clame 1979 forum on contextualization

8/9/2019 CLAME 1979 Forum on Contextualization

1/35

TWO CLAME

FORUMS

Forum on the r-1ission

o f

the Church

- -

Aug.

2

1979

1 . Pr inc ipa l Chr i s t i an

Mission

in the Americas

.

Dr. Orlando

E.

Costasv

Director

of the La t in

American Evange l ica l Cente r fo r

Pas to ra l

Studies

CELEP)

2. Responseg Prof . Saul Tr in idadi

Lat in

American

Bib l i ca l

Seminary

3. Rev.

Will iam

Brown Execut ive Sec re t a ry Assoc ia t ion

o f

Costa Rican Bible

Churches

4. Summary

of

the

discuss ion

Forum on Contextua l iza t ion - - Aug. 3 1979

1.

Pr inc ipa l

paper : Contextua l iza t ion from

a

Bib l i ca l Point o f View

Will iam

Cookv

Assoc ia te d i r ec to r

of the

Lat in

American Evange l ica

Center

fo r Studies

CELEP)

2. Response: Prof . Laverne

Rutschman

Lat in Bib l i ca l Semin

3. Responseg

Rev.

Alvaro

Munozv

manager of

rad io

s t a t i on TIFC and

pres ident

o f

t he Costa Rican Evange l ica l All iance

4.

Summary o f

the d i scuss ion

These

forums were organ ized

by a committee

o f

t he board

of the

Lat in

American

Community

o f Evange l ica l Minis t r i e s

CLAME).

The op1n1ons

expressed

do not necessa r i ly represent the

pos i t ion o f the e n t i t i e s

represented

nor of CLAME

This

mate r ia l i s presented with t he so le

purpose o f shar ing

var ious

viewpoints

of

the people

with in the CLAME

family to thus develop

a

broader understanding of some of the sub jec t

o f cur ren t

i n t e r e s t

in the

Lat in

American Church.


2/35


3/35

- 2 -

church. The

neo-adoptionist '

cr is tology o f

European

a.Tld· Anierican l iberal ism

and

i t s

heirs in

Latin

America ·is almost aiuays ref lected in a Hord that is the reve

t ion of God

in

a

res t r ic ted sense

only. As a

re su l t , the church ends

up beinp.

so

hu

man

that t loses i t s

divine

dis t inct iveness and i s

almost indistinguishable from o'

th

humanistic

groups

.

Both

cr is to log ica l

heresies

have

los t

s ight

of

the

Biblical

mean

ing of the incarnat ion. Therefore, contextualization, as ue are defining t here,

makes

l

,t t l e sense to

ei ther

fund&-uentalism- or l iberal ism.

The

re la t ionship

betw·een the tt 1o natures o f Jesus

and

of

the divine

:

imd

human dimensions of

the

Bible

and

of

the

church--escape our

logic.

They are facts

_ tb_t; _;l-Te IDU$.t -

C -CCept

on fai th

Hhile a t

the same time

act ing

on them ·as though -

l·Te l

.

: . derstpod them ful ly . There is no other r.-1ay,

because

the incarnatiort of

·

Jesus

Christ

demands ·of

us submission

to Him

and

commitment to the "t-7orld. The mystery of

the in -

does not allot:r for an escapis t or decontextualized

· Gos·pel . ·

The

God

l-mo "e -

cal le _flesh tt·ro· thousand years ago in a

specif ic his tor ica l

{eeographic, l inguis t ic-,

socio-cultural

and poli t ical-economic)

·

context, i s the

same God Hho has comniunicated

with

His

creatures

through

the

Scriptures,

in

many se t t ings ,

and

continues

to

become

flesh

·

in

each

period

of

history

and

in

each.

socio-cultural

context;. through

His

_church

and His

\


4/35

.

·:

IUPERSONAL · Dll1ENSION

.

·1 ··COsmic forces ·

·

:Fatalism

\

1 2

11

I:.:::r;::;.a ' or fc.te

1 1

\

/

Cf.

.

p

.

G)

4-)

.

.

·v

3.

Intermediate

3.1 ·Astrology

3.·2· Hagic, macumba

3.3 Para-psychology

EARTHLY < . ---

- . •.: .·-.-

i \

·

5.

Natural

forces

5.1

Natural

sciences

5. 2

Automation

5.3 Dehumanization

- 3 -

- -

PEP..SONAL

DU1ENSION

2.

Supernatural beings

2.1

he 'Tr in i ty

2.2

Angels

2.3 SaFan, etc .

4.

beings

4.1

4.2

4.3

S

• • ( •

...

)

• pl.r::tts . or1.xas

nsain ts _ :

Princ ipa l i t ie s

and

powers .(s toichea)

6 • .

So:

c ia l

beings

Social sciences

Sin

/

TRA

·1P

:..

·

(

6.1

6.2

.

6.3

Harginal i ia t ion, ·al iena-

t ion and

oppression

..

;EHP

( tension)

(Hiebert 1978:16)

.

This

· diagram i l lus t ra tes the t o t a l Reality or

context

in t-Thich t Te

l ive

and move

in

Latin

·

The

·

contextual izat ion

of

the

Gospel

must

take

in to

account every

dimension of th is Reality.

tend, hotiever, to

focus

our

at tent ion only on the as-

pect o f Reality Hhich is most fami l i a r to us. . In th is

overal l

Rea l i ty . there

are

fou

poles of

tension.

The

forces

of ;rmodernization or ·tend to pul l ,us

toward

the pole t Te

have

cal led

ear thly

1

' 'o r .

' empirical

(squares 5

and 6)

.· .

The

same

forces

push

the

human

race inexorably

touard

the t rorld

o f

the

11

impersonal o r

de

-

humanizing (square 5) . On the other hand, there are forces of react ion

tha t

push an

ever

l a rger

number

of

people

tm-

rards

tt.,-o completely

opposite

extremes.

TI1ey

·

sometim

move tmiard

the

·pole of

extra- te rres t r ia l

escapism (square 2) and

.<

sometimes

the· pole of a

socio-empiric

r

ed

uccion ism {square 6). · Be

tween these

two

extremes

the

is

a ·

tvorld

. unknm-m

to the

pure

emp i r i c i

s ts .

because

· cannot

be proved

:

sc ient i f ica l l

(squares 3 and ·4) • . But, in spi te of

i t s

being

11

t rans- em

pir ica l ,

1

' th i s i s · a tvorld th

for

mil l ions of people i s as ·rea l ·as the tangible objects that surround. I t is

a

Reality

in

our nei.ghbors

·

seek to the i r

most problems

I am

referr ing

to the \Torld o f spir i t i sm; and of popular· re l ie ios i ty . Whi l e the e l i

s eek ans'tvers in

the

impersonal forces of magic,. as t r r

logy

·and para-psychology,

the

masses

hide hurts

in ti.1e .

comforting

r i tua l s of

veneration

of the sa ints . " Th

is a ls o the ·

deoonic

world ·

of'

and poHersn

l1hich manipulate

the

s t

·ruc-

tures

- o.f th is ·

aeon.

. l .

Any attempt a t contextualization should take in to accotmt a l l these

dimeooion

s

of

our to ta l Reality. Unforttmately,

this doesn't

happen

very frequ

en

t ly . Many of


5/35

4 -

the

churches

tha t

vTe represent

are

on

the

edges o f the Latin American Reali ty . Hhile

the Lati,n Ameri.can people

f ind

themselves

trapped

in

the vrorld

of impersonalism

and

the

'

purely

empirical (squares and 6)' the ch'tirch

seems

' to have 'di f f icul ty in ge t t in

ouq

o f

the supernatural

-box (square 2). The grea t s t-ruggle we

have ahead i s to loo

k

for

Hays

in

't-7hich

the

Gospel

can

become

prophetically incarnate

in

each

Of

these

s ix

con exts

. 1:_

Principles of Contextualized Communication

Throughout

the

Bible v7e

f ind

a God l Tho i s concerned about wit.h His

creatures

and knocking '

dol m

a l l the barr ie rs tha t hiliaer

socia l

connnuni c8,tion. One o

the dimensions

of God's image n men

and

vlomen--which s t i l l remains, in spi te of

the

barr ie rs erected by s in - - i s

the i r

capacity for

communication.

Communication

involves

the

t rans fe r

of messages

between

one or

more communicators

(sources o r t ransmit ters)

and one or more receivers . Both the communicator

and

the receiver come from dif fe ren

contextsp

which

makes

communication

diff icul t . The message consists of content o r

meaning i s

couched

n par t icular forms (language,

t

TOrds

signs

·, te lecraphic

s i

g

nals ,

e tc . )

.

Keeping

these

·

facts

in

mind,

l e t

us

br ief ly go

over

some

funda-

mental principles . of co unicat ion . · · ·

2 . 1 The purpose of a l l communication is to br ing as close togethe r '

as

possible

the

understandirig of t ransmit ter v7ith

tha t

of the

receiver .

