Culture and Faith

WHAT IS CULTURE? MULTICULTURALITY

Culture is a society’s regularized or standardized RESULTS FROM

design for living. MEGA-MIGRATION

IT INVOLVES:
ENCULTURATION
Behavior Values

The process by
which culture is
Beliefs Symbols passed on based
on the control that
the older
FOUR LEVELS OF CULTURE generation
(ACCORDING TO STANDAERT): exercises over the
means of rewarding
ACTION- clothing, food or means of transport.
and punishing
SYMBOL- language, myth, rites of passage at birth,
children
puberty, marriage, birth, greetings
DYNAMIC- (always changing). Cultures can evolve due to
demographic development, economic laws, climactic
changes or human or technological progress.
SUBCULTURE- within a culture there can be several
subcultures

RELIGION IS THE ANIMATING PRINCIPLE OF CULTURE.

CULTURE IS LIKE A BODY, WITH RELIGION AS ITS SOUL.
BODY
(Culture) SOUL FAITH BECOMES A PRINCIPLE THAT ANIMATES, DIRECTS
(Religion) AND UNIFIES THE CULTURE, TRANSFORMING IT AND

REMAKING IT SO AS TO BRING ABOUT A ‘NEW

CREATION’.

HUMAN AND WORLD FLOURISHING IS THE GOAL OF

CULTURES. THUS, CULTURE NOT ONLY COULD

CULTIVATE BUT ALSO CAN MEDIATE THE CHRISTIAN

FAITH TO OTHERS.

INCULTURATION
Pope John Paul II in
Redemptoris Missio, n. 52
“the intimate transformation
of authentic cultural values
through their integration in
Christianity and the
insertion of Christianity in
the various human
cultures.”  Christian faith, which is born when Truth is revealed, produces
raises two related problems
- evangelisation of cultures
and cultural understanding
of the Gospel.
 Active, based on mutual
recognition and dialogue,  a
critical mind and insight,
faithfulness and conversion,
transformation and growth,
renewal and innovation.
INTERCULTURALITY
“belongs to the original form of Christianity” and implies both
a positive attitude toward other cultures and toward the
religions that constitute the soul of these cultures.
The meeting of cultures rests on two assumptions: the
universality of natural law (despite their differences, men
share the same nature, which is reason open to Truth); and
a “culture of faith” that can be found in every person or
cultural group.
The Christian faith cannot be reduced to any one culture.
Pope Benedict XVI
abandon the
concept of
inculturation in
favour of that of
interculturality.