The roots of contemporary missiology are found in the era of higher criticism when all branches of theology were subject to scientific analysis. Scripture was studied according to the rigors of historical and archaeological verification. Similarly, Christian mission began to be studied according to the rigors of the social sciences. From that time till now – for better or for worse – missions studies have been approached scientifically. Evangelicals like myself follow a pietistic impulse that view the biblical narrative as a supernatural, all-encompassing, divinely revealed narrative. I accept the level of circularity that exists in my presupposition of faith – I believe the Bible because it affirms itself to be the word of God. This, however, does not preclude the profound evidence of my own experience walking with Jesus the Christ.

But studying mission according to principles that arose during the scientific revolution is not anathema to biblical faith. I believe the academic inquiry and scholarship are essential aspects of a humanity created in God’s image. The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies is perhaps the most comprehensive source for current scholarship and theory related to missions.

In this article I will dialogue with chapters 3 and 4 of the handbook in relation to the biblical vision known as one new man or one new humanity based on Ephesians 2:

11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 

For the purpose of this article, one new humanity (ONH) refers to the belief that the rejection of the Jewish part of the ekklesia by the Gentile believers was the first division in the body of Christ, laying the foundation for subsequent fracturing. Jewish followers of Jesus have been present in the ekklesia for all of its history, but most often absorbed into the Gentile church and taught – even forced – to abandon all practices of Judaism as a prerequisite for faithfulness to Christ. Note that I use the term ekklesia to refer to what the Catholic Church has described as the community of those called to Christ ex circuncisione and ex gentibus (Nina Rowe, 2011). 

Participants in ONH hold that the emergence of the Messianic Jewish movement in the 1960s and its subsequent development are foundational to the restoration of the unity of the ekklesia. The use of the term ekklesia is important because Messianic Jews increasingly refer to themselves as practicing a form of Judaism and not as Christians or members of its church. Therefore, the restoration of ekklesia refers to the initial vision of Ephesians 2 which did not last past the second century. As an ingrafted “wild olive shoot” the apostle Paul exhorted the Gentile believers to honor the unique calling and future destiny of the Jewish “olive root” (New International Version, 2011, Rom. 11:17). 

Unfortunately, by the second century a distinctly Jewish part of the ekklesia disappeared due to their rejection by both the nascent Gentile church and Rabbinic Judaism. The parting of the ways describes the alienation of the Jewish Jesus-believing from their Gentile brethren (Enslin, 1961), the subsequent suffering of which was compounded by the rejection of the former by emergent Rabbinic Judaism after the destruction of the temple. Participants in ONH believe that with emergence of Messianic Judaism in the mid 20th century the Gentile church has a legitimate interlocutor towards which repentance can be directed and reconciliation sought. What is less known is how participants in ONH view its implications for missions – how it may affect its conceptualization and application? How have participants in ONH applied this vision to mission and what have been the results? 

Chapter 3 of the current version of the Oxford Handbook for Mission Studies was written by Paul Kollman (2022), titled Defining Mission Studies for the Third Millennium of Christianity.  Kollman (2022) cites three probable trends in the future of missions studies: interest by a “growing diversity of scholars”, influence applied to “more areas of Christian life and scholarship”, and new insights coming from “innovative comparative approaches” (p. 46). The emerging field of anthropology of Christianity looks at “the various social changes that Christianity – often linked to mission – fosters in diverse situations” (Kollman, 2022, p. 47). How might the fulfillment of the ONH vision impact societies and cultures? Currently Christianity is expressed around the world with an impressive cultural diversity. The Bible has been translated into most of the world’s languages and worship is shaped according to local customs and creativity. However, just as the gospel was transferred from Jew to Gentile, it was then transferred from the Roman World to the New World. In the 20th century unprecedented church growth in the Global South (Africa, Asia, and South America) signified the transfer of primary Christian leadership to the Non-Western world. Unfortunately, however, the pattern or cultural hegemony has been present throughout church history, with the national/enthnic centrality of the gospel shifting from one supreme Christendom to another. 

Kollman (2022) also describes how recent missions studies have interacted with social movement theory (p. 47). Some theorists have explored the benefits of integrating the study of complex or formal organizations and the study of collective action and social movements (Gerald F. Davis et al., 2005, xiv). It has been proposed that concepts developed in the domains of organizational theory and social movement theory are useful to each other (Gerald F. Davis et al., 2005, xiv). When looking at a phenomena such as ONH from a social science perspective, is it unique or just one of many similar religious movements? It can be argued that the history of the church is a succession of grassroots social movements that evolved into formal organizations. These religious institutions then followed the pattern of all religions – they were challenged and replaced or reformed by prophetic movements from the margins. My passion for ONH flows from my belief that the Ephesians 2 vision is truly unique in world religions and has yet to be fulfilled as Christ desired. 

Kollman cites recent studies of the Didache that show how mission concerns existed in the first century (Kollman, 2022, p. 48) when a Jewish and Gentile community of believers still existed. The Didache was written by Jewish Jesus-believers to instruct their Gentile brethren in religious practice (Nessim, 2023, xiv). The Didache’s articulation of how the Torah was applicable to the Gentile believers gives a motif for considerate and effective Jewish-Gentile relations within the ekklesia before the parting of the ways. 

A steadily more religiously pluralist world due to globalization has led missiologists to seek what insight might be gained from comparative dialogue with other missionary religions such as Buddhism and Islam (Kollman, 2022, p. 49-50). Comparative study is being made of the missionary practices of these religions, as well as analyzing the reasons that other religions such as Hinduism, Confuscianism, and Judaism have less impetus for self propagation beyond a particular people group (Kollman, 2022, p. 50). One question related to my research on ONH is how Messianic Jews see mission and evangelism. Messianic Judaism is rooted in a more ethnically centered religion, therefore their increased presence within the ekklesia could affect the missionary impetus. Many Christians struggle to reconcile the missionary vision they were taught in church in light of religious pluralism and secularism. It is hard for Christians to understand non-missionary religions, including the relatively inward-focused nature of rabbinic Judaism. What might Christians learn from dialogue with these other faith traditions? Nany anthropologists today are studying how “mission-generated social change produces new cultural forms” (Kollman, 2022, p. 51). The theme of reconciliation has been extremely influential in missions studies over the past 50 years. Perhaps it can be argued that mission-generated social change led to ONH as an example of a new cultural form. 

Kollman (2022) describes the gravitation in missiology towards fields that are related but not centered on Christian mission as “engaging mission tangentially” (p. 51). In this, missiology is predicted to follow the trend of other academic fields. This means that missiologists increasingly make connections to other social sciences that would have been considered irrelevant. This freedom is expanded by the trend towards missions studies including scholarship from other disciplines or under the labels of “intercultural studies, contextual theology, and world Christianity (Kollman, 2022, p. 51). 

There is an increased censuses that the missio Dei is the foundation of mission, while not disregarding the link of mission to human activity (Kollman, 2022, p. 51). Based on missio Dei, mission is open to unlimited possibilities while at the same time particular mission foci can exist (Kollman, 2022, p. 52). The understanding of mission as any human cooperation with divine action in the world grounds mission studies in “empirical realities” that can be analyzed within non-theological systems (Kollman, 2022, p. 52). Intergroup conflict studies is one example of an observed phenomena that relates directly to ONH.

Chapter 4 of the Oxford handbook was written by Dorottya Nagy (2022), titled Theory and Method in Mission Studies / Missiology.  Nagy (2022) cites the fragmentation of missiology derived from the “multiplicity of terms referring to theory and method in missions studies” (p. 56). Nagy (2022) proposes that an “interdisciplinary awareness” of missions studies methodology may improve interdisciplinary dialogue and partnership (p. 56). By methodology, Nagy (2022) refers to “the logical reasoning and the theological/philosophical assumptions that underlie academic work” consciously or unarticulated (p. 57). Methods, distinctively, are the orienting research techniques and procedures that are drawn from methodology (Nagy, 2022, p. 57). There is a trend in research toward clustering comparative, historical, empirical, and hermeneutical methods across disciplines, causing the challenge of “interdisciplinary miscommunication and misunderstanding” (Nagy, 2022, p. 57). Nagy (2022) describes theory as pointing to “contemplation, observation, and consideration, aiming at an understanding of reality” (p. 57). In considering missions studies theory then, we face the principle of ontological and epistemological plurality within the academic world (p. 58). Thus the discussion of method and theory in missions studies is another validation of using interdisciplinary methods and recognizing epistemological plurality in my study of ONH. 

