L6- Understanding Salvation

• But the truth is, we affect one another; every action, be it group or individual, has a social effect because we are interconnected – magkaungay ang lahat.
• As a whole, the notion of being safe has something to do with realities experienced by historical human beings.
• Another common understanding of salvation in the Filipino psyche is its “spiritual” dimension. The word spiritual is in quotation to emphasize the point that being saved happens after death, and it happens “up there in heaven”.
• One may always think he is safe from harm and keeps on doing what is perceived to be good even if it entails escaping from social responsibilities as long as he makes sure his soul will go to heaven after death.
• An example here is the practice of piety without minding the social injustice happening around. These notions need to be corrected according to our biblical tradition.
• Old Testament (OT)

  The word salvation is expressed in the Old Testament by the Hebrew word yasha. This word indicates the possession of space and freedom.
• Old Testament (OT)

  The opposite of yasha is tsarar which means constraint or strait. Tsarar reflects of the Israelites’ experience of strait and constraint in life where there is no freedom, no possession, and no dignity exemplified in their experience of oppression in Egypt.
• Old Testament (OT)

  • On the other hand, their occupation of the Promised Land reflects the experience of having space and freedom or yasha.
  • Let us note one important thing: salvation as expressed through the word yasha indicates an experiential reality encountered by concrete historical human beings who are situated in a specific context.
  • Furthermore, salvation was experienced both by the individual and the community.
• New Testament (NT)

  • The word salvation is expressed in Greek by the word sozein signifying the setting free from all kinds of need of the individual (danger, injustice, and sickness) and/or of the community (war, political upheaval, and famine).
  • Salvation, as an experiential reality, can be brought about by the person threatened, by other human beings, by purely natural manner, by other people who are clearly instruments in the hand of God, and by the interventions of God in history (J. de Mesa, 79)
• New Testament (NT)

  Salvation is understood as something rooted on earthly realities. Jesus’ act of solidarity with the outcast, healing ministries, and other forms of delivering the poor from the bondage of oppression were concrete and fragmentary experiences of salvation (Luke 4:18-19)
• • Salvation is not something exclusively up in heaven and experienced only after death.
  • It is basically an experiential reality experienced by concrete, flesh and blood human beings situated in a particular space and time.
• Salvation is primarily the deliverance of the individual and the community from any need.
• The experience of salvation is a collective experience. The deliverance of an individual from need at the experience of the other or the community is not salvation but liberation from injustice.
• Though we experience salvation here on earth, it is only fragmentary and it implies that there is a higher dimension of salvation in God.
• Salvation is understood, interpreted, and carried out according to one’s culture
• Based on the study of J. de Mesa (1987), the dynamic Filipino equivalent term for salvation is ginhawa (and its equivalent idea expressed through other Filipino languages and dialects).
• Ginhawa, according to lowland Filipinos, refers to the total well-being of the person and the community. Ginhawa, in the opening lines of Psalm 23, “Ang Panginoon ang aking pastol, pinagiginhawa niya ako,” indicates freedom from want.

  
  

  Want in here denotes whatever hindrance a person encounters in pursuit for well-being.
• Ginhawa is a relief from physical and inner suffering.
• Ginhawa refers to the total well-being of the person.
• Christian ginhawa is at least an earthly experience of well-being, that is:

  • It reflects at least what we experience as maginhawa
  • It is experienced by historical people in their natural environment
  • It is experienced as maginhawa by all woman/man and not only by some
• There is the upper dimension of ginhawa referring to the consummation of salvation in God
• Overall, we did not only identify the dynamic equivalent of the word salvation in Filipino, but we also established its rootedness in the Scriptures and showed semblances of its relevance and significance to the general condition of the Filipino experience.
• This is very important as we mutually try to re-root our Christian faith in our Filipino culture and experience because it helps us appreciate salvation in our present situation (relevance) and makes our discipleship in Christ more meaningful (significance)
• Poor Filipinos are not maginhawa. The good news of salvation for them is kaginhawaan! Ginhawa or salvation, therefore, for Filipinos who experience injustice and oppression is justice and peace.