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SOUTH ASIA BAPTIST COLLEGE OF THEOLOGY & MISSION

Maikhuli Ri-bhoi Dist. Meghalaya
Academic Session 2025-2026

Course: Cultural Anthropology

Class: M.Div. III
Facilitator: Kh. Semboi Aimol, MA, M.Th.

What is Cultural Anthropology?

The second main branch of anthropology is cultural anthropology. It is the study of human
culture, or the study of the works of man, meaning all the things men do and make. It
includes pre-historic cultures, known as archaeology. The analytical study of human societies
is called ethnology, social anthropology, or socio-cultural anthropology. The study of human
languages is known as linguistic or linguistic anthropology. The study of ancient beliefs
customs or traditions is called folklore.

Definition of Culture
Culture is defined as all learned behavior which is socially acquired, that is, the material and
non- material traits which are passed on from one generation to another.

 Culture is everything that is learned or transmitted behavior. It is distinguishes men

from animals. Culture is the more or less integrated systems of ideas, feelings and
values, and their associated patterns of learned behavior and products that characterize
a particular society. In other words culture is everything with which an individual is
concerned and involved in a society.
 Culture is an integrated system of beliefs, of values, of customs and of institutions
which express these beliefs, values, customs which binds a society together and give
it a sense of identity, dignity, security, and continuity.

Definition of Anthropology

Anthropology is basically the study of man. The word “anthropology” is a combination of

two words “anthropo” means man and “logy” means study. Thus it is the study of man in his
activities in relation to society. Anthropology also can be defined as the study or science of
learned human behavior or the study of human culture.

There are two main branches of anthropology: Physical anthropology and Culture
anthropology.

Physical Anthropology

Physical anthropology is concerned with the study of man as a physical being. It deals with
human genetics, the origin of man and his evolution, the different physical forms and

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characteristics of different peoples, and the classification of humans into different types or
races. It deals with the problems of physical change induced by varying environments. This
branch of anthropology views man only as a physical being. It is based on natural sciences
and is concerned with the physical and biological aspects of man.
 Focuses on the biological and behavioral aspects of humans, their related non-human
primates, and their extinct hominin ancestors.
 Explores human evolution, genetics, and the ways humans adapt to different environments.
 Includes subfields like primatology (study of primates), paleoanthropology (study of human
evolution through fossils), and forensic anthropology (identification of human remains).
Archaeology:
 Studies past peoples and cultures by examining the material remains they left behind,
such as artifacts, architecture, and other cultural evidence.
 Reconstructs past lifeways, social structures, and cultural changes through the
analysis of these remains.
 Uses excavation, survey, and laboratory analysis to interpret the archaeological
record.
Linguistic Anthropology:
 Examines the relationship between language, culture, and thought.
 Studies how language is used to construct social identities, organize knowledge, and shape
cultural practices.
 Explores the diversity of languages, their historical development, and how they reflect and
influence social and cultural life.

Benefits in studying anthropology.

1. Anthropology insight helps the missionary understand the reason for other
people’s behaviors. All people are not the same. They differ in character and in
behavior. For Example, North east people differ greatly from other mainland India.
There are significant differences among tribal. When we study the culture and
customs of people we will be able to better understand their behavior, why they do
what they do. This is because behavior is based on people assumptions and ways of
valuing things. Understanding what underlies behavior can greatly help missionaries
to understand the people they work among, and to more effectively communicate the
gospel to them.
2. The study of anthropology helps the missionary understand other people’s
beliefs and practices. Socio-cultural anthropology deals with religion. It includes
religious practices such as rituals, sacrifices, pujas, festivals, observances of special
days, and the practice of astrology. There is a religious system operating behind these
beliefs and practices. The gospel communicator should understand this so as to
interpret the gospel message that becomes relevant to the people.

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3. The study of anthropology helps the missionary understand another people