Nagy (2022) indicates that missions studies are conditioned by institutionalization and contingency (p. 58). Here contingency refers to the influence of particular innovators and trends in the soft and hard sciences. Missiology combines knowledge production education that is both academic and theological-missiological (Nagy, 2022, p. 59). Consequently, missions studies are being situated in a “newer, larger, fashionable field of study”, with the strategic move of re-articulating missiology as “intercultural theology or world Christianity” (Nagy, 2022, p. 59). Nagy (2022) observes that these strategic moves require “methodological awareness and accountability”, especially regarding the epistemological ambivalence inherent in interculturality (p. 59). Thus although the breadth of social sciences available to missions studies steadily grows, interculturality requires sensitivity to epistemological contradictions. The “conflictive plurality within identities” (Nagy, 2022, p. 59) will be present in my engagement with with Messianic Judaism and Jew-Gentile relations in the ekklesia. 

With interculturality as an “epistemological locus”, Nagy (2022) sees a possible working definition of missiology as “the study of the relational, communicative (co)existence between God, humans, fellow human beings and the whole creation across space and time” (p. 60). Therefore, at its core missions studies deals with “an understanding of God and relationality with God” (Nagy, 2022, p. 60). For example, missions studies engages theories about salvation in other religions and how this affects missionaries’ communication of the gospel. ONH can be seen as motif of mission as intergroup reconciliation, therefore how this vision is interpreted by diverse cultures is foundational to my research. One area of my inquiry is how God’s particular relationship to Israel demonstrates his desire and capacity to love all people groups in their unique cultural identities. In this sense the relationship of God to human groups – not just individuals – is a key aspect of ONH. 

Nagy (2022) proposes that love is relevant to method and theory not as an uncontaminated emotion but as an “ontological drive of separated beings towards union (p. 60). Missions studies are concerned with the nature and action of God and the implications for how humans should think and live (Nagy, 2022, p. 62). Thus missiology is normative, always expressed in a “situational, actual, and empirical-intercultural manner” (Nagy, 2022, p. 62). The normativity of missions studies has to be placed “against the constellation of other modes of normativity, and is thus “always partial and becoming in relationality” (Nagy, 2022, p. 62). Missiological normativity is closer to discernment, rooted in spirituality, which makes it an “open-ended discipline, one which does not hide the researcher behind the research” (p. 62). This spiritual open-ended discipline does not presume that the researcher has a neutral position but exposes the “entanglement, power issues, and issues of representation” (Nagy, 2022, p. 62). However, this spiritual open-ended discipline also demonstrates the legitimate desire to love God and his world (Nagy, 2022, p. 62). This normative, spiritual, open-ended conception of missions studies means as a researcher I do not need to detach myself as a religious devotee. 

Nagy (2022) refers to interculturality as “the ways through which the various agents act, interact or relate in co-creation (p. 62). Context and culture are still foundational concepts for developing missiological theory and method, but they can be problematic (Nagy 2022, p. 63). The “wide interdisciplinary interest in the spatiality of societal and cultural phenomena” has strongly influenced missiology (Nagy, 2022, p. 63). Nagy (2022) advocates for missiologists’ engagement and dialogue with scholars who come from different epistemological frameworks (p. 64). However, Nagy warns against understanding locality primarily in terms of “owned/claimed territory” as this would interpret culture primarily through “tribal, ethnic, and national lenses” instead of understanding locality in its “spatial relationality/interconnectednness” (p. 64). In my research of ONH, I must make sure not to interpret participants’ concept of locality in ways they never would. Nagy cites Steve Bevan’s work on the dangers of Western attempts to attribute meaning to cultural identity “which is not the lived experience of the culturally identified people” (p. 64). In spite of the influence of Bevan’s research, “Christian identities, informed by academic theology, keep producing and reproducing cultural (i.e., national, ethnic, or tribal) Christianities” (Nagy, 2022, p. 65). Nagy (2022) suggests that theories of culture that consider interculturality and space may be helpful in “overcoming the homogenous and homogenizing principles” that have caused “reproductions of nationalistic forms of Christianity”, such as in Europe (p. 65). Participants of ONH have contended that a key impetus for supersessionist theology arose during the Era of Exploration when the people of God replaced the notion of Gentile (Jennings, 2010). 

Lastly, the spiritual turn in missions studies described by Nagy is key to ONH because from its inception it has been a prayer movement with Charismatic practice uniting Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Messianic Jewish, and Pentecostal church leaders (Hocken, 2007). Nagy (2022) describes the spiritual turn in mission studies as overlapping with increased attention given to Christian spirituality in relationship with other spiritualities, and the researcher’s spirituality (p. 66). Thus, 

mission does not aim primarily at the propagation or transmission of intellectual convictions, doctrines, moral commands, but at the transmission of the life of communion that exists in God…The Holy Spirit is incompatible with individualism, its primary work being the transformation of all reality to a relational status (Nagy, 2022 p. 67). 

This anti-individualist conception is highly relevant to ONH’s contention that biblical mission does not consist primarily of reconciliation between human persons and God. Instead, biblical mission is fundamentally about reconciliation between human groups in fulfillment of God’s expressed desire and for his ultimate glory. 

References

Enslin, M. S. (1961). The Parting of the Ways. The Jewish Quarterly Review, 51(3), 177–197. https://doi.org/10.2307/1453437

Gerald F. Davis, Doug McAdam, W. Richard Scott, & Mayer N. Zald. (2005). Social Movements and Organization Theory. Cambridge University Press; eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=nlebk&AN=132352&authtype=sso&custid=s6133893&site=ehost-live&custid=s6133893

Hocken, P. (2007). TOWARD JERUSALEM COUNCIL II. Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 16(1), 3–17. Academic Search Premier.

Jennings, W. J. (2010). The Christian imagination: Theology and the origins of race. Yale University Press; Biola Library ebooks. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=cat08936a&AN=bio.ocn808346478&site=eds-live&custid=s6133893

Kollman, Paul. (2022). Defining Mission Studies for the Third Millennium of Christianity. In Coleman, Paul (Ed.),The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies. OUP Oxford.

Nessim, D. (2023). Torah for Gentiles? [Electronic resource]: What the Jewish Authors of the Didache Had to Say. Lutterworth Press, The; Biola Library ebooks. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=cat08936a&AN=bio.on1391441015&site=eds-live&custid=s6133893

Nagy, Dorottya. (2022). Theory and Method in Mission Studies / Missiology. In Nagym Dorottya (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies. OUP Oxford.

New International Version. (2011). BibleGateway.com. http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/#booklist

Nina Rowe. (2011). The Jew, the Cathedral and the Medieval City: Synagoga and Ecclesia in the Thirteenth Century. Cambridge University Press; eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=e000xna&AN=435252&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s6133893

Challenges to teaching across cultures in contemporary analysis that I identify with

Missiologist Craig Ott (2021) states that initial excitement and curiosity on the part of students towards foreign teachers fades quickly but “the sojourner who perseveres” will develop deep relationships and cultural understanding (p. 7,11). One problem as I see it is that cross-cultural teachers are often required to do this kind of work almost purely on a sacrificial basis. In other words, idealistic and highly-motivated young teachers accept the call to cross-cultural vocation but end up disappointed. The teacher can stay overseas long-term with the prospect of marriage and family in a cultural and vocational no-man’s land. The missionary support base in the sending country becomes more relationally distant and the vocational culture on the field makes he or she a perpetual alien. If the teacher decides to return home, often the prestige and gratefulness of the Christian education culture is not what they expected. The teaching profession is very competitive for all candidates and a returning missionary may feel more outdated and outstripped by the “competition” versus feeling honored as a veteran cross-cultural practitioner. 

