The Problem with Modern Theology

Dr. Celucien Joseph Identity Politics, Modern Theology, Uncategorized ,
The Problem with Modern Theology
 
One of the dangers of identity politics theology is that it focuses less on the spiritual communion of the individual with God, but prioritizes the physical needs of the individual than the individual’s essential need for Christ to satisfy the human soul and the deep longing for healing. Theological discourses framed within this ideological worldview are more anthropocentric than theocentric or christocentric. To express this differently,  the emphasis is on the social dimension of theology and human care.
 
On the other hand, non-identity politics theological discourses seem to ignore the existential needs and daily struggles of the individual and the group; the priority is put only on the spiritual communion between the individual and God. The spiritual life fulfills the social life, and the social life is divorced from the spiritual sphere. Theological discourses framed within this ideological perspective are deliberately theocentric or christocentric. In this perspective, God or Christ is concerned primarily with the cultivation of a robust Christian mind or the nurturing of the human intellect. In other words, the stress is on the intellectual dimension of theology and the life of the Christian mind.

Medical Trip to Haiti: July 19-29, 2017

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized , ,

Medical Trip to Haiti: July 19-29, 2017

In this video presentation, Dr. Celucien L. Joseph (Docteur Lou​”), President of Hope for Today Outreach​, discusses his upcoming medical trip to Haiti in July 19-29, 2017. He also discusses the distribution of school supplies to Haitian families in this same trip.

Happy Listening!

​Medical Trip to Haiti: July 19-29, 2017

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized

Medical Trip to Haiti: July 19-29, 2017

I and a team of nurses from Port St Lucie will be in Haiti in July 19-29. We will do 3 different health care workshops: two in Cap-Haitian/Okap, and the other one in a little town called Port-Margot.

We will provide free medical consultation to families and children and be distributing first medical aids/over-the-counter medications. We will also provide hot meals and clothes and shoes to families in Okap.

We will also provide school supplies to underprivileged families for the academic school year, 2017-2018.

If you want to make a contribution toward this trip to support the Haitian families, here are the list of things we need:

1. Backpacks

2. Notebooks & Binders/Composition notebooks

3. Pencils, pens, color crayons, erasers, glue sticks, rulers, pencil sharpeners, etc.

4. Socks–any size for elementary to high school students.

*Our goal this year is to provide school supplies to 300 Haitian families. The deadline to provide any of the items listed above is May 31, 2017.

You can contact me directly at celucien_joseph@yahoo.com (Dr. Lou)

We would love to hear from you. We can be reached in a number of ways:

• By Mail

Hope for Today Outreach (HTO)

P.O. Box 7353

Port Saint Lucie, FL 34985

• By Phone

772-985-0696

• By Email

customers@hopefortodayoutreach.org

Thank you,

Dr. Lou

Recently-Acquired Books

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized , ,
Recently-Acquired Books
 
Here’s a list of a selected books that I recently acquired on amazon in the month of April for my home library:
Books
 
1. The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Volumes 1 & 2
Gregory A. Boyd
 
2. Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63BCE-66 CE
E. P. Sanders
 
3. Paul: The Apostle’s Life, Letters, and Thought
E. P. Sanders
 
4. Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness
Hays, Richard B.
 
5. Anthologie de poésie haïtienne contemporaine : 73 poètes
 
6. C. S. Lewis — A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet
McGrath, Alister
 
7. God or Nothing: A Conversation on Faith
Cardinal Robert Sarah
 
8. Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
Harris, Sam
 
9. The Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh: Pentecostalism and the Possibility of Global Theology
Yong, Amos
 
10. Greek Religion
Burkert, Walter
 
11. Creation of the Sacred: Tracks of Biology in Early Religions
Burkert, Walter
 
12. Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King
Bates, Matthew W.
 
13. Ancient Mystery Cults (Carl Newell Jackson Lectures)
Burkert, Walter
 
14. Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth
Burkert, Walter
 
15. A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story
Bass, Diana Butler
 
16. Handbook of Women Biblical Interpreters: A Historical and Biographical Guide
Taylor, Marion Ann
 
17. Old Testament Today: A Journey from Original Meaning to Contemporary Significance
Walton, John H.
 
18. Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence
Sacks, Jonathan
 
19. Jesus Among Secular Gods: The Countercultural Claims of Christ
Zacharias, Ravi
 
20. The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest: Covenant, Retribution, and the Fate of the Canaanites
Walton, John H.
 
21. No God but One: Allah or Jesus?: A Former Muslim Investigates the Evidence for Islam and Christianity
Qureshi, Nabeel
 
22. Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity
Qureshi, Nabeel
 
23. To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility
Sacks, Jonathan
 
24. John: The NIV Application Commentary
Gary M. Burge
 
25. Gospel of Glory: Major Themes in Johannine Theology
Bauckham, Richard
 
26. Reading John for Dear Life
Clark-Soles, Jaime
 
* This is not a complete list. I also purchased more than two dozen books from Goodwill, which are not listed here. I love to brag about my home library because I absolutely LOVE BOOKS. I believe I’m close to have 4500 books in my home library and office at work.
 
Now, you can see why I do not have any money in the Bank.
 
🙂

This is how You Should Love and Live!

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized ,

This is how You Should Love and Live!

One of the most challenging matters in our life is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Love in this sense is a difficult action to undertake, a puzzling thing to practice as some of our neighbors are not nice individuals nor do they intentionally seek our well-being or best interest in life. What makes this matter more paradoxical and urgent is the identity of (some of) our neighbor.