language. Language is an integral part of human culture. Culture is expressed by
language. The anthropological study of language is called linguistics. Critical features
of a language cannot be adequately understood unless the missionary studies the
culture of the people as well. In some cases it might seem that one group speaks the
same language as another group, but there are often enough differences in how
different groups speak a language that they can be considered to speak different
languages or dialects.
For Example, let us take the Hindi belt of North India. Many Indians, especially from
the south, assume that all North Indians speak Hindi. In reality this is not true. The
kind of Hindi spoken by a wealthy merchant in Rajasthan (Marwari) is different from
the kind of Hindi spoken by a poor farmer (Bhojpuri) in Bihar. Likewise, people in
Madhya Pradesh speaks a different kind of Hindi (they say good Hindi) than people in
Uttar Pradesh. There are many dialects in Hindi and the missionary must understand
the dialects and tribal languages in India, and the differences are often unnoticeable
unless one studies each individual language or dialect with a linguistic understanding.
4. The study of anthropology helps the missionary in Bible translation. The study of
linguistics helps the missionary learn the language in which he works even though it
may be an unwritten language- and also to translate the scriptures into this language.
Linguistics enables the missionary to discover the cultural context in which words are
used and also the content of the words themselves.
Both are crucial for a clear understanding of the language as it is used. In order to
both speak and write a language in a way its users will understand, it must be
understood both in its cultural context and in the way it its actually being used.
Sometime trained linguist are able to do what is called a linguistic survey to determine
to what extent language overlap, or how dialects differ. In that way much unnecessary
effort can be avoided when it comes to learning a language or doing translation work.
5. The study of anthropology helps the missionary effectively interpret the gospel in
a cultural sensitive way. Cross cultural communication includes the right and
meaningful interpretation of the gospel message in order to help people best
understand it, meaning communication demands the study of a people a culture,
which includes their worldview ( assumption about reality), value system, society and
behavior. These factors must be understood before the gospel message is
communicated. While the message of the gospel remains the same, the interpretation
of that message must be relevant to a culture in its own setting.
6. The study of anthropology helps the missionary understand the principles of
planting indigenous churches. The church in many parts of India is still western
precisely because they were planted by western missionaries who did not care to
follow the indigenous principles in making the church self- supporting, self-governing
and self-witnessing. So we have churches dependent on overseas funding leadership
and witness. These churches were never rooted in the local cultural context.
7. The study of anthropology helps the missionary understand the holistic
approach to the culture of the people. The study of cultural anthropology is not just
the study of culture, but also other fields as well, like religion, economics, technology,

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politics, history and education. Such a study helps the missionary get an overall view
and understanding of different, but related sciences. In other words, cultural study is
not just the study of customs and behaviors of people; it is everything that affects the
daily of the people and their community.

Role of Cultural anthropology in Christian Missions?

The role of cultural anthropology in missions is neither of these. Cultural anthropology is not
cure-all for missions. It is just one tool of a well prepared missionary. Neither does cultural
anthropology replace the Holy Spirit. No real missionary work takes place apart from the
Holy Spirit. However, many Christians misunderstand the role and place cultural
anthropology can have in effective ministry.

The Bible is Above Culture

The Bible is above culture, since it stands to judge any culture. There are elements of
“common grace” insights that even pagans enjoy. The Greek poet Aratus wrote, accurately, “
we are his ( God‟s) offerings.” Acts 17:28.

A culture may reflects God‟s principles of hospitality to strangers ( Ex. 22:21; Lev.19:10,
Heb. 13:2), for instance. It may have strong taboos against embarrassing anyone ( face
saving) but may allow parents to invade and control the marriage of a son or daughter.

Understanding Another Culture:

Mission is the total biblical mandate of the church of Jesus Christ. A mission is local
assemblies or groups of assemblies sending authorized persons to other cultures to evangelize
and plant indigenous assemblies. Mission is one aspect of mission. Basically, missions is the
church in one sending workers to another culture to evangelize and disciple.

Entering another culture:

To minister in another culture, one must enter the culture. When an individual leaves his or
her own culture, with its familiar customs, traditions, social patterns, and way of life, the
individual quickly begins to feel like a fish out of water and must either begin to adjust to the
new culture or be tossed and buffed by it until he or she finally succumbs to exhaustion and
suffocation.

Paul Hiebert writes, “The question of the relationship of the gospel to culture is central to
evangelism and missions”. The Gospel is the message of God to be communicated to human
beings through human beings in human language. Evangelism is basically God‟s work, yet is
and response to God‟s saving grace. God uses human beings- eg. Pastor, evangelists and
missionaries. The Gospel is communicated to people and through people. Therefore, people
are important and their culture factors have to be taken seriously because they cannot be
separated from their culture. This calls for the study of the relationship between the Gospel
and culture in the context of missions and evangelism.

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Human beings are in-separately bound to culture. They belong to a certain culture and are
identified within that culture. But God is above human culture, and He is not bound by any
human culture. Yet God relates to human beings in their culture context. Several views have
been expressed regarding God‟s attitude towards human culture there are:

1. God in culture: Which means God and culture are the same
2. God against Culture: Which means God is against all cultures and human institutions.
3. God endorses Culture: Which means Christian culture
4. God above culture: which means God is not bound by culture
5. God above culture but through culture: This should be the right view of God‟s attitude
to human culture.

Even though God is above (transcends) all cultures. He recognizes and respects all human
cultural differences. God uses human culture as a vehicle for communication to human
beings. In other words, God attempts to reach people in their culture context. Therefore,
conversation takes places within one‟s own culture. As a result of such conversion, a
transformation takes place in the culture. In the same way, the missionary- the gospel
communicator- must take the recipient culture seriously and identify himself and interpret the
gospel according to its context.

