Teolojia ya Kibaptisti na Mafundisho Yake Bainifu

Chumba cha Masomo ya Ziada

Teolojia ya Kibaptisti na Mafundisho Yake Bainifu

Baadhi ya maandishi haya bado hayajatafsiriwa kwa Kiswahili; sehemu hizo zinaonyeshwa kwa Kiingereza.

Kusoma mitazamo tofauti ya kiteolojia. Masomo ya kihistoria yanaeleza mitazamo ya waandishi wake, ikiwemo mapokeo ya Kiarminiani na ya Kireformed au ya Kikalvini. Kujumuishwa hakufanyi msimamo wa mwandishi kuwa fundisho thabiti la CTS. Soma pamoja na Maandiko na nyenzo zilizopangwa. Jibu lenye hoja kutoka mtazamo mwingine wa kiinjili linapaswa kupimwa kwa hoja zake, si kuadhibiwa kwa sababu tu linatofautiana na mwandishi. Ikiwa alama ya kompyuta inakataa jibu kama hilo, omba CTS ilipitie.

Masomo Yaliyopangwa ya Uzamili (yote matano)

Wanafunzi wa M.Div. na Th.M. husoma masomo yote matano yaliyopangwa na kufanya mtihani wake tofauti baada ya kuanzishwa. Ukurasa wa mtihani unaeleza kanuni ya sasa; ukamilishaji halali wa awali unabaki halali.

Heshima ya Hiari (chagua matatu)

Heshima ni ya hiari kwa kila programu. Wanafunzi wa Cheti na wa Shahada ya Mshiriki wanaweza kusoma masomo matatu ya heshima bila mtihani wa masomo ya lazima. Heshima haichukui nafasi ya mtihani wowote wa Uzamili.

The Master's textbook test: read Manual of Theology (selections) — John L. Dagg, then take its test: twenty fill-in-the-blank questions, drawn from forty; eighteen right passes. Each answer is marked right or wrong at once. Correct answers and explanations are available after the attempt passes. It is separate from the reading test on the five digests below: passing one does not pass the other. On the M.Div. and Th.M. tracks both tests are being introduced; each test's page says whether it is in force yet. Until then any student may take them, and a pass is kept in your record.
The Master's reading test: separate from the honors invitation below. Honors asks you to read any three of these digests; the Master's test covers all five. It has twenty fill-in-the-blank questions, four from each reading, drawn from forty; eighteen right passes. Each answer is marked right or wrong at once; correct answers and explanations are available after the attempt passes. You may try again after a short wait. The test is being introduced: its page says whether it is in force yet. Until then any student may take it, and a pass is kept in your record.
Chaguo la heshima: Kamilisha masomo matatu yoyote kati ya matano yaliyo hapa chini. Masomo haya yanaongeza kozi na hayachukui nafasi ya sehemu zake wala mitihani yake.
Kwenye tovuti hii: Kila moja ya masomo matano ni muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala, ulioandikwa na CTS, unaopatikana hapa kwenye tovuti — kila mmoja unafunguka moja kwa moja kutoka ukurasa huu, bila kupakua chochote. Kila kadi inataja kitabu ambacho muhtasari wake umetokana nacho.
Yaliyochaguliwa: 0 kati ya 3
Somo la 1 · The Existence of God

There Is a God

A CTS digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Book II, ch. 1, “Existence of God”

Dagg, the first Southern Baptist systematic theologian, gathers four witnesses that God exists: our moral nature, which cries out for a perfect moral governor; the world as effect of a Great First Cause, full of marks of design; the common consent of humanity; and Scripture, which dispels all doubt. The only real cure for atheism, he says, is “a new heart.”

MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa
Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — muhtasari asilia ulioandikwa na CTS, unaopatikana kwa Kiingereza, Kihispania na Kifaransa, unaosomeka bila mtandao. Huu ni muhtasari wa CTS, si maandishi kamili ya chanzo asilia.

Yuko Mungu: Mashahidi Wanne wa DaggThere Is a God: Dagg’s Four Witnesses

Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — sura ya ufunguzi ya fundisho la Dagg kuhusu Mungu, ambapo dhamiri, uumbaji, sauti ya pamoja ya wanadamu na Biblia vyote vinashuhudia kwamba Mungu yukoA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — the opening chapter of Dagg’s doctrine of God, where conscience, creation, the common voice of humanity and the Bible all testify that God exists

Muhtasari wa CTS wa John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Kitabu cha II, sura ya 1, “Kuwepo kwa Mungu.” Matini asilia iko katika umma; nukuu fupi zifuatazo zimetoka humo.A CTS digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Book II, chapter 1, “Existence of God.” The original is in the public domain; the short quotations below are from it.

  • Manual of Theology, Kitabu cha II, sura ya 1Manual of Theology, Book II, ch. 1
  • Chanzo cha msingiPrimary source
  • 18571857
  • John L. DaggJohn L. Dagg
Neno kabla ya kusoma. John Leadley Dagg (1794–1884) aliandika mfumo kamili wa kwanza wa mafundisho uliotungwa na Mbaptisti wa Kusini. Sura hii haijaribu kumshawishi asiyeamini kuamini kuanzia hakuna. Dagg anaandika kwa waamini, ili “kuthibitisha” imani waliyo nayo tayari, kwa kukusanya aina nne za ushahidi mahali pamoja. Isome kama muhtasari wa mchungaji wa sababu ambazo Wakristo wamezitoa kwa muda mrefu, si kama neno la mwisho la falsafa. Dagg ni sauti moja ya kihistoria ya Kibaptisti; CTS inawasilisha mitazamo yake kama yake mwenyewe, si kama msimamo uliokubaliwa na kila Mbaptisti. A word before you read. John Leadley Dagg (1794–1884) wrote the first full system of doctrine by a Southern Baptist. This chapter does not try to argue an unbeliever into faith from nothing. Dagg writes for believers, to “confirm” a faith they already hold, by gathering four kinds of evidence into one place. Read it as a pastor’s summary of the reasons Christians have long given, not as the last word of philosophy. Dagg is one historic Baptist voice; CTS presents his views as his own, not as the agreed position of every Baptist.

1.Mchungaji-Mwanateolojia wa Kizazi cha Waanzilishi1.A Pastor-Theologian of the Founding Generation

Dagg alizaliwa Middleburg, Virginia, mwaka 1794. Aliongoka akiwa kijana, akaanza kuhubiri Virginia, na mwaka 1825 akawa mchungaji wa Kanisa la Kibaptisti la Tano huko Philadelphia, mji ambao Wabaptisti wa Marekani waliunda ushirika wao wa kwanza (association) mwaka 1707. Macho dhaifu na mapungufu mengine ya kimwili yalimbana maisha yake yote, na sauti yake hatimaye ikashindwa kuhubiri mara kwa mara. Aligeukia ufundishaji, kwanza katika shule ya wasichana huko Tuscaloosa, Alabama, kisha, kuanzia 1844, kama rais wa Chuo Kikuu cha Mercer huko Penfield, Georgia, ambako pia alifundisha teolojia. Mercer lilichukua jina la Jesse Mercer, kiongozi mkuu wa Kibaptisti wa Georgia. Mwaka mmoja baada ya Dagg kufika, mwaka 1845, Wabaptisti wa majimbo ya kusini walikutana Augusta, Georgia, na kuunda Mkutano Mkuu wa Wabaptisti wa Kusini (Southern Baptist Convention). Dagg alikuwa wa kizazi hicho cha waanzilishi. Manual of Theology yake (1857) na mwenzake, A Treatise on Church Order (1858), vilipa makanisa yake kitabu cha kwanza kamili cha kiada cha mafundisho. Teolojia yake inasimama katika mstari wa Maungamo ya Philadelphia ya 1742, umbo la Kibaptisti la maungamo makuu ya Wapuritani, na ni ya Kikalvini kwa uchangamfu, lakini ya wazi na ya ibada kwa sauti. Dagg anaufungua mwanzo wa kazi nzima kwa kusisitiza kwamba ukweli wa kidini lazima ujifunzwe “kwa lengo la kuiboresha mioyo.” Lengo hilo linaiumba sura hii pia.Dagg was born in Middleburg, Virginia, in 1794. He was converted as a young man, began preaching in Virginia, and in 1825 became pastor of the Fifth Baptist Church in Philadelphia, the city where American Baptists had formed their first association in 1707. Weak eyesight and other physical limits pressed on him all his life, and his voice eventually failed for regular preaching. He turned to teaching, first in a school for young women in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and then, from 1844, as president of Mercer University in Penfield, Georgia, where he also taught theology. Mercer bore the name of Jesse Mercer, the great Georgia Baptist leader. One year after Dagg arrived, in 1845, Baptists of the southern states met in Augusta, Georgia, and formed the Southern Baptist Convention. Dagg belonged to that founding generation. His Manual of Theology (1857) and its companion, A Treatise on Church Order (1858), gave its churches their first comprehensive textbook of doctrine. Its theology stands in the line of the Philadelphia Confession of 1742, the Baptist form of the great Puritan confessions, and it is warmly Calvinistic, yet plain and devotional in tone. Dagg opens the whole work by insisting that religious truth must be studied “with a view to the improvement of the heart.” That aim shapes this chapter too.

2.Si Kweli Mpya2.Not a New Truth

Dagg anaanza kwa kukiri jambo la kushangaza. Kuwepo kwa Mungu, anasema, “hakupaswi kuthibitishwa sasa kama kweli mpya.” Kila ukurasa kabla ya huu umekudhania. Anakusanya uthibitisho hapa tu “kwa ajili ya mpangilio wa kimfumo,” na kwa sababu maelezo yaliyo wazi zaidi ya uthibitisho huo huimarisha imani. Hili linatuambia kitu kuhusu teolojia ya Kibaptisti ya siku zake. Haikuwa mfumo wa kubuni uliojengwa na mwanafalsafa chumbani; ilikuwa mpangilio wa mchungaji wa yale ambayo kanisa tayari liliyaamini kutoka Maandiko. Kichwa cha sura ya Dagg ni rahisi tu “Yuko Mungu,” kikifuatwa na maandiko kutoka Mwanzo, Zaburi, Marko, 1 Wakorintho na Waebrania. Biblia ndiyo fremu; hoja zinazofuata zinaitumikia. Dagg kisha anaorodhesha mashahidi wanne: asili yetu ya kimaadili, kuwepo na mpango wa ulimwengu, kukubaliana kwa wanadamu wote, na ufunuo wa kimungu. Kila mmoja huongeza sauti yake, na pamoja wanajenga hoja yenye nguvu.Dagg begins with a surprising admission. The existence of God, he says, “is not now to be demonstrated as a new truth.” Every page before this one has assumed it. He gathers the proofs here only “for the sake of systematic arrangement,” and because a clearer statement of them strengthens faith. This tells us something about Baptist theology in his day. It was not a speculative system built by a philosopher in a study; it was a pastor’s ordering of what the church already believed from Scripture. Dagg’s chapter heading is simply “There is a God,” followed by texts from Genesis, the Psalms, Mark, 1 Corinthians and Hebrews. The Bible is the frame; the arguments that follow serve it. Dagg then lists four witnesses: our moral nature, the existence and design of the world, the common consent of humanity, and divine revelation. Each one adds its voice, and together they make a strong case.

3.Ushahidi wa Asili Yetu ya Kimaadili3.The Witness of Our Moral Nature

Dagg haanzi na nyota bali na dhamiri. Tumeumbwa kwa ajili ya “utawala wa kimaadili.” Dhamiri hututawala kutoka ndani, na hukumu za kimaadili za wengine hutushinikiza kutoka nje. Pia sisi ni viumbe vya kijamii, kama ndege katika makundi au nyuki katika makundi ya nyuki, na jamii ya wanadamu haiwezi kuishi bila kizuizi cha kimaadili. Kiondoe, Dagg anaonya, na dunia ingekuwa “Jehanamu,” inayotawaliwa na nguvu za kinyama na ujanja. Kwa sababu hiyo hata serikali mbaya kabisa ya kiraia imependelewa kuliko “machafuko ya mwituni.” Hata hivyo hakuna serikali ya kibinadamu inayotutosheleza. Dhamiri inauma, maoni ya umma yanaaibisha, na mtawala “anapunga upanga wake,” lakini watu wanabaki waovu, mara nyingi bila adhabu. Asili yetu inalilia mtawala kamilifu: anayejua kila uhalifu, mwenye nguvu ya kuuhukumu ipasavyo, na aliye karibu vya kutosha hata “ndani yake tunaishi, tunakwenda, na kuwa na uhai wetu.” Wazo hilo, Dagg anasema, ndilo hasa linalotolewa na maneno “Yuko Mungu.” Bila hilo hisia yetu ya kimaadili haina maana. Kwa hiyo anahitimisha kwamba dini ni “ukamilifu wa maadili,” na fundisho lake la kwanza ni kwamba Mungu yuko.Dagg starts not with the stars but with the conscience. We are made for “moral government.” Conscience governs us from within, and the moral judgments of others press on us from without. We are also social beings, like birds in flocks or bees in swarms, and human society cannot survive without moral restraint. Remove it, Dagg warns, and the earth would become a “Hell,” ruled by brute force and cunning. For this reason even the worst civil government has been preferred to “wild anarchy.” Yet no human government satisfies us. Conscience stings, public opinion shames, and the ruler “brandishes his sword,” but people remain wicked, often without punishment. Our nature cries out for a perfect governor: one who knows every crime, has power to judge it rightly, and is near enough that “in him we live, move, and have our being.” That idea, Dagg says, is exactly what the words “There is a God” express. Without it our moral sense makes no sense. So he concludes that religion is “the perfection of morality,” and its first doctrine is that God exists.

