Transcript Cultural Relativism

Cultural Relativism and
Contextualization
Dr. David Sills
Cultural Relativism
B I B L I C A L
Biblical
Relativism
Biblical
Absolutism
Cultural
Absolutism
Situational
Ethics
Traditionalist
Cultural
Relativism
Antinomian
Mutual
Respect
C
U
L
T
U
R
A
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Cultural Perspectives
Emic = that perspective or point of view
that sees, feels, and communicates as
a natural insider.
Etic = that perspective which observes,
describes, and reports on a culture
from the position of an outsider.
Contextualization
Glocalization
Contextualization combines those two thoughts and asks,
“How do you transfer what God has said through ‘holy men
of old’ who lived in an ancient cultural context, into the
language of people who live in a drastically different age and
cultural context?
Defining Contextualization:
“Meaningful and appropriate cross-cultural transmission
of Biblical truth which is faithful to its original intent and
sensitive (understandable) to culture.”
• We seek to be biblically faithful and culturally
understandable.
Contextualization
Theology done from
within a system
Clothing the Gospel in
culturally relevant
garments.
Losing the excess
baggage so that the
Gospel is clearly
seen.
Which of these are biblical?
Which of these are sinful?
3 Eras of Contextualization
Non-Contextualization
– Cultural superiority and arrogance
– Little to no regard for host culture
– Gospel looked foreign
Over-Contextualization
– Influence of anthropologists
– Home culture bashing
– Syncretism
3 Eras of Contextualization
Critical Contextualization
– Biblically faithful but culturally understandable
– 4 steps
Exegete the culture
Exegete the Scripture
Come to a crux regarding some cultural issue
Implement a functional substitute
– Always done “round table” style with the
missionary and locals having a seat at the
table