2.2 The receiver has

the

l a s t lvord in

the

formulation of the

content

of the

message.

2 . 3 t

Jhat the

colllillunicator t ransmits is not

the

mean:ing of the message but the

symbols

o r forms in uhich

tha t

meaning is contained. The

meaning

as such does

not

reside n

the

forms

(symbols) of the message, but

in

the heads

of

the communicator

and the receiver, respectively. The cornmu.Tlicator t ransmits a message l•7

i t h

his

mean-

ing and the

receiver,

hen he receive

's the

aessage, adds his

2.4 Since the receiver has ve to over a message, effect ive

communication

requires

the

t ransmit ter

to

take

the receiver

and his

context

o r Rea l i ty as

his point

of departure.

Brief ly ,

th i s

is

contextualization .

1.

The

great Pentecostal grouth

in Brazi l

has developed precisely

among

the

masses

v ho are

involved

in

Afro-Brazil ian

sp i r i t i sm,

becauc;e

t has known ho

vr

to

confront aggressively the uorld of the ;' intermediate sp i r i t s . n (Johnson 1969 :6

6ss)

.

Tilis

has caugh t the

a t ten t ion

of

the Catholic

·

Church, t

Jhich

has

made several

socio-

log ica l

studies

on pentecostalisrn--and the

Ca thol ic

chari

sm

a t i c

movement v7hich

ap-

peal

s

to

many

middle-class

·

people

Hho

are

at t rac ted

to

the

impersonal

spir i t ism

of

astrology

and

para-psychology

(Revista

Ecles ias t ica nras i le i ra 1971: 78-94; Ribeiro,

Boff, e t a l , 1978) . n the other

hand

, considering the extraordinary of the

tnnbandista ( sp i r i t i s t ) cu l t .

. \>Te have

the

i m

pres

s

ion

of a

ph

enom

enon

of a

vio. .ent eruption of re l ig ios i ty dissa t i s f ied . vTith t he_offic ia l r e l igious forms • • •

/of /

of f i c ial Catholiciso,

/ o f /

Protestantism and

/of /

Kardecism

/ sc ient i f ic

/

spi r i t i sm/ . Um

banda

gives

impression

of being-a-grass-roots protes t against

a l l

religions

tha t are

im

ported and insuff ic ien t ly

adapte d

to the

environment.

· r

(Kloppenburg 197'5: 34) .


6/35

- 5 -

2.5

Coiiiiilunication l · l i l l be more effect ive 1:men

the

t ransmit ter ,

the

·message, and

the

receiver are par t ·of the same cotitext..:.-t-Tith a resul t ing increase r correlat ion

bet't-Teen the i r

respective meanings-and

t


7/35

6 -

And Alves

continues:

The

other

s ide

of

the coin is

that in defining

our Horld,

real ly

es tabl i shes. i t s goals .and l imits . This

prevents

us from ,

perceiving

those

dimensions of the

rea l

which

are

not foreseen

(or

are undesirable)

·

by our

conceptual system••• Language, therefore, functions in an environmental way.

I t

gives

and

blinds a t

the

same t ime.

I t i l luminates

and obscures ••.

I t

makes us

prisoners

o f i t s world,

excluding

other possible worlds.

(Alves 19-75 :

63,

64;

e f

Newbigin 1978: 161•-165). ·

In his f i r s t book, Alves had

already

·

pointed

out -the =•para lyzing ef fec t •: of

language and ins is ted on the necess i ty o f the death and resurrect ion of the

0

langua

ge

of f a it h , already overloaded ideological preconceptions. the language o

fa i th , for i t s preservation,

re jects death

and

remains

· as ,a

repeti t ion

of

the

langt1age of

the

past , .·

i t

ceases to be

his tor ica l . .•

' ' I t is the: presence o f tha t

was

alive·

once,

but

tlhich no1:r1, heine dead,

remains

in the world

o f

· the l ivinp,

(Alves 1968:

103-110)

• .

·

Although :r e

may

not a l l entire ly

·

agree Hith th

e

conclusions

;reached by

Alves

.

in

his

tlvO

books, the

concepts

I

jus t

quoted

are

based

on

the

in -

carnation principle n

the Gospel.

s is

well sa id by the

·Brazil ian

pr i e s t ,

Urbano

Zi l les , ' :Language aluays has a firm exis tent ia l reference.

11

(197:126).

m1en

a

lan-

.guage stops communi.cating ·in te l l i e ib ly · to the majori ty of the ·

receiving

publ ic , t i s

a

dying language.-

The

language of the

Bible shatved a

high

degree of·

contextl.lalizatio

throughout

the time w·hen t put

into

Triting.

This

same degree of

contextualiza

t ion should be seen in theology, in ecclesiology, and in the _ communicat i on ·of the

Gospel. Zi

l l e s goes on to

say:

Evange.li

.zat ion needs. a

permanent

t ransla t ion tdthirt the overal l process ·

of_

;

:

the

his tor ica l

evolut ion

of .lan

guages and

l i f e

s i tua t ions .

· · Unfortunate ly ,· · · .

the

exaggera

ted preoccupation t'lith verbal orthodoxi in the business of ·

theol-

ogy

noH and

then

leaves more gaps, because ne (IT _r

ays

of l i f e , neN languages,

emptied

t radi t ional

theological

dis

:

course,

inheri ted ·

largely

from

the ont

ic

metaphysics of

Scholasticism.

(Zi l les : l28)

Alves'

· preoccupation

Hith the death

·

and resurrect ion of the· language

of fa i th ,

however,.

leaves

sor.1e

questions unansHered

. · ·do you ·cOl'lffiunicate

the

· Gospel, and

do you :

share

theological concerns with

those

who

speak another or

·

Christ ian

language?

In

other Hords

9

hov1 ·do you contextualize language in re la t ion

to a new .Reality

(or

a recently, discovered Reali ty)

decontextualizing

t· in

re la t ion

to

othe

.

rs

Hho

have not yet

:perceived

tha t Reality? t He i ns i s t that

others must ·l e a m the neu language, Hil l -:·re

not

be fa l l ing in to

the

t rap of ideol-

ogical

and

cu l tu ra l

paternalism and sinnin·g

against the

principles

o f coinmunfcation?

I

dare to suggest

that

contextualiza t ion requires

a

double task.

·

I t

demands of us·

a constant search for new languages and symbols Hhich more

adequately

define our

.

Reali ty

.,

and

a t

the

. same time requires of us

the communication

of . the

r iches

of the

.Gospel in

the

old

symbols, the

people ·

understand, t ry ing a t the

same time

to

r,ive

tl1em

nev7 content

. ·

· ·

I

would

l ike

to emphasize the

need

to

discover and

not

simply

to cre

·

ate:·

new sym

bols.

\ le

run the r i sk of ivory toHer theology

corresponds

more to ·

the

·problens

and

needs

of

the theolo

g

ian

than to those of

the

peop-le

1-Te

supposedly

represent .

Co

textual ized language

sp

-r ings · ·from ·

the

.·

Reality

in 'Hhich

the

people l ive and ttot neces

sar i ly

from the . Reality seen

through

our eyes.


8/35

- 7 -

3.2 Contextualization on the

in te r -persona l

level

·

The Bible i s fu l l of

ex.amples

of contextual izat ion

.on

th is l eveL The

theophanies;

'

the

'

by

God

of

the

pol':lgamous

and

cruel

co n

_e;Kt

·of

the environ

tnent

···

in 'tvhich · I s r ae l developed, are only U'To .examples

from

the Old, .Testament.

In

his

letfgthy dialoriue with the

patriarchs ,

fo

·r ·

example,

God accepts

thein

j :w;;t. as they are ,

as -p

·

a r t o f t he i r

context ·;

and utmost patience leads them'

by

:

s tep

in to the

paths of fa i th:

0

And ·

the

.

times of

th i s

ignorance ('_,od '-linked a t ;

.

but no 1

coinma.Tldeth

a l l men every

where

to repent.

(Acts

17:30)

An

analysis

o f the method of

communication

used by

Jesus

demonstrates that

always · toolr; the Reali ty· of the receiver point of departure. Hhen

crosses His

·

path

·-v1ith ·

problems

tha t

are

·physical

(bl ind) , socio-economic (beggar)

,,

psychological ,. ·

and

sp i r i tua l

(s innet) , Chris t doesn ' t put l is hands

on

him

to heal

him

:i ·:He·

t·

'offe r h;i..m

alms and

much

l e s s

a uay of solving his employment

problem.

lie doesn•t

recommend .. £i:>r him,

nor does Ue

p r e s s him to con-

fess

his

s ins

and

·

recognize

Him

a9

"his personal

.

Lord

and

Saviour.

n .