4.Sababu ya Kwanza na Alama za Mpango4.The First Cause and the Marks of Design

Kisha Dagg anageuka kutoka dhamiri hadi akili. Akili hufuatilia mnyororo wa sababu na matokeo kiungo kwa kiungo na kuuliza mnyororo mzima unaning’inia kwenye nini. Haipati pumziko hadi ikubali kiumbe cha milele, kinachojitegemea kuwepo, “Sababu Kuu ya Kwanza.” Kisha Dagg anatoa nafasi kubwa zaidi kwa hoja ya mpango, iliyofanywa maarufu kwa Kiingereza na Natural Theology ya William Paley (1802). “Ustadi unamaanisha mwenye ustadi,” anaandika. Mifano inamiminika: nuru ya jua inayopasha joto na kuangaza ulimwengu; jicho, lililojengwa kulingana na sheria za optiki kama darubini; mvua, mbegu, jani na nafaka inayoiva; kuku akiwatunza vifaranga wake; mifupa, misuli, moyo, damu na mapafu. Hapa Dagg msomi anakuwa Dagg mwabudu. Kwa moyo unaomcha Mungu, anasema, ulimwengu unakuwa “hekalu kuu,” na kila mahali pakawa madhabahu ya dhabihu ya sifa. Wengi leo wangejadili mpango kwa zana za sayansi ya kisasa, na wanafikra wengine Wakristo wanatilia shaka ni kiasi gani hoja kama hizo zaweza kuthibitisha. Lakini hoja ya Dagg ni ya vitendo: ushahidi unatukuta “kila siku, na kila saa,” katika mambo ya kawaida.Next Dagg turns from the conscience to the mind. Reason traces the chain of cause and effect link by link and asks what the whole chain hangs on. It finds no rest until it admits an eternal, self-existent being, the “Great First Cause.” Then Dagg gives most space to the argument from design, which had been made famous in English by William Paley’s Natural Theology (1802). “Contrivance implies a contriver,” he writes. The examples pour out: sunlight that warms and lights the world; the eye, built according to the laws of optics like a telescope; rain, seed, blade and ripening grain; the hen caring for her chicks; bones, muscles, heart, blood and lungs. Here Dagg the scholar becomes Dagg the worshipper. To the devout heart, he says, the universe becomes “a grand temple,” and every place becomes an altar for the sacrifice of praise. Many today would discuss design with the tools of modern science, and some Christian thinkers doubt how much such arguments can prove. But Dagg’s point is practical: the evidence meets us “daily, and hourly,” in ordinary things.

5.Kukubaliana kwa Wanadamu Wote5.The Common Consent of Humanity

Shahidi wa tatu ni ule ambao waandishi wa zamani, wakimfuata Cicero, walimwita ridhaa ya mataifa. Dagg anabainisha kwamba watu wameishi bila vitabu, sayansi wala sanaa, lakini karibu kamwe bila wazo la nguvu isiyoonekana na namna fulani ya ibada. Hili linamtofautisha mwanadamu na kila kiumbe kingine. Kisha anatoa hoja nadhifu. Imani hii ya wote ilitokeaje vyovyote, inaelekeza kwa Mungu. Ikiwa inatoka kwa ufunuo wa kale uliorithishwa kwa mapokeo, ufunuo huo ulitoka kwa Mungu. Ikiwa inatokea kwa asili katika akili ya mwanadamu, basi kile ambacho maumbile hufundisha kwa wote kinaweza kupokelewa kuwa kweli. Wamisionari waliopeleka injili Afrika Magharibi na Amerika ya Kilatini katika kizazi baada ya Dagg mara nyingi walikuta hasa hili: watu waliokuwa tayari wanajua kuna Mungu Mkuu, hata wasipojua jina lake wala Mwana wake. Paulo alitoa hoja hiyo hiyo huko Athene katika Matendo 17.The third witness is what older writers, following Cicero, called the consent of the nations. Dagg notes that peoples have lived without books, science or arts, but almost never without the idea of an invisible power and some form of worship. This marks human beings off from every other creature. Then he offers a neat argument. However this universal belief arose, it points to God. If it comes from an ancient revelation handed down by tradition, that revelation came from God. If it rises naturally in the human mind, then what nature universally teaches may be received as true. Missionaries who carried the gospel to West Africa and Latin America in the generation after Dagg often found exactly this: peoples who already knew there was a high God, even when they did not know His name or His Son. Paul made the same appeal at Athens in Acts 17.

6.Ufunuo Huondoa Shaka Yote6.Revelation Dispels All Doubt

Shahidi wa mwisho ndiye wa kuamua. Biblia, Dagg anabainisha, haisimami kamwe kuthibitisha Mungu; inaanza, “Hapo mwanzo Mungu.” Waebrania 11:6 inafanya kuamini Mungu kuwa hatua ya kwanza ya kumjia, na Zaburi 14:1 inaita kumkana Mungu upumbavu. Maandiko ni nuru kutoka kwa “Baba wa nuru,” na katika nuru yake tunaona nuru. Dagg anasisitiza “upatano kamili” kati ya dini ya asili na ya kufunuliwa. Zaburi 19 na Warumi 1:20 zinaonyesha kwamba uumbaji unasema juu ya Mungu, na Ayubu 12:7 hata inatuambia tuwaulize wanyama. Kujifunza kazi za Mungu hakuondoi chochote kutoka mamlaka ya neno lake, kwa sababu Mungu yule yule anasema katika vyote viwili. Hapa Dagg anasimama pamoja na maungamo ya kihistoria ya Kibaptisti. Maungamo ya Pili ya London (1689) na Maungamo ya Philadelphia (1742) yanafunguka kwa kusema kwamba nuru ya maumbile huwaacha watu bila udhuru, lakini Maandiko pekee ndiyo “kanuni pekee ya kutosha, ya hakika, na isiyokosea” ya ujuzi wa kuokoa. Maungamo ya New Hampshire (1833) yanasema Biblia ina “Mungu kuwa mwandishi wake” na ukweli “bila mchanganyiko wowote wa kosa” kuwa maudhui yake. Mamlaka ya Maandiko ndiyo msingi ambao kila upekee mwingine wa Kibaptisti unasimama juu yake.The final witness is the decisive one. The Bible, Dagg observes, never stops to prove God; it begins, “In the beginning, God.” Hebrews 11:6 makes belief in God the first step in coming to Him, and Psalm 14:1 calls denial of God folly. Scripture is a light from “the Father of lights,” and in His light we see light. Dagg insists on “perfect harmony” between natural and revealed religion. Psalm 19 and Romans 1:20 show that creation speaks of God, and Job 12:7 even tells us to ask the beasts. Studying God’s works takes nothing from the authority of His word, because the same God speaks in both. Here Dagg stands with the historic Baptist confessions. The Second London Confession (1689) and the Philadelphia Confession (1742) open by saying that the light of nature leaves people without excuse, yet only Scripture is “the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule” of saving knowledge. The New Hampshire Confession (1833) says the Bible has “God for its author” and truth “without any mixture of error” for its matter. The authority of Scripture is the ground on which every other Baptist distinctive stands.

7.Kile Mchungaji Mbaptisti Anachochukua Kutoka Humo Leo7.What a Baptist Pastor Takes from It Today

Dagg anamalizia kwa maelezo mawili ya kichungaji yanayohusu huduma leo. Kwanza, anaita kumkana Mungu “ushahidi wa kusikitisha wa upotovu wa binadamu.” Watu wanasema, “Ondoka kwetu.” Tatizo si kichwani tu bali katika utashi, na kwa hiyo, anasema, dawa pekee ya kweli ya kutokuamini huko ni “moyo mpya.” Hapa tunakutana na usadikisho mkuu wa Kibaptisti. Imani haiwezi kurithiwa, kulazimishwa na dola wala kuzalishwa kwa hoja peke yake. Huzaliwa Roho anapotoa uzima mpya. Ndiyo sababu Wabaptisti kuanzia Roger Williams na Isaac Backus hadi John Leland walitetea uhuru wa dhamiri, na ndiyo sababu makanisa ya Kibaptisti hupokea washiriki kwa ungamo la kibinafsi la imani. Pili, Dagg anawasaidia kwa upole waamini wanaosumbuliwa na shaka. Dawa yao ni kujifunza kwa bidii neno la Mungu na kazi zake, kuuzingatia mkono wake katika majaliwa, na sala. “Tukienenda na Mungu kila mara,” anasema, “hatutashuku kuwepo kwake.” Mwishowe, anajibu tatizo kwamba Mungu haonekani. Hatuioni kamwe akili ya mtu mwingine, lakini tunaijua kwa maneno na matendo, na tunaipenda au kuidharau. Kwa nini, basi, hatuwezi kumjua Mungu asiyeonekana kwa kazi zake? Warithi wa Kibaptisti wa mafundisho haya sasa wanakusanyika katika Mkutano wa Wabaptisti wa Nigeria, katika Mkutano wa Wabaptisti wa Brazili, Kuba na Meksiko, wengi wao katika tamaduni ambazo imani ya Mungu inachukuliwa kuwa ya kawaida lakini shaka ya kidunia inakua miongoni mwa vijana. Mchanganyiko wa Dagg wa kufikiri na ibada bado unawatumikia. Wakristo wengine wanapima hoja hizi kwa njia tofauti. Wanafikra wengine wa Matengenezo wanapendelea kuanza na Maandiko peke yake, wakati teolojia ya Kikatoliki, ikimfuata Thomas Aquinas, inatoa nafasi kubwa zaidi kwa akili ya asili. Dagg anashikilia vyote viwili pamoja, huku ufunuo ukiwa neno la mwisho.Dagg ends with two pastoral notes that matter for ministry today. First, he calls the denial of God “a lamentable proof of human depravity.” People say, “Depart from us.” The problem is not only in the head but in the will, and so, he says, the only real cure for such atheism is “a new heart.” Here we meet a deep Baptist conviction. Faith cannot be inherited, imposed by the state or produced by argument alone. It is born when the Spirit gives new life. That is why Baptists from Roger Williams and Isaac Backus to John Leland pleaded for liberty of conscience, and why Baptist churches receive members on a personal confession of faith. Second, Dagg gently helps believers who are troubled by doubt. Their remedy is diligent study of God’s word and works, attention to His hand in providence, and prayer. “If we habitually walk with God,” he says, “we shall not doubt his existence.” Finally, he answers the problem that God is invisible. We never see another person’s mind, yet we know it through words and actions, and we love or despise it. Why, then, can we not know an unseen God through His works? Baptist heirs of this teaching now gather in the Nigerian Baptist Convention, in the Brazilian Baptist Convention, in Cuba and in Mexico, many of them in cultures where belief in God is assumed but secular doubt is growing among the young. Dagg’s blend of reasoning and devotion still serves them. Other Christians weigh these arguments differently. Some Reformed thinkers prefer to begin with Scripture alone, while Catholic theology, following Thomas Aquinas, gives natural reason a larger place. Dagg holds both together, with revelation as the final word.

8.Kuuchukua Moyoni8.Taking It to Heart

Kwa tafakari. Dagg anasema dawa ya kutokuamini kwa vitendo ni “moyo mpya.” Unapozungumza na mtu anayetilia shaka Mungu, unasawazishaje kati ya sababu na kuomba kwa ajili ya kuzaliwa kwake upya? Ni shahidi yupi kati ya wanne anayesema kwa nguvu zaidi kwa watu unaowahudumia? Na katika nyakati zako mwenyewe za shaka, kwa uaminifu kiasi gani unatekeleza dawa ya Dagg ya kuenenda na Mungu kupitia neno lake, kazi zake na sala? For reflection. Dagg says the cure for practical atheism is “a new heart.” When you talk with someone who doubts God, how do you balance reasons with prayer for their new birth? Which of the four witnesses speaks most strongly to the people you serve? And in your own times of doubt, how faithfully do you practise Dagg’s remedy of walking with God through His word, His works and prayer?

Chanzo. Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala wa John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine (1857), Kitabu cha II, sura ya 1, “Kuwepo kwa Mungu.” Matini iko katika umma. Hiki ni mafundisho yaliyoandikwa na CTS, si nakala; maelezo juu ya maisha ya Dagg, Chuo Kikuu cha Mercer, kuanzishwa kwa Mkutano Mkuu wa Wabaptisti wa Kusini na maungamo ya Kibaptisti yametokana na historia za kawaida za Kibaptisti.Source. A Chapala Theological Seminary digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine (1857), Book II, chapter 1, “Existence of God.” The text is in the public domain. This is CTS-authored teaching, not a reproduction; notes on Dagg’s life, Mercer University, the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist confessions are drawn from standard Baptist histories.

Kusoma madai kwa uangalifu. Dagg anaandika kama mwanateolojia Mbaptisti wa karne ya kumi na tisa kwa ajili ya waamini, si kama utafiti usioegemea upande wowote wa falsafa. Matini ya kazi ya CTS inafuata unukuzi wa umma wa Grace Gems; kulinganisha na nakala iliyochanganuliwa ya toleo lililochapishwa bado kunasubiriwa.Reading claims carefully. Dagg writes as a nineteenth-century Baptist theologian for believers, not as a neutral survey of philosophy. The CTS working text follows the public Grace Gems transcription; comparison with a scan of the printed edition is still pending.

Somo la 2 · Creation

Out of Nothing

A CTS digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Book III, ch. 2, “Works of God – Creation”

Dagg teaches that God created all things out of nothing, a truth received by faith rather than proved by philosophy. Writing two years before Darwin, he describes the day-age and gap views of Genesis, insists there is “no just ground to fear science,” and shows with the wise father and the elephant that science may correct our inferences but never the Bible.

MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa
Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — muhtasari asilia ulioandikwa na CTS, unaopatikana kwa Kiingereza, Kihispania na Kifaransa, unaosomeka bila mtandao. Huu ni muhtasari wa CTS, si maandishi kamili ya chanzo asilia.

Kutoka Hakuna: Dagg Kuhusu Uumbaji, Maandiko na SayansiOut of Nothing: Dagg on Creation, Scripture and Science

Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — sura ya Dagg kuhusu uumbaji, ambapo anafundisha kwamba Mungu alifanya vitu vyote kutoka hakuna na kwa utulivu anakaribisha sayansi changa ya jiolojia mezaniA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — Dagg’s chapter on creation, where he teaches that God made all things from nothing and calmly invites the young science of geology to the table

Muhtasari wa CTS wa John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Kitabu cha III, sura ya 2, “Kazi za Mungu – Uumbaji.” Matini asilia iko katika umma; nukuu fupi zifuatazo zimetoka humo.A CTS digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Book III, chapter 2, “Works of God – Creation.” The original is in the public domain; the short quotations below are from it.

  • Manual of Theology, Kitabu cha III, sura ya 2Manual of Theology, Book III, ch. 2
  • Chanzo cha msingiPrimary source
  • 18571857
  • John L. DaggJohn L. Dagg
Neno kabla ya kusoma. Dagg aliandika sura hii miaka miwili kabla Charles Darwin kuchapisha On the Origin of Species (1859). Mjadala wa kisayansi aliokuwa anaujua ulihusu jiolojia na umri wa dunia, si mageuzi. Baadhi ya maelezo yake ya kisayansi yamepitwa na wakati, na Wabaptisti leo wanashikilia mitazamo kadhaa juu ya jinsi ya kusoma Mwanzo 1. CTS inawasilisha mtazamo wa Dagg kama wake mwenyewe. Kinachobaki chenye thamani ni ujasiri wake kwamba neno la Mungu na ulimwengu wa Mungu haviwezi hatimaye kupingana. A word before you read. Dagg wrote this chapter two years before Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species (1859). The scientific debate he knew was about geology and the age of the earth, not about evolution. Some of his scientific remarks are dated, and Baptists today hold several views on how to read Genesis 1. CTS presents Dagg’s view as his own. What remains valuable is his confidence that God’s word and God’s world cannot finally disagree.

