Bible Science and Culture Integrated

1
Bible Science and Culture Integrated

• How much can we borrow from the culture to make
  the message more relevant?

2
Dangers of MiscommunicationsSyncretism

• Huge Gulfs between
• Bibles Historical and cultural setting and
  contemporary life
• Our cultural setting and target audiences
  setting
• Without proper understanding the message is
  meaningless and irrelevant
• Liberals emphasize 2
• Needs for both to be understood

3
Anthropological Contribution to Missions

• Can bring understanding to cross-cultural
  situations
• ejwe have two Christmas Santa Claus and Jesus
  without mixing
• Can provide insights into specific mission tasks
• Bible Translation and language learning with
  minimizing can help with distribution and loss of
  meaning
• Understand process of conversion including normal
  social changes
• Can help Gospel be relevant to hearers
• Can help build bridges between culturally diverse
  people

4
Theological Assumptions

• Gods Missionto revel Himself to all mankind
  through those who know Him
• Authoritative Scripture of Gods revelation of
  Truth to man
• Becomes the standard of all Truth and
  Righteousness
• As Gods Word, the Bible becomes our message to
  the lost
• Message is always giving to people in a
  historical-cultural setting
• Christocentric understanding of Scripture in the
  light of Christ
• Ministry of the Spirit who prepares the hearts to
  receive the message then brings them on to
  maturity
• The Kingdome of God is to bring everyone under
  His authority
• The Churchto unite in community and to build up
  one another
• The Priesthood of believersnot the
  responsibility of a few

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Scientific Assumptions

• Naturalistic Theories of cultural
  evolution--where man has evolved from so-called
  primitive societies to complex organizations,
  from irrational to rational, from magic to
  religion and science
• Human experience is not a random set of events
  with no purpose or meaning. Cultural Evolution
  is not a reality
• By 1930s cultural evolution was not credible,
  rather diversity in human societies seen as
  self-contained, integrated systemsthe unique
  traits are key to their survival as a society
• Cultural anthropology rejected cultural evolution
  focusing on systems of ideas, beliefs, and
  symbols
• Focus on assumptions that underlie cultural
  beliefs, individual worldviews
• Must understand the explicit symbols and implicit
  beliefs to communicate with minimum of distortion

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Integration of Concepts for Greater Understanding

• Variety and Unity of humanity
• Differ in biological and psychological make-up
  but have human universals
• Share most physiological functions, similar
  psychological drives and need for social
  organizations

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Integration of Concepts

• Attempts at a holistic modelmost are fragmented
  approaches
• Reductionismreducing all dimensions of human
  life to one type of explanation
• Stratigraphic approachto holismstacking
  theories on top of each other
• Each model is a self-contained explanation of
  some part of human life
• Collection of fragmentary understandings
  gathered by various methods analysis
• Still do not give holistic view of humans
• These factors are all interrelatedfail to see
  starvation, illness, ignorance, addictions are
  rooted in human sin

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Stratigraphic Approach to Holism
Theological Model
Anthropological Model
Sociological Model
Biological Model
Physical Model

• This approaches secularizes most of our live
  leaving it outside theological critique

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More on Integration of Concepts

• Missionary worldviews separates science and
  religion, supernatural and natural is a Greek
  philosophical origin, not biblical origin
• Holistic ApproachA comprehensive understanding
  of humans as whole beings, recognizing that our
  knowledge is always imperfect
• Each area has insights that relate to each other
• Culture molds peoples preferences physically
• Complementarily

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An Integrated Approach to the Study of Humans
Human