Cross cultural Evangelism:

The central task of missions is to present the gospel of Jesus Christ, the redemptive act of
Christ through which individuals may enter into a personal relationship with God. The gospel
message is exclusive. There is no other way, according to God‟s word.

We have an imperative to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people. We have no
imperative to present our culture to anyone. Because we have learned the gospel within the
wrappings of our own culture, we tend to assume that our culture is the biblical culture.

Cultural anthropology is a useful in separating our culture from the gospel and putting it in
terms of the new culture.

Dr. Eugene Nida says, of course, a study of cultural anthropology will not guarantee that a
message communicated to any group of people will be accepted. Far from it! Cultural
anthropology only helps to guarantee that when the message is communicated, the people are
more likely to understand.

Culture and Society

The key concept in the study of anthropology is culture. Culture is one of the features that
separate humans from the lower animals. Of all God‟s creatures, only humans are culture
bearing. We may define culture as learned and shared attitudes, values, and ways of
behaving. Culture is composed of culture traits and culture complexes. Culture traits are the
smallest units of culture, individual acts such as a wave, a smile, or saying unit.

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Society is a social organization made up of a group of people who share a geographical area
and culture. Society and culture are interdependent concept. One cannot exist apart from the
other. However, they are not the same things. Society refers to people and their social
organization, whereas culture refers to their learned and shared way of life.

GOD COMMUNICATES IN THE HUMAN CONTEXT: BIBLICAL EXAMPLE

1. Old Testament example of communication in Context: we read in the Old

Testament times that God communicated Himself to human beings in human cultural
context and in human culture terms. For example the offerings and the sacrifices of
Leviticus were very much related to the local culture. Some of the miracles performed
by God were not only understood by the people of Israel but also by the Gentiles. God
allowed a human king to rule over His people as per the local cultural context. He also
revealed himself as the king which was understood by the people. Many of the Old
Testament prophets, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, used several local cultural parables
and objects to communicate the message from God. Thus God‟s message was
communicated in human context.
2. New Testament Example of Communication in Context: we read in the New
Testament, “the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” John 1:14. It
means God became man and lived among us and His name was Jesus of Nazareth. In
the incarnation God the creator chose to limit Himself by taking a human form and
was born as a baby as Bethlehem in the cultural context, that of the Hebrews.
Man could not transcend his culture to meet God. Hence God himself became man,
voluntarily subjecting Himself to the limitations of cultural condition despite their
inadequacy and sinfulness, John Stott beautiful puts it. The absolute and transcendent
God chose to be limited by human culture so that the culture bound human could
comprehend what God had to say. This, in fact, is the essence of incarnation. Thus
God communicated in the human context.
3. God’s word communicated in Human Context: God‟s word was given in human
language written by human beings so that human beings many understand it. The
Holy Spirit inspired the biblical authors (different human beings) and used their
knowledge, skills, experience and cultural backgrounds. For example, in the Old
Testament the shepherd boy David understood God as a Shepherd when he wrote the
psalm. The Lord is my shepherd” and the wise man Solomon could write. The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Thus the Holy Spirit used the cultural
background of the biblical authors to communicate God‟s word in the human context.

The Old Testament uses the Babylonian, Hittite and Suzerian culture forms, while the
New Testament language and thought forms are steeped in Greek-Roman culture. For
Example, the Apostle Paul compares a Christian to a Roman soldier and a Greek
athlete. Here we see how God‟s Word was given through human words and in terms

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of the hearer‟s own culture. Thus God communicated His eternal Word in human
context.

JESUS EXAMPLE OF COMMUNICATION IN CONTEXT:

Jesus was an effective communicator. He was able to communicate to different kinds of

people the same simple message of the Kingdom of God. He did not change the content of
the message but the forms of communication. The following are some of the methods he used
to different groups of people.

1. To Jewish religious leaders: The approach was more reasoning and logical. Jesus
talked about re-birth and said, „You must be born again‟. It was a dialogue method
and was effective.
2. To the Samaritan Woman: The Approach was simple and related to her daily
need for water. Jesus began His communication by asking water. Thus he touched
her material need. From her materials need Jesus helped her to realize her spiritual
need. Beneath her material need there was spiritual need. Therefore, Jesus did not
condemn her non spiritual motive. When she asked him for water but rather he
used to non- spiritual motive to bring her to a spiritual need for the water. Thus
Jesus communicated to her felt need. It was effective and she responded.
3. To the Fishermen: The Approach was related to their lifestyle and livelihood.
They knew the job of fishing and Jesus said to them. “ follow me and I will make
you fishers of men.” The approach was simple. He communicated in their context
to their life situation and they too responded.
4. To the Farmers: The approach again was related to their daily life and work.
Jesus talked about soil, sowing seed and harvesting. Farmers understood the
message and responded to Him.

