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INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
Grace Theological Seminary, Los Angeles, January 18-22, 2010
Paul Hiebert
Cultural Anthropology
Anthropological Insights for Missionaries
Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues
Understanding Folk Religions
Transforming Worldviews
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Definition .............................................................................................................................................. 2
The Society Concept.............................................................................................................................. 3
The Culture Concept ............................................................................................................................. 4
Material Culture .................................................................................................................................... 4
Ecology .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Communication ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Life Cycle ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Social Groups ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Marriage and Kinship ............................................................................................................................ 7
Kinship Systems & Groups .................................................................................................................... 7
Economic Systems................................................................................................................................. 8
Legal Systems and Political Organization.............................................................................................. 9
Religion.................................................................................................................................................. 9
Expressive Culture ............................................................................................................................... 11
Socio-cultural Change ......................................................................................................................... 11
Individual Culture ................................................................................................................................ 12
World View.......................................................................................................................................... 12
Kinship Bonds ...................................................................................................................................... 18
Scripture and Anthropology................................................................................................................ 18
American, Indian and Christian Worldviews ....................................................................................... 20
Set Theory in Anthropology ................................................................................................................ 22
Spiritual Warfare in Current Christianity ............................................................................................ 23
Anthropology of Your Ministry ........................................................................................................... 24
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1. Definition
Anthropology (anthropos + logia): science of humankind.
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Christian workers maintain a trilogue between theology, Scripture and science.
We must understand God’s revelation, our own interpretations and others’ perceptions.
We must be able to affirm truth while disallowing atheistic and naturalistic hypotheses.
Science has its origins in the Holy Bible (Heb. 11:6), so biblicists employ scientific methods.
Origin: Christian missionary discussions on what to do about non-European cultures. With the
secularization of universities, anthropologists adopted non-theistic assumptions.
Approaches: Evolutionary (naturalist), Structural-functional (modernist), Marxist (conformist), Christian
(theist).
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Diachronic – how change occurs over time
Synchronic – comparison at a point or period in time.
Main branches of anthropology
1. Physical – primatology (comparing apes & humans); paleontology (evolutionary philosophy
about human origins); paleoanthropology (search for ‘missing links’).
 Purpose – understand and explain variation in humans: adaptation (within bounds of DNA);
acclimatization (due to environment); acculturation (adoption of beliefs and behavior).
 Commonly recognized variations occur in body build, facial characteristics, skin color, and
resistance to disease.
 Current fields of study include paleopathology (degenerative and communicable diseases);
trauma (war, homicide, injury), dental (tooth wear); demographics (gender, age and social
stratification); forensics (determining identity and time and cause of death).
2. Historical – archeology (chronology & stratigraphy); bio-archeology (ancient diet & health);
paleopathology (degenerative & communicable diseases); etc.
3. Social – sociology (organizations & structures); cultural (beliefs and behavioral patterns)
4. Linguistical – phonology (phonetics & phonemics); grammar (morphology, syntax); semantics
(forms and meanings).
 Astonishingly more complex than animal call systems.
 Common traits: dualistic (forms & meanings; abstract (displaced from referents); symbolic
(unrelated to referents); amendable (can add and change); creative (can generate new
sentences).
5. Theological – creation, mandate, fall, redemption, restoration…
Importance – Whilst all humans have common needs, emotions, questions and aspirations, various
societies express those in different forms with different beliefs and meanings.
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Understand others, surviving culture ‘shock’ and reducing ‘ethnocentrism’.
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Bible translation – language meaning derives from usage in historico-cultural context.
Language and culture acquisition – reside and work successfully in another society.
Religious and cultural change – avoiding ‘syncretism’ of new forms and old meanings.
Contextualization – introducing new meanings in new and old forms.
Method – Make or read ethnographic descriptions, then perform ethnological analysis. (1) Gain insiders’
(emic) understanding their own patterns and behavior, (2) discern patterns across many
societies, and (3) adjust Christian ministries and forms to make God’s revelation clear to others
(without compromising Truth).
Objective: Not to discover universal laws but to develop models, ways of seeing how cultures operate.
Errors: To make humans = the sum of our models; to explain humans by one cause (reductionism).
2. The Society Concept
Society – individuals, kindred, and groups that communicate and cooperate in structures and
institutions, occupy statuses (levels of authority) with roles (duties and privileges).
Structure – sets of statuses and roles that exercise authority within groups.