:

Jesus

simply

asks him

one

question: "Uhat

do

you

w·arit me _

o

do

for

Y


9/35

- 8 -

3.3 Contextual izat ion on

the

socio-cultural level

This i s the contextualization level "t-Tith Hhich I

am

a l i t t l e more fa i l i a r

because

the

greater portion o f my more recent s tudies have been in , the f ie ld of cu l -

: -

t:ural anthropology.

This tvas the main

emphasis

of the held a t .

Hillowban

··

· · in January

9 8

sponsorship o f the

Continuing

Lausanne

: Conm:i.ttee.

During

this consultation, ·

so

f

.

the

pres.

uppositions o f

the Anglo-Saxon

' anthropologists loJere strongiy ·questioned

by

representat ives o f . the •

Theological and a group in

the

United States and Engl?lld cal led

'"

1

Radical with 't"Thich I , ·personally, identify myself.

Anglo-Saxon

missionaries were the pioneers in and.

continue

to

make the i r contributions. have .to recognize,

ho,.,ever,

tha t. the u.s.

missionary

mOvement lias

not

. p'aid

enough to sociology,

nor have l iberat ion theologians . · Evangelicals in Latin .America give11:

f icient time

.to

cul tural anthropology. We

need the

contributions o f

·Some 'of the ·

insights

·from ·Ethnolinsuistics ( the

study

_of and ·

)primitive"

·

peoples)

whose

pioneers

·

have

.

been

people

o f

the

.

cal iber

, of .

Eugene

Nid,a

.

and Kenneth

Pike,

are

'

being

applied

to in ter -cul tura l studies

• .

For

.exatllp;Le,

Prof..

:

Charles ·

Kraft (formerly

of the Bible · nm..r

a t Fuller

Seminary), ta -..en

the pr incip le of adyriami.c eqUival(mce" "t-lhich ·i s used in t ransla t ing .

the Bible,

and

i s attempting

to apply

it to the

to ta l i ty o f Christian communication. Orbis Books

(the

publishing

arm

o f

the

)1aryknoll

Fathers, .which publishe_ the

books on l , iberation

theology)

·has · juat ·a book ·ent i t le_

Theoio,U.zing in

.Culture •. . I ; ,r

dontt have th i s book in my. poss_ession, I

from

a copy . o f

the

or iginal ·

..

... . _ . . . , ,

"Dytiamic equivalence" is a :tooll


10/35

- 9 -

some cul tures the seat of the emotions i s

not

the hear t

but

the

l iver ,

o r

the

kidneys

or

the stomaCh, in to therefore , Christ i s

invi ted

to

enter )

Hhat .the

l a to r

t r i e s to obtain is

not

correspondence, word ·for l·rord

o r

idiom for

idiom,

but

a

dynamic

equivalence

'

1

which

l-7ill

best

communicate

the

meaning

of

the

orj;ginal : message.

(Kraft 1977:

./.62-491) .

. .The

·applicat ion

of God

1

s

message

in and to a new s i tuat ion results in a

event

in

the

course

of

his tory

••• Evecy Bible t ransla t ion,

every new

church,

evety · conversion,

every

attempt a t theologizing i s a new event in human

p·erience. The character ' : (of the

Bibl ica l

proposi t ions) does not ,

as many assume, prove the

trUth of

the proposi t ion but ,

ra ther, t h e i r inap-

propriateness to rea l l i f e - - a t l eas t

till

such

a time as

they

are

perceived

/by

the

recipients o f

the

Gospel/ to be appropriate a t

the l eve l

lJhere

l i f e

is l ived. But·,

"t,Jhenever e te rna l t ruths are

thus

perceived, it

i s

not .

the i r

eternalness but

the i r dynamic

relevance to the l i f e

of

the receptor that i s

perceived.

· · ·

1\10

examples o application of

the

principle

of

t dynamic in a

spe

c i f i c

case

are

Don Richardson's books (1976

and 1978).

The

Scriptures offe r

many

examples

of

contextualizati.on on a

level . The acceptance by the

church

in Jerusalem of

the

conversion of

without the i r havin·g to o throug.."'l the r e l i.gious-cul tura l process

of

circumcision

(Acts 10 and '11) and the

subsequent

ra t i fying

of

th is fact

by

the Council

of

Jerusalem

(Acts 15) are tliTO

o f

the best known

examples.

f we ap.alyze ·

preaching

of St . Paul,

ole

wil l

. see tha t he communicates

diffe.rently

Tith

people from .:a

background and environment than l-Tith Greek philosophers o r pagans from the-·Lycaoriian

cul ture df Derbe and Lystra

(cf

·Acts 13:13-4i , 14:18:-20 and 17:16-34) . "There.

fore

disputed

he

in the synagogue with the Je,Js, and tvith devout persons, and {n the

market daily

with them t ha t

met

him.

Then

certa in philosophers of the Epicurean

and

of the Stoics , encountered

him.

11

(Acts

17 :

17

,18). •

Jhatever

the

l eve l of

his

audience, the apost le hm.r to

communicate

-.:.rith them contextual ly .

However, the coin

of

socio-cul tura l contextual izat ion has bJO s ides .

s

Lesl1ie

Newbigin

observes, culture

i s

not neut ra l (1978:

161, 163-165)

. In

f i r s t place,

it has·heen

affected by s in .

In the second

place , a l l

cultures

have

been molded,

more than ·by a according to Kraft' (1978:

119-l3Lf),

by a cer ta in def in i te

ideology. ±.I

Throughout a l l his ep i s t l e s ,

except

Philemon,

St. PaUl

makes reference

to

celes t ia l

powers (p r inc ipa l i t ie s and p0v7ers) which s t ruggle God for dominion

of the universe.

In

Romans 8:37-39 he ennumerates a long l i s t of personal and

im -

personal forces and

of

rea l i t i e s

wh

.ich

cannot

gain dominion over the people

of

God

because

of

the victory

of Chris t

on

the

'

cross .

These

pot-Ters

are

behind

the socio-

cultura l and

pol i t i ca l

systems of th is uorld.

The

apostle a Greek

term, in

more

or

less current usage, the lvord s toichea

and nre-contextualizes it giving it a l i t t l e different: meaninc. · I n Greek

·and· n the

koine, th i s term

meant ' " t i e·

rs ,

ranks

o r ser ies . '

1

The term s toichea uas

used.

n

philosophy to refer prima.r i ly 'to those elements from

tJhich

· a l l things

issue

(see t h i s

usa

·ge in i i Peter 3:10). The astrologers used i .t to re fe r to the

celes t ia

4.

In i t s non- pejorat ive sense, ideology i s

the

system of goals and means that

serves

as

the necessary backdrop for any human option

or

l ine

of

action

(Segundo 1976


11/35

- 10 -

.bodies tha t

ru led

:

the

dest inies ..of mankind. Fina l ly , it 1-1as

a lso

used

to describe

of

wisdom, the

rudiments or fundamental pr inc ip les o f some philosophical

system (cf th i s ·use in Hebret-rs 5 :

12).

.

But

Paul

seems

to

give

the ,

word

stoichea a ne,

meaning, though still

based on

the

meanings of h is

t ime.

For

the

apost le ,

the

stoichea

(rudinents

o r

pr inc ip les) are

those

_elements

in

the pre-Chr i s t i an

(Jewish as 't-Tell as pagan) in

the

w·orld

viel·m

(or ideologies)

and

also in

the

pol i t i c

system, which enslave man

i ns t ead

of

l ibera t ing

him so tha t he ca.11 be t ru ly huma., be

fore God (Ki t te l

19.78:

684,

685;

Ne t>Jbigin: 159,

c f

Fackre

197. _:

28, 123). "Eve

so we,

when

vl

children, ''1ere in .bondage,

under

.the

elements

l s toichea/ o f the

t•Torld

•••

but nm.T,

af t e r tha t

ye ·have . known

God,

or

ra ther are

·

known

of God, how

tu rn

yc

again

to

the

"t-Teak and

beggarly elements l s to ichea / t·Thereunto ye desire again to

be Jn bondage?

11

(Galat ians 4:3 ,. 9;

c f

Col. 2:20,21) •

•· . ;

In Ephesians

6:12,

Paul reminds us tha t

v e

are in mortal

combat

. • • against

pr inc ipa l i t ie s

•••

pov1ers ••• rulers of the darkness of

th is

'.rorld, against sp i r i t ua l

1·

1ickedness

in

high places.

What

appears

very

c lear

in

l i gh t

of

a l l

th is

i s

tha t

the

exorcism of

demons i s necessary on the s t ruc tura l

level

as

t·Tell

as

on a

personal

.level . In

even the

exorcisms on a personal level have c lea r soc ia l , pol -

i t i c a l and economic as well as

cul tu ra l

il iplications • . He have only to look a t tqe

case

of Jesus and the Gadarene t-ras possessed by

demons,

and the case of

Paul

and

the demon-possessed

Phil ippian. Pastor Arias

has

put i s so well

in a

recent essay

en t i t l ed , "Contextual Evangelizat ion in Lat in America

:

Between

Accommodation

and Confrontat ion

: ."Contextual izat ion

from

a Bibl ica l po:int of

viet

·7

i s

ah1ays a prophe t ic and confronting contextual izat ion.n (Arias 1979.