I have had much success with the constructivist pedagogy, but I recognize the liabilities of “self-realization” being prioritized over “community responsibility” (Ott, 2021, p. 12). I have seen this both in my own pursuit of developing a career in Christian education as well as in my students. This predominant Western approach can be described as “privileging the individual learner over the collective, and promoting autonomy and independence of thought and action” (Merriam, 2007, p. 1). It seems that so many of us – I speak as a Gen-x 47 year-old – have been hindered by the lack of institutional loyalty we learned from the constructive approach. Perhaps I am drawing a connection here that is unwarranted. I refer to how the focus on the individual learner translates into a focus on independent development with expendable mentor and peer relationships. Indian educators have challenged the effectiveness of such modes of learning in their context (Seth, 2007). It is definitely problematic when Western modes of learning are proposed as axiomatic and universal, such as the ideal of the self-guided student preparing to become a self-made man or woman. 

Most difficult and easiest aspects of adaptions for me if going into cross-cultural teaching situation and why 

Ott (2021) lists several aspects of adaptations for teaching in a cross-cultural setting. At present, if I to teach in an unknown cultural context, the most difficult aspect of adaptations for me would probably be social adaptation (Ott, 2021, p. 59). I base this on the experience of teaching in environments where there was a high expectation for relational interaction outside the classroom. Take for example an invitation to teach for a week as a guest professor at a leadership training program, seminary, or conference. I can generally manage if I am expected to teach for 4-6 hours a day, and share meals with students/participants. However, if I am also expected to be available for individual meetings with throughout the week this can become overwhelming. When I was teaching in YWAM and Bible Colleges in Brazil, for example, I had to be prepared for a considerable amount of one-on-one meetings. As an introvert, I sometimes struggled – and still do – to maintain realistic boundaries so that I could be effective. I find it comical to compare this experience with similar teaching invitations I receive in Europe. When teaching in Germany and Holland I can generally expect to have considerable time to myself. I even plan to visit some sites, eat some local foods, and do some shopping because it’s likely I’ll have enough free-time.  

I struggle to think of one of Ott’s (2021) aspects of adaptations that I would categorize as “easy”, because I see challenges in all four. However, over the years I have become more efficient at didactic adaptation and content adaptation (p. 59). The main reason for this, perhaps, is that as a missionary I have usually been teaching without a salary, or for a very small teacher stipend. For this reason, I have generally felt free regarding the improvisation of didactic method and instructional content. I hope this doesn’t reveal a lack of motivation on my part, although I’m open to that critique. What I refer to is that generally the only pressure to communicate a specific amount of content in a particular way was self-inflicted. When I was younger, I was excited to develop my understanding of content and come to a level of comfort in the teaching activity. Over the years of teaching, I have increasingly become more relaxed regarding covering all the content in the syllabus or module I am teaching. 

Geneva Gay and Craig Ott in Dialogue

Professor Geneva Gay of the University of Washington developed the model of Culturally Responsive Teaching. Gay (2018) suggests that the “content and styles of learning” of a particular ethnic group in a society should be “consistently incorporated” in the classroom instruction and testing (p. 6). Gay seeks to correct the phenomena of teachers and students connecting “academic difficulties to their personal worth” (Gay, 2018, p. 8. Perhaps Ott’s (2021) approach could be described as seeing didactic, social, structural, and content models of education as a toolbox to draw from. Gay (2018) emphasized the “European and middle-class origins (deeply ingrained in the structures, ethos, programs and etiquette of schools” (p. 9). Eisenhart and Cutts-Dougherty (1991) describe this educational environment as “socially situated and culturally constructed”, creating “social barriers or cultural norms” that “define and limit the types and the amount of information” involved in teaching (p. 28). 

Shade, Kelly and Oberg (1997) argue that “core cultural characteristics” are shared by members of an ethnic group, indeed, “enthicity and culture” constitute the underpinnings of behavior in general, which Gay (2018) picks up in her model of mitigating variables and expressive behaviors (p. 10). We can compare this with Ott’s (2021) assessment that novelty in intercultural teaching contexts often wears out fast and true fruit comes from deep long-term commitment (p. 7,11).

Gay’s argues that conventional teaching paradigms fail because they concentrate on what students from certain ethnicities and cultures don’t have and can’t do (p. 13). Ott’s suggestion that didactic, social, structural, and content aspects of teaching can and should be adapted contextually is not at odds with Gay’s (2018) proposal (p. 59) . Gay’s (2018) assessment that Western individualistic approaches to contextual adaptation fail (p. 14) is in agreement with Ott’s (2021) indictment of collectivist pedagogies that prioritize self-realization over community responsibility (p. 12). 

Gay’s (2018) observes educational assumptions that capability or lack thereof in students is indicative of a general deficiency that will manifest other areas (p. 16-17). I can relate this to Ott’s (2018) observations regarding the emphasis of Western modes of education on individual learning, autonomy and independence (p. 12). The individualistic approach to education demonstrates the tendency towards specialization in the Academy. The ever evolving subdivision of academic disciplines and multiplication of new areas of study fragment the learning environment. The student is encouraged to specialize, and even in popular self-help publications the predominant emphasis ois on the discovery and maximization of individual strengths and abilities.

Finally, Gay’s (2018) comments on the limitations of standardized tests and grades in relation to cultural differences presents the paradoxical situation of immigrant students (p. 18). Immigrant students from Majority World nations are often taken out of the community dynamic that would normally provide them with a better learning situation. The linguistic, cultural, and educational adjustment is something I say my own children go through in immigrating from Brazil to the U.S. and then to Portugal. Ott cites criticism from Majority World educators regarding the deficiencies of Western approaches (Seth, 2007). However, it is still the case that immigrants coming to the West desire to thrive and be a part of that cultural context. I’m aware of the criticism in Europe, for example, that many immigrants only come to seek a better life for themselves whether or not that means becoming a productive contributor to the majority culture. However, research shows that the majority of immigrants to Portugal where I live sincerely seek to work and assimilate into the majority society (Já Poderemos Falar de Segurança e de Imigração?, n.d.). 

References

Eisenhart, M., & Cutts-Dougherty, K. (1991). Social and cultural constraints on students’ access to school knowledge. In E. Hiebert (Ed.), Literacy for a diverse society: Perspectives, programs, and policies (pp. 28–43). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. (Lower Level LC1099.3 .G393 2018; Third edition.). Teachers College Press; Biola Library Catalog. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=cat09700a&AN=blc.oai.edge.biola.folio.ebsco.com.fs00001149.5fa32307.b7c3.5027.b081.5fe7ee113c2a&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s6133893

Já poderemos falar de segurança e de imigração? – Contra-Corrente. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2024, from https://omny.fm/shows/contra-corrente/j-poderemos-falar-de-seguran-a-e-de-imigra-o

Merriam, Sharan B. 2007. “An Introduction to Non-Western Perspectives on Learning and Knowing.” In Non-Western Perspectives on Learning and Knowing, edited by Sharan A. Merriam and Associates, 1–20. Malabar, FL: Krieger.

Ott, C. (2021). Teaching and learning across cultures: A guide to theory and practice. (Lower Level LC1099 .O83 2021). Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group; Biola Library Catalog. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=cat09700a&AN=blc.oai.edge.biola.folio.ebsco.com.fs00001149.eca6bcdd.ba4a.5f1a.a161.26d8b7e3511a&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s6133893

Seth, Sanjay. 2007. Subject Lessons: The Western Education of Colonial India. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Shade, B. J., Kelly, C., & Oberg, M. (1997). Creating culturally responsive classrooms. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

The recognition of Christianity as a global religion has shifted ecumenical projects from denominations to cultures and heightened the need for a strategy to engage religious pluralism (The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies, 2022, p. 3-4). The influence of modern science on Christian mission expanded the related disciplines to include “theology, practice, history, cultural studies, religious studies, and social studies (OHMS, 2022, p. 4). 

I’m intrigued by the notion that a secular context provides the church an opportunity for “mutual exorcism” – to “purify each other from the dehumanizing forces each can harbor” (OHMS, 2022, p. 7,10). I understand this to refer to the possibility for secularist and Christian worldviews to challenge each other in ways which can be fruitful for their adherents and the general society. I imagine the Christian helping the secularist to temper the stridency of his or her optimism regarding collective human capacity to organize society towards justice and happiness. On the other hand, I can see the secularist showing the Christian the inconsistency of their desire to wield political power to effect the vision of Jesus. 