Kin, kinship – biological and fictive family relations.
Institution – complex endeavors (politics & power; economics & environment; education & knowledge;
religion & ideology; war & defense).
Status – Binary relationship of inequality with another person, e.g. husband and wife.
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Achieved status – earned through effort, achievement, purchase or election.
Ascribed status – received by right of birth, kinship, gender, age, caste, wealth or class.
Rank – position in an hierarchy of power, authority, wealth, prestige.
Role – the expected behavior and duties of each person in a status. Behavior includes ideal, acceptable,
marginal or deviant.
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Role conflict: when an individual’s statuses require contradictory behavior.
Role pairs: Dyad relationships.
Role expectation and confusion: cross-cultural surprises.
Multiplex and simplex roles: how many roles an individual plays in a same situation.
Personal and impersonal roles: how much it matters who plays a role.
Vertical roles (rank) and horizontal roles (equality).
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3. The Culture Concept
Culture – “The learned behavior, beliefs, attitudes, values, ideals and symbols shared by members of a
society.” (Currah, 2010)
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Cultures are learned by one generation from another, mainly through symbols by instruction
and observation, consciously and unconsciously.
As humans in one society become aware of differences in other societies, a natural response
is ethnocentrism, a strong preference for one’s own social patterns and cultural traits.
Christian ministers must learn about three kinds of culture: ancient cultures in which God
revealed his Word; their own cultures in which they apply God’s Word; and cultures into
which they seek to bring God’s Word.
Behavior – learned patterns of action, activities and skills deemed appropriate within a society.
Beliefs – learned beliefs held in common with other members of a society.
Attitudes – emotions and sentiments that members of a society feel about actions, objects and ideas.
Values – standards by which members of a society judge each other’s actions and ideas.
Ideals – the ways in which members of a society believe they and others ought to think and to behave.
Symbols – any word, object or action that represents another word, object or action.
Perspectives: Both populations and observers have their biases and values.
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‘emic,’ how populations explain their actions
‘etic,’ how observers describe the same.
4. Material Culture
Artifacts: objects, tools, weapons that can be contrasted and classified in taxonomies.
Limits to classification: generalizing of details; objects out of their context lose their meaning; etic
concepts applied to emic objects.
Errors: evolutionary schemes (assuming simple to complex); strict functionalism (ignoring history,
change and values); absolute meanings (e.g. property ownership).
Values determine function: Clothing – protection, modesty, adornment, habit, sign of status, role,
wealth, ethnicity.
5. Ecology
Adaptation: biology to constants (elevation, climate, threats); culture to variables (seasons).
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Subsistence: Food gathering, production, synthesizing.
Population growth and resource depletion.
Coping with drought, war, disease.
6. Communication
Communication: exchange of symbols via encoding, expression, perception and decoding, seeking to
share meaning or create understanding.
Sign: anything that has a direct relation to another. Snow  cold, and fire, miracle power.
Symbol: anything that relates to a ‘mental concept’ or another thing.
Attributes: arbitrary, conventional, ambiguous, and cultural.
Meaning: ideas, feelings, and values.
Culture and meaning are transmitted through communication of twelve ‘signal’ systems.
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Speech
Writing
Mathematics
Gestures
Music
Artifacts
Color
Lighting
Texture
Time
Space
Smell and taste
7. Life Cycle
Rites of passage: rituals that mark transition of individuals from one phase of life into another.
Universal passages: birth, marriage, death.
Optional passages: weaning, naming, age progression, initiation, ancestorhood. Others?
8. Social Groups
Statistical (etic) – ways in which observers classify by demography or behavior.
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Societal (emic) – Conscious, mental ways in which folk sort and identify themselves.
Social Group Members
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are conscious of their association and interact face-to-face.
know what kind of folk they are, and they know their group’s symbols.
participate in sets of roles, recruitment, acceptance ques (such as being told gossip).
organize themselves with status, role, rank, prestige and rewards.
can move between statuses.
Associations – Every social group has functions (common interests), norms (right conduct), statuses
(division of labor), authority (leadership), symbols (names or signs), property (land, artifacts, money) and
members (those who meet criteria).
Types of associations – friendship, gender, age, secret (knowledge, activities, security), prestige, interest
(trade, cooperatives).