PAUL’S EXAMPLE OF COMMUNICATION IN CONTEXT:

The Apostles Paul was a good Communicator and even thought he was not as eloquent as his
co-worker Apollo‟s yet he was to identify himself with his hearers ( 2 Cor. 10:10; I Cor 2:1-
5). He says, To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews… to those outside the law I
became as one outside the law…that I might win those outside the law… I have become all
things to all men that might by all means save some” (2Cor.9:20-22). Paul used different
patterns of approach to communicate the Gospel to different people. Let us notice some of
these patterns.

First, The pattern of using the Old Testament Scripture: Paul went to synagogues to reach the
Jewish people. His approach to the synagogue community was in their own context. Then
Paul used the Old Testament scriptures as the people were familiar with the law and the
prophecy of the Old Testament (Acts 13:16-43). This method was used by Paul on a number
of occasions (Acts 28:23). Thus Paul used the Jewish Cultural context to communicate the

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gospel. In fact he himself became as one without the law to reach the Greeks and the
Romans.

Second, the pattern of using the local religious culture: Paul approached the gentiles or the
Greeks from the point of the Greek culture. For example at Athens Paul interpreted the gospel
using quotations from Greek philosophers ( Acts 17) Paul was able to appreciate their
religiosity and thus identified with their beliefs and practices and communicated the gospel in
their context. Thus Paul became as one without the law to reach the Greeks and the Romans.

Biblical Examples: In the Book of Acts Chapter two, the Apostle Peter communicates the
gospel through the medium of the Old Testament scriptures. He was preaching to the Jews
who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. Peter was able to communicate from the
one common element linking together a group of several thousand Jews from many different
ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. Peter quotation of the Old Testament passages was
familiar to every Jewish listener, whether he was from Bithynia, Syria, or Italy. It helped him
to make a case for Jesus being chosen Messiah and the son of God. Peter was an effective
communicator, because the crowd of several thousand Jews understood his message. The
Holy Spirit moved powerfully in this understanding to bring to salvation, three thousand of
his hearers (Acts 2:14 - 41).

Cultural Example: Many tribal cultures have some idea of a supreme, benevolent and
transcendent God. Such an Idea of a supreme God can be used as a contact point or as bridge
building for the communication of the gospel. For example, the Bhills of Western India. They
have some idea of a supreme god whom they call Maha Dev ( Great God), the creator of life
and the universe. Some of the names attributed to the supreme God are Khera Dain ( The
true Master), Moto Dharmi (Good and righteous one). There is a legend about the origin of
the Bhils that Mahadev made a doll out of clay and breathed inside the dolls and there was a
Bhil. There are several striking similarities between the beliefs of the Bhils and some aspects
of the Christian faith.

Enculturation and Accumulation:

Enculturation: Humans infants do not possess culture at birth. They have no conception of
the world, no language, nor a morality. They are uncultured, unsocialized persons. All an
infant needs to live and cope within the cultural context awaiting him is acquired through the
process termed enculturation by the anthropologist and socialization by the sociologist – the
process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that enables
them to become functioning members of their societies. Enculturation: refers to the lifelong
process of learning one's own native culture.

Child Training

Some psychologists suggest that the stresses and strains within the womb begin shaping of
the child‟s personality. From the moment of birth, however, there is no question as to the

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socio- personality influences upon the child. The process of increasing awareness called by
some “canalization” is affected in four major stages.

1 The emerging awareness of the child environment

2 The differentiation of the child environment from that of others
3 The stabilization of the child understanding of the environment and
4 Increasing control over the child environment

Habituation

In habituation, human beings learn those aspects of culture not regarded by the culture as
specifically learnable techniques. Babies‟ beings helpless have their needs fulfilled for them.
In the course of the fulfillment of these needs, the way in which the need is fulfilled comes to
be almost as important as the fulfillment.

By the time children are able to fulfill some of their own requirements for food and sleep,
their habits are well established. These habits may be changed several times during the course
of maturation, but even the need to change and the capacity to change are developed into
habits. In one sense, the habits are the culture when the habits of the people change, the
culture changes.

Education

Each individual in a given society is provided the means of individual enrichment. No society
is without an education program, though few have as extensive and all-encompassing a
program as that found in Western nations. The formal education provided in western nations
through a graded school system is provided in other societies through social, religious,
political, or economic mechanisms.