1.Hakuna Ila Mungu1.Nothing but God

Hoja ya Dagg ni fupi na yenye nguvu: “Mungu aliumba vitu vyote kutoka hakuna.” Anaiunga mkono kwa orodha ndefu ya maandiko, kutoka Mwanzo 1 na Nehemia 9:6 hadi Wakolosai 1:16, Waebrania 11:3 na Ufunuo 4:11. Kisha anasema fundisho hilo kwa sentensi moja: “Hapo mwanzo, hakuna kilichokuwepo ila Mungu.” Hakukuwa na maada ya milele iliyongojea kuumbwa, wala dutu ya kiroho ambayo malaika na nafsi za wanadamu zilikatwa kutoka kwake. Mungu alivipa vitu vyote “kuwepo kwao kamili.” Hili ni fundisho la kawaida la Kikristo, ambalo mara nyingi huitwa kwa jina lake la Kilatini, creatio ex nihilo. Linatenganisha imani ya Biblia na mitazamo ya kale ambayo mungu alipanga tu maada iliyokuwepo tayari. Pia linatawala teolojia yote ya Dagg iliyobaki. Kama kila kitu kinadaiwa na Mungu kuwepo kwake kote, basi kila kitu pia ni mali yake. Maungamo ya Philadelphia, ambayo Wabaptisti wa Marekani waliyakubali mwaka 1742, yanafundisha vilevile katika sura yake ya uumbaji: Mungu alipendezwa “kuumba au kufanya ulimwengu, na vitu vyote vilivyomo,” kwa ajili ya kudhihirisha utukufu wake.Dagg’s thesis is short and strong: “God created all things out of nothing.” He supports it with a long list of texts, from Genesis 1 and Nehemiah 9:6 to Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 11:3 and Revelation 4:11. Then he states the doctrine in one sentence: “Originally, nothing existed but God.” There was no eternal matter waiting to be shaped, and no spiritual substance from which angels and human souls were cut. God gave all things “their entire being.” This is the classic Christian teaching, often called by its Latin name, creatio ex nihilo. It separates the biblical faith from ancient views in which a god merely arranged matter that already existed. It also governs the rest of Dagg’s theology. If everything owes its whole existence to God, then everything also belongs to Him. The Philadelphia Confession, which Baptists in America had adopted in 1742, teaches the same in its chapter on creation: God was pleased “to create or make the world, and all things therein,” for the manifestation of His glory.

2.Kweli ya Imani Badala ya Akili2.A Truth of Faith Rather Than Reason

Cha kushangaza ni jinsi Dagg anavyohoji. Wengine walidai kwamba maada haiwezi kuwa ya milele kwa sababu kujitegemea kuwepo ni “kuu mno” kwa asili ya chini. Dagg anakataa hili. Kwa nini kitu kidogo kisiweze kuwepo bila sababu kwa urahisi kama kikubwa? Katika hoja kama hizo “tunaweza kujidanganya,” anaonya, na pengine zaidi hoja inapoonekana ya kina zaidi. Kadiri falsafa inavyoweza kusema, atomu inaweza kudumu milele na inaweza kuwa imekuwepo daima. Kwa hiyo Dagg anageukia, kama daima, Maandiko. Mara tunapojua kwamba yuko Mungu atendaye miujiza, inakuwa kuna uwezekano maada ni zao lake. Lakini “kwa uthibitisho wa kuamua” tunapokea uumbaji kutoka hakuna “kama kweli ya imani, badala ya ya akili.” Waebrania 11:3 ni andiko lake kuu: kwa imani tunafahamu kwamba ulimwengu unaoonekana haukufanywa kwa vitu vinavyoonekana. Dagg anaeleza kwa picha ya kawaida. Tunapoona sanamu, tunaona marumaru yake; tunapoona nyumba, tunaona vifaa vyake. Ulimwengu ni tofauti. Vifaa vyake vyenyewe vililetwa kuwepo wakati ulimwengu ulipofanywa. Hapa kuna tabia ya kimya ya akili ya Kibaptisti: Maandiko, si makisio, ndiyo yanayotatua swali.What is surprising is how Dagg argues. Some had claimed that matter cannot be eternal because self-existence is “too noble” for a lower nature. Dagg rejects this. Why could a small thing not exist without a cause as easily as a great one? In such reasoning “we are liable to deceive ourselves,” he warns, and perhaps most when the reasoning seems most profound. As far as philosophy can tell, an atom might last forever and might always have existed. So Dagg turns, as he always does, to Scripture. Once we know that a God exists who works miracles, it becomes likely that matter is His product. But “for decisive proof” we receive creation from nothing “as a truth of faith, rather than of reason.” Hebrews 11:3 is his key text: by faith we understand that the visible world was not made from things that appear. Dagg explains it with a homely picture. When we see a statue, we see its marble; when we see a house, we see its materials. The world is different. Its materials were themselves brought into being when the world was made. Here is a quiet Baptist habit of mind: Scripture, not speculation, settles the question.

3.Bila Juhudi, na Siku kwa Ajili ya Mwanadamu3.Without Effort, and a Day for Man

Uumbaji, Dagg anasema, ulifanyika “bila juhudi.” Mungu alisema, na ikawa: “Iwe nuru,” kukawa nuru. Baada ya siku sita Mungu alipumzika siku ya saba, si kwa sababu alikuwa amechoka, bali ili siku ya saba iwekwe kando kuwa siku ya pumziko kwa wanadamu. Dagg anataja maneno ya Yesu katika Marko 2:27, kwamba Sabato ilifanywa kwa ajili ya mwanadamu. Wabaptisti wengi wa siku za Dagg waliishika siku ya kwanza ya juma, Siku ya Bwana, kama Sabato ya Kikristo. Maungamo ya New Hampshire ya 1833 yanaipa kifungu kizima. Kwa mchungaji leo, hoja bado ni ya vitendo. Pumziko ni zawadi iliyojengwa katika uumbaji wenyewe, si thawabu kwa wenye nguvu. Katika miji yenye shughuli nyingi kutoka Guadalajara hadi Lagos, waamini wanaofanya kazi saa nyingi wanahitaji kusikia kwamba Mungu ambaye hachoki kamwe alifanya siku kwa faida yao.Creation, Dagg says, was done “without effort.” God spoke, and it was done: “Let there be light,” and there was light. After six days God rested on the seventh, not because He was tired, but so that the seventh day might be set apart as a day of rest for human beings. Dagg cites the words of Jesus in Mark 2:27, that the Sabbath was made for man. Most Baptists of Dagg’s day kept the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day, as the Christian Sabbath. The New Hampshire Confession of 1833 gives a whole article to it. For a pastor today, the point is still practical. Rest is a gift built into creation itself, not a reward for the strong. In busy cities from Guadalajara to Lagos, believers who work long hours need to hear that the God who never grows weary made a day for their good.

4.Jiolojia na Siku za Mwanzo4.Geology and the Days of Genesis

Dagg kisha anakabili swali gumu zaidi la zama zake. Wanajiolojia, wakichunguza ukoko wa dunia, waliamini kwamba mimea na wanyama waliishi muda mrefu kabla ya tarehe ya uumbaji ambayo wasomaji waliipata kutoka Mwanzo. Dagg anaeleza njia mbili ambazo Wakristo walijaribu kupatanisha mambo hayo mawili. Wengine walichukua kila siku ya uumbaji kuwa kipindi kirefu cha wakati; kwa kuwa siku ya saba ya pumziko ya Mungu bado inaendelea, walidhani, siku nyingine pia zinaweza kuwa ndefu. Leo hii inaitwa mtazamo wa siku-enzi (day-age). Wengine waliweka pengo refu kati ya “mwanzo” wa Mwanzo 1:1 na dunia isiyo na umbo ya aya ya 2, kama Yohana 1 inavyohama kutoka “Hapo mwanzo kulikuwako Neno” hadi “Neno alifanyika mwili.” Huu ni mtazamo wa pengo (gap). Dagg hachagui kati yake. Badala yake, anakemea hofu ya sayansi. Wahudumu wengi, anakiri, walitazama jiolojia “kwa shaka.” Lakini “hakuna msingi wa haki wa kuogopa sayansi,” anasema, mradi inafanya kazi kihalali na kutoa hitimisho zake “kwa unyenyekevu unaofaa.” Sababu ni rahisi: Mwandishi wa Biblia ndiye Muumbaji wa ulimwengu, na ukweli daima unapatana.Dagg then faces the hardest question of his age. Geologists, studying the earth’s crust, believed that plants and animals had lived long before the date of creation that readers drew from Genesis. Dagg describes two ways Christians had tried to reconcile the two. Some took each day of creation as a long period of time; since God’s seventh day of rest still continues, they reasoned, the other days might also be long. Today this is called the day-age view. Others placed a long gap between “the beginning” of Genesis 1:1 and the formless earth of verse 2, much as John 1 moves from “In the beginning was the Word” to “the Word was made flesh.” This is the gap view. Dagg does not choose between them. Instead, he rebukes the fear of science. Many ministers, he admits, regarded geology “with suspicion.” But there is “no just ground to fear science,” he says, as long as it works legitimately and draws its conclusions “with becoming modesty.” The reason is simple: the Author of the Bible is the Maker of the world, and truth is always consistent.

5.Kungoja Wingu Lipite5.Waiting for the Cloud to Pass

Dagg analinganisha migongano inayoonekana kati ya sayansi na Maandiko na migongano inayoonekana ndani ya Biblia yenyewe. Uchunguzi wa makini mara nyingi umeonyesha kwamba vifungu viwili vinapatana hata hivyo, na “mapatano yasiyokusudiwa” kama hayo yanaimarisha imani yetu kwamba kumbukumbu ni za kweli. Ugumu unapobaki, tunangoja kwa subira. Asiyeamini hushangilia na “watu wa imani dhaifu hupepesuka,” lakini kuishuku Biblia kwa sababu ya ugumu mmoja ni kama kulishuku jua kwa sababu wingu limepita mbele yake. Jiolojia, anabainisha, “bado ni sayansi changa.” Hata anapata upatano kati yake na Musa, kwa kuwa wanajiolojia waliweka mabaki ya wanadamu katika matabaka ya hivi karibuni tu. Hapa Dagg anaonyesha mipaka ya wakati wake. Alikuwa na hakika kwamba sayansi haingeweka kamwe asili ya wanadamu mapema zaidi kuliko historia ya Biblia inavyopendekeza. Wakristo sasa wanajadili maswali hayo wakiwa na data nyingi zaidi kuliko alizokuwa nazo. Lakini roho yake ni kielelezo kizuri: sikiliza hoja, zipime vizuri, na amini kwamba “sanduku la Mungu” litabebwa salama.Dagg compares apparent conflicts between science and Scripture with apparent contradictions inside the Bible. Careful study has often shown two passages to agree after all, and such “undesigned coincidences” actually strengthen our confidence that the records are true. When difficulties remain, we wait patiently. The unbeliever triumphs and “men of weak faith stagger,” but doubting the Bible because of one difficulty is like doubting the sun because a cloud passes in front of it. Geology, he notes, “is yet a recent science.” He even finds agreement between it and Moses, since geologists placed human remains only in the latest deposits. Here Dagg shows the limits of his time. He was sure that science would never place the origin of humanity far earlier than the biblical history suggested. Christians now debate those questions with far more data than he had. But his spirit is a good model: listen to the arguments, weigh them well, and trust that “the ark of God” will be carried safely.

6.Baba Mwenye Hekima na Tembo6.The Wise Father and the Elephant

Sehemu ya kukumbukwa zaidi ya sura ni kielelezo. Tukiwa watu wazima, tunakumbuka mafunzo ambayo baba mwenye hekima alitufundisha utotoni. Hakutufundisha sayansi, lakini hakutufundisha chochote kinyume nazo, na sasa tunaweza kuona kwamba alizielewa zote tangu mwanzo. Ndivyo ilivyo kwa Biblia. Vitabu vitakatifu vya uongo vya mataifa vinapingana hata na “masomo ya kwanza kabisa ya jiografia.” Maandiko hayasemi kamwe kwamba dunia inakaa juu ya tembo anayesimama juu ya kobe; badala yake Ayubu 26:7 inasema Mungu “anaitundika nchi pasipo kitu.” Dagg pia anakumbuka dai la zamani kwamba amri ya Yoshua kwa jua ilikanusha mfumo wa Copernicus. Hiyo ilikuwa “hitimisho la kitoto,” anasema, kwa kuwa wanaastronomia wanaojua dunia inazunguka bado husema juu ya macheo na machweo. Sayansi yaweza kusahihisha “hitimisho zenye makosa” ambazo watu wanazitoa kutoka Maandiko, na inapofanya hivyo, “tunapaswa kuridhika kujifunza.” Tofauti hii kati ya Biblia na tafsiri zetu za Biblia ni zana ya thamani kwa mhubiri yeyote.The most memorable part of the chapter is an illustration. As adults, we remember the lessons a wise father taught us in childhood. He did not teach us the sciences, but he taught us nothing contrary to them, and now we can see that he understood them all along. So it is with the Bible. The false sacred books of the nations contradict even “the very first lessons in geography.” Scripture never says the earth rests on an elephant standing on a tortoise; instead Job 26:7 says God “hangs the earth upon nothing.” Dagg also recalls the old claim that Joshua’s command to the sun disproved the Copernican system. That was a “childish inference,” he says, since astronomers who know the earth turns still speak of sunrise and sunset. Science may correct “erroneous inferences” that people draw from Scripture, and when it does, “we should be content to learn.” This distinction between the Bible and our interpretations of it is a precious tool for any preacher.

7.Kile Mchungaji Mbaptisti Anachochukua Kutoka Humo Leo7.What a Baptist Pastor Takes from It Today

Dagg anahitimisha kwa ibada na wajibu. Tunapokumbuka kwamba Mungu alituumba, “wala si sisi wenyewe,” lazima tukiri haki yake juu ya utumishi wetu, sifa na utukufu. Yeye ndiye mfinyanzi wa miili yetu na Baba wa roho zetu. Ukombozi unampa dai lenye nguvu zaidi hata, Dagg anakiri, lakini uumbaji peke yake unatosha kutufunga. Hapa ndipo mchungaji Mbaptisti anapoanzia. Kila mtu katika kusanyiko, tajiri au maskini, mwenye elimu au la, ni wa Muumbaji kwanza. Warithi wa Kibaptisti wa Dagg wanashikilia mitazamo tofauti juu ya umri wa dunia. Wengi nchini Marekani, Amerika ya Kilatini na Afrika wanashikilia usomaji wa dunia changa wa Mwanzo; wengine wanashikilia mitazamo ya siku-enzi, pengo au ya kifasihi ya siku sita. Imani na Ujumbe wa Kibaptisti (2000) unathibitisha kwamba Mungu aliumba ulimwengu lakini hauamui umri wake. Walimu Wakatoliki wa Roma, Waorthodoksi na Waprotestanti wengi vilevile wanashikilia uumbaji kutoka hakuna huku wakitofautiana kuhusu sayansi. Uzingatiaji wa Kibaptisti wa uhuru wa dhamiri, chini ya mamlaka ya Maandiko, unawaruhusu waamini kuchunguza maswali haya kwa unyenyekevu bila kuvunja ushirika kwa ajili yake. Utulivu wa Dagg ni mwongozo bora kuliko hofu ya sayansi au kuiabudu.Dagg closes with worship and duty. When we remember that God made us, “and not we ourselves,” we must acknowledge His right to our service, praise and glory. He is the former of our bodies and the Father of our spirits. Redemption gives Him an even stronger claim, Dagg admits, but creation alone is enough to bind us. This is where a Baptist pastor begins. Every person in the congregation, rich or poor, educated or not, belongs first to the Creator. Baptist heirs of Dagg hold different views on the age of the earth. Many in the United States, Latin America and Africa hold a young-earth reading of Genesis; others hold day-age, gap or literary views of the six days. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000) affirms that God created the world but does not settle its age. Roman Catholic, Orthodox and many Protestant teachers likewise hold creation from nothing while differing on the science. The Baptist commitment to liberty of conscience, under the authority of Scripture, allows believers to study these questions humbly without breaking fellowship over them. Dagg’s calm is a better guide than either fear of science or worship of it.