The effects of money and power dynamics on the modern missionary movement (OHMS, 2022, p. 8) have been evident during my missionary career. I have spent about 20 of the past 30 years in missions overseas as an American, mostly in the Global South but more recently in Southern Europe. In every context where I have served I have witnessed disfunction in missions strategies related to money and power dynamics. One common denominator I have witnessed personally and researched is the positive effects of emancipation of leadership and financial sustainability. At the same time, so many Global South missionaries follow the example of their Western mentors and end up seeking financial support from the U.S., Europe, and Anglo Commonwealth countries with strong missionary legacies. 

I find comparative theology to be a promising approach for missionaries like myself, where people of other faiths are seen as partners rather than object of mission (OHMS, 2022, p. 11). Vinoth Ramachandra states that we close ourselves off from conversion to the religious other as well as to a conversion to a deeper understanding of our own religion (FULLER studio, 2024). Ramachandra (2024) advocates for Christians not say “Come to us for we have the truth, but come with us He has the truth”. 

I believe it is urgent that the church promote the agency of those who are often “marginalized from missional centers of power, such as women, non-Western Christians, and minorities” (OHMS, 2022, p. 12). However, when I hear descriptions of Majority World Christianity where “lay people are the primary agents of mission” (OHMS, 2022, p. 13), my experience in the Global South makes me wonder why I usually witnessed the opposite. I refer to Brazil where I served as a church planter for 16 years, a context where the attraction model was predominant and ministry centered on professional pastors. 

The emergence of missiology as a scientific approach to cross-cultural evangelism helps me understand how social science methods came to be employed in the field (OHMS, 2022, p. 8). As theology and biblical studies came to be scientific disciplines engaged by scholars in universities, the same approach was applied to the missions (OHMS, 2022, p. 19). The Anglo-American Protestant world has been influenced by the Germanic ideal of missionary science since the early 20th century (OHMS, 2022, 21). And in the German-speaking world, the focus on local appropriation of the message rather than its delivery has been felt wherever I have served. The intercultural theology moniker helps me understand how in my lifetime many seminaries changed their course description from “missions” to “intercultural studies”. I have no criticism of this, in fact I feel that as a missionary I have benefited from it in contexts moire antagonistic to evangelism. But it is helpful to know the Liberal Protestant German context from which it emerges. 

The scientific approach to mission coming out of Germany let to a theological shift versus Anglo-American pragmatism (OHMS, 2022, p.?). As a result, apparently, missiology was short-lived in the Anglo-American academy but lived on till present in Germany and Scandinavia (OHMS, 2022, p. 26-7). In the U.S., only the private Christian universities maintained missiological research chairs, which were short-lived in mainstream secular colleges (OHMS, 2022, p. 27). All this is potentially encouraging to me as someone seeking to teach in European seminaries and develop missiological research programs. 

On the other hand, as someone engaged in missions in Europe, the most strong source of missiological research I encounter (perhaps as an English-speaker) is the Center for the Study of World Christianity in Edinburgh (OHMS, 2022, p. 29). The CSWC has excellent resources online that I consult regularly. As someone living in majority-Catholic Portugal, I am encouraged to know of the convergence of Protestant and Catholic missioligists (OHMS, 2022, p. 31). Two years ago I helped organize a theological symposium at the Universidade Lusofona in Lisbon and I am hopeful that areas of missiological study may promote ecumenical partnership. 

Lastly, the news that missiology has become “a corporate narrative exercise, in which Christians hear, exchange, and ponder the life stories of those who have sought to live the communal life of the gospel, and to witness to its truths in a multiplicity of contexts” (OHMS, 2022, p. 33), is encouraging. As someone coming from a highly energized missions agency like YWAM, a “less pragmatic, more theologically reflective, and more interdisciplinary and culturally divers” approach sounds wonderful (The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies, 2022, p. 33).  

References

FULLER studio (Director). (2024, April 29). Deconstructing Evangelism Through the Lens of Global Christianity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWnIjON8sWELinks to an external site.

Kim, K., Jørgensen, K., & Climenhaga, A. F. (Eds.). (2022). The Oxford handbook of mission studies. (Upper Level BV2090 .O94 2022; First edition.). Oxford University Press; Biola Library Catalog. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=cat09700a&AN=blc.oai.edge.biola.folio.ebsco.com.fs00001149.2ad0546b.f552.5b2c.aa65.cf3897a492f1&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s6133893Links to an external site.

The knowledge that biblical prophecy indicates an intensification of persecution before the end can have varying effects on the church’s attitude towards its participation in the mission of God. Dispensationalism which emerged in Britain with John Nelson Darby (Sweetnam, 2009, p. 569) in the late 19th century has been expressed in diverse ways. This theology is, however, generally characterized by onlookers as emphasizing soteriological matters over transformation of society. In contrast, the American Social Gospel movement includes those who believe that the church is currently living in the millennial reign promised in Revelation 20 (Edwards, 2015, p. 203). I appreciate missiologist Arthur Glasser’s (2003) balanced approach: 

Revelation was written for Christians in every age to assure them that God is working both in their day and particularly when the tempo of persecution intensifies just before the end. God will not turn back from his goal of consummating his purpose in his time and in his way (p. 360) 

The New Testament’s exhortation regarding the essential nature of the unity of the body of Christ to the mission of God must be of prime consideration for the church. Glasser (2003) describes this as “Christ’s abiding concern”, for only by avoiding division can the church avoid the failure exemplified by Israel in its call to illuminate the world lost in darkness (p. 362). I would caution that Gentile Christians should be careful when describing the errors and guilt of the Jewish people, since this has historically been the source of much antisemitism.

In Revelation 14 a message of hope is given to the faithful in a moment when the kingdom of darkness seems to realize complete victory over the earth. However, the saints are encouraged that in spite of this the Lamb is still on the throne and “the consummation of history is seen as firmly in his hands” (Glasser, 2003, p. 365). This should serve as a warning to all forms of Christian triumphalism. This may take the form of a Fundamentalist celebration that the spoils of victory await in another time and world. Or it may manifest in a “Liberal” belief that the church has the capacity to bring the kingdom and needs to get on with it as soon as possible, seeing a recognition of God’s sovereignty as a hindering notion. 

The amillenial view holds that the church is already living in the period of the reign of Christ on earth, a spiritual reign that will last until the return of Christ when the New Heaven and Earth are established. This view perhaps offers less hope than what the Bible expresses. According to Glasser (2003) the amillennial flaw is not awakening hope in the glorious reign of Christ on earth: 

Although it claims that the earth and the nations will enjoy their jubilee, it provides no assurance that this will ever take place. Imagine the violence of the twentieth century having been part of the millennium (p. 368). 

The desire of God for worshippers from every people group is something that I sense a deep need to understand more profoundly. John Piper (2020) describes cultural diversity among God’s worshipers in the eschaton as “greater than the beauty that would come to him if the chorus of the redeemed were culturally uniform or limited” (p. 264). Piper (2020) believes there is something about our call to cross-cultural mission that humbles us and helps us experience God’s grace (p. 265). I believe this is rooted in the promise of Ephesians 2 regarding the one new humanity in Christ, formed from Jew and Gentile, two groups formerly separated by mutual enmity. One may contest that it was God that inspired the aversion of Jews towards Gentiles in the Mosaic Law and covenants of the Old Testament. On the other hand, the Jewish understanding of separation (even superiority?) over other nations can be attributed to a Jewish misinterpretation. However, the truth seems to lie in the middle, in that God separated a people unto Himself and called them to be a dynamic lesson on the world stage regarding human reconciliation. What reconciliation would be needed, or how deep would it be, if it only consisted of superficial religious or philosophical matters? Instead, God created a motif of reconciliation between groups that could never imagine a deep communion of equality and mutual embrace. 

God desired a beauty of diversity rooted in distinction: a cultural diversity that would not be melted into a uniform whole, but would maintain the distinction of people groups. The story of Israel reveals the value God places on a people with a proper name, whose identity will last forever. Indeed, our Savior Jesus is and always will be both a universal Messiah for all peoples, and a Jewish Messiah for Israel.