10-12).

This paper lv

ould

not

be complete i

ue

did not po;i.nt out

tha t

the

Latin America

theologies tha t

are in the forefront can also e r r

through

lack of socio-cul tural con

textual izat ion. In

his

essay, On the Ibe r ian Concept of Time, ·• the

t-Torld-famous

.

Brazil ian

Gilbereo

Freyre

points

out

.

thal:

capi ta l i sm

and

marxism--bot

of them prodqcts of -northern European . culture and

the so-ca l l ed

indust r i a l

revolu t io

of the

XI

X

based

on a l inear concept of t ime -and his tory

which

i s

to the Iberian concept of t ime

and

his tory. For the Iber ian,

time

i s nei the

l inear

nor cyclical»

but

v ie

t

Ted as a whole , \-There pas t , present and

fu ture

in te rac t

· ' lvith each

other .

Such

an

attachment includes an

iden t i f ica t ion

with

an Iberian sociologi -

ca

l l y s ign i f ican t not

i

on

of soc ia l

time tha t , although in

a dequa

te to

·an

indus t r ia l c i v i l iz at ion based mainly on we l l -organized human labor ,

to correspond

be tte r than a s t r ic ; t ly Anglo-Saxon notion of t ime to a

l i za t ion

based

on and

whose

d

es t iny

,.1i l l

prob

a

bly be

ve

ry

f e rent from

the

one

tha t, determinist i c Ua rx i s t

and

i d

eas

ascribe

to

human nature .

(Freyr

e

1975:

137-139).

On

the

other

hand, I lv

oul

d s

ay that

t he ' ;

crea t iv

e

improvis

a

t ion

of

Latin

A.rner

theolo gi es i s much mo re .

Iber i an

than neo-Europe

an,

Hhich makes

i t s

analys is

-and

nnd

e

s tanding

di f f i cu l t

for those of us

have been

formed in a dif fe ren t · theoloe i ca l

conte

xt .

a

lso

·

und

e r l i nes th i s lber ian penchant for improvisa

t ion ,

quotinR a

s

hort

but s

ign i f ican t exchange

Don Quijote and

an asp i r ing

pa in te r . :

1

l•1hat

a re you ·pa int;mg'l" asks Don Qui j ote . . Thi s i s tha t Nhich tvill come

into bein

g , n

repl ies the painter

(Fr

eyre : 6, 140), a comment which, I s

uspect ,

we

ll

des

cribes

the

methodology

of

the

Lat in

American

theologies.


12/35

- 11 -

3.4 Contextualization on a socio-poli t ica l level

Here

we

have

reached

the

hear t of our problem. n a chapter en t i t l ed

"The

Context of Latin American

Reality

1

' uhich

can

be found in a small book for

· .

soc ia l

:

scif:mtists

at

the

Latin

American

Episcopal

Congress

in

Pu

·

ebla ,

we

f ind

the

following description of th is Reality.

The rea l i ty of

the majority

s

·a

continuing phenomenon in

the l).istory of

a l l the Lat in American · \\That i s surpr is ing nmv i s tl:lat the poverty

of the

major i ty

i s seen· alongside an

economic

groWth that

has

had rio effec t

on the conditions and standards

of

l iv ing for these

majorit ies e t

.· :

·

·

l fagist ta:

· 198). On

''

the ·con

we

see a 13radual, but ·

accelerating de-

. · te r iora t ior i ·

o f

··

those

·aS

pointed

out

18 years

ago by John XXIII

· ·(Hater ei: ·187).

Then

there folloHS a l i s t of evidences of socio-economic

dete r io ra t ion

for the

masses of

Latin Americans

:

The lack

o f

decent

housing,

the growing ra te

of

unemployment

and

under-

employment or. the

decrease

in buying power· for the

low·er

·

the

un-

met demandS 'fo r services such as hea l th , soc ia l secur i ty , .

e tc

. ,

the existence '·

of

chronic malnutr i t ion, made acute 'by the

of

pro-

l6n$ed h'linge'r ; in fan t morta l i ty , ·etc .

· An i : these st>ciologists f in ish by

point ing

out tha t "the

roots

of th is

real i ty

are

in

the

pres·

en:t pat tern

·of development in Latin

America,

t J.

i t h

pecul iar i t i es in

each country,

and

in the behavior of

the economic

system

th.

at

·supports it

u

(Goros t iaga -

1979:

18;19).-

-

'

lt

s

obvious

.

tha t

fu

vie'"

]

of

th i

s Rea

l i t y

t-rhich

a l l

knm·T

to

some

e:g:tent,

l

cannot

speak inter-personal or

even socio-cul tural contextual izat ion.

Here we

need tools

·fo t ·a de

epe

r analysis

of our Reality'.

I bel ieve tha t the c r i t i ca

analyt ical

contributions of the theologians of l ibe ra t ion

can

help

us

understand con

textual iza t ion ( they

uould say

" commitment") on a

pol i t i ca l

and

economic

leve l .

Al-

thou

gh the term •:cori:textual izat ion ' ' 5/ docs not appear ,

as

far

as

I have been able to

ascer ta in ,

in

the

conttibut ' ions of these theologies, there i ; an

abundance

of

ma

-

t e r i a l

in

reference to th is sub j ec t from the i r OloJn point

of

viet-7. Juan Luis Segundo

for

example, s hm·Js us the impossibil i ty of

applyine

the l·Tord of God to human P.eality

from '" ithiri

an antiseptic

laboratory ''immune to all the present

ideological tenden-

cies and t

i s a t

th is point

t ha t

Ser,undo

introduces

us

to the

concept

Of the

11

henneneutiC Circle , II Or

11

the COntinUOUS Change in OUr in te rpre ta t ion Of .the

Bible

re la t ive

to the

continuous

cl-jange

in our present rea l i ty ,

individual as Hell

as

socia l .

11

(Seeundo:

12)

·

This

·' ci r c l e " (or ;'movement , r

or bet ter

ye t , "sp

i ra l because

it i sn t a s t a t i c

or

closed

hermeneutic) presuppos-es otir inc l inat ion or abi l i ty to

asi-:

enriching ques-

t ions

or

to

in te r j ec t doUbts

' ahout· the

ac

tu_a l

s i tua t ion.

In

addit ion,

it

presupposes

a net-T

way

of

in te rpre t ing

t .le

Bl.ble which

is

also

_:rhe..se

are

based

on four

very

decisive

factors:

5. The

context

o the committed

Christl.an

i s d


13/35

;

- 12 -

1)

A

net;T

way of

experiencing

Reality,

Hhich leads us to an sus-

picion

• . , 6./ .. . . ,, . .

(2) TI1is,

"suspicion

11

· re la tes

to

the

whole

· ideological

superstructure

n

genera

and to theology in pa r t icu la r .

(3)

.

suspicion,

.: i . e .

the susp1c1on that

tve

have

not taken

in to ac-

a l l the exis t ing data in our Biblical analysis

., comes

as

a

resu l t of

th is net-7 of experiencing theological

Reali ty .

·

(4)

Conseq:uently,

\·

l e

have a new that i s , a neu uay of ·

in te rpre t ing

the source of

. our

fa i th ( the Scriptures)

loTith

the neu elements \· le have

a t

hand. These

tools

come to

us

from cr i t ica l -analyt ica l sociology and not

from philosophy as continues

to

be t rue in

t rad i t iona l theology

(Segundo:

11-14,

116-122).

mtether or

not

• e are n agreement

l-Tith a l l the i r

conclusions, the theologies

of l ibe ra t ion

represent

a radical ly

prophetic

current of thought in the contextual i -

zation of

the

Gospel.

We

should

l i s t en to

.

them.

they

speak to us of the

pol i t i ca l dimension o f

t:.hey

are reminding

us

tha t the Chris t ian fa i th i s

public

,

and not pr ivate--al though Hitl;lout

re ject ing the

private dimensions

of fa i th .

they

point out the element

of

conf l ic t

in

soc ia l Reality throughout his to ry ,

they Sha · l

US the SOCial nature of s in ,

VIhich

a t the

same

time includes individual

s in .

Uhen

the

of ,

l iqe ra t ion underline

the fact that God

reveals

Himself

in the

process,

they

are

shm-ring us

tha t divine revelat ion i s ah1ays

his tor ica l ly

placed

(made flesh, contextual ized) , and that sa lvation-l iberat ion

is always given in a specif ic his to r ica l

context (praxis) , which

i s

pol i t i ca l ,

tecl1nological-human and personal (Gutierrez 1973: 36, 37, 45, 176- 1978, 235, 236).