8.Kuuchukua Moyoni8.Taking It to Heart

Kwa tafakari. Dagg anasema “hakuna msingi wa haki wa kuogopa sayansi” inapofanya kazi kwa unyenyekevu. Ungemsaidiaje mwanafunzi anayehisi kwamba imani na sayansi zinapigana vita? Kanisa lako linaweza kuhitaji kutofautisha wapi kati ya yale Biblia inayosema na yale watu waliyoyahitimisha kutoka kwayo? Na ukweli kwamba Mungu alikuumba, “wala si sisi wenyewe,” unabadilishaje jinsi unavyotumia mwili wako, wakati wako na siku yako ya pumziko? For reflection. Dagg says there is “no just ground to fear science” when it works with modesty. How would you help a student who feels that faith and science are at war? Where might your church need to distinguish between what the Bible says and what people have inferred from it? And how does the truth that God made you, “and not we ourselves,” change the way you use your body, your time and your day of rest?

Chanzo. Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala wa John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine (1857), Kitabu cha III, sura ya 2, “Kazi za Mungu – Uumbaji.” Matini iko katika umma. Hiki ni mafundisho yaliyoandikwa na CTS, si nakala; maelezo juu ya maungamo ya Philadelphia na New Hampshire, Imani na Ujumbe wa Kibaptisti na mijadala ya baadaye yametokana na vyanzo vya kawaida.Source. A Chapala Theological Seminary digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine (1857), Book III, chapter 2, “Works of God – Creation.” The text is in the public domain. This is CTS-authored teaching, not a reproduction; notes on the Philadelphia and New Hampshire confessions, the Baptist Faith and Message and later debates are drawn from standard sources.

Kusoma madai kwa uangalifu. Mpangilio wa wakati wa kijiolojia wa Dagg na madai yake kuhusu sayansi ni hoja za karne ya kumi na tisa zinazoakisi jiolojia ya miaka ya 1850, si matokeo ya kisasa ya jiolojia. CTS haiungi mkono mtazamo wowote mmoja wa umri wa dunia. Matini ya kazi ya CTS inafuata unukuzi wa umma wa Grace Gems, wenye makosa madogo (kwa mfano “undersigned” badala ya “undesigned”); kulinganisha na nakala iliyochanganuliwa ya toleo lililochapishwa bado kunasubiriwa.Reading claims carefully. Dagg’s geological chronology and claims about science are nineteenth-century arguments that reflect the geology of the 1850s, not contemporary geological findings. CTS does not endorse any one view of the age of the earth. The CTS working text follows the public Grace Gems transcription, which has small errors (for example “undersigned” for “undesigned”); comparison with a scan of the printed edition is still pending.

Somo la 3 · The States of Christ

From Glory to Glory

A CTS digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Book V, ch. 2, “States of Christ”

Dagg follows the eternal Son through three states: original glory with the Father, humiliation to the cross and the grave, and exaltation to supreme dominion. He distinguishes “Christ” as a title of office from “Son of God” as a title of nature, insists the divine nature never changed, and rejects a descent into hell, a debated view this digest sets beside others.

MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa
Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — muhtasari asilia ulioandikwa na CTS, unaopatikana kwa Kiingereza, Kihispania na Kifaransa, unaosomeka bila mtandao. Huu ni muhtasari wa CTS, si maandishi kamili ya chanzo asilia.

Kutoka Utukufu hadi Utukufu: Dagg Kuhusu Hali za KristoFrom Glory to Glory: Dagg on the States of Christ

Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — sura ya Dagg kuhusu utukufu wa awali wa Kristo, kujinyenyekeza kwake hadi msalabani na kaburini, na kuinuliwa kwake hadi mamlaka kuuA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — Dagg’s chapter on Christ’s original glory, His humiliation to the cross and the grave, and His exaltation to supreme dominion

Muhtasari wa CTS wa John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Kitabu cha V, sura ya 2, “Hali za Kristo.” Matini asilia iko katika umma; nukuu fupi zifuatazo zimetoka humo.A CTS digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Book V, chapter 2, “States of Christ.” The original is in the public domain; the short quotations below are from it.

  • Manual of Theology, Kitabu cha V, sura ya 2Manual of Theology, Book V, ch. 2
  • Chanzo cha msingiPrimary source
  • 18571857
  • John L. DaggJohn L. Dagg
Neno kabla ya kusoma. Wanateolojia wa zamani walizungumza juu ya “hali” za Kristo: hali mbalimbali ambazo Mwana mmoja wa milele alipitia kwa ajili ya wokovu wetu. Dagg anataja tatu: utukufu wa awali, kujinyenyekeza na kuinuliwa. Umbo hilo linatoka moja kwa moja kwenye Wafilipi 2:5–11 na 2 Wakorintho 8:9. Angalia mambo mawili unaposoma: uangalifu wa Dagg kusema kwamba asili ya kimungu ya Kristo haikubadilika kamwe, na mtazamo wake thabiti, ingawa unajadiliwa, juu ya “kushuka kuzimu” kwa Kristo. A word before you read. Older theologians spoke of the “states” of Christ: the different conditions through which the one eternal Son passed for our salvation. Dagg names three: original glory, humiliation and exaltation. The shape comes straight from Philippians 2:5–11 and 2 Corinthians 8:9. Watch two things as you read: Dagg’s care to say that Christ’s divine nature never changed, and his firm, but debated, view on Christ’s “descent into hell.”

1.Kristo Mmoja, Hali Tatu1.One Christ, Three States

Sura ya Dagg imejengwa juu ya muhtasari rahisi ambao kila mhubiri anaweza kuutumia. Kwanza, kabla ya kupata mwili, Mwana aliishi katika “ushirika wa karibu wa utukufu na baraka pamoja na Baba.” Pili, alichukua asili ya kibinadamu na ndani yake aliishi “maisha ya taabu na huzuni,” na akafa “kifo cha aibu na cha maumivu.” Tatu, katika asili hiyo hiyo ya kibinadamu alifufuliwa, akapaa mbinguni na kuvikwa “mamlaka kuu juu ya viumbe vyote.” Kila hali inafunguka kwa kauli thabiti kwa herufi kubwa, ikifuatwa na orodha ya maandiko, kama maungamo ya kale ya Kibaptisti yanavyofanya. Hii ilikuwa imani ya Maungamo ya Philadelphia (1742), ambayo sura yake ya “Kristo Mpatanishi” inafuata njia ileile kutoka Mwana wa milele hadi kiti cha enzi. Andiko pendwa la muhtasari la Dagg ni 2 Wakorintho 8:9: ingawa alikuwa tajiri, kwa ajili yetu alikuwa maskini, ili sisi kwa umaskini wake tupate kuwa matajiri.Dagg’s chapter is built on a simple outline that every preacher can use. First, before the incarnation, the Son lived in “intimate communion of glory and blessedness with the Father.” Second, He took human nature and in it lived “a life of toil and sorrow,” and died “an ignominious and painful death.” Third, in that same human nature He was raised, ascended to heaven and was invested “with supreme dominion over all creatures.” Each state opens with a bold thesis in capital letters, followed by a list of texts, much as the old Baptist confessions do. This was the faith of the Philadelphia Confession (1742), whose chapter on “Christ the Mediator” follows the same path from the eternal Son to the throne. Dagg’s favourite summary text is 2 Corinthians 8:9: though He was rich, for our sakes He became poor, that through His poverty we might be rich.

2.Kabla Ulimwengu Haujakuwapo2.Before the World Was

Dagg kwanza anaonyesha kwamba Kristo alikuwepo kabla ya kuzaliwa kwake. Maandiko mengi yanasema hivyo hata bila kutangaza uungu wake: “alishuka kutoka mbinguni” (Yohana 3:13), na “kabla Abrahamu hajakuwapo, mimi ndiye” (Yohana 8:58). Yakichukuliwa peke yake, maandiko kama hayo yangeweza kupendekeza roho iliyoumbwa yenye utukufu. Lakini ushuhuda mpana zaidi wa Maandiko, Dagg anasema, unaonyesha kwamba huyu aliyekuwepo kabla “alikuwa Mungu, na si kiumbe.” Maandiko yanampa majina kadhaa kabla ya kuja kwake. Yohana anamwita “Neno,” labda kwa sababu kupitia yeye nia ya Mungu hufanywa kujulikana. Anaitwa Mwana wa Mungu, Malaika wa Bwana, Malaika wa Agano na Mkuu wa jeshi la Bwana. Wengi pia wamemwona katika “Hekima” katika Mithali 8. Dagg kisha anakusanya maandiko juu ya utukufu wake wa milele: utukufu aliokuwa nao pamoja na Baba “kabla ya kuwako ulimwengu” (Yohana 17:5), kuwa kwake “mwenye namna ya Mungu” (Wafilipi 2:6), na mahali pake “kifuani mwa Baba” (Yohana 1:18). Kutoka haya tunajifunza “ushirika kamili” wa Mwana na Baba katika baraka zote za Mungu.Dagg first shows that Christ existed before His birth. Many texts say so even without declaring His deity: He “came down from heaven” (John 3:13), and “before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). Taken alone, such texts might suggest a glorious created spirit. But the wider witness of Scripture, Dagg says, shows that this pre-existent one “was God, and not a creature.” Scripture gives Him several names before His coming. John calls Him “the Word,” probably because through Him the mind of God is made known. He is called the Son of God, the Angel of the Lord, the Angel of the Covenant and the Captain of the Lord’s host. Many have also seen Him in “Wisdom” in Proverbs 8. Dagg then gathers the texts on His eternal glory: the glory He had with the Father “before the world was” (John 17:5), His being “in the form of God” (Philippians 2:6), and His place “in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18). From these we learn the “full communion” of the Son with the Father in all the blessedness of God.

3.“Kristo” na “Mwana wa Mungu”3.“Christ” and “Son of God”

Dagg anafanya tofauti ya uangalifu inayosaidia katika kusoma Agano Jipya. “Kristo,” au Masihi, ni “cheo cha huduma.” Paulo na Apolo walipowathibitishia Wayahudi kwamba Yesu ni Kristo (Mdo 9:22; 18:28), walikuwa wanaonyesha kwamba alikuwa Masihi aliyeahidiwa. Lakini “Mwana wa Mungu” linasema zaidi: linataja “asili tukufu iliyomfaa kwa hilo.” Dagg anaelekeza Matendo 8:37, ambapo towashi Mwethiopia anakiri, “Naamini kwamba Yesu Kristo ni Mwana wa Mungu,” kabla Filipo hajambatiza. Wabaptisti daima wamependa kisa hiki kama picha ya ubatizo wa waumini: kwanza ungamo la imani, kisha kuzamishwa. Biblia za kisasa zinabainisha kwamba aya ya 37 haimo katika hati za zamani zaidi, lakini mtindo wa imani kabla ya ubatizo unapita katika Matendo yote. Kuhusu maneno “alizaliwa” na “pekee aliyezaliwa,” Dagg ni mwangalifu sana. Yanazungumzia mapenzi, heshima na urithi, lakini lazima tuyaondoe “mawazo yote ya kikatili” yanayopendekeza kwamba Mwana alipokea kuwepo kwake. Wanateolojia wengi, wakifuata Kanuni ya Imani ya Nikea, wanazungumza kwa uhakika zaidi juu ya “kuzaliwa kwa milele” kwa Mwana kutoka kwa Baba. Dagg hakatai, lakini anapendelea kukiri fumbo.Dagg makes a careful distinction that helps in reading the New Testament. “Christ,” or Messiah, is “a title of office.” When Paul and Apollos proved to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 9:22; 18:28), they were showing that He was the promised Messiah. But “Son of God” says more: it names “the exalted nature which qualified for it.” Dagg points to Acts 8:37, where the Ethiopian eunuch confesses, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God,” before Philip baptizes him. Baptists have always loved this scene as a picture of believer’s baptism: first a confession of faith, then immersion. Modern Bibles note that verse 37 is missing from the oldest manuscripts, but the pattern of faith before baptism runs through Acts. On the words “begotten” and “only-begotten,” Dagg is very cautious. They speak of endearment, dignity and heirship, but we must discard “all gross conceptions” that suggest the Son received His existence. Many theologians, following the Nicene Creed, speak more confidently of the Son’s “eternal generation” from the Father. Dagg does not deny it, but he prefers to confess mystery.

4.Mungu Alidhihirishwa Katika Mwili4.God Manifest in the Flesh

Hali ya pili ni kujinyenyekeza. Injili nne zinasimulia historia yake. Lakini Dagg anaonya mara moja kwamba hatupaswi kudhani asili ya kimungu ilibadilika. “Mungu hawezi kuacha kuwa Mungu.” Badiliko lilikuwa “katika udhihirisho, si katika asili.” Hii inalinda dhidi ya mafundisho yanayosema Mwana aliacha sifa zake za kimungu alipokuwa mwanadamu. Dagg kisha anaongeza tafakari nzuri juu ya malaika. Mtoto mchanga wa Bethlehemu alikuwa mnyenyekevu hivyo hata malaika walihitaji amri kutoka kiti cha enzi kumwabudu (Waebrania 1:6). Je, huu ulikuwa ufichaji badala ya ufunuo? Kwa sehemu, Dagg anakiri. Lakini ni kama Mungu alivyomficha Musa katika ufa wa mwamba, akifunika mng’ao wake usiovumilika ili mtumishi wake apate kuona utukufu wake na kuishi. Vivyo hivyo malaika, wakimtazama Mungu aliyefunikwa katika asili ya kibinadamu, wanaona wasichoweza kuona vinginevyo. Haya ni mambo “ambayo malaika wanatamani kuyachungulia” (1 Petro 1:12). Kupitia kanisa lililokombolewa, Waefeso 3:10 inasema, hekima ya Mungu yenye namna nyingi hufanywa kujulikana kwa wenye mamlaka wa mbinguni.The second state is humiliation. The four Gospels tell its history. But Dagg warns at once that we must not imagine the divine nature changed. “God cannot cease to be God.” The change was “in the manifestation, and not in the nature.” This guards against teachings that say the Son gave up His divine attributes when He became man. Dagg then adds a beautiful reflection on the angels. So humble was the babe of Bethlehem that the angels needed a command from the throne to worship Him (Hebrews 1:6). Was this a concealment rather than a revelation? Partly, Dagg admits. But it is like God hiding Moses in the cleft of the rock, covering His unbearable brightness so that His servant might see His glory and live. In the same way the angels, looking at God veiled in human nature, see what they could not otherwise see. These are the things “into which the angels desire to look” (1 Peter 1:12). Through the redeemed church, Ephesians 3:10 says, the manifold wisdom of God is made known to heavenly powers.