References

Edwards, W. J. D. (2015). The social gospel as a grassroots movement. Church History, 84(1), 203–206. Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009640715000050

Glasser, et al. (2003). Announcing the Kingdom. Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  

Piper, John (2020). Let the Nations Be Glad!: The Supremacy of God in Missions. Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Sweetnam, M. S., & Gribben, C. (2009). J.N. Darby and the Irish origins of dispensationalism. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 52(3), 569–577. Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials.

A response to James Davison Hunter’s book To Change the World

In the first essay of his dissertation, Hunter considers different Christian perspectives of the creation mandate (2010, p. 5). The predominant common view holds that culture is rooted in individuals’ hearts and minds in the form of values (Hunter 2010, p. 6). By this account, culture is the sum of the majority populations’ values and behavior (Hunter 2010, p. 6). Together with this is the idea that change comes from courageous individuals with the right values and worldview. As more people adopt certain paradigms, culture is changed (Hunter 2010, p. 15). As a missionary in majority Catholic Portugal, I find Hunter’s alternative view more compelling. This view sees cultural change as generated, not by the truthfulness of ideas, but by their rootedness in powerful institutions, networks, and symbols (2010, p. 44). Portugal has a collectivist culture with a high aversion to change (Jackson 2020, p. 285). Hunter claims that individual hearts and minds don’t dictate culture as much as culture influences the lives of individuals (2010, p. 45). I come from a highly individualist US-American culture (Jackson 2020, p. 226). Hunter’s alternative view inspires me to identify Portuguese institutions, networks, and symbols where greater transformational leverage exists. 

The dissertation argues that culture changes through patrons sponsoring intellectuals who propagate alternatives (2010, p. 77). These elites are usually accompanied by artists, poets, and other creative communicators that “symbolize, narrate, and popularize” new cultural visions (Hunter 2010, p. 78). My ministry focus is Christian ecumenism and reconciliation, for which ends Hunter’s work inspires me to identify networks of influence. In contrast, Hunter describes the lack of Christian influence and absence from key areas of society caused by coercive approaches to changing culture (2010, p. 95). What is recommended is a theology of faithful presence by which the church bears witness to and embodies the coming Kingdom of God (Hunter 2010, p. 95). This requires the church’s faithful presence in all areas of life, including networks of patrons and elites (Hunter 2010, p. 96). 

The second essay argues that the most determining factor regarding engaging the world is the approach to power, as evidenced in the Christian Right, Christian Left, and Neo-Anabaptists (2010, p. 99). I recognize these Christian approaches in Portugal, and agree with the assessment that the worst solution to the church’s loss of influence is to try and regain power as the world does (2010, p. 100). Similar to the US-American Christian Right Hunter describes, some Portuguese Catholics’ vision of human flourishing is “framed by the particularities of their distinct worldview” (Hunter 2010, p. 111). I also know Portuguese Catholics who, similar to Hunter’s Christian Left, see history as “an ongoing struggle” to realize a myth of equality and community. These liberal Catholics are generally optimistic about their church’s move towards progressive values. While many such liberals do not follow the teachings of the church they want the church to be a moral anchor in Portuguese society. There are also Catholics here who represent the Anabaptist message of “anger, disparagement, and negation” (Hunter 2010, p. 165). These Catholics believe that the church should be a community of contrast that challenges the ways of the world. They do not seek to change the world by engaging the spheres of society, but by being a worshipping community, observing the sacraments, and forming disciples (Hunter 2010, p. 161). Many Portuguese Catholics also fit Hunter’s description of those who frame discussions of power in political terms, thus removing the discussion from everyday life (Hunter 2010, p. 193). I acknowledge this as means of avoiding the challenges of daily life by focusing attention upon inaccessible elites and institutions (2010, p. 193). 

In the third essay, Hunter argues that the Christian call to faithfulness is timeless but must be worked out in the cultural context of particular times and places (2010, p. 197). The author cites difference and dissolution as two problems related to Christian faithfulness, the first relating to how we engage a world that is different from us, the second relating to the deconstruction of basic assumptions about reality (2010, p. 200, 205). Whereas Portuguese Catholics seem to have engaged well with the problem of difference, dissolution is definitely a daunting challenge. Catholics here face the modern world’s negation that human discourse can be connected to the reality of the world in a trustworthy manner (Hunter 2010, p. 205). The Catholic church can no longer rely on its status as a universal authority in a secular Europe where no authority can vouch for the meaning of words and truth (Hunter 2010, p. 206). As an Evangelical, I see this dynamic as a means of identification and solidarity with my Catholic brothers. So for the work of Christian ecumenism, dissolution can be an opportunity for dialogue and prayer.  

I agree with Hunter’s assessment that neither the defensive against, relevant to, or pure from paradigms of engagementare adequate for pursuing faithfulness in the world (2010, p. 223-224). I find the concept of relating to the world through a “dialectic of affirmation and antithesis” (Hunter 2010, p. 214) helpful in Portugal. We can simultaneously partner with God’s common grace in making culture while recognizing that this work is not salvific (Hunter 2010, p. 215, 216). 

Lastly, I’m inspired by Hunter’s calling all Christians to leadership in the paradoxical model of Christ through faithful presence (2010, p. 240). A vision of faithful presence as a covenantal commitment to the flourishing of the world around us (Hunter 2010, 242) exists in Portuguese Catholicism. Within the Catholic Church I find institutions that foster flourishing for all, not just persuading non-Christians to convert to go to heaven (Hunter 2010, 244). Hunter claims that the plausibility and persuasiveness of the Christian faith depends on a culture where “meaning, purpose, beauty, belonging, and faith” are plausible (2010, p. 244). I’m persuaded by this dissertation that establishing justice and righteousness are secondary to the primary good of God Himself – his worship and honor. But I’m also convinced that God has broken the sovereignty of the world’s institutions. And therefore in agreement with Hunter’s thesis, my Portuguese Catholic brothers and sisters and I should seek the betterment of this world and its institutions (Hunter 2010, p. 264). 

Hunter, James Davison (2010). To Change the World. Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition. 

Jackson, Jane (2020). Introducing Language and Intercultural Communication. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. 

How Non-Catholic Christians in Majority Catholic Nations can Partner with the Historic Body of Christ Where the Church is Seen as a Particular Possession of That Culture

David J. Dawson

July 18, 2023

Challenges for Evangelicals Seeking to Engage Culture Together with their Catholic Brothers and Sisters

Theology of culture deals with the meaning and application of John 17:13-10 – “being in the world but not of it”. It has been necessary to address this question ever since the transition from the covenant-nation of Israel to the international covenant people of the church. How should the people of God relate to outsiders? What are the implications of ultimate allegiance to Christ? Every generation faces these questions in unique ways, from persecution, to privilege to exile (Carson 2008).

This year I celebrated 30 years in full-time missionary service, which has been mostly in majority Roman Catholic contexts. During the sixteen years I spent in Brazil I learned a lot about Catholicism, but as an Evangelical I never felt like a member of a marginalized group in society. The two and-a-half years in Portugal, however, have been the first extensive period in a majority Catholic context where my own faith tradition has little representation or influence. According to a 2011 census, 81% of the Portuguese population is Catholic, with 3.3% consisting of other Christian denominations such as Eastern Orthodox and Protestant (“Population of Portugal 2023 | Religion in Portugal,” 2021)

Intercultural researchers group countries together based on levels of similarity and difference. According to the GLOBE cultural framework, Portugal is part of the country cluster Latin Europe, e.g., Israel, Italy, Spain, Portugal (House et al. 2004). Therefore, my research on Portugal is relatively representative of Latin Europe in general. In many parts of Europe, Christianity has been significant historically but not today, an example being the diminished influence of Mainline Protestantism in Northern Europe. In comparison, Portugal is not only prevalently Catholic in its history, but Catholicism remains one of the most foundational aspects of its culture (Medina 2021).

One of the oldest nations in the world, the territory of Portugal has been maintained secure over 8 centuries (“About Portugal,” n.d.). Having one of the greatest maritime traditions in history, one of the foundational motivations during the Era of Exploration was the spread of the Catholic faith (The Legacy of Henry the Navigator, n.d.). In Latin Europe today, the majority population identifies the Roman Catholic church as an integral part of their cultural heritage. The Portuguese people have witnessed the transition of political power through the centuries while the church remains as perhaps the only constant institutional reference of their culture. Doubtless this is why Christianity is still regarded as a locus of great cultural treasure even in a region of secular modern Europe. 