The neighbor could be a poor, an immigrant, an undocumented individual, a prostitute, a murderer, a rapist, a child molester, a stranger, a racist, or someone who has mistreated you or abused someone you love.

In the biblical sense, “to love your neighbor as yourself” is a deliberate commitment, even an imperative. Can you command love? Can you command emotion since love is also an emotion?

To love one’s neighbor means to stand up for the life of one’s neighbor, and to treat him or her (even them) with kindness and justice. To love your neighbor as yourself also means not to mistreat or exploit that individual, but to empower, uplift, and build up that person, and to seek his or her best interest and welfare.

Here’s a more detailed instruction from a biblical perspective on this important matter:

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God….You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord……You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

 

You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”–Lev. 19:9-18

Admittedly, it is difficult to love intentionally someone who has caused you misfortunes in life. Can you love a rapist or someone who has raped you, your child, a family member, or your friend? Can you love a child molester? Can you love a spouse abuser? Can you love someone who has assaulted you or caused you profound pain and suffering?

It seems to me love as an imperative is not something one can cultivate on his or her own. It requires repetition and a set of practices. To love in the biblical sense requires divine intervention in one’s life and one’s intentional collaboration with God who can and will empower us to love unconditionally and unreservedly. To love in that manner  means to live meaningfully in relation to God and in relation to other people.

 

Love thy neighbor as thyself sometimes may not be an instantaneous act, but a journey in life that involves growth, maturity, patience, forgiveness, and reconciliation.  However, in all things, we must strive to love–intentionally, completely, and unconditionally.

CNN & Dialogue on Vodou at Legacy 1804

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized

“Legacy of 1804 | CNN Vodou Doc | Was it a Hack Job? 🇭🇹Join a manbo, an ordained minister,  a philosopher and me for a spirited discussion about CNN’s recent documentary on Haitian vodou. 

9-9:30 👉🏽Pawol ak Mizik Opening segment: Paul Beaubrun on being a Beaubrun,  on his tour with Lauryn Hill, his latest album and his future plans

9:30 – 11👉🏽Guests for vodou discussion: GwetoDe Manbo Fabiola Abellard | Dr. Celucien Joseph,  Pastor and Academic | Dr. Paul Mocombe, author of The Vodou Ethic and the Spirit of Communism

Listen live at kiskeacity.com  or  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pancaribbean/2017/05/06/legacy-of-1804-cnn-vodou-documentary-was-it-a-hack-job-lof1804. You can also listen live only on the phone at 714-242-6119.

#haiti #vodou #religion #spirituality #lof1804 #kiskeacity #cnn #rezaaslan #paulbeaubrun @paulbeaubrun”

Two Precious Gifts in one single day!

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized

​I’m a very blessed man. Today, I received two important gifts: copies of my new book: “Thinking in Public,” and my PhD diploma for the degree in Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics from the University of Pretoria.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend the doctoral commencement that was held last month. I was too broke to buy the airplane ticket to Pretoria. LOL

Endorsements of Thinking in Public

 

By the way, The publisher just reduced the price of my new book (web special).

Don’t forget to order your copy today:
“Thinking in Public: Faith, Secular Humanism, and Development in Jacques Roumain” (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2016)

http://wipfandstock.com/thinking-in-public.html#endorsement

Help Me Choose a Novel to Teach

Dr. Celucien Joseph Uncategorized , , ,
Help Me Choose a Novel to Teach
 
I will be teaching two literature classes in the Fall semester 2017. I’m going to assign two different novels, that is each course will not be reading the same novel. I have a pre-selected list of novels to choose from; however, I want you friends and literature people to help me choose two of the novels below. The order of the list is unimportant.
 
1. “Gilead” by Marilynne Robinson
2. “Massacre River” by René Philoctete
 
3. “General Sun, My Brother” by Jacques Stephen Alexis
 
4. “Dance on the Volcano” by Marie Vieux-Chauvet
 
5. “Hadriana in All My Dreams” by René Depestre
 
6. “Native Son” by Richard Wright
 
7. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
 
8. “Americana: A Novel” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
 
9. “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
 
10. “Beloved” by Toni Morrison
 
11. “Half of A Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
 
12. “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison
 
13. “The Known World” by Edward P. Jones
 
14. “Nervous Conditions” by Tsitsi Dangarembga
 
15. “Go Tell It on the Mountain” by James Baldwin
* With this novel, we will watch the documentary on James Baldwin, “I am not Your Negro,” directed by Raoul Peck

Life in a Small College Town Called Graceville!

Dr. Celucien Joseph My Autobiography, Uncategorized , , ,

Life in a Small College Town Called Graceville!

In the year 1999 or 2000, I was supposed to begin the Pre-medicine program with an emphasis in Biology at Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, Florida) as a transfer student, which meant I would have had two years left to complete my Baccalaureate in Biology at FAU. I postponed my admissions for personal reasons, which I will not discuss in this post.

As a result, I attended a small liberal arts Christian College (The Baptist College of Florida) in Graceville, Florida for my undergraduate degree. My graduation class of 2001 was very small.

When I was living there, the population of the town of Graceville was under 2600 people. We had one police officer, one gas station, one fast food restaurant (Hardee’s), and one grocery store: Piggy Wiggly. Although Graceville was a boring place to live and grow, the College environment was pleasant, and the people were quite calm and loving. I have enjoyed it, immensely. Graceville was indeed full of grace!

Here’s the Graduation Photo of my Class of 2001.
Can you see me?

College Graduation pic