Critical Contextualization

Dr. David Sills

Era of Noncontextualization

– The rejection of non-Western cultures:• Emergence of colonialism• Emergence of the theory of cultural evolution• Triumph of science

– Intellectual consequences of noncontextualization:• Non-Western cultures perception of Christianity as a

foreign religion• Syncretism

The Case for Contextualization

– Linguistics and the New Anthropology• Research shift to non-Western cultures• Focus on the structure and integration of a society and

functions of its parts• Recapturing images of cultures from aged informants

through linguistics• Cultural relativism begins to emerge as a result of

seeing each culture as an autonomous paradigm

The Case for Contextualization

– The Implications for Contextualization• Positive Results:–Avoided the foreignness of a gospel defined by

Western culture–Affirmed the right of non-Western Christians to be

institutionally autonomous–Avoided ethnocentrism by taking cultural differences

seriously and affirming the good in all cultures

The Case for Contextualization

–The Implications for Contextualization• Negative Results:–Danger of biblical and theological distortion–Separation between form and meaning is difficult in

some cultures–Emphasis on communication of meaning instead of

a dynamic-equivalent response to the gospel–Historical context of the universal church is largely

ignored

The Case for Contextualization

–The Implications for Contextualization• Negative Results:–In extreme forms, provides no basis for unity among

churches in other cultures–Uncritical contextualization has a weak view of sin–Syncretism results where there is not a dual

emphasis on contextualization as well as preserving the gospel

Critical Contextualization– Communicating the gospel or biblical information in

culturally appropriate ways– Contextualization in the United States

• Worship styles• Children’s sermon• Youth service

– Contextualized life in other cultures• Language• Laws• Money

International Bulletin of Missionary Research

Translating Challenges:

“Missionaries and local churches sometimes fight to retain ‘Christian’ words, which may lessen the impact of the film with nonbelievers. One disputed word is the name for Jesus, which in Muslim countries has been translated either ‘Yesu (often favored by Christians) or ‘Isa’ (the Arabic usage). We continually push for ‘Isa’ because we are trying to reach Muslims. Some Christians have refused to show the film with this translation. Finally, wrong voices or accents are sometimes selected. In many cultures around the world, Jesus is expected to have the accent of the highest caste or class. If a voice with a low-class accent is used, the viewing audience is limited.”

Translating Challenges Continued:

“Sometimes we have faced the problem of communicating to warring tribes that speak the same language but with slightly different accents. Which tribal voice do you choose for Jesus?

Over the past twenty-one years the Jesus Film Project has spent more than $2 million to correct translation and dubbing errors and problems.”

International Bulletin of Missionary Research

Perceptions of time

“African theologian John Mbiti, insists that the Swahili words for time, sasa and zamani, cannot be pressed into the Western temporal categories of past, present, and future. Sasa time, in which people currently participate, embraces the recent past, the present and immediate future. Yet, for many Africans, time is not pictured as a movement forward into an eternal future, as in the Westl instead, events move backwards and sasa disappears into an ever increasing past (zamani).” -Dean Flemming, Contextualization in the New Testament

Cultural Words

“Every statement of the gospel in words is conditioned by the culture of which those words are a part, and every style of life that claims to embody the truth of the gospel is a culturally conditioned style of life. There can never be a culture-free gospel.” -Lesslie Newbigin, Foolishness to Greeks: The Gospel and Western culture, 1986, p.4

Critical Contextualization

– Interdependence• Rapidly becoming one world, but not one culture

– Theoretical Complementarity• Human knowledge is seen as a map or blueprint that

gives us real, partial understandings of reality• Different models are seen as complementing one

another, forming a more complete understanding of reality

Critical Contextualization

–Critical Contextualization• Exegesis of the Culture• Exegesis of Scripture and the Hermeneutical Bridge• Critical Response• New Contextualized Practices

Critical Contextualization

–Critical Contextualization• Exegesis of the Culture–Study the local church phenomenologically–Uncritically gathering and analyzing the traditional

beliefs and customs associated with the ritual or question at hand–Purpose is to understand the old ways, not to judge

them

Critical Contextualization

–Critical Contextualization• Exegesis of Scripture and Hermeneutical Bridge–The pastor or missionary leads the church in a

study of the Scriptures related to the question or ritual at hand–The pastor or missionary incorporates his

theological, anthropological, and linguistic knowledge to guide the church in the pursuit of biblical truth

Critical Contextualization

–Critical Contextualization• Critical Response–The nationals critically evaluate their own past

customs and rituals in light of their new biblical understandings–They corporately make decisions regarding their

response to the new-found truths

Critical Contextualization

–Critical Contextualization• New Contextualized Practices–The pastor or missionary must help them arrange

the practices they have chosen into a new Christian expression of the ritual–The resulting ritual will express biblical teaching –The resulting ritual will be contextual, created by

nationals, using their own expressions of their culture

Critical Contextualization

– Checks against Syncretism• Critical contextualization has a high regard for the

authority and sufficiency of the Bible• Critical contextualization recognizes the work of the Holy

Spirit in the lives of believers• Critical contextualization depends on the church as a

hermeneutical community• Critical contextualization fosters dialogue among

evangelical theologians from various cultures, leading to a greater understanding of essential theological points

http://www.reachingandteaching.orgmds@reachingandteaching.org