It was during the Roman Empire that Catholicism came to be the official religion of the region that would be Portugal. For many centuries the governing rulers of Portugal and the Catholic Church promoted a symbiotic relationship (Portugalist 2018). The first King of Portugal, Afonso Enriques (1139-85), partnered with the church to expel the Moors from the South of Portugal (D. Afonso 2023). A foundational part of Portugal’s history is the tumultuous partnership developed between antipathetical partners – a secular state and a church with a militant emphasis on the conversion of human souls and its call to universal societal engagement (Franco 2011). This integrated coexistence gave rise to a democratic society that some authors refer to as catolaica (Franco 2011). The paradoxical term comes from the accepted notion that although Portugal has a pluralistic democracy and therefore must integrate all groups, including naturally the majority Roman Catholic tradition (Franco 2011).

Portugal is a collectivist culture, characterized by an emphasis on “community, collaboration, shared interest, harmony, tradition, the public good, and maintaining face” (Anderson et al. 2003). In comparison, individualistic cultures place a higher value on “personal rights and responsibilities, privacy, voicing one’s opinion, freedom, innovation, and self-expression” (Anderson et al. 2003). Portugal also scores high on the uncertainty avoidance parameter related to a group’s inclination to feel endangered by ambiguous situations and to avoid uncertainty (Jackson 2020). Strong uncertainty avoidance indicates an aversion to taking risks, a tendency to favor stability, rules, and consensus (Jackson 2020). Whereas in individualist cultures relationships are voluntary associations, in collectivist societies people are born into relationships they are responsible to preserve all their lives (Moreau et al. 2014). The characteristics of collectivist culture described here represent barriers to religious influence from non-Catholic Christian traditions. 

As I reflect on Latin European culture, I believe that an image of Christ and His kingdom has been formed that is overly associated with this context. This paper focuses on how non-Catholic Christians in majority Catholic nations can partner with the historic body of Christ where the church is seen as a particular possession of that culture. According to Richard Niebuhr’s influential taxonomy of Christ and culture positions, the Catholic church adheres to a model he describes as Christ-above-culture, or synthesis. Per Niebuhr’s classification, most non-Catholic Christians do not hold the synthesis view, an increasing number of whom are immigrating to Latin Europe.

A 2022 census shows that for the 7^th consecutive year foreign immigration to Portugal has increased, 11.9% more than in 2021 (Lusa, 2023). Brazilians represent 30.7% of the total population of immigrants in Portugal (Lusa, 2023). According to the Aliança Evangélica de Portugal, in 2023 Brazilians represent 81,6% of Evangelicals in Portugal (Brasileiros representam 81% dos evangélicos nas igrejas de Portugal, 2023). Of the next 9 nations from which most immigrants came, the next highest percentage was from the United Kingdom – predominantly secular but historically Protestant (Lusa, 2023). Three African nations are also among the list of 9 that have large Evangelical populations (Lusa, 2023). Only one country on the list was majority Catholic (Italy). It is evident that Portuguese Catholics are increasingly in contact Christians of other traditions, most of whom are Evangelicals (“Population of Portugal 2023 | Religion in Portugal,” 2021).  

In this paper I propose that Christians can engage in a healthy and meaningful way in majority Catholic contexts by exploring both traditions’ complementary wisdom on the relationship of Christ and culture. I will address the challenge Evangelicals face in Catholic communities that see Christianity as their particular cultural possession. In the second section, I will explore the historic foundations of the Catholic position on Christ and culture. Third, I will elaborate some Evangelical theologies of culture that foster positive relationship and partnership with Catholics in their heartland. Fourth, I will suggest some specific areas of cultural engagement for Catholic-Evangelical dialogue. And lastly, I conclude with a recommended aim for such dialogue – restoring a culturally pluralistic vision of Christianity.

The Catholic Solution: Christ Both Separate from Culture and Sovereign Over Culture

As stated earlier, most Evangelicals do not hold to Niebuhr’s Christ-above-culture position (1951). Understanding this position is necessary to determine if Evangelicals can engage with culture fruitfully together with their Catholic brothers and sisters. If not, Evangelicals’ only option will be to try and convert Catholics about culture or give up on fruitful partnership. Niebuhr believes that the church above culture worldview has been predominant in church history, manifesting in different forms (Niebuhr 1951). Synthesis is one such form, the greatest example being the Catholic church (Niebuhr 1951). The synthesis seeks a “both-and” solution, maintaining the separation between Christ and culture but insisting that Christ is “as sovereign over the culture as over the church” (Carson 2008). By this conception, there is no authority beyond what has been established by God, and therefore what is Caesar’s and God’s are rendered accordingly (Carson 2008). Central to this position is the conviction that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Almighty Father of all Creation. Culture is understood from the perspective that nature is good and rightly ordered by God, even post-Fall. Therefore, Christ and the world cannot be opposed to each other, nor can culture be the realm of godlessness alone. For as part of the world, culture is “upheld by the Creator and Governor of nature” (Niebuhr 1951).

The synthesist affirms both Christ and culture, confessing a Lord who is “both of this world and of the other” (Niebuhr 1951). This worldview maintains the distinction and paradoxical conviction that Jesus is “both God and man, one person with two ‘natures’ that are neither to be confused nor separated” (Niebuhr 1951). It follows that culture is “both divine and human in its origin, both holy and sinful, a realm of both necessity and freedom, and one to which both reason and revelation apply (Niebuhr 1951). This way of seeing Christ contrasts with a liberal theology that primarily values finding common ground with human culture and seeking fruitful partnership with it. But the synthesist’s appreciation of culture also contrasts with a conservative theology that denounces human culture as utterly depraved and seeks to either combat it or isolate from it (Niebuhr 1951). 

Niebuhr finds in Thomas Aquinas “the greatest of all synthesists in Christian history”, representing a Christianity that had “achieved or accepted full social responsibility for all the great institutions” (Niebuhr 1951). The Christ above culture position recognizes the antithesis between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness – between the regenerated believer and the unredeemed sinner. However, a synthesis is attempted between “philosophy and theology, state and church, civic and Christian virtues, natural and divine laws, Christ and culture” (Carson 2008). Aquinas’ approach became that of the Catholic church as well as many other denominations, according to Niebuhr, because of “the intellectual and practical adequacy of his system” (Niebuhr 1951). Although Aquinas’ synthesis was undermined by the Reformation and the Renaissance, it is perhaps the greatest of all comprehensive attempts to combine without confusing the ethics of culture with that of the gospel (Carson 2008).

In his own life and person, Aquinas embodied the “both-and” response to the question about Christ and culture. As a monk avowed to poverty, celibacy and obedience, Aquinas identified with the radical Christians who turned their backs on the secular world. But Aquinas was a monk in the church who became a champion of learning, a preserver of culture, a political philosopher, an advocate for Christian family values, and a governor of church’s relationship to the state (Niebuhr 1951). However, such a synthesis was never easily attained or maintained in Aquinas’ day. The Christ-above-culture approach sought to synthesize church and civilization, this world and the other, Christ and Aristotle…reformation and conservation. It depended on a certain coexistence and uneasy partnership between conservatives and liberals – the protest movements against culture weakening the gospel, and Christians who were highly culturally engaged (Niebuhr 1951). Such a partnership would require an influential radical Christianity protesting Christian institutions that weakened the gospel. And as its counterpart, a culturally engaged church would be needed that was strong enough to walk in unity with its loyal opposition (Niebuhr 1951).

Vatican II in the mid 20^th century represented a major move towards engaging modernism and some adjustments to Catholic understanding of the Church and the world. The background was the Catholic Intellectual Renaissance of the 20^th which begun in France with theologians reengaging with Aquinas’ thought. This renaissance resulted in large part due to a reengagement with the Thomistic concept of the bonum comune (the common good), part of his both-and theology of culture (Pakaluk 2021). Vatican II maintains Aquinas’ theology of culture as foundational, but recontextualizes it for modernity (Lewis 2021). 