Institutions – associations having similar, organized functions (religious, political, educational,
economic…) and highly-patterned behavior. Associations become institutions when:
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Friendship  roles and etiquette
Charismatic leaders  official holders
Beliefs  creeds
Ad hoc (informal) decisions  rules
Tasks  self-maintenance
Spontaneous action  traditions
Crowds – casual (e.g. shoppers) or organized (spectators). Subject to ‘emotional contagion.’
Communities – agricultural (work land); nomadic (return to political camps), urban (institutional),
suburban (residential), metroplex (many cities).
Ethnicity – ascribed membership, conscious identity, shared values and traits (language, food, dress,
economy, religious beliefs, political views).
Tribes – territory, trade, raiding, boundary wars, kinship system.
Polyethnicity – symbiotic relations (trade, slavery) between tribes, e.g. Tutsi, Hutu and pygmies.
Caste – amount of ‘cleanness,’ prescribed kinds of work, economic interdependence; hereditary,
hierarchical bonds between castes (patron-client relationship). No mobility between castes.
Class – any group marked by stratification (social rank), boundaries, and mobility. Boundaries include
wealth, occupation, education, residence, power, prestige….
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Etic views: economic strata (Marx); any set of opportunities, attitudes, values and conscience
(social scientists).
Emic views: those who share a common rank in a society, whether economic or social.
Minorities – groups that have limited interaction with other groups.
9. Marriage and Kinship
Every society provides for marriage and has a kinship system. Marriageless societies disintegrate.
Basic dyads – marriage (sex, children, roles, division of labor, distribution of goods);
mother & child (enculturation).
Marriage maintains social order and forms alliances between families.
Exogamy – whom one must not marry (e.g., outside of clan, class, language, ethnicity).
Endogamy whom one is permitted to marry: prescribed (required if possible), preferred (e.g. crosscousins), permitted.
How to find a wife – levirate (inherit a wife; provide her with security); captive (if not first wife); bride
payment (compensation to bride’s family; advance alimony); suitor service (approach bride’s
family); dowry (assist in marriage costs amongst high classes).
How many wives – conjugal-natal family (‘nuclear,’parents and children); polygamy (more than one
wife); polyandry (Tibet, Eskamo); group (several brothers marry several sisters, Tibet);
concubinage (woman’s children excluded from inheritance).
Most societies allow dissolution of marriage.
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Divorce under some circumstances (barrenness, incompatibility, adultry).
Death or anticipated death. Levirate (brothers share a wife); sororate (sisters share a husband).
Fictive marriage – A barren wife may ‘adopt’ an unmarried woman who has children or will bear
children for her. The children will call the wife ‘father’.
Kinship – Extended family (kin): patrilineal, matrilineal or bilinear. Unilineal kinship provides for stronger
relationships and clearer inheritance rights, but engenders more feuds and splits.
Household – Kin who reside together.
10. Kinship Systems & Groups
Structure – Social patterns in how individuals relate to their kin.
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Descent – Actual or supposed biological generations within recognized families, clans and tribes.
Linage – Biological descent.
Kin terms – What kin call each other. Each individual has several kin labels.
Clan – fictive descent from a common ancestor. Clans have names and are often exogamous.
Marriage – A formal status that determines new kin relations for mates and their children.
Residence – where a newly married couple come to dwell (neolocal, patrilocal, matrilocal, avunculocal
and natalocal).
Importance of kinship
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Kinship can determine individuals’ permitted partners, inheritance rights, children’s clan
identity, place of residence, ascribed status, caste affiliation, ancestral identity,
communication patterns, rights and privileges.
Kinship was of major importance in Hebrew society and in the identity of the Messiah.
The gospel within a society normally flows within kinship systems.
Churches are normally made up of one or more families, each of which has kinship relations
that determine proper order within the church.
The original promise to Abraham extends to families, clans and tribes, as well as to nations.
11. Economic Systems
Economy – creation, use, and exchange of property (goods) and service (labor: effort, skill, knowledge).
Distribution – gifts, trade, tribute, taxes, tithes, theft, sacrifices, offerings.
Money – symbolic property.
All societies have property (material and intellectual) and technology (tools, weapons).
Subsistence economy -- interpersonal transactions based upon community survival needs. This economy
deals only with available goods within a community.
Affective economy – interpersonal transactions based upon trade and barter. This economy functions
within and between villages, allowing all to produce different goods.
Market economy – impersonal transactions between sellers and buyers based upon supply and demand.
This economy functions within and between cities, allowing for investment and profit with risk.
