One of my jobs is that I am the administrator of a counseling center in the Philippines. My wife is a chaplain and we teach pastoral care/pastoral counseling. We teach that one does not proselytize in counseling. Or at least if one does proselytize... it is done by permission or request from the person... and …
Month: October 2014
Theology and Anthropology, Part 3
I think of this part as a bit more straightforward. Cultural Anthropology is important in contextual theology. Consider the above image. The Bible comes to us as divine revelation that is embedded in certain source cultures (Ancient Jewish and Hellenstic-Roman particularly). If we accept that the canon of Scripture is closed, and identify that the …
Theology and Anthropology, Part 2.
The previous post, quoted Hans Frei. This post expands the idea. Previously it was noted that a theologian working with a sacred text (particularly, in our case, the Holy Bible) must recognize that it is part of the community of faith, providing guidance and meaning for that community, and given its status by that same …
Theology and Anthropology, Part 1
Theology means Study of God (at least etymologically). Anthropology means Study of Man (again, etymologically). I would like to suggest that Theology has cultural anthropology as a powerful tool (perhaps most powerful tool from the human sciences) in its development from revelation and context. The material here is a bit heavy (for me at least) …
Is the Bible Translatable? Part 3
Part 1 of this overall topic I suggested options regarding the translatability of the Bible. I suggested that the Bible is translatable, meaning that the Bible translated is still the Bible. Part 2 suggests the ramifications of saying that the Bible is translatable. It is a challenging viewpoint. Abd al-Jabbar in 995 AD (reference “Translating …
Is the Bible Translatable? Part 2
This is part 2. Part 1 speaks of different views of translatability. This part looks at some practical reasons to accept the translatability of the Bible. A. Since translation always happens anyway, recognizing the validity of translation helps ensure that distortion is minimized. This sounds backwards. Those who support the untranslatability of Scripture (whether it …
Is the Bible Translatable? Part I
Is the Bible translatable? Now when I am asking that, I am not asking whether the words of the Bible can be translated into another language. I am asking: Can the Holy Bible be translated into another language and still be the Holy Bible. Can the Bible be translated and still be reliable? These two …
Quote on Indigenization of Faith
Quote of Reverand James Johnson (1836-1917). Quoted by Lamin Sanneh in "the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture," chapter 5. Johnson (aka "Holy Johnson") was an African assistant Anglican bishop of Western Equatorial Africa during the time of British colonization of the region. "Christianity is a Religion intended for and is suitable for every …