A Protestant Theology of Culture That Makes Way for Partnership with Catholics (in their Heartland)

The ability of both Catholic and Evangelical Christians to engage in Western culture is inhibited by the view that their faith can be “tolerated, provided it is entirely private” (Carson 2012). But cohabitating with diverse religious claims today forces Christians of both churches to answer questions of Christ and culture in the public sphere. If culture consists, as Carson states, of “ideas, beliefs, customs, and all the rest” then it includes our faith traditions as well and is something that must be explored afresh by every generation (Carson 2012). The subject of the privatization of religion in secular society is a starting point for Evangelicals to engage in dialogue with Catholics. Evangelicals can learn from Catholics’ value of the collective witness of tradition. And Catholics can learn from Protestants’ realism on the fallibility of human institutions. 

Besides the synthesist position we have explored so far, Niebuhr describes two others that belong to the Christ-above-culture pattern – dualists and conversionists (Carson 2012). The dualist holds a Christ and culture in paradox position, that life’s foundational question is making the distinction not between “Christians and the pagan or secular world, but between God and all humankind” (Carson 2012). Christ came to bring reconciliation and forgiveness, and human culture is corrupt. This means all human work, achievement, philosophy, and theology – not only outside the church but inside it as well (Carson 2012). Foundational to the dualist position, is that the Christian does not pass judgement on others, but on all including themselves (Carson 2012). But although the dualist pronounces all human culture to be “godless and sick unto death”, he knows that he “belongs to that culture and cannot get out of it, that God indeed sustains him in it and by it” (Niebuhr 1951). Indeed, if God stops sustaining the world in its sin it would immediately cease to exist (Niebuhr 1951). The tension of this paradox is that of a thinker applying a dialectical to reality, “Living between time and eternity, between wrath and mercy, between culture and Christ” (Niebuhr 1951). The dualist “finds life both tragic and joyful” there is “no solution of the dilemma this side of death” (Niebuhr 1951). 

I believe the dualist position holds potential for Evangelicals and Catholics to discuss cultural engagement because it allows both to engage the world with humility. In a time when both Evangelical and Catholic churches face criticism from non-believers we can share the approach of recognizing our faults and repenting. Indeed, the dualists’ position that all Christians are sustained by God in a fallen world can help Catholics and Evangelicals find motivation to serve their communities while realizing the work will never be done this side of heaven. When Evangelicals are the minority faith tradition, the dualist position can help them have a prophetic voice while acknowledging an equal amount of correction is needed in their home cultures. 

But I find the conversionist position to hold the most potential for Evangelical minorities to engage fruitfully with Catholic majorities. This is the Christ the transformer of culture position. Niebuhr is not thinking here primarily of individual conversion but the conversion of the culture itself (Carson 2012). The conversionist maintains the radical difference between the work of God in Christ and the work of man in culture (Niebuhr 1951). They neither isolate from civilization nor reject its institutions, accepting their role in society while acknowledging Christ’s judgement of it (Carson 2012). The distinction between dualists and conversionists is their optimism about human culture (Carson 2012). Although redemption is superior to creation, creation is the sphere where God’s works redemption (Carson 2012). The dualist treats the physical world and human nature as inherently evil, resulting in the view that human institutions are a mostly negative force in a fallen world (Niebuhr 1951). However, conversionists affirm that although the fall had physical consequences they are “moral and personal, not physical and metaphysical” (Niebuhr 1951). Human history is the stage of God’s redemptive deeds and human beings’ responses to them. Thus, the conversionist has a more realized eschatology, living more in a divine ‘now’ (Niebuhr 1951). A radical conversionist position would lead to universalism, but Niebuhr’s typology refers to a position that contends on two fronts. The conversionist stands “against the anticulturalism of exclusive Christianity, and against the accomodationism of culture-Christians” (Niebuhr 1951). 

I believe the conversionist position has the most potential to help Evangelicals in majority Catholic contexts. While it is a sensitive issue, Evangelicals can help Catholics deal with the marginalization of faith in secular Western society by providing a vision of salt that preserves human cultures, their institutions, philosophy, and art. The minority Evangelical church has a position of blessing from the margins, fulfilling the biblical exhortation to “Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips” (New International Version, 2011, Pv. 27:2). I see parallels in the conversionist and synthesis models in that both seek to engage culture and actively influence it. However, I see the synthesis model’s optimism regarding the degree to which the church and state can be in partnership as lacking historical basis. Often, when the Church had the opportunity of political privilege it succumbed to the temptations towards corruption. I prefer the concept of the church redeeming culture, and the idea that the secular age presents a specific opportunity to do so. 

Suggested Points of Catholic-Evangelical Dialogue on Engaging Culture

            The effects of the Catholic church’s assuming full responsibility for all the great institutions of society during the era of Christendom are many. During this period, the foundation was laid for the development of arguably the greatest institution in human history. Even after the Enlightenment deposed the Catholic church from its throne at the center of Western society, it possessed an episcopal structure with a few powerful voices that could have dealings with government authorities (Carson 2008). In comparison, Evangelical churches are not attached to such authority structures, and are therefore more likely to respond by unsystematic partial measures over time (Carson 2008). So, regarding the ability to communicate with a clear voice in society, Evangelicals should look at Catholics with admiration. An effectively integrated structure of power depends on its ability to clearly declare its positions. For Evangelical traditions not based on the synthesists approach it seems impossible to have such a clear voice in society. Divided among thousands of denominations, Evangelicals cannot form and communicate unified representative messages. This is a point of dialogue where Evangelicals can communicate their admiration for the Catholic church. To some extent, we may also convey our gratitude for the Catholic church’s representation of Christianity on ethical and moral issues. The presence of a strong Catholic witness in the public sphere -generally conservative related to the nature of Christ and humanity – benefits non-Catholic Christians as well. 

            The Catholic synthesis successfully imbued Christian values into European society during the era of Christendom. But in the Modern Era many of these values were secularized and the Catholic faith was detached from the historical context in which it took root (Rowland 2003). In Modern Europe, concepts such as human rights and the sanctity of life were taken for grated without reference to the Bible. Some Catholics attempted to rearticulate the church’s message as one of universally held human values, not as God’s one plan of redemption rooted in biblical history. Karl Rahner, arguably the most famous Catholic theologian of the 20^th century, largely aimed at “adding new lenses to the Christian telescope so that it could detect the active presence of God both deep within the being of every human and throughout the expanse of history” (Knitter 2002). I am sympathetic to Rahner’s view as a missiological posture. But rather than making the Catholic church’s message more universally communicable, detaching Catholic teachings from the biblical matrix has contributed to a general loss of faith within Europe (Rowland 2003). 

            The conception of Catholicism as an aspect of Latin European culture has made it resistant to political reform movements arising from the church in other parts of the globe. Liberation Theology arising in Latin America articulated a theology of culture with particular emphasis on the comprehension of diversity. The method of this theology of culture is to insert itself into everyday life and promote holistic development of human beings, socio-political dialogue, and the practice of social justice (Mariano, 2016). These are the characteristics of a religion that liberates people and shows them “the blessed face of history” through the unity between “the political condition of Christianity” and “the pastoral action of the church” (Mariano, 2016). The honor with which Latin Europeans hold the institutions of Catholicism has been a barrier to learning from Latin American Liberation theologians. These exhort the Catholic church worldwide to “prefer to be poor and humble with Christ, (…) than rich and powerful” (Mariano, 2016). The latter position amounts to “agreement with the structures of cultural domination that maintain cultural contradictions of the model of globalization that substitutes human dignity for gain” (Mariano, 2016). Due to a lack of interest in the priestly vocation in Latin Europe, today an increasing number of clerics there hail from Latin America and other regions of the Global South (CNA, n.d.). For the past 70 years this has brought the message of Liberation theology to the doors of Latin European Catholic churches. 

            As Evangelicals following the example of Christ, we should enter the dialogue related to Christ and social justice with humility. According to the Weberian hypothesis, Evangelical Calvinism is largely responsible for the modern industrial complex, for which many of us take pride. But a more effective posture to the end of Evangelical-Catholic dialogue and partnership would be our humble repentance for preferring to be rich and powerful rather than humble with Christ. And we Evangelicals should reflect on the motivation behind the famous Protestant Work Ethic. Having lost the priestly intermediation of forgiveness of sins and access to heaven, Protestants wondered how they could know they were among the elect. They were instructed to devote themselves to restless professional work as a means for calming their religious doubts” (Kurz, 2021). 