Command (Marxist) economy – impersonal transactions between state and citizens based upon strict
controls. This economy ensures a certain equality of access to goods with a potential for waste.
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12. Legal Systems and Political Organization
Avoidance of feuds and war through laws and sanctions (enforcement).
Laws – prescribe rights and duties and proscribe torts and crimes; assign power to enforce and sanctions
to apply; resolve differences and restore certainty; define relations between individual and
groups.
Sanctions are of two kinds:
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Social (psychological pressure): rewards, gifts, gossip, ridicule, exclusion.
Legal (physical pressure): fines, confiscation of property, imprisonment, torture, death.
Politics – individuals or groups exercising direct social control over others through raw power (threat,
coercion) or through acquired authority (appointment, election, inheritance).
Political functions – Provide leadership and governance through administrative decision-taking and
enforcement of law.
Political leaders – set goals, mobilize persons, allocate resources, distribute resources, exercise social
control.
Political process – Choice of leaders; agreed norms and rules; policing of behavior; settling of disputes;
diplomacy and warfare.
13. Religion
Note: the distinction between natural and supernatural is a Western, dualistic worldview. All cultures
recognize the visible and the invisible beings.
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Spirits: invisible personal beings.
Ghost: spirit of a deceased human.
‘Mana’: contagious forces.
gods: visible or invisible beings that operate in a ‘power realm’.
God: unique, invisible, all-powerful Spirit.
Religion – Cultural beliefs, rituals and symbols relating the visible to the invisible.
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Conversion (acculturation).
Prayer and worship.
Ordering of relationships.
Dealing with tragedy, pain and death.
Revitalize or reform society (prophetism, life-style change, expectation of a new order).
Beliefs – Cosmic myths, categories of visible and invisible beings, ideal spiritual experiences.
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Rituals – Prescribed personal or communal activities that express beliefs, speak to the invisible, and seek
spiritual experience or reward.
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Forms: prescribed activities and symbols.
Meanings: thoughts, emotions and values that participants experience.
Functions: information, initiation, participation, affirmation, confirmation.
Calendar rites (recall cultural memory), crisis rites (provide psychological support), transition rites
(express cultural ideals).
Symbols – Use of any of 12 signal systems in ways that elicit deep beliefs, strong emotions, moral
judgments or unusual behavior. Symbols endure within a society over time and generations.
Magic – employ symbols in a way that manipulates the invisible forces that the symbols recall. Magic
serves to procure benefits, curse enemies, divine spiritual messages, protect persons, cure
disease, predict the future. Folk employ magic where their own abilities fail.
Mystery – employ symbols in a way that participants experience invisible forces that the symbol recalls.
Forms – animism (everything has a soul); animation (spirits may inhabit anything); polytheism (having a
pantheon of gods or expressions of a God); monotheism (recognizing but one True God).
Theories of religion – cognitive (mentally construct and maintain nature and society); psychological
(express or alleviate emotional ‘drives’ and frustrations); social (represent and strengthen
socials groups and statuses); ecological (maintain harmony with the human, animal and natural
world); revelational (responding to revealed messages from the invisible).
Statuses and roles – prophets (speak to the community about social issues or needs); shamans (‘seer’,
speak to persons about their questions or needs); priests (perform rituals in behalf of the
community); sorcerers (perform rituals in behalf of individuals).
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Table 1. Various Religious Practices
Ancestor worship
Apotheosis
Apotropaic magic
Amulet
Animism
Astrology
Authority
Charm
Contagious magic
Cult
Demon
Divination
Esoterica
Exorcism
Evil
Fertility Worship
Fetish
Food
Genius
God
Goddess Worship
Ghost
Heresy
Icon
Intercession
Immortality
Kachina
Magic and religion
Mana
Manna
Masks
Miracle
Medicine
Monotheism
Myth
Mystery
Necromancy
Neopaganism
New Age
Occultism
Omen
Pain
Polytheism
Prayer
Prophecy
Rebirth
Religious ecstasy
Ritual
Sacrifice
Shamanism
Sign Supernatural
Spell (paranormal)
Supplication
Sympathetic magic
Talisman
Tarot reading
Theism
Totem
Vision quest
Western mystery tradition
High (official) religion – Cosmic beings (gods and angels) and cosmic forces (fate and karma).
Low (folk) religion – Local beings (ancestors and saints) and local forces (magic and mana).