5.Kiwango cha Chini Kabisa: Msalaba na Kaburi5.The Lowest Point: The Cross and the Grave

Kiwango cha chini kabisa cha kujinyenyekeza kwa Kristo kilikuwa kifo chake kwa kusulubiwa na kushikiliwa kwake kwa muda “chini ya nguvu ya mauti, kama mfungwa kaburini.” Hapa Dagg anachukua msimamo dhahiri. Wengine wanadhani Kristo alishuka kuzimu, kama mstari mmoja wa Kanuni ya Imani ya Mitume mara nyingi unavyosomwa. Dagg anaamini hii inatokana na kusoma vibaya Zaburi 16:10, ambapo “kuzimu” maana yake “ulimwengu usioonekana,” hali ya waliofariki. Na 1 Petro 3:19, juu ya kuhubiri “kwa roho zilizo kifungoni,” inamaanisha kwamba Kristo, kwa Roho wake, alihubiri kupitia Nuhu kwa watu waliomkataa na sasa wako kifungoni. Huu ulikuwa usomaji wa Augustino, na walimu wengi wa Matengenezo na Wabaptisti wanaufuata. Wakristo wengine wanatofautiana. Wakatoliki wa Roma wanafundisha kwamba Kristo alikwenda mahali pa wafu kuwakomboa wenye haki waliokufa kabla yake. Walutheri wanazungumza juu ya kushuka kwake kama tangazo la ushindi. Calvin alisoma msemo huo kama kuteswa kwa Kristo hukumu ya Mungu msalabani, na Katekisimu Kubwa ya Westminster inaueleza kama kubaki kwake chini ya nguvu ya mauti. Maungamo ya Kibaptisti kwa kawaida hayatumii kabisa msemo wa kanuni hiyo ya imani. Wanafunzi wa CTS wanapaswa kujua machaguo haya na kulishughulikia andiko hili kwa unyenyekevu.The lowest point of Christ’s humiliation was His death by crucifixion and His being held for a time “under the power of death, as a prisoner in the grave.” Here Dagg takes a definite position. Some think Christ descended into hell, as one line of the Apostles’ Creed is often read. Dagg believes this comes from misreading Psalm 16:10, where “hell” means “the unseen world,” the state of the departed. And 1 Peter 3:19, on preaching “to the spirits in prison,” means that Christ, by His Spirit, preached through Noah to people who rejected him and are now in prison. This was Augustine’s reading, and many Reformed and Baptist teachers follow it. Other Christians differ. Roman Catholics teach that Christ went to the realm of the dead to free the righteous who had died before Him. Lutherans speak of His descent as a proclamation of victory. Calvin read the phrase as Christ’s suffering of God’s judgment on the cross, and the Westminster Larger Catechism explains it as His remaining under the power of death. Baptist confessions usually do not use the creed’s phrase at all. CTS students should know these options and handle the passage humbly.

6.Alifufuliwa na Kuinuliwa6.Raised and Exalted

Hali ya tatu ni kuinuliwa: ufufuo, kupaa na mamlaka kuu. Tena Dagg anasisitiza kwamba asili ya kimungu haikubadilika. Kilichobadilika ni udhihirisho wa utukufu wake, na hali halisi ya asili yake ya kibinadamu. Asili hiyo, ambayo hapo awali ilikuwa na huzuni, “sasa ina furaha kamili.” Yesu amepokea furaha iliyowekwa mbele yake (Waebrania 12:2), na watakatifu wake siku moja “wataingia katika furaha ya Bwana wao.” Juu ya ubinadamu wake uliotukuzwa sasa unakaa “utukufu wa Mungu katika uso wa Yesu Kristo” (2 Wakorintho 4:6). Kupitia yeye mafunuo angavu zaidi ya Mungu yanafikia kila kiumbe, na kupitia yeye kila amri ya mamlaka kuu hutoka. Ameketi juu sana kuliko kila enzi na mamlaka na kila jina litajwalo (Waefeso 1:20–21). Dagg anamaliza kwa mwelekeo wa kichungaji. Utukufu huu “si somo la kutafakari bure tu.” Yesu alisema, “Utukufu ulionipa mimi nimewapa wao” (Yohana 17:22). Kwa hiyo tunapoteseka pamoja na Kristo na kwa ajili ya Kristo katika ulimwengu huu, twaweza kufurahi katika tumaini la kutukuzwa pamoja naye.The third state is exaltation: resurrection, ascension and supreme dominion. Again Dagg insists that the divine nature did not change. What changed was the manifestation of His glory, and the real condition of His human nature. That nature, once sorrowful, “is now perfectly happy.” Jesus has received the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2), and His saints will one day “enter into the joy of their Lord.” On His glorified humanity now rests “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Through Him the brightest revelations of God reach every creature, and through Him every command of supreme authority comes. He is seated far above every rule and authority and every name that is named (Ephesians 1:20–21). Dagg ends with a pastoral turn. This glory is “not a subject of idle speculation.” Jesus said, “The glory which you have given me, I have given them” (John 17:22). So while we suffer with Christ and for Christ in this world, we may rejoice in the hope of being glorified with Him.

7.Kile Mchungaji Mbaptisti Anachochukua Kutoka Humo Leo7.What a Baptist Pastor Takes from It Today

Kwa Wabaptisti, hali za Kristo zinahubiriwa kila mwamini anapobatizwa. Kuzamishwa kunaonyesha kwa picha hasa njia ambayo Dagg anaifuatilia: kifo, mazishi na kufufuka tena (Warumi 6:4; Wakolosai 2:12). Maungamo ya New Hampshire (1833) yanaita ubatizo “ishara ya dhati na nzuri” ya imani kwa Mwokozi aliyesulubiwa, kuzikwa na kufufuka. Ndiyo sababu Wabaptisti wanashikilia ubatizo kwa kuzamishwa na ubatizo wa waumini peke yao: ishara inakusudiwa kuonyesha imani ambayo mgombea anayo tayari. Kuinuliwa kwa Kristo pia kunasimama nyuma ya uhuru wa dhamiri. Kama Kristo peke yake ana “mamlaka kuu juu ya viumbe vyote,” basi hakuna mfalme, dola wala baraza la kanisa aliye bwana wa dhamiri. Mwishowe, uhusiano wa Dagg kati ya mateso sasa na utukufu baadaye unasema kwa nguvu kwa waamini wa Kibaptisti ambao wamelipa gharama kwa imani yao, kutoka kwa wachungaji wa Kuba walio chini ya shinikizo hadi makanisa yanayokabiliwa na jeuri kaskazini mwa Nigeria. Na 2 Wakorintho 8:9 inasahihisha kila ujumbe wa “ufanisi”: Kristo alikuwa maskini ili sisi tuwe matajiri ndani yake, si ili kanisa lipime imani kwa pesa.For Baptists, the states of Christ are preached every time a believer is baptized. Immersion pictures exactly the path Dagg traces: death, burial and rising again (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12). The New Hampshire Confession (1833) calls baptism “a solemn and beautiful emblem” of faith in the crucified, buried and risen Saviour. That is why Baptists hold to immersion and to the baptism of believers only: the sign is meant to show a faith the candidate already holds. The exaltation of Christ also stands behind soul liberty. If Christ alone has “supreme dominion over all creatures,” then no king, state or church council is lord of the conscience. Finally, Dagg’s link between suffering now and glory later speaks powerfully to Baptist believers who have paid a price for their faith, from Cuban pastors under pressure to churches facing violence in northern Nigeria. And 2 Corinthians 8:9 corrects every “prosperity” message: Christ became poor so that we might be rich in Him, not so that the church might measure faith by money.

8.Kuuchukua Moyoni8.Taking It to Heart

Kwa tafakari. Dagg anasema utukufu wa Kristo “si somo la kutafakari bure tu.” Tumaini la kushiriki utukufu wake linakusaidiaje katika mateso? Wakati ujao utakapomweleza mwamini mpya juu ya ubatizo, ungewezaje kutumia hali tatu za Kristo kuonyesha kuzamishwa kunamaanisha nini? Na ungefundishaje vifungu vya “kushuka kuzimu” kwa haki kwa kanisa lenye watu wa asili za Kikatoliki, Kilutheri na za Matengenezo? For reflection. Dagg says the glory of Christ is “not a subject of idle speculation.” How does the hope of sharing His glory help you in suffering? When you next explain baptism to a new believer, how could you use the three states of Christ to show what immersion means? And how would you teach the “descent into hell” passages fairly to a church that includes people from Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed backgrounds?

Chanzo. Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala wa John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine (1857), Kitabu cha V, sura ya 2, “Hali za Kristo.” Matini iko katika umma. Hiki ni mafundisho yaliyoandikwa na CTS, si nakala; maelezo juu ya kanuni za imani, maungamo na mitazamo ya mapokeo mengine juu ya kushuka yametokana na vyanzo vya kawaida.Source. A Chapala Theological Seminary digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine (1857), Book V, chapter 2, “States of Christ.” The text is in the public domain. This is CTS-authored teaching, not a reproduction; notes on the creeds, the confessions and other traditions’ views of the descent are drawn from standard sources.

Kusoma madai kwa uangalifu. Usomaji wa Dagg wa 1 Petro 3:19 ni mmoja kati ya kadhaa unaoshikiliwa na Wakristo waaminifu. Matini ya kazi ya CTS inafuata unukuzi wa umma wa Grace Gems; kulinganisha na nakala iliyochanganuliwa ya toleo lililochapishwa bado kunasubiriwa.Reading claims carefully. Dagg’s reading of 1 Peter 3:19 is one of several held by faithful Christians. The CTS working text follows the public Grace Gems transcription; comparison with a scan of the printed edition is still pending.

Somo la 4 · The Covenant of Grace

The Purpose of the One God

A CTS digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Book VII, ch. 2, “Covenant of Grace”

Dagg presents salvation as the work of Father, Son and Spirit according to an eternal covenant: “the purpose of the one God.” He explains their offices, a voluntary subordination of office without inferiority of nature, and the order of blessing and of prayer. He then distinguishes this covenant from the new covenant of Hebrews 8, a point at the root of Baptist church membership.

MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa
Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — muhtasari asilia ulioandikwa na CTS, unaopatikana kwa Kiingereza, Kihispania na Kifaransa, unaosomeka bila mtandao. Huu ni muhtasari wa CTS, si maandishi kamili ya chanzo asilia.

Kusudi la Mungu Mmoja: Dagg Kuhusu Agano la NeemaThe Purpose of the One God: Dagg on the Covenant of Grace

Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — sura ya Dagg kuhusu makubaliano ya milele ya Baba, Mwana na Roho Mtakatifu kuokoa, mpangilio ambao neema inatufikia na sala zetu zinapanda kwa Mungu, na jinsi agano hili linavyohusiana na agano jipyaA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — Dagg’s chapter on the eternal agreement of Father, Son and Holy Spirit to save, the order in which grace reaches us and our prayers rise to God, and how this covenant relates to the new covenant

Muhtasari wa CTS wa John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Kitabu cha VII, sura ya 2, “Agano la Neema.” Matini asilia iko katika umma; nukuu fupi zifuatazo zimetoka humo.A CTS digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Book VII, chapter 2, “Covenant of Grace.” The original is in the public domain; the short quotations below are from it.

  • Manual of Theology, Kitabu cha VII, sura ya 2Manual of Theology, Book VII, ch. 2
  • Chanzo cha msingiPrimary source
  • 18571857
  • John L. DaggJohn L. Dagg
Neno kabla ya kusoma. Katika sura hii “agano la neema” linamaanisha kile ambacho wanateolojia wengi wanaita “agano la ukombozi”: makubaliano ya milele ndani ya Utatu kuokoa watu. Si, Dagg anasema, sawa na agano jipya lililofanywa na waamini. Tofauti hiyo ni muhimu sana kwa mafundisho ya Kibaptisti juu ya kanisa na ubatizo. Katika sentensi moja ya sehemu ya 4 kiambishi cha rejeo hakieleweki wazi katika matini ya Dagg mwenyewe; dokezo hapo linaeleza. A word before you read. In this chapter “covenant of grace” means something many theologians call the “covenant of redemption”: the eternal agreement within the Trinity to save a people. It is not, Dagg says, the same as the new covenant made with believers. That distinction matters a great deal for Baptist teaching on the church and baptism. In one sentence in section 4 the antecedent is unclear in Dagg’s own text; the note there explains it.

1.Watu Watatu, Kazi Moja ya Kuokoa1.Three Persons, One Saving Work

Hoja ya Dagg inasomeka: “Watu watatu wa kimungu hushirikiana katika wokovu wa mwanadamu kulingana na agano la milele.” Maandiko yake ni pamoja na Zaburi 2:8, Zaburi 40:6–8, Isaya 49, Yohana 17:6, Waebrania 13:20 na Tito 1:2. Ameshaonyesha, hapo awali katika Manual, kwamba Maandiko hutumia neno “agano” kwa “upana mkubwa wa maana.” Kwa hiyo inafaa kulitumia hapa. Wako watu watatu wa kimungu, na kama umoja wa Mungu ungezuia agano lolote kati yao, ungezuia pia tofauti yoyote ya kweli ya watu. Kwa hiyo Dagg anatumia wazo la agano kulinda fundisho la Utatu. Wokovu si kazi ya Baba mwenye hasira aliyeshawishiwa na Mwana mwema, wala mradi wa faragha wa mtu mmoja. Ni kazi ya pamoja ya Mungu mmoja, ambamo Baba, Mwana na Roho kila mmoja ana sehemu.Dagg’s thesis reads: “The three divine persons co-operate in man’s salvation according to an eternal covenant.” His texts include Psalm 2:8, Psalm 40:6–8, Isaiah 49, John 17:6, Hebrews 13:20 and Titus 1:2. He has already shown, earlier in the Manual, that Scripture uses the word “covenant” with “great latitude of meaning.” So it is fitting to use it here. There are three divine persons, and if the unity of God ruled out any covenant among them, it would also rule out any real distinction of persons. Dagg therefore uses the covenant idea to protect the doctrine of the Trinity. Salvation is not the work of an angry Father persuaded by a kind Son, nor the private project of one person. It is the united work of the one God, in which Father, Son and Spirit each take a part.

