The Bible in Cross Cultural Perspective (Revised Edition)

The Bible in Cross Cultural Perspective (Revised Edition)
Author: Jacob A Loewen
Publisher: William Carey Publishing
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2020-06-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1645083047

Some Questions are Universal. Where did I come from? What happens when I die? Am I important? Across the world, these questions are answered in a vast range of ways, shaped by our worldview, and our specific cultural context. Cross-cultural workers, seeking to engage people at the point of these questions, can offer a rich dialogue between cultural assumptions and biblical truth, but only if they can reach into the cultural framework underlying a particular context. The Bible in Cross-Cultural Perspective explores this cultural framework, tackling different aspects of the “Biblical worldview’s” interaction with both “Western/secular” and a “traditional/animist” worldviews. With topics ranging from the physical and metaphysical perception of the universe, to the significance of names, Loewen unpacks cultural construction in all of it’s layered complexity, allowing us to visualize where the Gospel will interact with people’s beliefs, regardless of their context. Jacob Loewen, the author of Culture and Human Values, draws on multiple years of experience—across several continents—as a field missionary, anthropologist, linguist, Bible translator, and missions researcher. The Bible in Cross-Cultural Perspective, originally published in 2000, is Loewen’s culminating work in missionary anthropology and it remains a useful and relevant work today.

American Cultural Patterns

American Cultural Patterns
Author: Edward C. Stewart
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2011-06-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0983955832

A fully revised edition of the seminal classic This classic study was originally written by Edward Stewart in 1972 and has become a seminal work in the field of intercultural relations. In this edition, Stewart and Milton J. Bennett have greatly expanded the analysis of American cultural patterns by introducing new cross-cultural comparisons and drawing on recent reseach on value systems, perception psychology, cultural anthropology, and intercultural communication. Beginning with a discussion of the issues relative to contact between people of different cultures, the authors examine the nature of cultural assumptions and values as a framework for cross-cultural analysis. They then analyze the human perceptual process, consider the influence of language on culture, and discuss nonverbal behavior. Central to the book is an analysis of American culture constructed along four dimentions: form of activity, form of social relations, perceptions of the world, and perception of the self. American cultural traits are isolated out, analyzed, and compared with parallel characteristics of other cultures. Finally, the cultural dimentions of communication and their implications for cross-cultural interaction are examined.

Cross-Cultural Connections

Cross-Cultural Connections
Author: Duane Elmer
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2009-08-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830874828

Duane Elmer offers the tools needed to reduce apprehension, communicate effectively and establish genuine trust and acceptance between cultures while demonstrating how we can avoid being cultural imperialists and instead become authentic ambassadors for Christ.

The New Testament in Cross-Cultural Perspective

The New Testament in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Author: Richard L. Rohrbaugh
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2006-10-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1597528277

The Bible is not a Western book, and the world of the New Testament is not our world. The New Testament world was preindustrial, Mediterranean, and populated mostly by nonliterate peasants who depended on hearing these writings read aloud. Only a few of the literate elite were part of the Jesus movement, and they knew nothing of either modernity or the Western culture we inhabit today. This means that for all North Americans, reading the New Testament is always an exercise in cross-cultural communication. Travelers, diplomats, and exchange students take great pains to bridge the cultural gaps that cloud mutual understanding. But North American readers habitually suspend cross-cultural awareness when encountering the Bible. The result is that we unwittingly project our own cultural understandings onto the pages of the New Testament. Rohrbaugh argues that to whatever degree we can bridge cultural gaps between ourselves and New Testament writers, we learn to value their intentions rather than the meanings we create from their words. Rohrbaugh's insightful interpretations of Gospel passages go a long way toward helping to span distances between the New Testament world and the present.

The Cultural World of the Bible

The Cultural World of the Bible
Author: Victor H. Matthews
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2015-07-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 144122825X

In this new edition of a successful book (over 120,000 copies sold), now updated throughout, a leading expert on the social world of the Bible offers students a reliable guide to the manners and customs of the ancient world. From what people wore, ate, and built to how they exercised justice, mourned, and viewed family and legal customs, this illustrated introduction helps readers gain valuable cultural background on the biblical world. The attractive, full-color, user-friendly design will appeal to students, while numerous pedagogical features--including fifty photos, sidebars, callouts, maps, charts, a glossary of key terms, chapter outlines, and discussion questions--increase classroom utility. Previously published as Manners and Customs in the Bible.

Cross-Cultural Servanthood

Cross-Cultural Servanthood
Author: Duane Elmer
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2009-08-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830874836

With careful biblical exposition and keen cross-cultural awareness, Duane Elmer offers principles and guidance for avoiding misunderstandings and building relationships in ways that honor people in other cultures.

Companion God

Companion God
Author: George T. Montague
Publisher: Paulist Press
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2010
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780809145010

This revised edition of Companion God is a unique commentary resource that combines contemporary biblical scholarship with the perspective of a third world culture similar to that of biblical times. Based upon the author's many years of teaching and preaching the Gospel of Matthew, along with his experience of having spent six years living in Nepal and India, the biblical text is accompanied by an engaging and anecdotal presentation drawing upon the practices and customs of the tribal cultures indigenous to that region, such as arranged marriages; animal sacrifices; festivals resembling the Israelite Passover; foot washing; week-long weddings; extended family; smothering hospitality; tribal traditions; and dealing with widespread leprosy. The five narratives and discourses in the Gospel of Matthew leading to the passion, death, resurrection, and the Great Commission are considered, along with the major Matthean themes; the Beatitudes; the Lord's Prayer; Jesus' conflicts in dealing with the Pharisees; and insights with practical application to contemporary life. This commentary is an ideal resource for use in colleges, Bible study programs, Bible study groups, and homily preparation. Book jacket.

Crossing Cultures in Scripture

Crossing Cultures in Scripture
Author: Marvin J. Newell
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2016-10-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830873333

Missionary and missions professor Marvin Newell provides a biblical theology of culture and mission, mining the depths of Scripture to tease out missiological insights and crosscultural perspectives. Organized canonically from Genesis to Revelation, this text reveals how the whole of Scripture speaks to contemporary mission realities.

Cross-Cultural Partnerships

Cross-Cultural Partnerships
Author: Mary T. Lederleitner
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2010-02-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830837477

Cross-cultural specialist Mary Lederleitner brings missiological and financial expertise to explain how global mission efforts can be funded with integrity, mutuality and transparency. Bringing together social science research, biblical principles and on-the-ground examples, she presents best practices for handling funding and finance.

Crossing Cultures with the Gospel

Crossing Cultures with the Gospel
Author: Darrell L. Whiteman
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2024-02-27
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 149342954X

Southwestern Journal of Theology 2023 Book Award (Honorable Mention, Evangelism/Missions/Global Church) Drawing on forty years of teaching and mission experience, leading missiological anthropologist Darrell Whiteman brings a wealth of insight to bear on cross-cultural ministry. After explaining the nature and function of culture and the importance of understanding culture for ministry, Whiteman addresses the most common challenges of ministering across cultures. He then provides practical solutions based on lived experience, helping readers develop healthy patterns so they can communicate the gospel effectively. Issues addressed include negotiating differences in worldview, the problem of nonverbal communication, understanding cultural forms and their meanings, and the challenge of overcoming culture shock. Professors, students, and anyone ministering cross-culturally will benefit from this informed yet accessible guide. Foreword by Miriam Adeney.