Closer to liberation theology in some respects is the conversionist position held by many Evangelicals. Although not one of the hosts of Christian leaders explored by Niebuhr, I consider Abraham Kuyper to exemplify many characteristics of the conversionist position. However, while Kuyper exhorted Christians to influence the spheres of culture, he cautioned them against entangling the church in these endeavors inappropriately (Carson 2008). Unfortunately, many Evangelicals have gone one step too far in this direction, interpreting separation of church and state as a separation between Christians and the state. The result has been that in many Evangelical majority countries both the church and individual Christians have disengaged from influencing society (Carson 2008). 

But Evangelicals in majority Catholic contexts do have wisdom to share with their Christian brothers and sisters regarding cultural engagement. Kuyper believed that Calvinism had replaced human priestly mediation with that of Christ, allowing the Christian to look beyond the church to the greater vision of the kingdom (Kuyper 1898, lecture II). The former Prime Minister of the Netherlands believed that in Christ is the redemption of the human race, not just the church, which will be fully manifest at His return (Kuyper 1898, lecture II). The synthesist position limits religion to the sphere of catechism and church calendar events… baptism, burial, and marriage. Thus, the daily life of the Catholic laity was marginalized from the effects of religion. Calvinism taught that the ordinance of God is determinative in all creation – the foundation of all beauty, virtue, ethics, biology, and cosmology (Kuyper 1898, lecture II). This Evangelical motivation for cultural engagement is not a correction to the Catholic synthesis, but it can serve as a point of encouragement as we work together for this end. 

My conviction is that both the individual Christian as well as the church should engage in every sphere of society where the gospel can be manifest. An Evangelical dualist position that disengages from societal needs is an inadequate witness to Christ’s kingdom and His love for the world. At the same time, an overly zealous and optimistic conversionist position can turn the ministry of influencing spheres of society into a burden of works. We do well to remember that “all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (New International Version 2011, Rom. 8:14). The mission to transform culture must be taken up with Christ’s declaration that the members of His Body live under the burden dictated by his gentle love (Mat. 11:28), following the Spirit’s lead in simple, daily obedience.

Taking Advantage of Christian Parallels with Pluralistic Ideologies as a Means of Evangelism

I would like to conclude this paper with a specific goal for Evangelical-Catholic dialogue:  debunking the caricature of Christianity as foundationally an aspect of Western civilization. Indeed, ever since Paul received the Macedonian call west, we have seen the development of the church in Europe. But the idea that the gospel is an aspect of Western empire is a barrier to today’s young Europeans and their pluralistic ideologies. 

In Latin Europe, the synthesist approach fostered a culture heavily influenced by the church over centuries. The legacy of this influence is ambiguous due to the nature of all human institutions, even that one called to represent God’s redemptive plan. And even after a process of secularization Latin Europeans continue to identify the institution of the Church and its teachings and worldview as an integral part of their cultural heritage. Most young Latin Europeans to not adhere to church’s teaching on subjects such as sexuality, the nature of family, and the role of faith in the public square (Francisco Fala Para Dentro Ou Para Fora Da Igreja?, n.d.). But they still want the church to occupy a place in society as a point of moral reference (Francisco Fala Para Dentro Ou Para Fora Da Igreja?, n.d.). It is easy to see this Latin European cultural value as rootedness in the idea of catholicity itself, the singular glory of the church being its unified nature. But a better understanding would be that Latin European Christianity is a particular cultural expression of a greater universality. In the context of historical shifts such as the Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, and post-colonial American-led capitalism, in Roman Catholicism Latin Europeans find a source of transcendental unity, purpose, and identity.

But this perspective obscures a foundational mystery of the Christian faith – the incarnation – where God glorifies contextualization as a primordial aspect of His love. John describes the incarnation as glorious, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (New International Version, 2011, Jo. 1:14). John also describes the incarnation as an expression of love, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (New International Version, 2011, Jo. 3:16). Paul emphasizes the humility of the incarnation, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (New International Version, 2011, Phil. 2:8). The author of Hebrews describes Christ’s coming to earth in human form as the ultimate form of divine communication, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe” (New International Version, 2011, Heb. 1:1-2). 

I propose that Evangelicals living in majority Catholic contexts partner with Christ where His Spirit has been at work there for centuries. In his book The Road to Missional, Michael Frost recommends that Christians desiring to impact a nation or community ask, “Where is Jesus already there” (2011). Frost describes this approach: 

It is our job as the followers of Jesus to invite people into the new history that God is writing, to show them that the reign of God is unfurling across the world and throughout history, and to invite others to make that story their story. If we don’t even know what has been and is currently happening (…), how can we retell the story with a view to the future God has in store? (2011) 

I am most inspired by missionaries to Latin Europe who have rejected a colonizing approach where Evangelicals seek to convert Catholics to Evangelicalism. I find much more compelling the models of Evangelical missions in my context that seek to find where the Holy Spirit is already at work and to partner with Him there. 

The Catholic synthesis position undermines unity with the Global church, the majority of which exists outside the Roman Catholic tradition (although global Catholicism is huge). As stated in the introduction, the large number of non-Catholic Christian immigrants to Latin Europe makes this view particularly harmful to Christ’s work there. A lack of understanding of contextualization and resulting cultural diversity as foundational to the gospel undermines the health and influence of the Latin European church. 

It is interesting to note that one may assume that the synthesis approach would make it difficult for Roman Catholics to evangelize cross-culturally, however the history of Catholic missions shows this not to be the case. Roman catholic missionaries such as the Jesuits were amazingly successful at making the Christian message relevant and compelling to many diverse cross-cultural contexts from “low” cultures such as in South America to “high” cultures of the far East. Part of the impetus of the Counter Reformation – a term coined by Protestants – was a desire to establish a unified Catholic state after the fragmentation brought by Luther and his successors. In the 15th and 16th centuries an apocalyptic Catholic optimism arose during the unification of the Spanish throne under Ferdinand and Isabel. Any land not inhabited by Christians was declared to be open to “discovery” by pope Alexander (Gordon 2022). Referred to as the Catholic Reformation, some historians consider this period to be the beginning of Global Christianity (Gordon 2022a). 

The Jesuits were pioneers of missionary cultural accommodation involving language, dress, and even religion. In more developed societies such as Japan and China, the Jesuits employed a strategy of converting the influential elite (Gordon 2022a). They were among the greatest journalists and historians of their generation, with luminaries such as Mateo Ricci. Ricci sought evangelistic inroads by translating knowledge of math and engineering from the West which the Chinese valued. The Jesuits made a huge contribution to the progress of historical, philosophical, and cultural knowledge. These gifts are often neglected by Protestants as we acclaim our own legacy. Ricci adopted the Confucian concept of the mind palace as a practical tool for memorization. As an evangelistic strategy, he sought to be taken seriously by the Chinese intellectual elites in the areas of medicine, engineering, and math (Gordon 2022a). 

Conclusion

Christians can Evangelicals in majority Catholic contexts can learn from and partner with their brothers and sisters in Christ by exploring both traditions’ theology of culture. The Latin European Catholic church’s appropriation of the gospel as a particular possession of this culture is a challenge for Evangelicals who desire to serve the Body of Christ there. But Evangelicals can learn much from the Catholic Christ-above-culture synthesis, as well as Catholics learning from Evangelical positions such as Christ-and-culture in Paradox, and Christ-as-Transformer of Culture. Catholicism’s positive attitude towards creation provides a needed counterbalance to Protestant’s overemphasis of the Christ-and-culture antithesis. And Protestants need not look far and wide for a more positive attitude towards creation themselves. The idea present in Calvinism that God is sovereign of every sphere of society is fodder for conversation with Catholics if we are humble enough to learn from each other. And ultimately, it is my recommendation that Evangelicals in Catholic contexts respect the life and fruit in the Body of Christ there as it is. We Evangelicals can and should be able to add to the work of Christ in any location. But with Paul we should recognize the challenges involved ed in building on the foundation of another’s labor.

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