CHRIST'S MISSION AND HUMAN SOCIETIES

Abstract

Culture has always had an important part to play in missionary activities, especially in the communication of the gospel. Missionary concern above all has been about how to overcome cultural obstacles in order to pass on the gospel of Jesus Christ. That concern has led missionary organizations to study the cultures of the peoples to be evangelized - especially the languages in which the gospel is to be preached. Here culture is seen as a barrier to be crossed, as a tool to be used in communication, as systems, structures and ways of life to be evangelized. This attitude towards culture changed somewhat at the beginning of this century when the churches that were a product of missionary activity began to reflect both on their ecclesial identity and on their missionary responsibilities. It was claimed that culture is a legitimate life context, fit to receive and live out the gospel. At the same time western Christianity, because it has been linked with the culture of the missionary bodies, is sometimes regarded in certain young churches as a restraining force on local life and on the spread of the gospel. Culture came to be viewed more positively still when it went beyond the role of instrument for communicating the gospel and means for expressing the faith for instance in liturgy - to become the essential locus for the theological reflection of above all the African, Asian and Pacific churches. These churches are now asking the churches of Europe and North America to analyze in their own theology the relation that has existed for centuries between culture and the gospel. Finally, in the context of this reflection, it is important to note the significant studies that have a bearing on the place of Semitic and Greek cultures in the biblical writings. The attitude towards culture has culminated in our own day, in question as to its place in creation and in God's providence. Is culture a purely human enterprise or is it created by God? The position that asks such a question is diametrically opposed to the demonizing of culture, for so long in the past - and even still at present - considered by some as a hindrance to evangelism, a region of darkness from which people have to be set free, or at best a more or less acceptable setting for life that the gospel must imperatively improve and reform. And created culture? We can frame this question differently as a positive statement: God is the source and fulfilment of culture. Culture cannot in fact be regarded as a direct creation of God's in the absolute sense of his causing a creature to exist ex nihilo and without human participation. But is the source of culture in the sense that it is he who creates the rudiments that make it what it is, gives it direction, makes it an object of mission entrusted to the human race and bestows on it the promise of his aid. Culture is the means by which a group of human beings organizes itself in relation to the space and time in which it lives. For Christian theology, creation in the Bible signifies the gift of a framework for life that offers the world. Above all, the biblical meaning of creation is an affirmation that has given to human beings all that is necessary for their life, their salvation and their mission. But while the order of creation in Genesis I points to the preparation of a context for human life, nevertheless it affirms that remains master of space and time, since this context is prior to the human race. Creation belongs to and human beings cannot arrogate to themselves the right to make of it what they will. Genesis 1:26-31 indicates the direction gives to human life and all human activities. The two passages, God said, Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness . . . . So created humankind in his image, in the image of he created them; male and female he created them, are determinative in this regard. Culture, through which all individuals express their identity and enter into relations with their fellow human beings and with nature, is closely linked with this direction has given to human nature. …