Final ly ,

by

ins is t ing

on

our

commitment

.

to

a

spec i f ic

his tor ica l

project--though

o e

may debate the content of

theologies

of l ibera t ion make

us see

tha t

.

the

Chris t ian

fa i th , fa r being decontextualized, requires concrete commit-

ment

and.action.

TI1e theological ref lexion and evangelizing act ion

of a

person

or a

church com-

mitted to the

Reality ( the

of the Latin American people, h as as i t s point

of the people

;

i . e .

the i r ':grass·-roots

bases

"

and par t icu la r Reali ty , and

·

riot

.

the

dogmas or pre-sullpositions o f the church. lie have a c lea r

example

of

th is

type of

contextual izat ion

in the tBasc

Ecclesial

Communities

11

in Lat in

America.

Instead of bein

g

simply an extension

on

a

level o f

p

raxis of

the

theologies of

l ibe ra t iqn , these

are

.the i r

of departure as Hell

as the i r

labora-

tory

for act ion.

The "

base are more or

less

spontaneous

expressions

o f

the

re l ig

iouc;--social dissat is fact ion

o f

the oppressed masses

in

Latin

America in vihich context sone of the

l iberat ion

theoloRians began the r

c r i t i ca l

r:eflexion on praxis , and for Hhom they

continue

making

the i r

contr ibut ions.

At leas

in Brazil , ' -fl)ere there

are

said to

be

CO OOO of these. communities, the

Base

Eccles ia

Commun:i,tie$ a

demonstration

.

of th

e

.contextual nature of Latin American theologie

s

At the

·verf

th is Reality

represents a

challenge

to the

theological and

rnissio

·logical reflexion and

act ion

·

of the Evanr,elical

church in

Latin America

·.

6.

suspicion

' : i s

the

abi l i ty to see , behind

theological

and socio

·. pol i t ica l theses,

the

. ideologies op. l·rhich

thes

e

are based

• .


14/35

- 13 -

Hov7

sha l l

l


15/35

- 14 -

This

·

char.t

.

sums

.

up

. th ree of a t l e a s t.

four

of · the poss ib le

11

rislu;

' o f .

contextual

zat ion .

.,

I ; •

.;1

.)

:

H.et-1

forms

of .

dependence,

i . e .

changine

one

rel igious

. o.r theological

system

be t .

aut-ochthonous

.

Qr

for another system, .seemingly

autochthonou

.but

\-lhich,

.:Qn-

imposing

i t s ovm

s tandards ,

end.s U{) b.eing dqminant

and,

there

.

fore

·, : · ..

··

·· .

. .

(2)

,The popular iza t ion .qf the Gospel.

to

such

a point tha t .

it

loses

i t s

pro-

phet i c na ture

and i t s

dis t inc t ive

Christ ian ·

cha-racterist ics

•

. (3) . . Syncretism, i . e • . he . contextual iza t ion of content · of , the message

Hi th-

out substant ive

changes

in the foreign forms in l


16/35

- 15 -

i s

He v;ho iden t i f ies Himself

(becomes

road,

o r

v i th

t he i r concrete Reality.

Scriptures

to

us and breaks the bread

l-lith us.

f lesh ,

contextualizes)

with the i r

I t i s

also He r1ho

opens the

of l i f e and fellol·rship for and

(2)

The

point

o f

reference

o f

the

dusty

road,

plagued

"rith

thieves (the

cre te Reality) in t·

rhich Jesus becomes f lesh

o r

i s

contextualized.

(3) The

poin t

of reference o f

the

Hord t hich

is

opened to them by Jesus and

which

serves

as

the focal

point of

ref lexion

on the praxis (or contextual

Real i ty)

of the tHo disciples who are on

the

.

road.

These Scriptures are

re interpreted

by Chris t

and

understood

in

a completely di f fe ren t l' ay

in

l igh t

of the

experience

shared

on the road

( the u lermeneutical

sp i r a l

' ' .

(4)

The

brealdne of

bread

and the

communion

of

the

church open

our

eyes

to

perceive

unsuspected

dimensions of

God's ac t ion

in the

Horld.

t Ye

perience the adventure of

contextua l iza t ion

tor ,ether in the fellm·Tship

of

the

Body

of

Chris t .

I t

is

only thus

that

our

hearts

l-Jill

burn

Hith

evangel is t ic

fervor.

f we are

to

be fa i th fu l

to

the mssion of

God,

the church of Jesus Christ

must

become f lesh on

the

dusty roads of our bleeding Latin

A.merica (t·

rhich implies commit-

ment and ac t ion , open the

Scr ip tures

and

break the bread of l i f e and of Chris t ian

fellot·rship

in

the

context of the Reali ty of

the

Hor ld

and

of

the

church. I believe

tha t these four points of

reference

wil l f ix for us the parameters

of

contextual iza-

t i on

from

a Bibl ical poin t of vie\'T.

c f

Fackre

1975

:

102-105).


17/35

- -

CLAl·lE Colloquy

CONTEXTUALIZATION

A

Respons

e by A.

Rutschman

t- i s

good

.to l i s t en

to

the mediating

voice

of a person uho i s the

product

of '

hoth

Americas.

As I read Bil l Cook

1

s paper , I real ize

tha t

because

of

h is cu l tu ra l , · r e l i -

gious

and academic

background,

he

i s the

r ight

person

to

haqdle th is

subject .

Perhaps I should

not

t ry to represent the SBL in th is discussion. Our

s t ay

here

i s

for

a l imited period, as

representa t ives of the

Hennonite

churche

s in the

t ask of

theological

education

in Latin America. theological

pilgrimaee

has

taken

me '

from the extreme of dispensa t ional fundamentalism

to

the

acceptance

of

cer ta in

·

l i be ra l

influences

and values ,

unt i l I f ind

myself in

the

church

of r:ty

forebears ,

a radical '

Allabaptist

l1ho seeks to

update himself

in a present· .day

environment. On arr ivine in

Costa Rica af te r having in other places (Colonbia,

Uruguay, the

U.S.

and

Bolivi

Harr i e t

. ,

and

I had

to

f ind our bearings

in

a ·

s i

tuat ion

that

t-7as

very

di f fe ren t

fro

·m -vrha

_we expected. He

the need to

dialogue with a

theology

· t-mich in one

Ha)T

-a t -

-

t rac t s

.us, but in another Hay makes us uneasy . . ··:-

_As

an

-Anabaptis t pac i f i s t e I don

1

t support the violence t

hat

seems

to

be · accepted

by: o f the

net-T

theologians ,

but

a t the same

time ,

I

admit

tha t the insti.:..

tu t iona l ,

violence

o f an imperial pol i t i ca l

system

can be even more: crue l . As ·an

Anabaptist , I have problems vTith the_

ne1-1

theology

1

s concept of the people of

God,

a

cer ta in

universal ism that

could erase the dis t inc t ion ben1een the

church anrl

the

world

but I admit that a church

urapped

up in i t s e l f

is

ver.; far from

the

Bibl ica l

standard.

I a lso

fear

for the place of the Bible, as the

revelat ion

· of the

vlord

of in the

new

theology v7hich, in

some

Hri t ings

appears to be re legated to the

l eve l o f secondary

authori ty , but I

confess

tha t I had not allm ·7ed

the

Bible to

speak to

me as it should

in

the context

of

the

poverty

of

an

oppressed

and

dependent >wrld.

The

Gospel

is

not

the

proper ty of

the

r ich.

The

Bibl ica l

good news

i s di rec ted to the

poor . Sometimes

there seems to be a

confusion

between redemption (from s in and death) and enancipation

(from oppression) in La t in American theology.

Hhile

ins is t ing on th is d is t inc t ion , He

shouldn ' t think

tha t

redemption

i s an

experience

l imi ted

to the sp i r i t ua l

an

d

emanci-

pat ion to

the Bil l

Cook

notes

that

Jesus evangelized

his ques t ioners in

socio-eth

i ca l terms.

The Bibl ical

Gospel

of l ibera t ion

underl ines

.

the

redemp-

t ion

and

emancipation.

I apprec ia te freedom o f

expression and teaching tha t

enjoy a t the Seminary

and I hope

vre

wi l l be

f;1ithful

to

the

Lord

of his tory in our effor ts

to in te rpre t

th e

Hard of God in the

context

of a lmrld

tha t is poor.

I

also

apprec ia te the fellm-TShip

of

the

brothers

n

CLAUE, and I hope vre

can continue dialoguine and cooperat ing

in

sp i te

of

certain

tension$

and

confl ic ts .

i

Brother Cook underl ines the problem

of

semantics

in

the

communication and con-

textual izat ion of the Gospel. His use of

the

uord incarna t

e

helps us

to

s tudy

the

problem of

contextual izat ion

in a Bibl i ca l

frame

o f reference .

He

could add other

tha t vrould

help

our disc1.1ssion such as actual iz ing

and

11

re-presentat ion.

