Mizu ya Chiphunzitso Chokana Mulungu
TIKUKHALA m’dziko lodzala ndi mavuto; kungopenya pang’ono pa mitu yankhani ya manyuzipepala kumatsimikiziritsa choona chimenecho tsiku ndi tsiku. Mkhalidwe wothetsa nzeru wa dziko lathuli wachititsa ambiri kukayikira kukhalako kwa Mulungu. Ena, onena kuti ali okana Mulungu, amakana ngakhale kukhalako kwake. Kodi inunso muli wotero?
Kukhulupirira Mulungu kapena kusamkhulupirira kungayambukire kwambiri mmene mumaonera mtsogolo. Popanda Mulungu, kukhalapobe kwa mtundu wa anthu kumakhala m’manja mwa anthu—lingaliro lodetsa nkhaŵa kwenikweni, poona mphamvu yowononga ya munthu. Ngati mukhulupirira kuti Mulungu aliko, ndiye kuti muyenera kuvomereza kuti moyo padziko lino uli ndi chifuno—chifuno chimene chingakwaniritsidwe potsirizira pake.
Ngakhale kuti kukana kukhalapo kwa Mulungu kwakhala kwa apa ndi apa m’mbiri, iko kwafalikira kwenikweni m’zaka za mazana aposachedwapa. Kodi mukudziŵa chifukwa chake?
Kuona Mizu Yake
Mtengo wautali kwambiri umachititsa chidwi kuuona. Komabe, diso limangoona masamba, nthambi, ndi thunthu lake. Mizu yake—magwero a moyo a mtengowo—imakhala yobisika pansi m’nthaka.
Zilinso choncho ndi kukana Mulungu. Mofanana ndi mtengo wautali, kukana kukhalapo kwa Mulungu kunakula msinkhu pofika m’zaka za zana la 19. Kodi moyo ndi chilengedwe chonse zikanakhalapo popanda Mlengi Wamkulu wauzimu? Kodi kulambira Mlengi woteroyo ndiko kutaya chabe nthaŵi? Mayankho a afilosofi otchuka a panthaŵiyo anali amphamvu ndi otsimikiza. “Monga momwe sitifunikiranso malamulo a mkhalidwe, sitifunikiranso chipembedzo,” anatero Friedrich Nietzsche. “Chipembedzo ndicho loto la maganizo a munthu,” ananenetsa motero Ludwig Feuerbach. Ndipo Karl Marx, amene zolemba zake zikanakhala ndi chisonkhezero chachikulu m’zaka makumi angapo zotsatira, anati molimba mtima: “Ndikufuna kuwonjezera ufulu wa maganizo mwa kumasuka ku nsinga za chipembedzo.”
Anthu ochuluka anachita chidwi ndi zimenezo. Komabe, zimene anaona zinali chabe masamba, nthambi, ndi thunthu la kukana Mulungu. Mizu yake inalipo kale m’malo ake ndipo inali itaphukira kalekale zaka za zana la 19 zisanayambe. Koma chodabwitsa nchakuti, kukula kwamakono kwa kukana Mulungu kunasonkhezeredwa ndi zipembedzo za Dziko Lachikristu! Kodi zinachitika motani? Chifukwa cha chinyengo chawo, magulu achipembedzo ameneŵa anabutsa kugwiritsidwa mwala kwakukulu ndi chitsutso.
Mbewu Zake Zibzalidwa
Mkati mwa Nyengo Zapakati, Tchalitchi cha Katolika chinali chitapondereza anthu ake. “Atsogoleri achipembedzo anaoneka kukhala olephera kusamalira bwino zosoŵa zauzimu za anthu awo,” ikutero The Encyclopedia Americana. “Atsogoleri achipembedzo apamwamba, makamaka abishopu, anatengedwa kwa akuluakulu, motero anaona udindo wawo kwakukulukulu monga ulemerero ndi mphamvu.”
Ena, onga John Calvin ndi Martin Luther, anayesa kukonzanso tchalitchi. Komabe sinthaŵi zonse pamene njira zawo zinali zonga za Kristu; kusalolera ndi kukhetsa mwazi kunafikira kukhala mikhalidwe ya Chipani cha Kukonzanso. (Yerekezerani ndi Mateyu 26:52.) Kuukira kwina kunali kwankhalwe kwambiri kwakuti zaka mazana atatu pambuyo pake, Thomas Jefferson, pulezidenti wachitatu wa United States analemba kuti: “Kusakhulupirira Mulungu konse kungakhale kokhululukika, koposa kumutonza ndi mikhalidwe yankhalwe ya Calvin.”a
Mwachionekere, Chipani cha Kukonzanso sichinabwezeretse kulambira koyera. Komabe chinachepetsa mphamvu ya Tchalitchi cha Katolika. Vatican sanakhalenso ndi ulamuliro wonse pa chikhulupiriro chachipembedzo. Ambiri analoŵa mipatuko yatsopano Yachiprotestanti. Ena, pogwiritsidwa mwala ndi chipembedzo, anayamba kulambira maganizo a munthu. Chotsatirapo chinali kuganiza, kolola malingaliro osiyanasiyana onena za Mulungu.