High Christianity – Worship God and obey Jesus Christ; worship ordered around prophesy and
communion; authority of the Scriptures; reduce suffering and injustice; perform spiritual
disciplines; make disciples of all nations.
Low Christianity – Seek help from God and saints; worship as self-expression and visible phenomena;
authority of priests and preachers; pay for blessings; employ symbols; recruit members.
14. Expressive Culture
Arts – express cultural values; a kind of ‘map’ of a culture.
Entertainment – express cultural themes and myths through contests and pastimes.
15. Socio-cultural Change
Every society and culture changes continually through:
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Diffusion of innovations (practices, materials or techniques) from other cultures.
Adding, combining or substituting existing practices, materials or techniques.
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Forced acculturation by stronger societies.
Every culture resists change through boundary maintenance or integration mechanisms.
Most cultural change occurs through a communication process:
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Awareness: learning about innovations from outside, through persons or media.
Interest: perceiving potential benefits or prestige.
Analysis: social group members comparing potential costs and rewards.
Choice: group decision to try an innovation while protecting the first adopters.
Action: implementation of the innovation, provided that skills and materials are available.
Adjustment: finding ways to cope with unexpected consequence.
16. Individual Culture
Every individual is pulled to cultural conformity by enculturation of prescribed behavior, and is pressed
by the threat or application of social or legal sanctions.
One can only become what is mentally conceivable, biologically possible, culturally acceptable and
personally possible (biology and society). This results in:
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Ideal personality types
National character
Cross-cultural variation
Widely-recognize cross-cultural variables:
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Communal – individualist (choices)
Task orientation – nurturing orientation (social goals)
High or low tolerance for ambiguity (desire for certainty)
Distant or proximate leadership style (use of power )
Near or far time perspective (planning)
17. World View
Assumptions about reality – West: there is a real world made of lifeless matter; East: the world is an
illusion of the mind; tribes: the world is a living organism.
Assumptions – beliefs, unexamined and unquestioned that determine what we ‘see’.
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Existential assumptions: Cognitive structures that explain reality. West: atoms, bacteria, gravity.
India: various spirit beings; Africa: deceased ancestors who still live amongst them. Beliefs
concern time (linear, cyclical, uniform or not), space, logic (linear or contextual).
Affective assumptions: beauty, quality, attitudes (life = suffering, life = pursuit of happiness).
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Evaluative assumptions: standard by which to judge; criteria for determining truth. West: tell the
truth even if it hurts others; elsewhere: say what will encourage others, even if not true.
Standards of morality and sin. America: immorality is bad; India: losing temper is worse.
Functions of world view. It provides:
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Cognitive foundations. These beliefs make our explanations seem reasonable.
Emotional security. There are many tragedies and dangers in life, and all everywhere fear death.
World view assumptions are most evident at rites of passage (birth, initiation, marriage, harvest
and renewal rituals).
Validation of cultural norms. A ‘map’ to guide behavior, standards to judge others’ behavior.
Predict and prescribe behavior.
Integration of culture. Unify thoughts, feelings and values.
Monitoring of culture change. Reasons to resist change or accept it. Germ theory or spirit
causes? Folk change of world view to better meet their needs.
Implications for Christian ministry:
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Well integrated, stable cultures resist change. Cultures in trouble will adopt change easily.
‘Preach the gospel to the poor.’
Introducing change in one part of culture may have consequences in other parts. E.g., loss of
fear of spirits may lead to careless living.
Wrong behavior produces strong emotional reactions:
Shame: from violation of social expectations. Shame can be reduced by conformity or by suicide.
Guilt: from violation of absolute standards. Guilt can be reduced by punishment, by restitution or by
confession and forgiveness.
Bible: Sin = violation of God’s covenant or of his righteous standards. Solution = repentance, forgiveness
and receiving the Holy Spirit.
Biblical Theistic Worldview
Modern Neoplatonic Worldview
God the Creator
Supernatural realm
Religion, spirits, miracles, prayer
Ultimate questions
Creates and sustains
(Little of no connection)
Creation
Spirits
Humans
Animals
Plants
Matter
Natural world
Matter
Humans
Animals
Plants
Natural laws under human control
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Major Ways in Which Cultural Values Differ
Gjeert Hofstede, Culture’s Consequences (1997)
Individualism – communalism. Does one take decisions to advance his own interests? Or the interests
of his family, team or colleagues? (Personal motivation)
Task driven – nuture driven. Do folk feel they must accomplish work, plans or projects? Or do folk feel
they must provide for the needs of others? (Group motivation)
Far – near power distance. Do leaders and followers agree that leaders should remain aloof of followers
and take independent decisions? Or should leader consult with followers before taking decisions?