Perhaps my greatest problem has

to

do 11ith the

re la t ion betvJeen

t-rhat r,od

does

in th is

process and

what it

i s

up to. ma.ll to do. I

am

concerned about the tendency to leave

very

l i t t l e room for God.

The

u

se

of

the incarnate

or

become

f lesh in Ri

ll

paper suggests

that

the

vTork i s His and Hhat He do i s by His grace. He remembe


18/35

-- 2 -

the l'JOrds of Paul in I Cor. 15 :10: "But by the grace of God I am Hhat I am: and his

grace Hhich was bestoued upon .me uas

not

in vain ; but I labored

more

abundantly than

they

a l l ; yet not I , but

the

jrace of

God l·Jhich was 'i·

r i th

me."

In the

f inal analysis ,

it i s

the Hord

of God that brings us \·lhere tne

are and not

we who make

the

Word re le-

vant.

I t

is

a

'"ord

tha t is

kept

permanently

in

heaven

(Psalm

119

:

89)

but

a t

the

same

time

a tvord

that

speaks to us

in

a t·ray .

in

eac.l} s i tua t ion

i f

ne are ,

ready

to l i s t e

and obey

without being t i ed to r:rays . ·

. . . . . .. : .

Although.the

·presentation

of th i s subject in

Brother Cook's paper doesn ' t lack

Bibl ica l examples, I . l-TQuld l ike to

see

.a

broader

exposi t,ion of o f con

t ex tua l iza t ion n

the

history o f

sa lvat ion throughout

Dible :

and

of

hist;:ory

of

the as

·guide .

and background for

our task. I see

the

Bibl ica l

s to ry

as

an

account ' of

the

continua, '

1

re-pr_ sentation" of t;he grea t \-TOrks o f God . . Bibl ica l

his -

t .ory doesn ' t go ·in c i r.cles .

Neither

· is i t l inear .

t

i s ra ther. a re -ac tua l i za t ion ,

a of what

God

.has

done for His

people in each riel-1 s i tua t ion. Here,

perhaps, might

be a

p o b t

,

oi contact

Hith the Iberl.an concept

described

- in the

paper.

t

·

is

.a process

tha t

follol·Is

.

the

t.1hole

Biblical

pro

ression

and

the

his tory

o f

.

the

.

church. ·r each

feas t ,

Israel ce.lebraten r,Jhat C:>Od has done (Deut.

26:3-10). I t

:i8 ·.

n

sl.mply

a

matter of remembering, though that is

a

necessary s tep, but a lso o f re -

actual izing

what God has

done. History

becomes present

v1ithout

being cyclical .

After

the

re-presentation n

the

n vr si tuat ion in the ce lebra t ion o_

the

theophany, a

ne-i-r

response

is needed

on the

par t

of th

·e

to

Hhat God does. He

should

-under-

l ine ,

ho\-1ever, tha t th i s reneHal

is

n act of . God. Han. praises

i t

and .responds.

Because it i s God's work, m n acts '111ith confidence. His ef for t s mean something •.

He

is

'

not

'alone . Grace,

though not

. demands human

ef for t .

A'

study of the Bibl ica l

progression

betT:reen

the

promise

and i t s

fulf i l lment

vTil

help us to understand our s i tua t ion . The

fulf i l lment

of his tory i s always par t i a l

and unfinished, a

s tep

toward

the

goal.

Goci as the

God of .

the future

moves

his tory

tmvard

Himself.

The

Bibl ica l

man

t rus t s

tha t

under God

his

tory

t r i l l

not

be

devoid of meaning and

that

'

the goal

l i l i l l be the Kingdom of God

on

ner:r ear th (one

tha t i s not ·

Let us look a t a

fe\-T

of

the more graphic expressions

of th is Bibl ica l : proce$s.

In the Pentateuch we

note

that the ·

proiirlse

given

to

Abraham of land, nation and

bless ing ·is

fu l f i l l ed

l i t t l e by l i t t l e , but at the sam e time . i t

faces many.

dangers,

primari ly

because of the bearers of

the

promise themselves. Each pat r ia rch is faced

t·lith

a new

s i tuat ion

in

the promise is re-presented.

In

Deuteronomy the net-T

conditions

in the

land

of promise require a net·l in te rpre ta t ion of

the

Mosaic teach-

.ing (reac.tual izat ion . In the his tor ica l books

the

process continues . unt i l it

i t s

higl1est

expression

in

the Nes

s4nisrn of

I I Samuel 7 and

of

prophets such as

Isa iah

and

The pr

ophets f ind themselves a t

the

point

where

t radi t ion meets

the

rea l i ty

·'

of

the

moment.

· In

th is

s ta te

of

tension, the true

prophet

re-presents

·

the

l-lord of a contextual iza t ion,

something th

e false

prophet is

unable

to do.

l-Ie

re

memb er

the

lilOrds of :'Ye

have

heard tha t

it

t:ras

sa id by them

of

old time

•

•• but

I

say unto you• . •

. He

speaks of

new

wine and

new wineskins (Ht .

9:

17-

of

prophesies

fu l f i l led ·

and re-presented.

· Above a l l , He renews

the

of

the

ye

o f jub i lee in re la t ion to Hl.s ministry and the good

net

1l'S o f the Kingdom of God .·

(I.uke 4:18-19). In

facing

a ne t>r s i tua t ion of

ta ldng

the

Gospel

to :·

the

Pau

continues

Hith the

same process but:

not

vri

thout great

strug

:0

les t,d t h

the t rad i t iona-

.

l i s t s

in Jerusalem

>mo

reject the challenge ' of

the

rea l i ty of the i r t ime.

There i s


19/35

- 3 -·

a

s imilar process

n the .J.ong

history of

the church.

For

I see

Radical ·Re

form

not

so much a reformation or a revolut ion

as

an

effo

·r t to rene t-.r the Ne t-J Testam

Church

in

a -

s i tua t ion.

Our

task

is

the

daneerous,

but necessary.

I t

i s

so

urgent

tha

n th is

e f fo r t

we. cannot

jus t

Malk.

.He mus:t run. ·He cannot put our trt S·t

in

yester

day's accomplishments. Today :

there

are netv 'challenges. There are net-T moldS· of mod

thought

tha t need to

be f i l l ed

't'lith the re- presented Hord of God. The problems are

many: a growing

inhmnan

poverty, nuclear th rea t ecological deter iorat ion ideolog

cal

conf l ic ts

and the

might

of

the

fa l len

p0'7orld.

As Christ ians we

need

to

work

together ,

t rus t ing in

the God

of

a l l

grace

who by His

Spir i t

leads

the hermeneutical community in the task of re-present ing His Hord in ou

context. I t rus t

tha t in

the sp i r i t

of

Brother Cook's

paper

tm

can

f ind the road to

dialogue and tvork

together tha t

the

Gospel may become

f lesh in our time as the

task

of

evangelization

Hhich God in His grace

has

entrusted to us.

There are

s t i l l

a

few

other observations and questions re la ted to the paper

l'1hich has been

presented.

Quoting Jacob Loewen, the need to allor.11 each group to

theologize freely t ' lithin

the

context

of

i t s

rea l i ty

t·ms pointed out . I agree.

Hot-r

ever, t

seems that

we

don' t

want to

permit

the t radi t ional i s t s to

do

th i s .

Is

t

not t rue that t radi t ional ism with

i t s

p ie t i s t i c roots cor.ununicated an authentic

message

for

i t s context?

Or

is t that when t became fundamentalist t

had already

los t i t s authent ic i ty and therefore

become

decontextualized and alienated? I have

been

concerned

over

the

subjectivism and dogmatism o f c e

r ta in

streams of the nm·7

theology . I ass ume

there

is a danger of a l e f t i s t

fundamentalism

which can also

lead us to a

ne

w decontextualiza t ion because of having been pet r i f ied in an

ea

r l i e r

time. Uhe

ther

t be

of

the r ight

or o f

the l e f t decontextual izat ion i s ido l a

t ry

because t gi

ves

:'

ul t imate concern

11

to w

hat

i s less than God.

Each

ne

t-r

current

of

theology

scares

us

because

o f

the

suspicion

that

t

might

be

fa l

se prophesy. The basic cr i te r ion of the Old Testament (Deut . 13) i s whether

or

not t i s

in

l ine ,;-lith

trhat

God has already r evealed . In the proph

e t i

c Scrip-

tures , t i s the abi l i ty to incarnate th is

word in the

r ea

l i t y

of the t ime . For

Jesus t

also has

to do

with the

frui ts

. We

need to

subject a l l theolo gy , old and

new, to

these

ti1ree Bib l i c a l

cr i te r ia .

The words al ienat ion and nescapism form a common par t

o f the

new theological

vocabulary .

