MISSION
AND CULTURES
By Prof. Eliseo R. Mercado,Jr.,OMI
Notre Dame University – Graduate School
San Beda University – Graduate School of Laws
I.
Introduction:
No doubt, one of the sources of
polarization in the churches today is the encounter between Christianity and
the diverse non- European cultures.
There are many encounters in Asia, Africa and the Americas that have
resulted to “ethnocide” (the eradication of peoples' cultures and identities as
they embraced the Christian message).
Vatican II reforms have, since the mid - 60’s, accepted the pluralism of
cultures and they need not be sacrificed in the work of evangelization.
This affirmation has re-opened the
burning issue of evangelization in a non-western cultural setting, particularly
in Asia and Africa. The problematic
issue is a comprehensive reality that includes theology, liturgy, and
spirituality but inter and intra relationships between peoples, nations and
communities as well. The latter touches
among others the national and world order.
There have been several attempts
made to articulate the problem as well as the paths being charted by various
local and national churches since the mid 60's in Asia, Africa and the
Americas. While there are similarities,
particularly in terminologies, the specific contents and contexts of every
attempt is unique to the concrete people and place undergoing the experience of
renewed evangelization in the midst of diverse non-western cultures.
This paper hopes to contribute in
clarifying both the efforts and the processes involved in the several attempts
to grapple with the issue that results from the encounter between the Christian
message and non-western cultures.
II. Cultures and Mission
In the past, the problem of
Cultures and Mission was situated where Christianity came into contact with a
culture. It was a problem of Christianity that was very identified with Western
culture vis-à-vis non- western cultures of Asia and Africa.
Today, the question is about the
place of Christianity in the midst of diversity of cultures. This implies the search for a Christian
cultural identity in the midst of
"non-Christian” cultures.
Pope Pius XII articulated that
" whatever is good and human, and in agreement with the nature of man as
created by God, the Church accepts, further develops, elevates and sanctifies…
unless these are obviously opposed to religion and good morals.” Similarly, the Propaganda Fide articulated
the need to study the local cultures.
“For what is more absurd than to bring France or Spain or Italy or any
part of Europe into China? Admire and
praise what deserves to be respected."
(Collectanea, Propaganda Fide: Rome, vol. 1 no. 135, p.42).
III. Cross-Cultural Models
1. The Translation Model.
The most common and the earliest
model is that of translation (trans-latio) which includes two steps. In the first step, the Christian faith is
detached as much as possible from its cultural embodiment in the Western
tradition. This is done by applying a
cultural critique of the European tradition, and a return to what is seen as
the essential elements of the biblical tradition. In the second step, the Christian faith is
translated into local cultural categories.
This approach is typical of the earlier efforts of Protestant
missionaries to translate the Bible into the local language, and to look for
equivalents to the biblical concepts of God, sin and salvation. In the Catholic Church, this attempt to translate
community celebrations was one of the major reasons in the liturgical renewals
and adaptations in non-European countries.
The weakness of this model is that
it presumes that the Christian faith can be detached from cultural traditions
like the kernel from the husk, and it assumes that there always are parallels
either in concept or in symbol in other cultures. Experience shows that liturgical symbols,
once translated into apparently similar categories, very often lose the power
of association binding a community to its tradition. For example, in replacing bread and wine by
rice and tea, as what happened in certain Asian countries, the symbol of a
family meal and communion is enhanced, but the idea of Christ’s sacrifice and the
Exodus of the Jewish people is lost. The
question is: are cultural symbols transferable, and can it be done without
altering the deeper meanings and patterns that support those symbols?
2.
The Adaptation Model.
The second model is that of
adaptation. It tries to avoid the
weaknesses of the translation model and seeks a more fundamental encounter
between the Christian faith and other cultures.
One way of applying this model is to construct a philosophical system
similar to those of the West but using categories from the local culture as a
support for local theologies. For
example, Chinese theologians in the first half of this century tried to develop
a theology based on neo-Confucianist categories using a Kantian framework. On the ecclesial level, there have been
efforts to form an indigenous clergy without changing the fundamental
structures of the Christian church.
This is the result of many selections and interpretations. It also fails to see that using the concept
of "person" to understand God and the Trinity is so bound to one
culture that any expression of the same dogma in another culture would be
totally different. But most important
of all is the question whether the understanding of history as a linear
development can be reconstructed to translate concepts and symbols, in a
culture that has a different attitude towards time and process?
3. The
Inculturation Model.
Since Vatican II, the term
"adaptation" has been replaced by that of "inculturation"
both in theological circles as well as in Church official declarations. FABC in 1974 called for a "Church indigenous and
acculturated". The Synod of Africa
and Madagascar declared that the theology of adaptation was completely
outdated. Paul VI's Evangelium Nuntiandi
(1975) speaks of an evangelization of cultures "not only in a way as it
were by applying thin veneer, but in a vital way, in depth and right to their
very roots" (EN no.20). The fifth
Synod of Bishops (1977) was the first
official church document that explicitly used the word "inculturation” in its message to the
universal church. Inculturation's use of
the prefix "in" adds a theological insight and suggests that a seed
is sown, takes roots and flourishes in a soil.