High – low tolerance for uncertainty. Do folk feel they must plan carefully and follow rules? Or are they
willing to let life happen and respond to new situations?
Interest in the past or in the future. Do folk look to the past for guidance in the present? Or do they act
in the present to make a secure or better future?
Anglo-American World View Assumptions
Paul Hiebert, Anthropological Insights (1985)
1. A real and rational world. Matter obeys laws of physics, and living things laws of biology. Distinguish
events and myths, facts and fiction, reality and dreams.
2. Cartsian dualism. Opposition between science and religion, evangelism and compassion ministry,
natural and supernatural, body and soul, public and private property, human needs and an unruly
world to conquer.
3. Materialism and prosperity. Value profits over workers’ needs. Judge cultures by their technology.
Exercise one’s right to comfort and health. Avoid hardship and danger.
4. Private ownership. Purchase and acquire by payment of a price. Protect property from trespass,
goods from theft.
5. Possibility of progress. There is enough for all to have an high standard of living. ‘Unlimited good’.
6. Analytical categories. Apply the scientific method to solve all problems. Fix blame on someone for
all accidents. Refuse fatalism.
7. Two-fold judgments. Either this or that. Guilt or innocence. Serious work or enjoyable play. Public or
private. Mine or yours.
8. Power of choice. Take control of your life. Plan ahead. Set goals and achieve them. Apply
management skills to church and mission. Ask how to get things done (not whether they be
worthwhile).
9. Mechanical world. Apply engineering skills to nature. Set up a bureaucracy to standardize roles and
procedures.
10. Production and profit. Seek task achievement over human relationships. Find efficient ways of
producing goods. Ensure maximal profits in the short term.
11. Quantification and statistics. Everything can be measured. Admire the biggest, the fastest and the
farthest.
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12. Individualism. Maintain your inalienable rights. Make choices that advance your career. Find
identity in your achievements. Take care of yourself through self-reliance. Join groups that help you
and leave those that do not. (Contractual groups.) Volunteer to help with a worthy cause.
13. Need to be liked. Read acceptance or rejection in every situation. Seek social success through
popularity. Feel deeply hurt when rejected.
14. Humanitarianism. Provide relief in disasters. Donate generously to worthy causes. Feel pity for the
poor, the destitute, the sick and the injured.
15. Sense of equality. Equal opportunity, not equal achievement or acceptance. Equal justice for all.
16. Informality. Disdain for hierarchy except where required for production. Prefer comfortable, casual
dress. Treat foreigners like one’s old friends.
17. Competition and free enterprise. Get top grades in school. Fight to win in sports, romance and war.
Compete for status, power, fame and fortune.
18. Direct and confrontational. Face the facts. Meet the problem head on. Negotiate hard. Tell others
how they bother you. Tell what you really think.
19. Cooperation. Cooperate for success against your competitors. Work together with others as a way
of achieving personal goals. You must see how your cooperation brings personal gain.
20. Saving time. Pay wages for workers’ time. Continually seek more efficient methods. Start big
projects for quick success. Time can be ‘lost.’ Show anger at delay.
21. Emphasis on sight. Prefer visual arts to spoken words, films to discussion, video to radio, literacy to
orality, diagrams to text.
22. Abstract knowledge. Teach through ideas, rather than stories. Make disciples by learning doctrines
rather than by obeying Jesus’ commandments. Values scientific theories over good character.
23. Systematic thought. Seek coherent knowledge. Think rationally without regard for feelings. Plan
work and organize personnel. Preach sound theology rather than about urgent social needs.
24. Order before relationships. Maintain a nice home but ignore your neighbors. Shoot criminals if they
resist arrest. Allow only theologians to lead churches.
Russian Cultural Themes
Yale Richmond, From Nyet to Da (1992)
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Alcohol
Authoritarianism
Big is beautiful
Careful negotiation
Cautious conservatism
Community
Corruption
Crowds & bodily contact
Egalitarianism
Extremes & contradictions
Fascination with USA
Fibbing
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Home, hospitality & conversation
Messianism
Nationalities
Order & disorder
Orthodoxy
Pessimism
Proper culture
Russian language
Scarcity
Secret police
Statism
Telephones
The long winter
Time & patience
Toasting
Women's dependence
Senegambian (African Muslim) Ontological Absolutes
David Maranz, Peace Is Everything (1993)
1. God is transcendent, remote and little involved in the daily affairs of his creation. To Sufi Muslims,
however, the divine reality can be experienced through proper action.