There

i s a

cer ta in

fear of

ta lk in

g

about

eschatoloeY and of s ingin g

hymns that

expres

s

th i s

Christ ian expectation. I a cc

ep

t the dange r of escapism and

al ienat ion but t s eems to

me

that without th is eschat o logical dimension the Gospel

i s

l e f t truncated

and the churches empty.

t

believe tha t only by put t ing the

Gospe

in the framework o f

the

eternal can He

ta lk

in a

neaningful

•TaY of

the contextual iza

t ion

of

the Ho

rd

of

the

eternal

God.

This

paper

underlin

es

the

necessit

y

for

the communicator to ident i fy himself l'r

the rea l i ty of thos e r..Jho Hi l l

be

receiving the communica t ion. f the soc ia l r ea l i ty

of

Latin America i s

tha t

of poverty

9

t o what degree should the c

ommunicator

be poor

communicate the

message? I t

is obvio

us

th

a t the

l i f e s tyle of

the

communicator

can

h

der connnunication. Hhat degree of pover ty

should

the communicator o f the Gospel as-

sume? mater ia l poverty (which i s agains t

the

wil l of God)? Spir i tua l pove


20/35

4

(an

inner

indi fference

without

·

laving

to sacr i f ice very

much)? Or

p·

overty

as a

Christ ian

vocation

alongside those ·are oppressedp in ·order to

abol ish

i t ? · For

too long

the

Gospel has been

the

property of the

r ich

I

doubt tha t

the r ich

can

take the

Gospel

to the poor

without being

poor

themselves.

I

to

. thank Brother Cook

for the way

in he has developed

the

theme of

contextual izat ion. I t i s a very pos i t ive

contr ibut ion to our

dialogue.

·

I o •

:

; .


21/35

FID\1 A :ppJN?:_·

OF:

· ..

A

by

-Alvaro ·II'fufioz, M. · · :

. ...

...

.. . .

..

: :' _:

.

: .

.: . · .

.

My

Persooal

..

. . . . .

:

: : . =

··

-·

. :

.1 ..

, •

i ·

appreci,ate the

opp:>rtunity

to

pcutlcipate. in th is coloqui.um because o f the

·

personal

benefi t tha t I

have

derived fran the study of

t h i s

subject

and because

of . .

the to 11¥ opinion

about

th is

with yoq

. I regret 1:00_ , · '.

I was given

such

a short t .ine

to prepare

this. . . · . ·. . ' .

·__: .. : ·• . : : . . i. :

-·

. · I t

th is

i s

the work

of a layman

who i s

pret:

.

4·

sUbjeCt i s

debatea in theological and acadEmic

circles; .rrr.i·: ..

ri:iaffiqn

i s

·

that o f a

brother who

s i t s

in

the pew and often un.dei"StandS Oill.y

1o

·· iS

·

. .

: · '·

. ·

.•• - . .

(

· . . .• = : _- :- • :: r ·:

:-·

f

I share

with

Brother Cook his preference for

the

word "incarnation"; t see:ns

.nore

di


22/35

-2-

1. Gld: x:il r cal i t v / or real i t ies?

I

am not sure what

i s

Jreant 'by

Global

RealitY

,·

beCause

I

th ink that if in the

experience

of the Catholic Olurch'

s ccmmmi

y ce l l

groups,

the

context i s synonym::ms

of

a

unique

real i ty that

exists

in

a l l

of

Latin

Airerica,

persona1+Y

J

t.h:4tk

the

definit ion is too restrict ing

.

Because i f this is the

I w::)uld

ask- i s Costa

Rican

real i ty

the

sarre

as tha t in Nicaragua

,

or

that in

Cuba? a .

lo t of similar

sit.uaticns in Latin 1\nerica, btit: cilso a great deal of differenceS. A'

spel

aren t

there

other real i t ies to be

taken

i n to

acrount,

_

con-

textualizing

the

:rressag

es

for

them?

Aren't the si tuations in

whim the

middle

.

classes

or the daninating classes of Latin

llrterica

l ive, also

separate

real i t ies

o r ·

contexts? Should we

tak

e

the

·

nessage

that

i..c; Within (a rcessage of just ice,

redatp-

t ion and

total l iberation of the human be:ing) and

make

it m:>re available

to

a l l

I ren or is

our ab jec t

simply

to eJ:TPlasize the

wretched si tuat ion in

which the

.

majqrity

l ives

?

I f the la t te r

i s

our purpose, it

seems

tha t the Word i s being

USErl

a5 a

pretext.

• : · J . . ,·

1 .• • . . ••

I

share.and ,

rnake

C Wlication

·

of

·

the

words

of r.fi:'. ' Cook when he says

•ievecy·

a t rontextual:ization.

should take

into acrotmt

a l l

·

these

diiteriSi6ns of our _;l.OOal __ . .

.

Reality.;

.'

JJnfortunatelY

I-

th i s

·d005

not take ·place .ManY whiGh ·

we represent :are · o f

·

touch w ith '

Ia t in

_;Jw;

gl:eat

challenge ·wowd

be not

just to break out of the s ix boxes

'Which· COOk

' but rather

to

break

out o f whatever

si tuat ion in

which

we might

be

ooxed

in

.

·-

-. .

: , · - · ,

. -·:-··-:

_

· · · ; ·:

.. .

2. In

relation to

the -Principles

of

':timUnicatia)

2.1

'Jhe

divine

factor

·

in

ccmnunication

' • • • I •

.. ...

I belive

I

understand the

process

of

ccmmmication

to be

that t ransfer

of a message

between

the ani or

and

; he

I ·

shiire

.

with Mr·. · the

concept tha t

the

nessage consists iri Scm:lthing that

· ·iS·

wrapped

u:P

in ·parti.:..

cular

fonns

(language, words

,

synbols

,

signs)

.

I

a

lso agree pr:i.rr: ,

ciples of

.cormumication

that are llaltiened, but I

react

agairist the

_

tha t 100 of

the . wei

gh

t of

resi_X>nsibility

res ts

en the

capacity

o f

·

the

, ·

cx::mnuni.cator

and

no mention

i s mctde

of

the

Divine side

of

things,

the

par t i

cipation

of the Hol

y

Spir i t

in

the prcx:ess of

the cx:mrunication. of

the _.

G:>spel,

because

i f

we

are

ta lking

about

ccntextualization

fran the ·

Bili+ieint

o f

vi

M, we cannot forget

that

Paul

often

mantioned that .

his

abil i tY

was ·supem.;ttural.

· · ' · ·

..

.

. . .

. . . . .

By

th i s

. I

dan'

t

rrean

to

davngrade ·th

e

capacitY the

· cx:nnui'Ucator

should

have.

.

My

ooncern

, r a

ther

,

i s this

:

I f

·

the

buiden i s on

_

he preparaticn

of

the camunicator

where

i s

the

Divi..ne

factor

of our xressa9'e? , · ·

.

.

2. 2 Election or instraction?·

. .

I

also react to

th

e

idea that

the

receiver has veto :p:wer

o

ver

the

:rressag

e .

I

realize that

the

receiver tends to "tum the kncb and shut off

the

receiver

,


23/35

2.3

-3-

spi r i tua l ly

speaking,

but

i s

t

not

also

t rue t.llat · : JesUs

said,

Ye

have not chosen me f but I have chosen you"?

Ident i f icat ion

With the

Feali y

• : ;

:

• :

::·

· · I . • · • •

I

believe

one

o f

the

IIDSt

acute proolems

in

contextualized

a::mmmication

i s the lack

of

credibi l i ty which Brother Cook p:>ints out, which I

prefer

to

c a l l ·a

lack

o f

l iving-out the m=ssage. In Jesus'

l i f e

we

can

note

the

·

eXtraordinary l iving

....

out o f

·th is tha t He

practised

even though

riSks

were .

involved.

Kraft

i s not

acxurate

when

he

says

that

Jesus

was never

accused o f being a stranger. John notes : · · ·'·

"' he Jews

answered him,

· not r ight in . saying that you

are

a Samaritcm and have a denon?'" (John 8: 48} ·

:: . , ·:·.

There

se who

speak

anot:P..er theological Ol.ristian language?" Scmetines I den' t

knew

whether I

am

to regre t

t

o r

whether

I

am

to thank Cbd when I don' t ln1derstand what SC'II'e

brethren

are trying

to

say, due

to

the fact that thei r language

goes over

the

heads of the ordinary Christ ian .


24/35

-4-

362

Contextualization on

the level

Did G:xl accept

the

polygarrous and blocxly context

of

the surrounding

cul tures

in which

the people o f

Israel l ived?

:

;

or ·4i-9.

\>1ith

his

feeble spir i tual l ight ,

at t r ibute

to Q:rl s

revelation his oonoepts

c :

·_

o f

·

.jU$tioe

and

marriage?

· ·

'. -

: ••·•

, .

Mai:ty cormrun.ication

m:xlels

employed

by Q:xi

in the Old Testanent were

Q:xl Himself.