Acculturation

Acculturation is the process where individuals or groups from one culture adopt aspects of
another culture while still retaining elements of their own. Whereas enculturation is the
learning of the appropriate behavior of one‟s own culture, acculturation is the learning of the
appropriate behavior of one host culture. One enters, in effect, as a child and is enculturated
into the new society through the process of adaption to that society. Acculturation is
particularly relevant for migrants and immigrants as they adapt to a new country and culture.

Verbal and Non Verbal communication

What is the first thing you notice about people when you first meet them?

Their clothing? Their faces? Their grooming? Whatever it is, it is probably no their language.

Language communicates what members of a society need to know. It is a major tool of the
social group, effecting loyalties based on past, present, or future events and relationships.
language can also disrupt society. It can destroy relationships and loyalties.

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James description of the tongue as a fire is apt, for he says consider what a great forest is set
on fire by a small spark.

The study of the sound of language is called phonology. Language is not only spoken, it is
also systematic. All language is structured and that structure is called grammar. There are two
levels of grammar- morphology and syntax. Morphology is the organization of the basic
sounds of a language, phonemes, into meaningful units. These meaningful units are called
morphemes. A morpheme may be a word or simply a prefix or suffix. Syntax is the way a
language combines words to make a sentence.

Speech begins in the brain. The capacity and complexity of the human brain permits language
learning and the ability to produce speech. While only humans have the unique design of lips,
teeth, palate, tongue, and larynx to produce speech, some researchers have thought that some
primates may have the capacity to learn language. All human societies use language. The
means by which the members of these societies acquire their language is of great interest to
anthropologists and linguists, and the following observations help in understanding this
process.

 Language in Culture:

Language changes through time. This prompts the study of historical and comparative
linguistics. Language also varies from location to location, calling for study of dialectology.
The results of such language change and variation is dialect. When a smaller group has
language varieties not common to the majority of speakers of the language, and idiolect-
when a person has developed his own peculiar usage of the language. Language is learned
behaviour and is therefore part of culture.

Cultures vary in the values, qualities, or characteristics they assign to things, animals, or
humans. Cultures or socio-cultural groups, also divide the entire universe in their particular
pattern.

Non-Verbal Communication

Nonverbal communication refers to the process whereby message is sent and received
through any one of the senses without the use of language. Patterns of nonverbal behaviour
are culturally defined. YES or NO messages are conveyed by the nodding or shaking of one
head. These patterns are part of the arbitrary selection of symbols of the culture. They must
learn, along with language and other aspects of the structure of society, by new members
entering the culture. Learning these nonverbal clues can present problems. The same symbol
may transmit opposite messages in two different cultures, or two opposite signals may mean
the same thing in the two cultures.

Nonverbal communication is expressed and perceived through all of the senses- hearing,
touch, smell, sight and taste and also through body temperature, body movement and time
and space.

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Economy and Technology

Economic anthropology is the study of primitive and peasant economies wherever they exist
in the world. The study in its broadest form encompasses economic and technological
systems. Economic systems involve the ways people, time and materials are organized to
produce, distribute and consume goods and services. Such goods and services include the
following:

1. Food for physical sustenance along with goods and services for religious,
defence, and justice purposes; rites of passage and other aspects of social and
community life.
2. Natural resources such as land, water, and minerals, humans cooperation
involved in the division of labor and technology
3. Market places, foreign trade, monetary objects, devices for measuring and
record keeping.

Technologies systems are those parts of culture that enable man to produce objective changes
in his physical and biological environment. This part of the larger system of society consists
of learned categories and plans for action manifested in the tools, techniques, and skills
employed by the members of society. All humans share the same basic needs for the
maintenance of life. These needs include food, shelter, protection, and health. Since all
human societies share these needs, each society must develop social patterns and
organizations to exploit its environment to meet these needs.

Hunting and Gathering

Which includes fishing is a technology that exploits its environment without controlling or
changing it. Native game in the area is hunted, but there is no attempt to control the game or
to introduce new species. The vegetation, including fruits, that grows naturally in the
environment is gathered, but there is no attempt to cultivate the vegetation or to introduce
new varieties.

Animal Husbandry

Involves the breeding and raising of animals. Animals are domesticated and maintained to
provide food, skins, and transportation. This level of technology allows humans to have the
animals at hand as opposed to having to go out and hunt for them.

Horticulture is a farming technology that involves raising crops with the use of hand tools
such as digging sticks or hoes. This technology involves clearing a field of grass, brush, and
trees. The ground is then broken up with a digging stick or a hoe. Crops such as manioc,
yams, and potatoes. This field wielded as the crop grows, and when the crops are mature,
they are harvested. These fields usually decline in fertility in two or three years. They are
then allowed to return to their natural vegetation and new field are cleared.