2. The universe is composed of both visible and invisible reality, and the invisible is more important
ontological and powerful than the visible.
3. Peace is the ideal state, and harmony is the ideal relationship of the universe. Peaceful states and
relationships provide the best possible well-being in human life.
4. At all levels of the universe, the ideal condition is integration. That is, all parts need to be brought
together through interdependence, so that each will be able to play its intended function.
5. Every being and part of the universe has an assigned role that has to be filled for the satisfactory
functioning of the whole. Submitting to the divine assures of approval on the Day of Judgment.
6. The universe is organized on the basis of hierarchies of position and power at every level and within
every domain. Each position bears assigned responsibilities.
7. The universe is administered through the exercise of both inherent and derived power.
8. Reality has two aspects: exterior and interior. This forces man both to accept and overcome his
ambiguous position in a dichotomized (split) cosmic structure.
9. Humans are the ceremonial center of the universe; therefore humans have responsibility to perform
proper rituals.
10. All spiritual good or evil, as well as abstract qualities, are transferred by means of proper intent.
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The Cultural Onion
Donald K. Smith (1987)
Transforming World Views
Galen Currah (2010)
Deep world view change may take years of time, even several generations.
1. Bring folk to faith in Jesus Christ, form churches with them, let them begin worshiping God in their
forms, and teach them to obey Jesus’ commandments.
2. Identify cultural beliefs and practices that disagree with the Holy Bible.
3. Understand those beliefs and practices as the society’s way of meeting human needs.
4. Examine what the Bible teaches on the matter, and conform your theology to Scripture.
5. Seek the mind of the Holy Spirit on the matter, while loving God and others.
6. Submit your new thoughts on the matter to your community, and let others discern.
7. If the community agrees, then introduce new teaching to the leaders of the churches.
8. Let the leaders guide churches to adopt new beliefs and to modify their cultural practices.
9. Patiently let the Holy Spirit guide the churches into understanding Scripture and obeying it.
10. Believers will live out their faith in their social groups and institutions.
11. Eventually, biblical values and Christian practices diffuse throughout society.
12. Keep on repeating this process, in every generation.
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18. Kinship Bonds
19. Scripture and Anthropology
Case study of Exodus 18
Verses 1-7 Kinship system
Verses 8-12 Religious system
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Truth about Yahweh with ‘proof’ of his work.
Confession of faith (belief): Yahweh is greater than all gods.
Offerings (ritual).
Aaron brought bread (priest).
Elders (community).
Verses 13-22 Political system
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Recognized authority.
Settle disputes.
Statutes (prescribed behavior)
Laws (proscribed behavior)
Administration (chiefs of 1000, 100, 50, 10 households).
Discussion groups
1.
2.
3.
4.
Form a small group and read together a Scripture text.
Identify anthropology categories that you see in the text.
Discuss how those categories help you understand the text.
Make an application of the text to your church and to your culture.
Bible texts
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Acts 8:9-19. Magic and religion. Clash of world views.
Acts 14:8-12. Are miracles a sign of the gods?
Acts 15:5-11. Must Gentiles become cultural Jews in order to be saved?
1 Corinthians 10:14-22. God, demons and humans.
1 Corinthians 11:2-10. God, Christ, husband and wife.
Revelation 7:9-14. Every ethnic group, language group, religious group and tribal group.
Other bible texts
5. Mention to each other some other bible texts that are hard to understand.
6. Follow the same steps to understand those texts.
Discussion groups
1.
2.
3.
4.
Form a small group.
Identify a current Christian practice that is hard to accept.
Discuss how anthropology categories help you understand that practice.
Distinguish which part of the practice is Scriptural and which part may be cultural.
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20. American, Indian and Christian Worldviews
Anglo American
Traditional Indian
Christian (?)
Empiricism. We live in a real
world that is orderly and
measureable. We can
experience it through our
senses.
‘Maya.’ We live in a world of
personal experiences where
meaning must be found
within ourselves.
Revelation. We live in a
created world that we know
through both experience and
revelation from the Creator
Absolutes. The real world has
its own existence, history and
facts. Human dreams are
only illusions.
