These are some thoughts. It is not necessarily exhaustive. Fear of Syncretism and Heresy. It is clear in the Bible that the Christian faith needs to be contextualized. Within the New Testament World, this meant several worlds... Jewish World, Greco-Roman World, and Folk-Pagan World (if not more). Contextualization has its limits. The early disciples worked …
Tag: contextualization
“Counter-Cultural Contextualization” Quote
Short quote from a longer blog post by Simon and Henrietta Cozens The idea of contextualization is that it is “receptor-oriented”; in other words, it lets the world set the agenda. Of course putting it in those terms is a pretty harsh charge, and it’s usually answered by Hiebert’s concept of “Critical Contextualization.” But this …
Pastoral Counseling Across Cultures
Selective parts from David Augsberger's book on Cross-culture Counseling. <div style="width:425px" id="__ss_10666002"> <strong style="display:block;margin:12px 0 4px"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/bmunson3/counseling-in-cross-cultural-environment" title="Counseling in cross cultural environment" target="_blank">Counseling in cross cultural environment</a></strong> <div style="padding:5px 0 12px"> View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/" target="_blank">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/bmunson3" target="_blank">Bob Munson</a> </div> </div>
Wonderful Example of Contextualized Interpretation
Interpretation and Application of Scripture is affected by culture. In theory, the farther we are from Bible Culture, the more difficult it is to interpret (and apply). But that is not necessarily always so. Many cultures have characteristics that relate very nicely to a passage of Scripture. Consider this passage: Remember you who are Gentiles …
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Subversive Fulfillment and the “Datu Mentality”
I have suggested before that Counter-cultural contextualization (to me at least at this moment) best describes proper missional contextualization of the Christian message. The goal is to contrast the Christian message to the surrounding culture, but without being "anti-culture." Counterculture suggests a critical agency to use the culture, esteeming the good, while challenging that which …
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Critical Contextualization in the Early Church
Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus. While there is disagreement as to when this epistle was written we know it was quite early. Some place it back to around 130AD. Some place it closer to 200AD. I personally think that the parts of the epistle noting the newness of Christianity does suggest that it is an …
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Tago Ng Tago Theology
Theology is the bridge linking God's unchanging revelation with man's changing situation. As such, theology changes with time and location. Therefore, I really don't get too impressed with people who describe themselves as Calvinist, Arminian, Pentecostal, or other theologies that fit a moment in the past... but are not necessarily connected to the present. The …
Counter-Cultural Contextualization
<Another work in progress. The topic of contextualization is fraught with challenges. I doubt I will ever get to a point of confidence on how best to contextualize either the Gospel message or theology. I speak of this more in my book, "Theo-Storying: Reflections on God, Narrative, and Culture"> Stephen Bevans in "Models of Contextual …
Is Asian Christian Theology a Thing?
A couple of common, and related, themes in missions today are "contextualization" and "self-theologization." The first says that to make the Word of God accessible to a culture, it must be translated into that culture, not only in language, but in symbology (in its many forms) as well. To do this, one attempts to minimize …
Who is the Contextualizer
Missions commonly today focuses on the idea that contextualization is necessary. Contextualization is the enculturation of the gospel message. A Christian 1st century Greek did not, and should not live like a Christian 1st century Jew. The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 recognized Unity within Christ while maintaining Diversity in Culture. Today, in missions we …