Agriculture is a farming technology that utilizes the plow and either draft animals or
tractors. Agriculture also involves more intense cultivation. Farmer use fertilizers – either

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animal refuse or chemical and rotate crops. With intensive cultivation, the same field can be
used permanently and planting yield larger harvests per acre. Agriculture is usually such an
efficient means of producing food that a significant part of the population is freed from food
production to engage in manufacturing and trade.

Technology

Technology is the sum total of all the social customs by which people manipulate entities and
substances of all kinds. Technology permits people to adapt to their non human environment;
it is the manipulation of the environment for cultural ends. If language is the human attribute
that makes culture possible, technology is the characteristics of culture that makes it
advantageous to man.

Tools are devices for transforming, transmitting, or storing energy. They are artifacts used to
supplement or augment a person ability to act upon the physical world. Tool may be primary
in that they are used directly, such as a simple spear for fishing. Or they may be secondary
used to fabricate other tools a knife may be used to shape a harpoon shaft. Tools can also be
simple, a sharpened stick used as a spear or complex, a bone point attached to a stick.

Media are tools used to transmit matter or energy through space while preserving their
essential qualities. Pipe lines, irrigation ditches, copper wires and railroad track are among
media that people have devised for the transmission of matter or energy. When a medium is
combined with suitable container, the result is a vehicle, a tool used to transmit stored
objects, energy or information through spaces capsules are vehicle.

The technology and economic system of a society is an integral part of the culture, as we
have attempted to demonstrate. There are at least three reasons why an understanding of the
technical and economic systems of a society are important to a person ministering in that
society.

First, an understanding of the technology and economic system of a society helps us better
understand that society and its people. A person could not really understand our society or the
lives of our people without an understanding of such things as hourly wages, salaries,
checking accounts, credit cards, income Tax and mortgages.

Second, an understanding of the technology and economic systems of a society help us

present the gospel in ways relevant to hearers. In his teaching, Jesus drew heavily on the
technology and economic system for illustrarion. He spoke of farming and business in the
parable of the vine grower ( Matt. 20:1-16).

Third, an understanding of the technology and economic systems of a society can in church
planting. Where will you build a church? How? With what materials? Of what design? How
will the tithes be determined in a barter economy? What will you do in a society where
Sunday is market day? These and many other situations face the missionary as he or she
enters another culture. An understanding of the technology and economic system of that
society will be a real asset.

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We tend to think of the technologist and economic aspects of society as secular, but we must
remember that God created vegetation and animal life and instructed the first man in utilizing
these things ( Gen 2&3). God also instructed him to use the earth not abuse it. The Christian
has a responsibility to understand technology and economi systems in order to minister more
effectively.

Multi- Cultural Context of India.

The Indian multi-cultural context includes philosophical Hinduism ( held by a small minority
of Hindus), popular Hinduism ( held by vast majority of Hindus), Philosophical and popular
Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism and tribal religions. It includes the educated and urban
elite, and the urban poor. There are also many political factors like communism,
communalism, regional militancy, and poverty, and bonded labour, oppression of the poor
and vast social injustice. The Gospel message has to be presented in such a way that it
addresses the different needs and concerns represented by these groups. This is what it means
to contextualize the gospel.

How is the missionary, in the Indian context, to interpret, practice and present the gospel
messages to the wide variety of cultural forms found in India? How can the message he
proclaimed faithfully in its content and effectively and meaningfully to these many cultural
forms and contexts? These are the central questions of Indian working as cross cultural
missionaries today. For the gospel to be meaningful it must answer the vital questions beings
asked by the people in their own cultural context. It must address both the religious
aspirations as well as the socio economic problems faced by the people. For such a culturally
relevant interpretation, the local Christians are the best interpreters and the missionary should
identify, teach and train such people. There need to be certain commitments on the part of the
gospel interpreter which will enable him to safeguard the gospel from the dangers of
syncretism and universalism.

What is Contextualization?

What do we mean by the contextualization of the gospel? It is the contextualization of the

theology of the gospel, interpreting the theology of the gospel. It means that we must
communicate the gospel in such a way that people will understand it. Contextualization is
making concepts or ideals relevant in a given situation. In reference to Christian practices, it
is an effort the never changing Word of God in an ever changing mode of relevance.

Interpreting the Gospel to the Context

How can the gospel message be related meaningfully and relevantly in today‟s Indian
Context? To relate the gospel meaningfully requires interpreting the gospel that is called the
hermeneutical task. Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation which entails the study of
the original languages of the Bible, and understanding the historical, archaeological and
cultural setting of the Bible. There are two levels of hermeneutical interpretation of the Bible.

The first level of Interpretation is determining what scriptures meant in the day it was by the
Holy Spirit to the biblical writers. This is the study of the biblical messages in the historical

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context of its time. On this level of interpretation the text is understood as it is, and we do not
try to read any message into the text.

