RE-TELL, RE-LIVE—AND REVEAL THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE SOME PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF ITS CHALLENGE
The
500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines
is an important occasion to reflect on the Christian message. Taking this event
as the context for some philosophical considerations of its challenge, this
essay argues that while the tasks for those who subscribe to that message continue
to be to comprehend and develop its teachings and to put them into practice, a
more urgent contemporary one is to show its distinctiveness in a credible way.
The essay firstly discusses the importance and the implications of regarding
the Christian message as a vision and a mission. It then makes use of Aristotle’s
discussion of what is involved in the communication of a message; namely attention
to ethos, pathos, and logos, to show that the credibility of the
Christian message rests on how it is “revealed” in the lives of Christians and
not just on what is said or how it is received. Finally, it provides an
interpretation of what is involved in giving witness to the Christian message
and thereby facing up to its challenge.