There is a difference between using stories to teach the Bible and preaching the gospel as a story. It's the second option that makes interpretation possible for oral peoples. As Christians, what kind of story are we telling? Read more
There is a difference between using stories to teach the Bible and preaching the gospel as a story. It's the second option that makes interpretation possible for oral peoples. As Christians, what kind of story are we telling? Read more
How can oral people groups interpret the Bible when they can’t read it? How can they “interpret Scripture with Scripture” when the words on the page are gibberish to them? We can’t dismiss literacy as simply “western.” God himself chose reveal himself through written words. Until literate leaders emerge who can constantly read the Bible itself, what are we to do? This dilemma is not unique to the work of modern day missionaries. Keep in mind the ancient world was... Read more
In the last post, I made a simple argument. It is very easy––if not common––for methods of oral Bible teaching to undermine any hope that illiterate people groups will interpret the Bible for themselves in a way that is faithful to the entire story of Scripture. How are people supposed to interpret a story full of true facts but one that is told in a wrong way? In upcoming posts, I’ll talk about interpretation (or, “exegesis”) and contextualization. For now,... Read more
Some people might take issue with my critique of C2C in the last post. Am I saying C2C is somehow bad? No. That would be too sweeping a comment. A good friend emailed me after my last post. He suggested that some people might misunderstand my meaning. This post is an unplanned interjection to the series. I think it would help to make some clarifications before going on. I will clarify myself by responding to a few possible objections to... Read more
Taking the Context out of the Bible? We’ve all heard taking a passage out of context, where someone interprets a text in a way that completely doesn’t fit with the author’s original context. Among oral-based and illiterate cultures, I wonder if the mirror reflection of this problem exists––stripping the context from the biblical story. I’m asking this question: Might it be the case that some methods of oral Bible teaching may make it more difficult, even impossible, for oral peoples... Read more
In this series, I will explore the topic of contextualization among unreached people groups with orality based cultures. To state it negatively, they have high levels of illiteracy. This is a complex topic, which requires a few posts to unpack the diverse factors related to contextualization among oral peoples. THEOLOGY FOR THE SAKE OF UPGs One of the main reasons I do theological education among Chinese church leaders is to equip a massive missionary force to reach the various unreached... Read more
Trying to figure out how to contextualize the gospel? Practically speaking, how do we assess whether a contextualization is faithful to Scripture and meaningful for a local culture? Check out my article called “Contextualizing the One Gospel in Any Culture––A Model from the Biblical Text for a Global Context.” In a single article, I jump head first into a few questions that are heavily debated among evangelicals. On the question “What is the Gospel?” here are just a few of... Read more
I have written on the influence of our culture lens on our theology and view of contextualization. (My forthcoming article in April will apply this principle to the gospel in particular). I want to give a brief and rather humorous example how our culture influences the way we read Scripture. While grading one of my student’s papers from my Systematic Theology II class, the following explanation was given for why Adam and Eve wore loincloths, “人类始祖犯罪后，因 . . . 惧怕冷... Read more
In previous posts, I explained the meaning of the resurrection and gave a few ideas how the resurrection influences the work of missions. I want to briefly add a few additional thoughts. Evangelism This application naturally works out of what was previously said. I’ll sharpen the point here. We do not merely preach Jesus’ death (as the climax of the gospel) with the resurrection as the confirming evidence. We preach the resurrection as the gospel’s climax. After all, a “gospel,”... Read more
Next week, I’m starting a series that focuses on how we might help oral learners do biblical interpretation and contextualization. This task has obvious challenges. To get you thinking about the topic ahead of time, I direct your attention to a thoughtful blog post by Heather Holt at WCIU International Development Journal, called Theological Education for Oral Learners. WCIU has a blog with posts covering a range of topics. Here is a sample: “In teaching an oral audience, the important... Read more
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