The Second level of interpretation is asking what the words of scripture mean in today‟s
context and setting. This is the task of applying the meaning of scriptures to the problems of
today, in today‟s context. This level of interpretation can only come after the first level of
interpretation has been done well. Both levels of interpretation require a thorough
understanding of scripture, guided by the Holy Spirit, and a thorough knowledge of today‟s
cultural context.

Commitment in Contextualizing the Gospel

The communicator of the gospel in a cross cultural context must commit himself to Christian
values and demands. He must constantly live within these commitments, so that he can
communicate the gospel in its true meaning, and at the same time communicate it in a
relevant way to its hearers. True communicate is based on a life of discipleship a life of
cultural identified with the target people, communicate to the scriptures, communicate to the
people of God, and a commitment to world evangelization and its related social concerns.
These foundational commitments safeguard the missionary from the dangers of syncretism
and enable him to communicate the gospel cross-culturally without compromise.

Commitment to a life of Discipleship: This involves a personal relationship to God through

Christ, knowing him as Father through his son. This means having Christ as Saviour and
Lord of our life. Commitment is demonstrated by a consistent Christian life fully committed
to the lordship of Jesus Christ and to the empowering and guidance of the Holy Spirit. It
means commitment to the related spiritual disciplines of worship, prayer, and Bible study.
For, unless we are totally open to God, the Holy Spirit cannot use us as his agents of
communication. We cannot separate our personal lifestyle ad ethical behavior from our
proclamation of the gospel.

Communicate to the Scriptures: A cross-cultural missionary must commit himself to the

absolute authority of the Bible for his beliefs and practices. This point of commitment is
where most Indian Theologians fail. Acceptance of the authority of the word of God is an
essential qualification of a gospel interpreter in a cultural context. He must maintain a
balance of both biblical scholarship as well as biblical lifestyle, Bruce Nicholls says.

Commitment to the study of Culture and Identification with culture:

Relevant contextualization is possible only when the communicator knows the culture of the
people with whom he tries to communicate. Cultural anthropology enables the communicator
to have a better understanding of the target culture. The acceptance of the biblical
understanding of people causes the missionary to see people as made in the image of God,
completely loved by God, but fallen and without hope of salvation apart from the provision of
Christ death on the cross. This is true love, because it is based on the truth scripture. Living
among the people is the way the missionary follows the incarnation model, meaning the
missionary lives among the people his target culture in the same way that Christ came to live
among the people on earth.

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Commitment to the Church and the people of God:

The gospel is the reality that changes men and women into new creatures. The church is the
living active body of these Christians in life together, active on earth to extend the church.
Therefore each communicator must be a strong member of the church, actively taking his
place in his local church. When he identifies and commits himself to the people of God he
commits himself to their correction and to the contribution they can make to the effective
communication of the gospel. The missionary never works apart from a church body. When
on the field, the missionary should work with a team of people. On the field a team of close
up the words missionaries are each able to assume different roles for which their own
spiritual gifts natural abilities and background enable them.

Commitment to Evangelism and Mission to the World.

The purpose of the interpretation of culture should result in the effective communication of
the gospel to people lost in sin, giving them a clear understanding of the gospel and an
opportunity to respond, leading to personal salvation and transformed lives. This
communication as we have said requires a clear understanding of the target culture and firm
commitment to the principle of scriptures. As mentioned earlier, the big failure of most
Indian theology thus far has been because it has not committed to a biblical theology of
mission, and thus has had almost no positive effects on distinctive characteristic of Asian
theology should be its mission orientation. The main thrust of New Testament Christianity
was outreach. The Christian church exists for mission and by mission.

The commitment to evangelism and church planting must be concerned with the whole
person. The missionary must be committed to alleviate the sufferings of his target culture,
leading to social service and community development. Commitment to an oppressed world,
and to the freedom found in Christ, lead the missionary to take a stand for social justice and
social freedom from various forms of oppression and bondage.

Communicating the Gospel to Tribals

The Beliefs and Practices of Tribals:

Tribals in India are not Hindus. They are animistic in faith but influenced by different
religions to varying degrees. Tribals have their own religion and it is identified with their own
tribe, such as the Santals have their Santal religion and Kuknas their Kukna religion.
Animism or the primal religion is not a single religion and every tribe has its own religion.

Beliefs in Supernatural Beings:

The spirit world is real for the tribals. They believe in a variety of spirits which inhabit
stones, trees, houses and mountain. They believe in a supreme God whom they consider the
Great Spirit and they consider him as the Supreme Being, the creator of the universe. They
also believe that the Great Spirit is not interested in the daily affairs of human beings and as
such the smaller spirits have control over the world and daily life. They believe in good and
bad spirits. The spirits have to be appeased by ritual sacrifices. They also believe in the spirits

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of ancestors as living who can do good as well as bad to them. Therefore these spirits have to
be worshiped and appeased.

