitti, Syamsul Bahri, Datuk Meringgih, semuanya fiktif. Namun aneh bin ajaib, di pinggir kota Padang ada makam yang diklaim sebagai makam Sitti Nurbaya, jadi obyek wisata, mendatangkan devisa "Pendapatan Asli Daerah (PAD)".
Myth, o myth…
Saya menjunjung tinggi the moral of their story. Mitos tidak ditujukan untuk membodohi pendengarnya, menakuti anak dengan ancaman dikutuk jadi batu kalau melawan mamah. Mitos merupakan "media da’wah" yang terbukti efektif. Dalam bukunya "Sebutkanlah Nama-nama Kami" Song Choan Seng menaruh apresiasi mendalam terhadap tradisi bercerita.
So what, jika kenyataannya Alkitab kita diperkaya dengan ikut nimbrungnya mitologi-mitologi? So what, jika tokoh bernama Ayub itu mungkin saja tokoh fiktif. So what, jika the moral of Jona/Yunus bukanlah terletak seorang yang "dengan mujizat ajaib" bermalam tiga malam di perut ikan, lalu "horeee… haleluya… mujizat itu nyata…." namun message kitab itu sesungguhnya: Allah mengutus umat perjanjianNya (kerajaan imam, Kel. 19 renungan Minggu lalu) menyebarkan kasihNya juga pada orang Ninive? Filosofinya, umat harus bersedia diutus ke manapun. Bahkan Yesus menggunakan cerita Yunus ini untuk mengumpamakan kematianNya "sama seperti Yunus tiga malam di perut ikan, demikian Anak Manusia.."
Namun yang terjadi, renaisans menjunjung sains, segala sesuatu harus ilmiah, menomorduakan mitos, bahka membuangnya. Logos adalah segala-galanya. Agar dapat diterima "kehendak zaman" yang seperti itu, orang Kristen me-logos-kan semua yang ada dalam Alkitab. Semua dianggap historis, yang berbeda pandangan dari itu: sesat.
Padahal, myth juga bermanfaat. Iman seseorang tidak harus di-terminate karena mendapati bahwa ada bagian Alkitab yang tidak historis. Sama seperti kita tidak lantas menjadi pembangkang setelah mengetahui bahwa Malin Kundang itu bukan kisah nyata. Atau, seseorang tidak lantas terdorong mengawini aki-aki kaya setelah mengetahui bahwa Sitti Nurbaya juga tokoh fiktif, dan kuburannya juga fiktif.
So how? Mungkin pandangan saya benar, mungkin juga salah. Mohon pencerahan. Seperti filsafat Hegellian, ada thesis, antithesis, lalu sinthesis, begitu terus siklusnya. Very natural. Monggo ditanggapi.
Salam,
A.M.T. HARRISAKTI
Minds are like parachutes.
They only work when open.

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