2.Si Biashara Kati ya Walio Sawa2.Not a Bargain Among Equals

Dagg anaondoa kwa uangalifu kutoelewana. Watu wanapofanya maagano, upande mmoja hupendekeza masharti na mwingine hutafakari, kisha hukubali au kukataa. Hilo hutokea “kwa sababu ya upungufu wa pande hizo.” Hakuna kitu kama hicho kinachotokea kwa Mungu. Maandiko huzungumza “kwa kujishusha kwa udhaifu wetu,” kwa kutumia lugha iliyochukuliwa kutoka mambo ya kibinadamu. Mwanzo 1:26, “Na tumfanye mtu,” inasikika kama mashauriano, lakini inafundisha makubaliano na ushirikiano wa watu wa kimungu. Makubaliano hayo yanapita katika kazi zote za Mungu, kwa maana anatenda mambo yote “kama shauri la mapenzi yake” (Waefeso 1:11). Kwa kuwa watu wote watatu wana hekima isiyo na kikomo, kutokubaliana kati yao hakuwezekani. Wokovu hutekelezwa kulingana na kusudi la milele, na watu hao wanakubaliana katika kusudi hilo kama katika kazi. Kisha inakuja sentensi bora kabisa ya sura: “Kusudi la Mungu mmoja, ndilo agano la Utatu.” Hapa Dagg anashikilia pamoja yale ambayo wengi hukosea, umoja wa Mungu na tofauti ya watu.Dagg is careful to clear away a misunderstanding. When people make covenants, one party proposes terms and the other deliberates, then accepts or refuses. That happens “because of the imperfection of the parties.” Nothing like it happens in God. Scripture speaks “in condescension to our weakness,” using language taken from human affairs. Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man,” sounds like a consultation, but it teaches the agreement and cooperation of the divine persons. That agreement runs through all God’s works, for He works all things “after the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). Since all three persons possess infinite wisdom, disagreement among them is impossible. Salvation is performed according to an eternal purpose, and the persons agree in that purpose as in the work. Then comes the chapter’s finest sentence: “The purpose of the one God, is the covenant of the Trinity.” Here Dagg holds together what many get wrong, the oneness of God and the distinction of the persons.

3.Agano la Milele3.An Everlasting Covenant

Kwa nini kuliita la milele? Kwa sababu pande ni za milele, zisizobadilika na zinazojua yote, na kwa sababu Maandiko yanasema hivyo. Waebrania 13:20 inasema juu ya “damu ya agano la milele,” Waefeso 3:11 juu ya kusudi la milele la Mungu katika Kristo, na Tito 1:2 na 2 Timotheo 1:9 juu ya uzima ulioahidiwa na neema iliyotolewa “tangu zamani za milele.” Kusudi la Mungu ni moja, lakini lazima tulisemee kwa sehemu. Sehemu ambayo Maandiko huiweka mbele ni makubaliano kati ya Baba na Mwana. Yesu anaomba, “Walikuwa wako, ukanipa mimi” (Yohana 17:6). Baba anamwambia Mwana, “Niulize, nami nitakupa mataifa kuwa urithi wako” (Zaburi 2:8). Mwana anajibu, “Tazama, nimekuja… nimependa kufanya mapenzi yako” (Zaburi 40:7–8). Katika Isaya 49, Dagg anasema, masharti kati ya Baba na Mwana yanawasilishwa “karibu kana kwamba yamenakiliwa kutoka kumbukumbu ya asili.” Zaburi 2:8, pamoja na ahadi yake ya mataifa, ikawa andiko pendwa la harakati ya kimisionari ya Kibaptisti, iliyotuma wafanyakazi Burma, Liberia, Nigeria, Brazili na Meksiko katika karne ya Dagg.Why call it eternal? Because the parties are eternal, unchanging and all-knowing, and because Scripture says so. Hebrews 13:20 speaks of “the blood of the everlasting covenant,” Ephesians 3:11 of God’s eternal purpose in Christ, and Titus 1:2 and 2 Timothy 1:9 of life promised and grace given “before the world began.” God’s purpose is one, yet we must speak of it in parts. The part Scripture puts in front is the agreement between the Father and the Son. Jesus prays, “Yours they were, and you gave them me” (John 17:6). The Father says to the Son, “Ask of me, and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance” (Psalm 2:8). The Son answers, “Lo, I come… I delight to do your will” (Psalm 40:7–8). In Isaiah 49, Dagg says, the terms between Father and Son are presented “almost as if they had been copied from an original record.” Psalm 2:8, with its promise of the nations, became a favourite text of the Baptist missionary movement, which sent workers to Burma, Liberia, Nigeria, Brazil and Mexico in Dagg’s century.

4.Huduma Tofauti, Uungu Mmoja4.Different Offices, One Godhead

Chini ya mpangilio huu Mwana alichukua asili ya kibinadamu “katika namna ya mtumwa,” alitii hadi kufa, na akainuliwa na Baba hadi mamlaka kuu. Baba anaonekana kama “mwakilishi wa Uungu” katika mamlaka na enzi yake: akimtuma Mwana, akimpa watu, akiagiza masharti, akikubali utumishi wake na akimtuma Roho. (Kama ilivyo, sentensi ya Dagg yaweza kusomeka kana kwamba Roho Mtakatifu ndiye alifanya mambo haya yote. Maneno ni ya Dagg mwenyewe, si kosa la unukuzi: kiambishi cha rejeo cha sentensi hakieleweki wazi katika matini ya Dagg, na aya inayofuata inaonyesha anamaanisha Baba akitenda kwa niaba ya Uungu.) Mwana ni “mwakilishi na mdhamini wa watu wake,” na ahadi ya uzima wa milele ilitolewa kwao ndani yake. Roho anakamilisha mpango, na ahadi za Baba kwa Mwana ni pamoja na zawadi ya Roho, ndiyo sababu Yohana 16:7 inasema Mwana humtuma na Yohana 14:16 inasema Baba humtuma kwa ombi la Mwana. Dagg kisha anaongeza ulinzi muhimu: Mwana na Roho wanakubali “kujiweka chini kwa huduma” kwa hiari, na hili halimaanishi “kupungua kwa asili.” Utimilifu wote wa Uungu hukaa ndani ya kila mtu. Wainjilisti katika miaka ya karibuni wamejadiliana kama kujiweka chini huko ni kwa milele; pande zote zinakubaliana na Dagg kwamba watu ni sawa katika asili.Under this arrangement the Son took human nature “in the form of a servant,” obeyed to the point of death, and was exalted by the Father to supreme dominion. The Father appears as “the representative of the Godhead” in its authority and majesty: sending the Son, giving Him a people, prescribing the terms, accepting His service and sending the Spirit. (As it stands, Dagg’s sentence can read as if the Holy Spirit did all these things. The wording is Dagg’s own, not a transcription error: the sentence’s antecedent is unclear in Dagg’s text, and the next paragraph shows he means the Father acting for the Godhead.) The Son is “the representative and surety of his people,” and the promise of eternal life was made to them in Him. The Spirit completes the plan, and the Father’s promises to the Son include the gift of the Spirit, which is why John 16:7 says the Son sends Him and John 14:16 says the Father sends Him at the Son’s request. Dagg then adds a vital guard: the Son and Spirit accept a “subordination of office” voluntarily, and this does not imply “inferiority of nature.” The fullness of the Godhead dwells in each person. Evangelicals in recent years have argued over whether such subordination is eternal; all sides agree with Dagg that the persons are equal in nature.

5.Mpangilio wa Baraka na Mpangilio wa Sala5.The Order of Blessing and the Order of Prayer

Dagg kisha anaonyesha jinsi mpangilio huu unavyoumba uzoefu wa Kikristo. Baraka hushuka kutoka kwa Baba, “ambaye vitu vyote vyatoka kwake,” kupitia Mwana, “ambaye vitu vyote ni kwa yeye,” kwa Roho, anayezitoa moja kwa moja na ndiye “wa mwisho katika mpangilio wa utendaji.” Ibada yetu hupanda kwa “mpangilio kinyume.” Roho hutusukuma kuomba na hutusaidia tusipojua tuombe nini. Sala zetu hupanda kupitia Kristo, na Baba ndiye lengo la mwisho la ibada. Waefeso 2:18 inasema kwa mstari mmoja: kupitia yeye sote tuna njia kwa Roho mmoja kwa Baba. Hata hivyo katika kila hatua Mungu mzima yupo. Roho anapotuvuta, ni Baba anayevuta (Yohana 6:44). Tunapomjia Yesu, “Mungu alikuwa ndani ya Kristo, akiupatanisha ulimwengu naye” (2 Wakorintho 5:19). Tunapomwomba Baba, Uungu wote hupokea ibada yetu. Kwa hiyo mwamini, Dagg anasema, anaweza kuabudu “bila kuvurugwa kwa fikira.” Iwe tunamfikiria Mungu katika chumba cha faragha, katika ulimwengu wenye shughuli au kwenye kiti chake cha enzi mbinguni, tunamwomba Yule Yule aliye kila mahali. Tunamwabudu Mungu peke yake, tukimwomba Baba, Mwana au Roho Mtakatifu.Dagg next shows how this order shapes Christian experience. Blessings come down from the Father, “of whom are all things,” through the Son, “by whom are all things,” by the Spirit, who gives them directly and is “the last in the order of operation.” Our worship goes up in “the reverse order.” The Spirit moves us to pray and helps us when we do not know what to ask. Our prayers rise through Christ, and the Father is the final object of worship. Ephesians 2:18 states it in one line: through Him we have access by one Spirit to the Father. Yet at every step the whole God is present. When the Spirit draws us, it is the Father drawing (John 6:44). When we come to Jesus, “God is in Christ reconciling the world” (2 Corinthians 5:19). When we address the Father, the whole Godhead receives our worship. So the believer, Dagg says, may worship “without distraction of thought.” Whether we picture God in the private closet, in the busy world or on His throne in heaven, we address the same omnipresent One. We worship God alone whether we pray to the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit.

6.Si Sawa na Agano Jipya6.Not the Same as the New Covenant

Mwishoni Dagg anaongeza onyo “kujilinda na kosa.” Agano la milele si sawa na agano jipya la Waebrania 8. Agano jipya, likinukuu Yeremia 31, linafanywa “na nyumba ya Israeli na nyumba ya Yuda,” yaani, na watu; agano la milele “halifanywi na mwanadamu.” Hata hivyo hayo mawili yameunganika kwa karibu. Katika agano la milele, ahadi zinafanywa kwa Mwana kama mwakilishi wa watu wake. Katika agano jipya ahadi zilezile zinafanywa kwa watu wenyewe na kwa sehemu tayari zimetimizwa: “Nitakuwa Mungu kwao,” na “Nitatia sheria zangu ndani ya nia zao, na kuziandika katika mioyo yao.” Hili ni muhimu zaidi kuliko linavyoonekana. Wanateolojia wa Kipresbiteri na wengine wanaobatiza watoto wachanga wanaona agano moja la neema likipita kupitia Abrahamu hadi kanisani, watoto wa waamini wakijumuishwa ndani yake na kutiwa alama kwa ubatizo, kama tohara ilivyowatia alama wana wa Israeli hapo zamani. Wabaptisti, tangu Maungamo ya Pili ya London ya 1689, husoma agano jipya kuwa jipya kwa aina: washiriki wake ni wale walio na sheria imeandikwa mioyoni mwao na ambao wote “wanamjua Bwana” (Waebrania 8:11).At the end Dagg adds a warning “to guard against mistake.” The eternal covenant is not identical with the new covenant of Hebrews 8. The new covenant, quoting Jeremiah 31, is made “with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,” that is, with people; the eternal covenant “is not made with man.” Yet the two are closely linked. In the eternal covenant, promises are made to the Son as the representative of His people. In the new covenant the same promises are made to the people themselves and partly fulfilled already: “I will be to them a God,” and “I will put my law in their minds, and write it in their hearts.” This is more important than it looks. Presbyterian and other paedobaptist theologians see one covenant of grace running through Abraham to the church, with children of believers included in it and marked by baptism, as circumcision once marked Israel’s sons. Baptists, from the Second London Confession of 1689 onward, read the new covenant as new in kind: its members are those who have the law written on their hearts and who all “know the Lord” (Hebrews 8:11).

7.Kile Mchungaji Mbaptisti Anachochukua Kutoka Humo Leo7.What a Baptist Pastor Takes from It Today

Kutokana na usomaji huo wa agano jipya hutoka fundisho la Kibaptisti la ushiriki wa kanisa wa waliozaliwa upya. Ikiwa jumuiya ya agano jipya inaundwa na wale ambao Mungu amewafundisha kumjua, basi kanisa linaloonekana linapaswa, kadiri wanadamu wanavyoweza kuhukumu, kupokea tu wale wanaoungama imani ya kuokoa, na kubatiza hao peke yao. Dagg alihoji hasa hili katika Treatise on Church Order yake mwaka uliofuata. Mchungaji leo anachukua mambo matatu kutoka sura hii. Kwanza, wokovu ni kazi ya Mungu kabisa, iliyopangwa tangu milele, kwa hiyo injili yaweza kuhubiriwa kwa ujasiri: Baba amemwahidi Mwana mataifa. Pili, sala ina umbo: kwa Roho, kupitia Mwana, kwa Baba. Kufundisha mpangilio huu rahisi huwasaidia waamini wapya kuomba kwa uhakika. Tatu, kanisa ni watu wa agano wenye mioyo iliyobadilishwa, si klabu ya kijamii wala urithi wa familia. Katika Amerika ya Kilatini, ambako watu wengi walibatizwa wakiwa watoto wachanga katika kanisa linalohusiana na dola, usadikisho huu uko nyuma ya wito wa Kibaptisti wa imani ya kibinafsi ikifuatwa na ubatizo wa waumini. Unapaswa kusemwa kwa heshima kwa Wakristo wengine wanaosoma maagano kwa njia tofauti.From that reading of the new covenant flows the Baptist doctrine of regenerate church membership. If the new covenant community is made up of those whom God has taught to know Him, then the visible church should, as far as humans can judge, receive only those who profess saving faith, and baptize only them. Dagg argued exactly this in his Treatise on Church Order the following year. A pastor today takes three things from this chapter. First, salvation is entirely God’s work, planned in eternity, so the gospel can be preached with confidence: the Father has promised the nations to the Son. Second, prayer has a shape: by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. Teaching this simple order helps new believers pray with assurance. Third, the church is a covenant people of changed hearts, not a social club or a family inheritance. In Latin America, where many people were baptized as infants in a state-linked church, this conviction lies behind the Baptist call to personal faith followed by believer’s baptism. It should be stated with respect for other Christians who read the covenants differently.