The evangelization process brings into being as goodness, truth and
beauty. Evangelization strives to
assimilate and to develop all these values:
to live them with magnanimity and joy and to perfect them by the
mysterious and ennobling light of revelation" (SA, 18).
The latest document on Mission is
John Paul II’s encyclical letter, Redemptoris Missio. This document tries to synthesize the
Catholic Church's missiological teachings of recent times. It, too, addresses the problem that results
from the encounter between mission and cultures. John Paul II reiterates that "the
process of the Church’s insertion into peoples’ cultures... is not a matter of
purely external adaptation.
Inculturation means the intimate transformation of authentic values
through their integration in Christianity and the insertion of Christianity in
the various human cultures" (RM, 52).
The change in vocabulary signifies
a deepening of understanding of the cultural process. "Adaptation" still suggests a
ready-made Christianity that does not change anything in substance, and does
not suggest an equal relationship of reciprocity in its contact with other
cultural traditions.
"Inculturation", on the other hand, signifies the insertion of
the Christian message, analogous to Christ's incarnation in human history. It recognizes the responsibility of local
churches to shape the future of the Church in their own part of the world and
the enrichment the universal Church is to gain from this experience. “For full Catholicity, every nation, every
culture has its own part to play in the universal plan of salvation. Every particular tradition, every local
church, must remain open and alert to the other churches and, at the same time,
to universal and catholic communion" (SA, 27).
4. The Contextualization Model.
Vatican II opened the Church to
the richness of the humanistic and scientific progress of the world in our
time, but it also pointed to the structural injustices and cultural alienation
inherent in the process. The separation
of the gospel and modern culture was the principal concern of Vatican II's
Pastoral Constitution on the Modern World.
It is in itself a positive step towards a new kind of pastoral
presence. On the other hand, the Church
has suffered a serious crisis of identity.
Moreover, there is a trend that
encourages the development of theology in indigenous cultural categories with special
attention to the socio-political context.
The primacy given to the biblical word, and the secondary importance
given to liturgical and sacramental life are probably part of the reason for
calling this effort contextualization" rather than "inculturation.
This trend has paved the way for
the "Contextual” model which covers
mainly the theologies developed in Latin America and other third world
countries, as well as by ethnic or social minorities in industrialized
societies. As the word "context" suggests, the importance
is given to the social or cultural milieu of the receiver as the locus of faith
reflection. It begins with the needs of
a people in a concrete place, whether it is the search for a new cultural
identity or for fundamental changes through liberation. Although the word "context” conveys the
idea of a situation rather than the process, there is a common emphasis on
change in both these approaches that recognize that the world is undergoing
continuous social transformation and cultural traditions are no exception to
the rule.
Another common emphasis to the
contextual model is the role of grass-root peoples as the subject of
theological construction. While the
former models mainly describe how theologians work in academic institutions,
the contextual theologians work as partners in life communities. Their criteria are "relevance” and "verification in
experience/praxis" rather than the pursuit of scientific knowledge, or
dialogue with tradition, and the resulting product is often a new creation.
It can be said that this model
stretches the possibilities of existing ways of thinking about the Christian
faith to its limits, and is willing to venture into the unknown, with all the
ambiguities and risks it implies. It is
perhaps this model that is the most fruitful framework for understanding the
problem faced by Christian communities in many third world countries and the
attempts of their theologians to relate the Christian faith to their
situation.
V.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the mystery
of Jesus must find home not only in our individual and communal lives but also
in our concrete cultural milieu. This is
not a matter of purely translation or inculturation or contextualization but
the intimate transformation of life, cultural values and the very world through
their being assumed in Christ. For what
is not assumed in saved.
In missiological circles, this process
is described as the two-fold journey: the journey to the hearts of
people/nation and the journey to the heartland of the place. Both journeys are painful and entail the
process of death and resurrection, of donning on and donning off, of dying and
of re-birth.
Yes, there are no short cuts in
this journey. Missionaries have to live
the pains as well as the difficulties.
The only guarantee given is the promise that the Spirit is with us. He is our light and strength. This is the same Spirit who was at work in
the Incarnation and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and who is at
work now in our incarnation and in our life, death and resurrection. We are called to have the same faith in the
Spirit, to have the same readiness and courage as Jesus who became like us in
all things but sin.
In the final analysis, is this not
the meaning of the saying: "the
old gives way to the new and death leads to life". Here lies the challenge for all of us as we
MAKE the Message our own!
#Badaliyya-Philippines
February 17,
2019