Kukayikira Kuphukira
Pofika m’zaka za zana la 18, kulingalira kwaufulu kunachirikizidwa monga mankhwala a mavuto a dziko lapansi. Wafilosofi Wachijeremani Immanuel Kant ananenetsa kuti kupita patsogolo kwa munthu kunali kutsekerezedwa ndi kudalira kwake pachitsogozo cha ndale ndi chipembedzo. “Mufunikira kudzidziŵira bwino lomwe!” analimbikitsa motero. “Limbani mtima ndi kugwiritsira ntchito luntha lanu!”
Mzimu umenewu unafala mu Nyengo ya Kutseguka Maso, yotchedwanso Nyengo ya Luntha. Nyengo imeneyi yokhalako m’zaka za zana la 18, inadzazidwa ndi chikhumbo chopambanitsa cha kufunafuna chidziŵitso. “Kukayikira kunaloŵa m’malo chikhulupiriro chakhungu,” likutero buku lakuti Milestones of History. “Zikhulupiriro zamwambo zonse zakale zinakayikiridwa.”
‘Chikhulupiriro [china] chamwambo chakale’ chimene chinafufuzidwa chinali chipembedzo. “Anthu anasintha lingaliro lawo pa chipembedzo,” limatero buku lakuti The Universal History of the World. “Iwo sanalinso okhutira ndi lonjezo la mphotho zakumwamba; anali kufuna moyo wabwinopo padziko lapansi. Iwo anayamba kutaya chikhulupiriro chawo cha zinthu zauzimu.” Ndithudi, afilosofi ochuluka a Nyengo ya Kutseguka Maso ananyansidwa ndi chipembedzo. Kwenikweni, iwo anaimba mlandu atsogoleri osusukira ulamuliro a Tchalitchi cha Katolika wa kutsekera anthu mu umbuli.
Pokhala osakhutira ndi chipembedzo, ambiri a afilosofi ameneŵa anakhala a deist; iwo anakhulupirira Mulungu koma anati iye alibe chochita ndi munthu.b Angapo anakhala okaniratu Mulungu, onga ngati wafilosofi Paul Henri Thiry Holbach, yemwe ananena kuti chipembedzo chinali “chochititsa magaŵano, mphulupulu zoipitsitsa, ndi maupandu.” M’kupita kwa zaka, ambiri anatopa ndi Dziko Lachikristu ndipo anayanja malingaliro a Holbach.
Nkodabwitsa chotani nanga kuti Dziko Lachikristu ndilo linasonkhezera kukula kwa kukana Mulungu! “Matchalitchi anali nthaka yachonde ya kukana Mulungu,” akulemba motero wophunzitsa zaumulungu profesa Michael J. Buckley. “Anthu Akumadzulo anakhumudwa nanyansidwa ndi zipembedzo zogwirizana. Matchalitchi ndi magulu ampatuko anasakaza Ulaya, anasonkhezera kuphana, anafuna kuti pakhale chitsutso cha chipembedzo kapena chipanduko, anayesayesa kuchotsa mafumu mumpingo kapena kuwagwetsa pa ufumu.”
Kukana Mulungu Kukula Msinkhu
Pofika m’zaka za la 19, kukana Mulungu kunatulukira poyera ndipo kunali kufalikira. Afilosofi ndi asayansi sanachitenso mantha kulengeza poyera malingaliro awo. “Mulungu ndiye mdani wathu,” analengeza motero wina wokaniratu Mulungu. “Kudana ndi Mulungu ndiko chiyambi cha nzeru. Ngati anthu ati apite patsogolo kwenikweni, ayenera kudalira pa kukana Mulungu.”
Komabe, kusintha kosazindikirika kunachitika m’zaka za zana la 20. Kukana Mulungu kunachepa mphamvu; kukana Mulungu kwa mtundu wina kunayamba kufalikira, kukumayambukira ngakhale amene amakhulupirira Mulungu.
[Mawu a M’munsi]
a Mipatuko ya Chiprotestanti imene inabadwa ku Chipani cha Kukonzanso inasunga ziphunzitso zambiri zopanda malemba. Onani Galamukani! wa September 8, 1989, masamba 21-29.
b A deist ananena kuti, mofanana ndi wopanga watchi, Mulungu anayambitsa chilengedwe chake nachisiya choncho, osakhala ndi chochita nacho. Malinga ndi kunena kwa buku lakuti The Modern Heritage, a deist “anakhulupirira kuti kukana Mulungu kunali cholakwa chochititsidwa ndi kuthedwa nzeru, ndi kuti koma ulamuliro wopondereza wa Tchalitchi cha Katolika ndi kuumitsa zinthu ndi kusalolera kwa ziphunzitso zake ndiko kunali koipitsitsa.”
[Chithunzi patsamba 3]
Karl Marx
[Chithunzi patsamba 3]
Ludwig Feuerbach
[Chithunzi patsamba 3]
Friedrich Nietzsche
[Mawu a Chithunzi patsamba 2]
CHIKUTO: Dziko lapansi: Mwa chilolezo cha British Library; Nietzsche: Copyright British Museum (onaninso tsamba 3); Calvin: Musée Historique de la Réformation, Genève (Chithunzi ndi F. Martin); Marx: Chitunzi cha U.S. National Archives (onaninso tsamba 3); Mapulaneti, ziŵiya, ankhondo zamtanda, sitima: The Complete Encyclopedia of Illustration/J. G. Heck; Feuerbach: The Bettmann Archive (onaninso tsamba 3)