'Ihe

author of the

book

of Hebrews

ca l l s

these ·f igures

shadrding

to

the

pattem which was

sl nvn

you on the rrountain o (Heb o 8: 5) ·

I note a serious danger

Of

get t ing off the t rack i f I cx:nstruct

my

fai th

upcn human nodels which are as

imperfect

as the

Ren

who produce than .

.

... .

our

effor t s

:recently

has

been

to

put

into

effeCt

the

principle

of

t:aJqng,-as a

s ta r t ing point the

receiver 's reality-, ' ' and we

believe tha t

in

doing ·.

iswe have

found

posi t ive . f ru i t in

oor

cx:mnunica.tion efforts. ·

We

'

have

based

on our

bel ief tha t th is was ·Jesu5' cx:mraiDicative:rrethcx:L · But

en my

avn

theological ccnoepts ·, I feel myself responding negati'Vfil.Y when

t:l'lere

.

s

.

an attanpt

to give

to

.the

.-words "salvation and eternal l i fe

whiCh I r leither see nor

perceive

· in the Scriptures. I t ' s ·

t rue

tha t

tl'lE(NeW

Test:analt

ccnoept

of e temal

l i fu and

salvation

i s

not jus t

re la ted to a

spir i tual

dilrension . But

it

i s

also

t rue that_·

:this

c;:ncept i s not scXrenthing

tha t i s jus t nater ia l ei ther I f we pretend t:h:lt the

Sciptures

speak o f

-eterna l l i f e

jus t

as

a

present

··s ta te , we ·are

set t ing

out on

the

road

·of Christian

.

materialism

, or , ,what .

i s

. ;

worse, we·

are exchanging the Christian

IreSsage for

mater ia l is t ic

hunanism

. · .

:

· ·

I am

concerned esl:x:>ut

an exaggerated enphasis on

any

given t ru th

smce

rrost ·

errors are

nothing rrore

than t ru ths that have

been

over-atP'lasized. So I

am

concerned,

I;

repeatf

as

we t r y ·

to

contextuiilize ·

the

G:>spel an the in ter-

persau:U. leveJ;.,-.in

extrare

. funn o f c6ntextualizatioh , not arlly. s

:th

spir i tual los t_ but :

there

may . be an

open redectidti

beyOnd the realm. · · · , · ·

given i.mp::>l:tance to

.

his study o f the f i re o f

the

Baptism

of

the

Holy Spi r i t ,

.

i s

: going

to

take

nuch

care

in

referr ing

to · th is ,

o r ' preaching

about i t , t. 'lat

th i s

i s perceived as nothing rcore

than

a pleasing experience ,

because

the

Word

doe

not

allints

out that it was

Anglo-Saxon

missionaries Who

pioneered

.-

_

; '

a.{,

_

, · · • •

... I


25/35

-5-

--·- r. .- the study .on socia l behavio:r-

.•

. He also reoognizes that the u. s. missionary

, · riove:nent .

has paid

enough at tent ion to cr i t ica l -analyt ica l sociology, and

'· · aise ·accuSes

- front- i ine

Evangelicals of

not devoting to these discipl ines the

t ine they

deserve.

He concludes by saying, l'le need the contributions o f both

scienc x=s · :-

Any person o r rroverent which

does not

accept the teaching

of experience

i s condemned

to

re l ive

than.

I f the Latin .Arrerican Omrch o r the missionary

rrovarent

fa i l to

pay

at tent ion to

the

help these

and other

sciences

can

give

than,

they

are offering a very

p:x::>r

our people. I

jus t feel uneasy

when I see these sciences al ienat ing the

very

rressage to class i fy ,. ·and instead

of

being helps they beccrre dictators which

a t ta rpt

to

change the messaqe.

1he

could

be

sa id of

0

dynarnic

equivalencer

1

o r

o f any other

h\li'Mil

tool.

' ' :; .j :

'o,iltu.re i s that cannot Oe :ignored if we rea l ly des i re to ·· :

:··

'

.:.-/7

·

camiuhica:te

the

G6od

o f

. Jesus Ol.rist to any

people. ' lhls

:i s :' Why it.Concerns

1m

to

theological problems i.mpJrted fran

other

lat i tudes beCx:m:ihg

:

Latin

American.

problans.

with

the quote.

fran Newbigin

tha t "culture

i s

not

neutral" .

Certain-

ly it has been

affecter..l

by sin, by a detennined world

view and by

scme ideology.

But to

what p:>int do we believe

i.. 1

the inspirat ion o f

the

Word?

·I" • •• • •

Tc;> .

what

J;Oint ccmm.micate

to Paul

his world view

and his ideOlogy?

·

. . . . ..... . . .

r :·r : ···

"But I

cer t i f y

you, brethren, tha t the gospel

which was preached

of

rre

i s not af te r man.

Fbr

I nei ther received it o f man, . nei ther

was

I ·taught it ,

but by

the revelation of

Jesus

Olris t ."

(Gal.

J1:11-12)·

Did Qx1 fa i l in oontextualiZin'J His

rressage

to

Paul?

'With

:r::egard

to

Brother

s

words,

"

•••

the

exorcism

of

darons i s

·

necessary


26/35


27/35

DISCUSSION (sumnarized)

1 .

Observations

of

i1r

• .Cook

regarding the

reac t ions · of ·nutschm&"'l:

·and

Uuiioz

A. Regarding Dr. LaVerne Rutschman's reactions :

. .

a. Our

theologica l pilgrimage

i s s imilar .

I also

began dt ' l

dispensat ional ftmda-

mentalism, but

never Hent

in to l iberal i sm. I a l so fee l a t t rac ted

to

t.'-le anabap

posi t ion.

· ·

b . the very incarnation of:

Christ gives

us

some

guidelines . -to

help

.

us under

stand the .relat ionship between human

;md

divine ·ac t iv i ty in bringing the message

up

to

daee ·

and

a l ive . lJhen

the

Virgin Hary said. she was "t·Tilling,

to

receive

the

Holy Spi r i t in .her .v10mb. .

(Luke

.1:38) , t> 'e see clear ly

the

in teract ion beb-

reen

the

divine

and human {n

the

incarnat ion . Hhen the incarnat ion

then took

place ,

the

presznce

of Chris t among men u-as subjec t to

acceptance

or re jec t ion (John 1:12) .

The

_

ll qs

l a s t

vJord: .

On

the

other

hand,

i

it

i s

t rue

tha t in

libera:.

t ion _

l;leologies

the Catholic emphasis on the co-action of .man in his tory

and

in

the saiyq"tion process i s

heavy,

as a

Protes t an t

I have to admit tha t

our

emphasi

on divine

may ;.have -

de-incarnalized

sa lva t ion ,

overlooking en t i re ly

rrian' s

par t ic ipa t ion in salvat ion.

c . I

appreciate the

suggest ion t ha t

instead

of

i so la ted

i l lus t ra t ions regarding

con

t ex tua l iza t ion , might have.

gone through the

act ion of God within and through

H

people

in the Sciiptures· .and . in

the

hi s tory of the church. ·- Last nigh-t, Cost

s_

aid

th,at emphasis on

ju s t i f i c a t ion

by fa i th and r:Jesley s on sanc t i f ica

tqe_re examples. of taking

the

divine message and br inging it up

to

date ( ton-

textual izat ions)

• Here i s uhere Dr. Ru t

.

schman'scont r ihut ion rep;ardinr,

the Bibl

t raJec tory

be_ueen ·.the promise

and the fu l f i l lnen tAi t s

in. But there

i s

a poin

"t-rhere

the incarnat ion

of

the

message by

the

church

di f fe rs

from

· the

i ncamat iona

pat tern

see

in Christ .

Christ

took huma."l

form,

but ·Has

Hithout our

in -

carnation l 'Till be deeply

affec ted

by s in . The ·divirte··t>romise is incarnat

in the

pat r ia rchs ,

the prophets and the church.· But the ·'

ful f i l luient of

tha t ·

promise i s

dis tor ted by s in

and

there has to be a

continual

'

process

of incarna-

t ion.

In other Hords, a

cont inual

br inging up.

to

date of :the : 1'1\essage is demande

not

only by the

diversi ty of

human

cul ture , but also by

vir tue '-of the very s in

.

and

rebel l ion

of the

htu:1an

race.

.

•

d. Although I agree that 1>1e

should

pe mi t the more t rad i t iona l people

the r igh t to

theologize -vtithin the i r rea l i ty , I see some ' dangers

in

th i s .

:l

,fiHit

· i s

'thcit rea l i

Is it

some subject ive re a l i ty

that

has

f i l t e red

· through

our

ideologies? Or i s i

object ive,

his tor ica l

and real? In

the

f ina l analys is a l l

r ea l i t y ,

\


28/35

? -

·:

can

say t ha t the Son

of

God

Hns

contextualized

; i . e. , coming from a divine back-

cround.

He

moved

in to

the hum an context--Hithou

clame 1979 forum on contextualization

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