8.Kuuchukua Moyoni8.Taking It to Heart

Kwa tafakari. Dagg anaandika kwamba “kusudi la Mungu mmoja, ndilo agano la Utatu.” Kujua kwamba watu wote watatu wanakubaliana katika wokovu wako kunaimarishaje uhakika wako? Jaribu kuomba leo kwa mpangilio ambao Dagg anaueleza: kwa Roho, kupitia Mwana, kwa Baba. Na ungemweleza vipi, kwa wema na kwa uwazi, rafiki Mpresbiteri kwa nini Wabaptisti wanaunganisha agano jipya na ubatizo wa waumini? For reflection. Dagg writes that “the purpose of the one God, is the covenant of the Trinity.” How does knowing that all three persons agree in your salvation strengthen your assurance? Try praying today in the order Dagg describes: by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. And how would you explain, kindly and clearly, to a Presbyterian friend why Baptists link the new covenant with believer’s baptism?

Chanzo. Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala wa John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine (1857), Kitabu cha VII, sura ya 2, “Agano la Neema.” Matini iko katika umma. Hiki ni mafundisho yaliyoandikwa na CTS, si nakala; maelezo juu ya teolojia ya agano ya Kibaptisti na ya wanaobatiza watoto wachanga, Maungamo ya 1689 na mijadala ya baadaye yametokana na vyanzo vya kawaida.Source. A Chapala Theological Seminary digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine (1857), Book VII, chapter 2, “Covenant of Grace.” The text is in the public domain. This is CTS-authored teaching, not a reproduction; notes on Baptist and paedobaptist covenant theology, the 1689 Confession and later debates are drawn from standard sources.

Kusoma madai kwa uangalifu. Matini ya kazi ya CTS inafuata unukuzi wa umma wa Grace Gems. Katika sentensi kuhusu jukumu la Baba kama mwakilishi, kiambishi cha rejeo hakieleweki wazi katika matini ya Dagg; aya inayofuata inaonyesha anamaanisha Baba akitenda kwa niaba ya Uungu. Kulinganisha na nakala iliyochanganuliwa ya toleo lililochapishwa bado kunasubiriwa. Dagg ni sauti moja ya Kibaptisti juu ya maagano; Wabaptisti wenyewe wanashikilia zaidi ya mfumo mmoja wa agano.Reading claims carefully. The CTS working text follows the public Grace Gems transcription. In the sentence about the Father’s representative role, the antecedent is unclear in Dagg’s text; the next paragraph shows he means the Father acting for the Godhead. Comparison with a scan of the printed edition is still pending. Dagg is one Baptist voice on the covenants; Baptists themselves hold more than one covenant framework.

Somo la 5 · Justification and Adoption

Declared Righteous, Welcomed Home

A CTS digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Book VII, ch. 3, §§2–3, “Justification” and “Adoption”

Dagg teaches that believers are justified by Christ’s righteousness imputed to them: acquitted, not merely pardoned, on the ground of His blood and obedience, through a faith that renounces all merit. He explains a threefold union with Christ, reconciles Paul and James, and rejects eternal justification. Adoption rises higher still, bringing the Father’s love, discipline and inheritance.

MUHTASARI WA CTSSoma muhtasari wote — unafunguka hapa hapa
Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — muhtasari asilia ulioandikwa na CTS, unaopatikana kwa Kiingereza, Kihispania na Kifaransa, unaosomeka bila mtandao. Huu ni muhtasari wa CTS, si maandishi kamili ya chanzo asilia.

Kutangazwa Mwenye Haki, Kukaribishwa Nyumbani: Dagg Kuhusu Kuhesabiwa Haki na Kufanywa WanaDeclared Righteous, Welcomed Home: Dagg on Justification and Adoption

Somo la Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala — sehemu za Dagg kuhusu jinsi mwenye dhambi mwenye hatia anavyotangazwa mwenye haki kwa imani katika Kristo, na jinsi Mungu kisha anavyompokea mwamini huyo kama mwana na mrithiA Chapala Theological Seminary reading — Dagg’s sections on how a guilty sinner is declared righteous through faith in Christ, and how God then receives that believer as a son and heir

Muhtasari wa CTS wa John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Kitabu cha VII, sura ya 3, sehemu ya 2–3, “Kuhesabiwa Haki” na “Kufanywa Wana.” Matini asilia iko katika umma; nukuu fupi zifuatazo zimetoka humo.A CTS digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology (1857), Book VII, chapter 3, sections 2–3, “Justification” and “Adoption.” The original is in the public domain; the short quotations below are from it.

  • Manual of Theology, Kitabu cha VII, sura ya 3, §§2–3Manual of Theology, Book VII, ch. 3, §§2–3
  • Chanzo cha msingiPrimary source
  • 18571857
  • John L. DaggJohn L. Dagg
Neno kabla ya kusoma. Hili ndilo somo refu zaidi katika kozi, na moyo wa injili kama Matengenezo ya Kanisa yalivyoifundisha. Dagg anatumia maneno ya mahakamani (hakimu, kuachilia, kuhesabia) na maneno ya familia (baba, mwana, mrithi). Weka picha zote mbili akilini. “Kuhesabia” (impute) maana yake kuhesabu au kuweka kitu kwenye akaunti ya mtu. Dagg anaandika kama Mbaptisti wa Kikalvini; pale Wakristo wengine wanapotofautiana, muhtasari huu unasema hivyo. A word before you read. This is the longest reading in the course, and the heart of the gospel as the Reformation taught it. Dagg uses courtroom words (judge, acquit, impute) and family words (father, son, heir). Keep both pictures in view. “Impute” means to count or credit something to someone’s account. Dagg writes as a Calvinistic Baptist; where other Christians disagree, this digest says so.

1.Kuachiliwa Huru, Si Kusamehewa Tu1.Acquitted, Not Merely Pardoned

Hoja ya Dagg ni: “Wote wanaomwamini Kristo, wanahesabiwa haki kwa haki yake wanayohesabiwa nayo.” Anaanza kwa ufafanuzi. Kuhesabiwa haki ni “tendo la hakimu kumwachilia huru aliyeshtakiwa kwa uhalifu,” kinyume cha hukumu ya adhabu. Kumbukumbu la Torati 25:1 iliwaamuru waamuzi wa Israeli kumhesabia haki mwenye haki na kumhukumu mwovu. Kisha Dagg anafanya tofauti nzuri. Kuhesabiwa haki ni “baraka ya juu zaidi ya neema, kuliko msamaha.” Mhalifu aliyesamehewa anaachiliwa kutoka adhabu, lakini hasimami mahali asimamapo mtu asiye na hatia. Ayubu 27:5 inaonyesha tofauti: tukiweka “msamaha” mahali pa “kuhesabia haki” huko, maana inabadilika. Kupitia Kristo mwenye dhambi anayerudi anatendewa “kana kwamba hakutenda dhambi kamwe.” Hata hivyo hizi si zawadi mbili tofauti zinazotolewa kwa aina mbili za watu. Kila mwamini mwenye toba hupokea zote mbili. Kama toba na imani zinavyodokezana, ndivyo msamaha na kuhesabiwa haki ni “baraka pacha za neema,” zinazotolewa pamoja kupitia Yesu Kristo.Dagg’s thesis is: “All who believe in Christ, are justified by his righteousness imputed to them.” He begins with a definition. Justification is “the act of a judge acquitting one who is charged with crime,” the opposite of condemnation. Deuteronomy 25:1 commanded Israel’s judges to justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. Then Dagg makes a fine distinction. Justification is “a higher blessing of grace, than pardon.” A pardoned criminal is freed from punishment, but he does not stand where an innocent man stands. Job 27:5 shows the difference: if we put “pardon” in place of “justify” there, the meaning changes. Through Christ the returning sinner is treated “as if he had never sinned.” Yet these are not two separate gifts given to two kinds of people. Every penitent believer receives both. As repentance and faith imply each other, so pardon and justification are “twin blessings of grace,” given together through Jesus Christ.

2.Damu Yake na Utii Wake2.His Blood and His Obedience

Kwa msingi gani mwenye dhambi anahesabiwa haki? Maandiko yanataja damu na utii wa Kristo: “tumehesabiwa haki kwa damu yake” (Warumi 5:9) na “kwa kutii kwake yeye mmoja, wengi watafanywa kuwa waadilifu” (Warumi 5:19). Vyote viwili vilihitajika ili kuiheshimu sheria ya Mungu. Damu yake inamaanisha kwamba alivumilia adhabu ya sheria; utii wake unamaanisha kwamba alitimiza maagizo yake. Ukombozi wetu kutoka ghadhabu unategemea cha kwanza, na kukubaliwa kwetu kikamilifu kunategemea cha pili. Dagg pia anaonyesha jinsi hivi viwili vinavyoshikamana. Kama Kristo angetii kikamilifu lakini asife, adhabu ingebaki. Kama angekufa bila kumpenda Mungu kwa moyo wake wote, dhabihu yake “ingekuwa imechafuliwa.” Mwana-kondoo “asiye na ila” alihitajika. Wanateolojia wa baadaye wanaviita utii wake wa “kutenda” na wa “kuteseka,” na Dagg anasema vyote viwili vinahitajika kwa wokovu kamili. Anatumia pia lugha ya ununuzi: tulikombolewa “kwa damu ya thamani ya Kristo” (1 Petro 1:19), tumenunuliwa kwa bei. Stahili zake, na zake peke yake, ndizo msingi ambao kuhesabiwa haki kunaweza kudaiwa juu yake.On what ground is a sinner justified? Scripture names both the blood and the obedience of Christ: “justified by his blood” (Romans 5:9) and “by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). Both were needed to honour God’s law. His blood means that He endured the law’s penalty; His obedience means that He fulfilled its precepts. Our deliverance from wrath rests on the first, and our full acceptance on the second. Dagg also shows how the two belong together. If Christ had obeyed perfectly but not died, the penalty would remain. If He had died without loving God with all His heart, His sacrifice “would have been polluted.” A lamb “without spot” was required. Later theologians call these His “active” and “passive” obedience, and Dagg says both are needed for a complete salvation. He uses the language of purchase too: we were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19), bought with a price. His merits, and only His, are the ground on which justification may be claimed.

3.Imani Inayokataa Stahili3.Faith That Renounces Merit

“Kuhesabiwa haki ni kwa imani,” Dagg anaandika, na Warumi 5:1 na Matendo 13:39 ni wazi. Lakini kwa nini imani, badala ya upendo, ambao ni “utimilifu wa sheria”? Paulo anatoa sababu: “Kwa hiyo ni kwa imani, ili iwe kwa neema” (Warumi 4:16). Katika tendo lenyewe la kuamini, stahili inakataliwa na mwenye dhambi anamtegemea Kristo peke yake. Imani hakika ni kazi ya akili, na huzaa matendo, kwa maana imani “hutenda kazi kwa upendo” (Wagalatia 5:6). Lakini haihesabii haki “kama kazi.” Inahesabia haki kama mkono mtupu unaopokea wokovu “kama zawadi ya neema ya bure.” Imani si hata kwa sehemu sababu ya kuhesabiwa kwetu haki. Kama ingekuwa, ingehitaji stahili ya kutosha kutimiza sheria yote, na kifo cha Kristo kisingehitajika. Badala yake, imani “hutofautisha” wale ambao haki inahesabiwa kwao. Ni “kiini cha kugeuka,” Dagg anasema, ambapo hali ya mwenye dhambi huamuliwa. Ndiyo sababu Warumi 4:5 yaweza kusema kwamba Mungu “humhesabia haki asiye mcha Mungu.” Mwenye dhambi anakuja bila ombi lolote lake mwenyewe, ila Kristo tu.“Justification is by faith,” Dagg writes, and Romans 5:1 and Acts 13:39 are explicit. But why faith, rather than love, which is “the fulfilling of the law”? Paul gives the reason: “It is of faith, that it might be by grace” (Romans 4:16). In the very act of believing, merit is renounced and the sinner relies only on Christ. Faith is certainly an activity of the mind, and it produces works, for faith “works by love” (Galatians 5:6). But it does not justify “as a work.” It justifies as the empty hand that receives salvation “as a gift of free grace.” Faith is not even partly the cause of our justification. If it were, it would need enough merit to satisfy the whole law, and Christ’s death would be unnecessary. Rather, faith “distinguishes” those to whom righteousness is credited. It is “the turning point,” Dagg says, at which a sinner’s condition is decided. This is why Romans 4:5 can say that God “justifies the ungodly.” The sinner comes with no plea of his own, only Christ.

4.Kuhesabiwa na Muungano wa Pande Tatu4.Imputation and the Threefold Union

Katikati kunasimama 2 Wakorintho 5:21: Yeye asiyejua dhambi alifanywa kuwa dhambi kwa ajili yetu, ili sisi tuwe haki ya Mungu ndani yake. Dhambi zetu zilihesabiwa kwa Kristo; haki yake inahesabiwa kwetu. Wengine wanapinga kwamba hii si ya haki, kwa kuwa haki humpa kila mtu stahili yake. Dagg anajibu kwamba wazo la mbadala hupita katika dhabihu zote, lina mamlaka kamili ya neno la Mungu, na kwamba “hakuna kanuni ya juu ya haki kuliko Mungu mwenyewe.” Hata hivyo, anaonyesha kwa nini inafaa. Kama alivyoeleza hapo awali muungano wa pande tatu kati ya Adamu na wanadamu, ndivyo kuna muungano wa pande tatu kati ya Kristo na watu wake. Kwanza, muungano wa ridhaa: Kristo alikubali kuwa mbadala wao, na waamini, baada ya kuacha matumaini ya kujiokoa wenyewe, wanamkubali kwa furaha. Pili, muungano wa kiroho: kama kichwa na mwili, au mzabibu na matawi, waamini wanashiriki Roho mmoja wa Kristo (Warumi 8:9; 1 Wakorintho 12:13). Tatu, muungano wa kiagano: kama Adamu alivyowawakilisha wazao wake, Kristo alisimama kama “kichwa cha kiagano na mwakilishi” wa wote ambao Baba alimpa. Hata hivyo kuna tofauti kuu. Dhambi ya Adamu inahesabiwa kwa haki; haki ya Kristo inahesabiwa kwa neema, ambayo inapita haki. Ni pale tu tunapohisi kwamba tumehukumiwa kwa haki ndipo tunaweza kupokea wokovu kama “zawadi isiyoelezeka” ya neema.At the centre stands 2 Corinthians 5:21: He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Our sins were credited to Christ; His righteousness is credited to us. Some object that this is unjust, since justice gives each person his due. Dagg answers that the idea of substitution runs through all sacrifice, has the full authority of God’s word, and that “there is no higher rule of justice than God himself.” Still, he shows why it is fitting. Just as he earlier explained a threefold union between Adam and humanity, so there is a threefold union between Christ and His people. First, a union of consent: Christ agreed to be their substitute, and believers, after giving up hope of saving themselves, gladly accept Him. Second, a spiritual union: as head and body, or vine and branches, believers share the one Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13). Third, a federal union: as Adam represented his descendants, Christ stood as “federal head and representative” of all whom the Father gave Him. Yet there is a key difference. Adam’s sin is imputed by justice; Christ’s righteousness is imputed by grace, which rises above justice. Only when we feel that we are justly condemned can we receive salvation as “the unspeakable gift” of grace.

