Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues By Paul G.

Herbert This book tries to explain how philosophy, history and empiric approach helps th e study of Scripture and humanity and how anthropology can contribute to mission . The book is a commitment to discover a biblical worldview that will help us to understand the word as God indented too, and also how to communicate and unders tand better the salvation of God. As the author states it right at the beginning No one would be consider adequately trained for cross-cultural missions not with out some understanding of cultural anthropology. One of the first links between the mission and anthropology is the langu age. Bible translation in many languages was one of the most important things fo r missions, because this way they brought the Word to people in their language. In mission the Bible study is vital and also the socio cultural context of the p eople they serve, so than the Gospel can be communicate more efficient. In the p ast missionaries understood the Word but not the people they served. The result was the people did not get the message. Without knowing the people they can not effectively communicate Gods Word and bring the Good News, and the churches plant ed will become cultural alienate. One major contribution of anthropology has bee n the awareness that all people have their own views of themselves and of realit y and that we must comprehend these if we want to understand and communicate wit h them. Another important aspect is that if we use anthropological issues in mission, we must be aware of the danger of not accepting secular and humanistic perspective s. So we have to bring theology among the two, anthropology and missiology. Considering the theology we must beware of the epistemological foundations of sc ience that was changed dramatically. There were three major attacks on these fo undations, Albert Einstein in relativity, Niels Bohr in quantum mechanics and ot hers that showed that the personal factor of the scientist inevitably enters int o scientific knowledge. The conclusion was that there is no such thing as totall y objective knowledge. Considering this we must pay attention to the theology re alm and check it for errors. The way to do this is to affirm: 1. All theology must be rooted in the Scripture 2. Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of Gods people revealing the meaning of the Scriptures to individuals and churches in their particular settings. 3. Believers and congregations must help one another discern the leading of the Holy Spirit. These statements are important for two reasons. The one who preaches must do tha t in a meek way and he is protected of doing errors when others can judge and he lp him to keep a clear based theology. The community is also protected of receiv ing any kind of theology, because they have the power to discern and judge befor e they receive it. In recent times missionary movement has also raised profound questions regarding theology. As more churches were planted in new cultures, people asked themselve s how to worship, how to dress and how to act as Christians. The result was conf usion, so that was a necessary to form paradigms of theological unity. Where are theological absolutes? We hold the Scriptures to be true, for they are Gods revel ations. But how can we preserve that truth if we allow all believers to read and interpret the Scripture in their own cultural settings? How can we speak of tru th when we must recognize the subjective and culture-bound nature of all human k nowledge? There are many other aspects to be considered, like the bicultural bridg e. How does the gospel move from one culture to another; the order and relations hips in mission field? I found it more important to see how missions affect the renewal of the church. In time, a church like any other institution grows and ma tures, and thus has problems that result with it. So the pressures arises to mak e public the beliefs and goals of the institution. There are few benefits and da nger of this process of institutionalization. One benefit is the redemption and lift, find particularly in churches with lower class of society. In this case in time they became self supporting and may loos

e the contact with the environment they began with. Another benefit is the effic iency. They will pay a big price to maintain themselves so they become efficient . In time they will also become theologically mature. The long survival of the ch urch in a land and its ability to remain true to the Christian faith through the centuries depends to a considerable extent upon the emergence of leaders rooted in a deep understanding of the Scriptures. There are also dangers of the institutionalization. I will briefly mention them: the losing of the vision, the concern for self maintaining, the inflexibility a nd the shift from focusing the programs rather than people. Considering this som e will argue that we must get rid of the formal social organization. But antistr uctural movements have been less successful. Still, God work trough spiritual, c ultural, social and psychological processes he created in human beings. What is the conclusion then? The institutional must encounter a process of renewal. One pattern is pe rsonal conversions. Personal commitment to Christ at a age of accountability mea ns to pay the cost of leaving the old way of life to a new dimension of life. Al ong conversion, another pattern might be the beginning of a new movement. (This might cause church to split, or some tensions anyway.) Another powerful structur e of change to consider is rituals. They play an important role in any religion, in expression of religious feelings. They stand as sacred events, opposing the normal, ordinary events of secular life. Rituals can be of restoration or of tra nsformation. Rituals might become the religion itself, for instance orthodoxy in my country. If we take out the rituals there is nothing left. Transformation ri tuals are an important part of church renewal. Restorative rites can renew commit ment and vision but only by reaffirming the institutional structures. It takes t ransformation and revolutions to break the stranglehold these structures can hav e in the church.