Phillip A. Davis, Jr. | Daniel Lanzinger | Matthew Ryan Robinson (Eds.): What Does Theology Do, Actually? (Leseprobe)

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Tahina Rahandrifenosoa
into wine and used wine during the Lord’s Supper. So, if we look at the whole
Bible and not just one or two verses, it is clear that the Bible forbids the consumption
of alcohol to only a few people, while drunkenness is forbidden to all.
In spite of all these explanations, the message is difficult to get across, and
many opposed what I was saying as a result. The comments made by people
showed that literalism is still strong in the way people interpret the Bible. People
take only one or two passages of Scripture and interpret them immediately without
concern for the context. There are also those who follow the principles of the
church so strictly that they do not even question them, but take the decisions of
the church as the word of God. As a result, many have said that my exegetical
teachings on this topic encourage people to drink alcohol, while others say that I
am promoting the ‘‘liberal theology’’ of the West, since I studied in Europe, and
even some clergy have started to persecute me.
2. Second Video: Can Christian Women Wear Pants? 7
This question was the title of an exegetical video I shared on December 22, 2019,
and two years later, it has had 18,000 reactions, 1,000 comments, 3,000 shares
on Facebook, and over 147,000 views.
To this day, the right of women to wear pants continues to cause much controversy
among Christians in Madagascar. The Word of God says, ‘‘A woman
shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for
whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God’’ (Deuteronomy 22:5
NRSV), and this is the main reason for the controversy.
To recollect history, it is known and has been mentioned already that Christianity,
which was brought by missionaries, flourished and prospered in Madagascar
after the 1861 death of Queen Ranavalona I who hated Christianity. In
1894 in an area called Ambalavato in Fianarantsoa, God awakened the famous
sorcerer named Rainisoalambo. When he prayed, he abandoned his idols and
founded a movement called Fifohazana Soatanana (The Awakening in Soatanana),
8 in which emphasis was placed on holiness of life, especially through the
dress code, which was peculiar in that the faithful, both men and women,
dressed from top to bottom in drab white clothing called ‘‘didy mananjara’’. According
to Roger Rafanomezantsoa, ‘‘Rainisoalambo urged his followers to wear
the didy mananjara as a mark of equality between each other [...].’’ Further, ‘‘in
7
Marka 16:15 --- Pst Tahina, Mahazo manoa pataloha ve ny vehivavy Kristiana? (Facebook,
December 22, 2019), https://www.facebook.com/336776300178729/videos/568093073736140.
8
Joely Rasamoelina, Ny Tantaran’ny Fifohazana Soatanana (The History of the Fifohazana
Soatanana) (Antananarivo: Trano Printy Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy, 2001), 14.