5.Paulo, Yakobo na Tarehe ya Kuhesabiwa Haki5.Paul, James and the Date of Justification

Dagg kisha anachukua Yakobo 2:24: “Mwanadamu huhesabiwa haki kwa matendo, wala si kwa imani peke yake.” Je, hii inapingana na Paulo katika Warumi 3:28? Hapana. Yakobo mwenyewe anatoa ufunguo: “imani pasipo matendo imekufa.” Imani iliyokufa haihesabii haki, na Paulo hasemi kamwe kwamba inahesabia; imani ya Paulo ni imani hai “itendayo kazi kwa upendo.” Paulo anaondoa matendo ya sheria, yaliyotolewa kama sababu ya kuhesabiwa haki. Yakobo anadai matendo kama “ushahidi” wa imani. Kisha Dagg anauliza kuhesabiwa haki hutokea lini. Wengine wanaliweka tu kwenye hukumu ya mwisho. Dagg anakubali kwamba Mungu atatangaza hukumu yake hadharani wakati huo, lakini Maandiko yanasema waamini wanahesabiwa haki sasa (1 Wakorintho 6:11), kama vile wasioamini “wamekwisha kuhukumiwa” (Yohana 3:18). Wengine wanaweka tarehe ya kuhesabiwa haki “katika umilele uliopita.” Dagg anakataa hili pia, kwa kuwa kuhesabiwa haki ni tangazo, si kusudi la siri. Kusudi la Mungu la kuhesabia haki ni la milele, lakini waamini hawahesabiwi haki tangu milele kuliko wanavyotukuzwa tangu milele. Wazo la kuhesabiwa haki kwa milele lilishikiliwa na Mbaptisti wa Kiingereza John Gill na baadhi ya Wabaptisti wa Kikalvini wa kupindukia (hyper-Calvinist). Dagg, rais wa chuo katika mapokeo ya Kibaptisti ya Georgia yanayounga mkono misheni ya Jesse Mercer, anasisitiza kwamba wenye dhambi wanavuka kutoka hukumu hadi kuhesabiwa haki wanapoamini, ndiyo sababu injili lazima ihubiriwe kwao.Dagg next takes up James 2:24: “A man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” Does this contradict Paul in Romans 3:28? No. James himself gives the key: “faith without works is dead.” Dead faith does not justify, and Paul never says it does; Paul’s faith is a living faith that “works by love.” Paul excludes works of law, offered as the cause of justification. James requires works as “evidences” of faith. Then Dagg asks when justification happens. Some place it only at the last judgment. Dagg agrees that God will then publicly declare His verdict, but Scripture says believers are justified now (1 Corinthians 6:11), just as unbelievers are “condemned already” (John 3:18). Others date justification “in eternity past.” Dagg rejects this too, for justification is a declaration, not a secret purpose. God’s purpose to justify is eternal, but believers are no more justified from eternity than they are glorified from eternity. The idea of eternal justification was held by the English Baptist John Gill and by some hyper-Calvinist Baptists. Dagg, president of a college in the pro-missions Georgia Baptist tradition of Jesse Mercer, insists that sinners pass from condemnation to justification when they believe, which is why the gospel must be preached to them.

6.Kufanywa Wana Katika Familia ya Mungu6.Adopted into God’s Family

Katika Sehemu ya III Dagg anageukia kufanywa wana: “Mungu huwafanya wana wote wanaomwamini Yesu Kristo.” Kati ya watu, kufanywa mwana ni kumpokea mtoto wa mwingine katika familia na haki zote za mwana. Baraka hii “inapanda juu zaidi kuliko kuhesabiwa haki.” Hakimu anaweza kumwachilia mfungwa, lakini hamchukui nyumbani. Mwamini anaweza kumjua Mungu si tu kama “Hakimu anayehesabia haki” bali kama “Baba aliyepatanishwa na mwenye upendo.” Dagg anaorodhesha haki tatu. Kwanza, upendo wa Baba: kama baba awahurumiavyo watoto wake, ndivyo Bwana anavyowahurumia wamchao (Zaburi 103:13), na Roho wa Mwana analia “Aba, Baba” mioyoni mwetu. Yesu alitufundisha kuomba “Baba yetu.” Pili, nidhamu ya Baba: “Yule ampendaye Bwana humrudi” (Waebrania 12:6). Dagg anaiita “yenye utajiri usiopimika,” kwa kuwa hali yetu inachaguliwa na Baba anayejua lililo bora. Tatu, urithi: ikiwa watoto, basi warithi wa Mungu na warithi pamoja na Kristo (Warumi 8:17). Kufanywa wana kamili kunangojea ukombozi wa mwili, lakini cheo ni salama, na hata sasa mambo yote hufanya kazi pamoja kwa kuwapatia mema wampendao Mungu.In Section III Dagg turns to adoption: “God adopts, as sons, all who believe in Jesus Christ.” Among people, adoption receives another’s child into the family with the full privileges of a son. This blessing “rises higher than justification.” A judge may acquit a prisoner, but he does not take him home. The believer may know God not only as “a justifying Judge” but as “a reconciled and affectionate Father.” Dagg lists three privileges. First, the Father’s love: as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him (Psalm 103:13), and the Spirit of the Son cries “Abba, Father” in our hearts. Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father.” Second, the Father’s discipline: “Whom the Lord loves, he chastens” (Hebrews 12:6). Dagg calls this “inestimably rich,” for our lot is chosen by a Father who knows what is best. Third, the inheritance: if children, then heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). The full adoption waits for the redemption of the body, but the title is secure, and even now all things work together for good to those who love God.

7.Kile Mchungaji Mbaptisti Anachochukua Kutoka Humo Leo7.What a Baptist Pastor Takes from It Today

Mafundisho haya yanawaunganisha Wabaptisti na Waprotestanti wengine. Maungamo ya Philadelphia yanafuata kwa karibu mapokeo ya Westminster juu ya kuhesabiwa haki na kufanywa wana, na Maungamo ya New Hampshire yanafundisha kwamba kuhesabiwa haki kunatolewa “kwa imani peke yake” katika damu ya Mkombozi. Wakristo wengine wanaona tofauti. Baraza la Trento (1547) lilifundisha kwamba kuhesabiwa haki kunajumuisha kufanywa upya kwa ndani na kunaweza kuongezeka; Tamko la Pamoja la Walutheri na Wakatoliki la 1999 lilipunguza lakini halikumaliza kutokubaliana. Makanisa ya Kiorthodoksi yanazungumza zaidi juu ya muungano na Mungu kuliko hukumu ya kisheria, na walimu wengine wa Kiwesley na Waprotestanti wengine wanatilia shaka kuhesabiwa kwa utii wa kutenda wa Kristo. Hata hivyo kwa Wabaptisti fundisho hili lina makali ya pekee. Hukumu iliyopokelewa “kwa imani” haiwezi kutolewa kwa wakala, na wazazi wala kanisa la dola. Hiyo ni mzizi mmoja wa ushiriki wa kanisa wa waliozaliwa upya na ubatizo wa waumini. Mchungaji anapata zana tatu hapa: uhakika kwa waamini wanaosumbuliwa, wanaosimama juu ya stahili za Kristo, si zao wenyewe; wito wa kuishi kitakatifu, kwa kuwa imani ya kweli hutenda kazi; na picha ya familia ya kanisa. Waamini wa Amerika ya Kilatini wanapoitana hermano na hermana, au makanisa ya Afrika yanapoamkiana kama familia, wanarudia hoja ya Dagg: walioachiliwa huru pia wamefanywa wana.These doctrines unite Baptists with other Protestants. The Philadelphia Confession follows the Westminster tradition closely on justification and adoption, and the New Hampshire Confession teaches that justification is bestowed “solely through faith” in the Redeemer’s blood. Other Christians see it differently. The Council of Trent (1547) taught that justification includes inner renewal and can be increased; the Lutheran–Catholic Joint Declaration of 1999 narrowed but did not end the disagreement. Orthodox churches speak more of union with God than of a legal verdict, and some Wesleyan and other Protestant teachers question the imputation of Christ’s active obedience. Yet for Baptists this doctrine has a special edge. A verdict received “by faith” cannot be given by proxy, by parents or by a state church. That is one root of regenerate church membership and believer’s baptism. A pastor gains three tools here: assurance for troubled believers, who stand on Christ’s merits, not their own; a call to holy living, since true faith works; and a family picture of the church. When Latin American believers call one another hermano and hermana, or African churches greet one another as family, they echo Dagg’s point: the acquitted are also adopted.

8.Kuuchukua Moyoni8.Taking It to Heart

Kwa tafakari. Dagg anasema kuhesabiwa haki ni juu kuliko msamaha, na kufanywa wana ni juu kuliko kuhesabiwa haki. Ni ipi kati ya kweli hizi unayohitaji kuisikia zaidi leo? Ungemtumiaje Paulo na Yakobo pamoja kumjibu mtu anayesema kwamba imani peke yake inafanya maisha matakatifu yasiwe ya lazima? Na dhiki inapokuja, unaweza kuipokea, kama Dagg anavyohimiza, kama nidhamu ya “Baba mwema na mwenye hekima”? For reflection. Dagg says justification is higher than pardon, and adoption higher than justification. Which of these truths do you most need to hear today? How would you use Paul and James together to answer someone who says that faith alone makes holy living unnecessary? And when hardship comes, can you receive it, as Dagg urges, as the discipline of “a kind and wise Father”?

Chanzo. Muhtasari wa Seminari ya Kitheolojia ya Chapala wa John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine (1857), Kitabu cha VII, sura ya 3, sehemu ya 2–3. Matini iko katika umma. Hiki ni mafundisho yaliyoandikwa na CTS, si nakala; maelezo juu ya John Gill, Jesse Mercer, maungamo, Trento na Tamko la Pamoja la 1999 yametokana na vyanzo vya kawaida.Source. A Chapala Theological Seminary digest of John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine (1857), Book VII, chapter 3, sections 2–3. The text is in the public domain. This is CTS-authored teaching, not a reproduction; notes on John Gill, Jesse Mercer, the confessions, Trent and the 1999 Joint Declaration are drawn from standard sources.

Kusoma madai kwa uangalifu. Marejeo mengine ya Maandiko katika unukuzi yanahitaji kukaguliwa: andiko la “Aba, Baba” analolinukuu Dagg ni Wagalatia 4:6, ingawa unukuzi unataja Warumi 8:15. Matini ya kazi ya CTS inafuata unukuzi wa umma wa Grace Gems; kulinganisha na nakala iliyochanganuliwa ya toleo lililochapishwa bado kunasubiriwa.Reading claims carefully. Some Scripture references in the transcription need checking: the “Abba, Father” text Dagg quotes is Galatians 4:6, though the transcription cites Romans 8:15. The CTS working text follows the public Grace Gems transcription; comparison with a scan of the printed edition is still pending.

Andika usomaji wako

Ukishasoma kikamilifu masomo matatu uliyochagua, andika jina lako na uthibitishe hapa chini. Kumbukumbu hii inatunzwa kwa uaminifu wako, kwenye kivinjari hiki; inaonekana kwenye cheti chako kama kwa heshima.

✓ Imeandikwa — kozi hii inahesabiwa katika maendeleo yako ya Heshima. Kusoma kwa Heshima ↗

Somo la Heshima — limeandikwa

alithibitisha tarehe kuwa amesoma kikamilifu:

    Chapala Theological Seminary · Baptist Theology and Distinctive Doctrines · present or print this page as your honors reading record.

    Masomo Zaidi: Vitabu Sita vya Uwanja wa Umma

    Vitabu hivi sita ni kwa masomo zaidi, kwa mwanafunzi anayetaka kuendelea kusoma. Si sehemu ya masomo ya heshima yaliyo hapo juu: hayo yanabaki kama yalivyo — muhtasari tano za CTS, mitatu yoyote ikisomwa kikamilifu na kuandikwa kwa uaminifu wako. Vyote sita viko katika uwanja wa umma; kila kiungo kinafungua kitabu mtandaoni, na vingi vinapatikana pia katika Internet Archive au Project Gutenberg. Vingi viko kwa Kiingereza: kivinjari cha Chrome kinaweza kutafsiri ukurasa (bonyeza kitufe cha kulia cha kipanya, “Translate to…”; kwenye simu, menyu ya kivinjari).
    A Later Baptist System · Boyce
    1. Abstract of Systematic Theology
    James P. Boyce · 1887

    Read the opening chapters on theological method and Scripture, then the sections on salvation. A later nineteenth-century Baptist system gives a direct point of comparison with Dagg’s organization and emphases.

    Fungua somo ↗
    Before Dagg · Gill
    2. A Body of Doctrinal Divinity
    John Gill · 1767–1770

    Read Book I on God and Book VI on salvation. This earlier Particular Baptist synthesis helps students trace the Reformed Baptist tradition that precedes Dagg.

    Fungua somo ↗
    After Dagg · Strong
    3. Systematic Theology: The Doctrine of Man, vol. 2
    A. H. Strong · 1907

    Read the sections on human nature, sin, Christ’s work, and salvation. Strong shows how a later Baptist theologian develops themes central to Dagg’s Books IV and VI.

    Fungua somo ↗
    The Gospel Invitation · Fuller
    4. The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation
    Andrew Fuller · 1805 edition; first issued 1785

    Read Part I and the concluding practical applications. Fuller’s argument on faith, responsibility, and gospel invitation illuminates a major Baptist debate behind nineteenth-century missions and soteriology.

    Fungua somo ↗
    Grace in a Life · Bunyan
    5. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
    John Bunyan · 1666

    Read the autobiographical account through Bunyan’s call to preach. This experiential Baptist narrative complements formal doctrine with lived accounts of conviction, grace, assurance, and ministry.

    Fungua somo ↗
    Baptist Church Order · Hiscox
    6. The New Directory for Baptist Churches
    Edward T. Hiscox · 1894; scan of the 1902 edition

    Read the sections on church constitution, officers, ordinances, discipline, and interchurch relations. It extends Dagg’s doctrinal theology into historically influential Baptist polity and congregational practice.

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    Uthibitisho wa heshima: Kwa kuchagua masomo matatu hapo juu, unathibitisha kwamba umesoma muhtasari hiyo mitatu kikamilifu. Muhtasari hiyo imeandikwa na CTS na inaweza kuwa na dondoo fupi au marekebisho ya kazi zilizo katika uwanja wa umma.