Papers by D.K.Dhanushka Dilshan
D.K. Dhanushka Dilshan, 2023
In his memoir Night, Elie Wiesel describes an execution by hanging. A child, too light to for the... more In his memoir Night, Elie Wiesel describes an execution by hanging. A child, too light to for the noose to tighten around his neck, struggles for a long time before succumbing to their death. Wiesel’s fellow prisoners, forced to watch, weep, “Why this happening to us?” One of them asks, “Where is God now?” Wiesel’s bitter response is: “Where is He? Here He is – He is hanging on the gallows.” All of us struggle at one time or another in life with why evil happens, either to ourselves, or our family, our friends, our nation, or perhaps after some particularly disturbing instance in the news – a child raped, a school shooting, a young person’s suicide, an accidental overdose, genocide in another country, a terrorist bombing. Christians cannot ignore the reality of suffering. When we respond to Wiesel’s fellow prisoner and answer the question “Where is God?” we need to remember that God will not intervene to protect people from tragedies and suffering, nor will God punish or reward them for their actions, preferring that humans use their free will without interference. Thus, while bad things can happen to people, in remedy God offers only His/Her support and love. Humans must find meaning and purpose from their own strength and resolve in overcoming adversity. Therefore, to understand a contemporary theodicy, humans must accept and acknowledge tragedy and suffering as part of life in partnership with God.
D.K.Dhanushka Dilshan, 2021
The church has never found it easy to balance gratitude with critical judgment. Gratitude can eas... more The church has never found it easy to balance gratitude with critical judgment. Gratitude can easily become nostalgia for the past, and critical judgment slips into contempt. The need for an openness to the new demands of the present and the future is always present. The Reformed tradition has been one of the authentic and powerful ways in which Christian people have lived out their faith. It has much to offer contemporary human beings as they attempt to be Christian in the grand and awful days in which we are living, but only if it is appropriated by living in a community that unites appreciation with critical acumen.
D.K.Dhanushka Dilshan, 2021
In our contemporary world where coercion, exploitation, power, and neo-colonialism are present, t... more In our contemporary world where coercion, exploitation, power, and neo-colonialism are present, the majority of the population in every nation on earth suffer from unjust economic institutions. These similar economic injustices were experienced by characters throughout the Hebrew Bible. In other words, economics was the main source of injustice experienced by the Israelites. Thus, in order to bring about economic justice the prophets of Yahweh raised their voices against wealth, production core, and government leaders in their time. As followers of Yahweh today, our work should focus on dismantling present-day economic institutions that exploit the poor, manipulate production core, and uphold corrupt leadership for the benefit of a few.
D.K.Dhanushka Dilshan, 2020
Sri Lankan parliament member Mangala Samaraweera last year retorted bluntly that Sri Lanka is not... more Sri Lankan parliament member Mangala Samaraweera last year retorted bluntly that Sri Lanka is not a Sinhala-Buddhist Country, and any community living in Sri Lanka must have the right to identify with their particular ethnoreligious identity. This statement created public discourse. In Sri Lanka, the majority of the population are Sinhalese Buddhists. Buddhist politics and Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism have contributed to a nationalist ideology that has been used to expand and continue Sinhalese Buddhist supremacy within a unitary Sri Lankan state. This supremacy believes that Sri Lanka is the designated sanctuary for Sinhalese Buddhists, and others live there only due to Sinhalese Buddhist sufferance. Minority groups cannot raise a voice inside the country against such rhetoric. Minorities are forced to live invisibly under this supremacy. Inequality is experienced in day-to-day life. At the moment, the majority Sinhalese Buddhist group upholds ethnocentrism and militarism over minority groups who live in Sri Lanka.
D.K.Dhanushka Dilshan, 2019
As a Sri Lankan who experiences poverty in the form of unjust structures, I cannot consider the n... more As a Sri Lankan who experiences poverty in the form of unjust structures, I cannot consider the notion of "bread and wine" separate from the concept of systemic liberation from cyclical poverty. The Lord's Supper, therefore, means not just the bread and wine for Spiritual empowerment, but also bread and wine for physical empowerment to undue unjust structures. Because the example is to take, bless, break, give, and receive, we must question why we are still in poverty. The Lord's Supper also called Communion or the Eucharist, is the second ordinance that the Sri Lankan Baptist Church believes Christ established and is, therefore, to be observed by churches until the end of time. Like baptism, it is for us a ritual of simple but deep spiritual symbolism. Perhaps even more than baptism, the physical elements of bread and wine offer a powerful and spiritually-shaping effect on our members. Communion is based on the celebration of a Passover meal among Jesus and his disciples the night before his betrayal and arrest (Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:14-20). Of it, Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body that is for[a] you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, he took the cup also, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NRSV). For then we acknowledge the Lord's Supper is so situated in the scripture narrative of the passion and death of Jesus as to be a point of spiritual change. 1 Sri Lanka has among the lowest extreme poverty rates among countries in the region, as 1.8 percent of the population were estimated to be extremely poor in 2017. However, living standards remain low, as nearly 45 percent of the population lived on less than $5 per day in 2018. We, Sri Lankans, are currently facing many problems because of unjust structures. Our structures primarily uphold by our political and economic systems. Ultimately, the majority of our people are suffering because of cyclical poverty. Our politicians are the rich who have the power to continue this systemic structure and create laws that mostly benefit themselves, not the impoverished masses. "Eucharist" suggests that it is an occasion for thanksgiving, being derived from the Greek word for giving thanks which appears in all the scriptural accounts of the founding of the Supper.
D.K.Dhanushka Dilshan, 2019
As a Sri Lankan who experiences oppression in the form of unjust structures, 1 I cannot imagine t... more As a Sri Lankan who experiences oppression in the form of unjust structures, 1 I cannot imagine the concept of "new life" separate from the concept of systemic liberation. Baptism, therefore, means not just a new life in the Spirit of the Lord, but new life from unjust structures which oppress. I cannot experience baptism apart from this concept. The Sri Lankan Baptist Church acknowledges baptism as a symbolic act of ritual cleansing, practiced by immersion in a pool of water. The word for baptism comes from the Greek 'baptizo', which means "to immerse" or "to dip." 2 Theologians from different perspectives have argued that "to sprinkle" or "to pour" also fulfills the meaning of that word 3 . I have always been convinced of the more literal and complete definition, meaning immersion is the proper form of practicing this sacrament. Archeologists and other scholars have added to this understanding by affirming immersion was the method of baptism practiced by the earliest Christians. When Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, it says "Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water" (Acts 8.38 NRSV). It is this understanding which reminds my faith community that in baptism the subject dies to sin and is raised up in hope of new life. Baptism has a powerful impact as an ordinance in my church because it signifies "the Spirit of the Lord is upon us." I aim to discuss what this "new life" means in conditions of oppressive structures and how the church is called to respond.
Drafts by D.K.Dhanushka Dilshan
D.K.Dhanushka Dilshan, 2019
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Papers by D.K.Dhanushka Dilshan
Drafts by D.K.Dhanushka Dilshan