Belief in Supernatural Power: The tribal people believe in the prevalence of spiritual and
supernatural power which is known as Mana. The word ‘mana’ come from Melanesia and is
adopted to describe the spiritual power which the people believe inhabits stones, plants, trees
and animals. This spiritual power is an impersonal mysterious life force which pervades
everything. People believe that a person success is dependent upon the amount of mana he
possesses. Mana can be gained by rituals, rites, divination or blood sacrifices.

1. Belief in Witchcraft and Magic:

Belief in the spirit world leads the tribals to believe in witchcraft, magic, and sorcery.
The shaman, the bhagat or the witch doctor is an important and powerful person in
any tribal society. He is a religious expert, a native doctor as well as a magician. He
practices white magic to help and to heal people as well as black magic to harm and to
kill people. People are afraid of witches (women magicians) and witch doctors but
people need them, particularly the shaman. The religious life of the entire tribal
society is dependent upon the shaman.
2. Beliefs in Blood Sacrifice:
The tribals have to appease the evil spirits and ancestral spirits so that they will not
harm them. Therefore blood sacrifice has come into beings as part of their religious
life. Sacrifices of Chicken, goat, buffalo, and in some cultures human sacrifice is also
performed. They have to offer sacrifices at different occasions, such as at the time of
sowing seed and harvesting. Some sacrifices are made by individuals, some by
families and other sacrifices are made by the entire community or village.

Methods of Presenting the Gospel to Tribals:

1. Resident Witness is Needed:

It means the evangelist or the missionary should stay among the people and identify
with the people. It would help him to build trust with the people and win their
confidence. Living among the people also helps the missionary to learn their language
and their culture. Short term and tourist (just on a visit) missionaries will not be
effective gospel communicators among the tribal people. Sometimes their visit would
create suspicious rather than trust in the missionary.

2. Oral Communicator is Effective:

In most of the tribal societies communication is oral. Their world view of logic is
concrete functional and therefore the gospel message has to be fold in stories and

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parables, and not in abstract propositions. Songs, stories, drama and dance, are the
best form of communication. visual aids, such as flash cards, flannel pictures and film
slides would greatly the people understand the gospel message. Mass media such as
video and movie film are also effective, but someone needs to immediately explain
what they saw in the film.

3. Community Social structure should be Respected:

Since the tribal are group oriented their community social structure is very important.
Decisions are taken for good or bad community leaders. When the missionary wants
to start any work among the communities he must get the permission of the
leadership. Even for conducting night meetings permission must be taken from the
village or tribal chief. Village leaders must be invited for important programmes, even
though they may not have accepted the Christian faith.

4. Holistic Ministries Should be Done:

The Tribals are longing for socio-economic emancipation. Social justice has been
denied to them. They have been exploited by the landlords, money lenders and in
some places by the government officials. They often look to the missionaries for
justice relief and development programmes in the community. Some of their basic felt
needs should be met, such as drinking water, education,jobs, and community health.
When they approach the missionary with such needs they should not be condemned as
people with interior motives. They should be accepted with their mixed motives and
the missionary should try to see what their genuine needs are and try to fulfill them.
Such a wholistic ministry would make the gospel natural realistic and relevant in their
context.

CONTEXUALIZING THE LOCAL CHURCH

The contextualization or indigenization, of a church is a critical function of cross- cultural

church planting. In fact, the success of a cross- cultural church planting effort is judged
exactly by how contextualized the planted church actually is. The planted church must first
be based on the truths of scriptures, then grow from the soil of the culture in form appropriate
to it. It is the responsibility of the missionary to contextualize the gospel he preaches and the
church he plants. A church is a living organism that should be alive in the lives of the target
people. Therefore, the missionary must understand the culture of the target people.

The Principles of Planting Churches in their own context:

These principles are commonly known as indigenous church principles.

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The term “indigenous” means producing, growing or living naturally in a country or climate;
not exotic, native, hence figuratively inherent. In a mission context the term indigenous
means which are native to the cultural soil of the people. Evangelistic and church planting
efforts must be directed so that his resultant church is indigenous.

Indigenous churches are self- governing according to the local structures of leadership and
accountability. They maintain themselves financially without outside financial or material
help, so we call this self-supporting. All churches should reproduce themselves through their
own evangelism and church planting, and that is self -propagating. Not all churches bear
these characteristics but these are the foundational realities of all churches and should guide
the evangelistic and church planting efforts of the missionaries‟ strategy.

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