A Theological Study of Paabingkon Pahompu in the Tradition of the Simulangun Society

Abstract

This research examines Paabingkon Pahompu's tradition in Batak Simalungun Theologically. Some people assume that Theology is contradictive with culture. The assumption arises because of the limitation of knowledge of both theology and culture. This limitation causes narrow-mindedness and raises the seed of sectarianism. Sectarianism essentially relates to people who think their faith is correct, while cultures are wrong because it contradicts the Holy Bible. This kinds of thinking is counter-productive and can diminish their original cultural approach. The method used in this study was qualitative with a literature review, and the theological approach assumed was anthropological. The data procedure adopted was by collecting, reducing, and displaying findings. In the beginning, the authors created a relevant bibliography. After that, they analyzes findings and critically built the conceptual framework to answer the problem posed in the research. The second approach taken to collect data was through in-depth interviews. The interviews investigated the balance between the theories and practical paabingkon pahompu. The reduction was to select the relevant and valid data in this research. Through this research, the tradition of paabingkon pahompu has been shown to have theological values such as applying the fifth commandment, uttering the word of blessing, and picturing love as giving and praying for each other. The short conclusion is that the tradition of paabingkon pahompu does not contradict the Holy Bible.

Keywords

• paabingkon pahompu
• theological value
• prayer
• the word of blessing