Relativism. There is no sharp
distinction between fact and
fantasy, truth and error.
Having visions is normal.
Truth & error. The world is
real but temporary. God
reveals truth while humans
invent illusions.
Naturalism. We can
experience the world
through our senses. There is
no way to know if the
supernatural exists.
Spirituality. Gods and spirits
inhabit the world along with
us and they often appear to
us.
Discernment. We experience
the world through our senses
and know God through his
indwelling Holy Spirit.
Linear time. Time moves
from the past to the future
without repeating itself. This
life is the only life we will
have.
Cyclical time. History repeats
itself and all living things will
be reborn many times in
other forms.
Eternity and time. God
surrounds human time and is
leading history towards a
goal. We will exist forever
more.
Order and immutability. The
world operates by
unchanging, natural laws.
One kind of thing does not
become another kind.
Mutability &
unpredictability. Things are
seldom what they appear to
be and may change into
other things suddenly.
Knowledge. The human mind
can discover knowledge with
which they can control the
world. Knowledge is valuable.
Wisdom. ‘Njana’ comes by
intuition through meditation.
The wise may gain release
from this world.
Particularistic & categorized
world. The world can be
described by scientific
categories. There are sharp
distinctions between types
and kinds of living things.
Equality. Everything in the
same category is more or less
equal. All humans have the
same legal rights. Everyone
should be made to believe
the same things.
Unity of all things. All things
are manifestations of one
spirit. All living things share
the same life force. There are
continuums but no clear
categories.
Hierarchy. All living things, all
experiences, all activities
have higher or lower rank.
Wisdom ranks above
devotion which ranks above
idolatry.
Providence & dependability.
God rules over his creation
according to truth, rewarding
those who seek him. He
created kinds and amazing
variety.
Knowledge & wisdom.
Humans can discover
knowledge but they require
godly wisdom to use rule the
world as stewards.
Kinds of life in one world.
The One God gives life to all
living things. Some things
remain lifeless. The world can
be described in many ways.
Responsibility. God gives
authority to his creatures
along with responsibility to
love Him, to love others, and
to make disciples of those
who repent and believe.
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Individualism. Every person
has the right to seek
happiness through personal
freedom. Democracy allows
humans to choose their own
leaders.
Interdependence. Each caste
has skills and specialized
work that are essential to the
whole society. Diversity and
cooperation are the ideal.
Unity in diversity. Each
person receives unique gifts
and abilities to be employed
for the common good. Some
are gifted to lead, other to
serve with joy.
Competition. All forms of live
compete for resources.
Ability and effort are
rewarded. Medicine must
conquer disease.
Patron-client relations.
Social hierarchy and interdependence are combined in
the patron-client bond.
Stewardship. Humans are to
conserve the earth and
benefit from its resources.
Government is to reward
good and suppress evil.
Management. Through
knowledge of natural and
moral laws, humans control
their own destiny.
‘Karma.’ All actions have
natural and moral consequences.
Justice. God both grants
knowledge and metes out
justice according to human
faithfulness or greed.
Science & technology.
Systematic discovery can
provide a more secure way of
life for everyone.
‘Samsara’ & pilgrimage.
Deeds done in past lives
determine one’s present.
Responses in this life can
prepare a better future life.
Prayer and obedience.
Human knowledge and
advance prove temporary.
Responses in this life prepare
a better eternity.
Uniform morality & justice.
All deserve the same
compassion and justice. The
purpose of law is to mete out
justice, rewarding good and
punishing evil.
Relative morality. Humans
are to live in conformity with
their social rank. Karma alone
determines the outcome of
behavior. The purpose of law
is to maintain harmony.
Absolute morality and
undeserved grace. Humans
are guided by divine and
human laws on one hand and
by redemption on the other.
Missionary. Those who have
knowledge are obligated to
share it with the rest of the
world, improving their lives.
Inclusivism and tolerance.
Accept a diversity of thoughts
and actions, beliefs and
rituals. Respect cultural
differences.
Missionary and tolerant.
Those who know God’s truth
are commissioned to share it
while accepting persecution
from those who reject it.
Self-reliance. The greatest
fear is to run out of money
and become dependent on
others.
‘Dharma’ or duty. Each cast
and individual should fulfill
their prescribed role.
Dependence and kindness.
God is kind and generous
with us and wants us to be
the same with each other
Expanding good. All who
seek new opportunities can
find them. There is always
more to learn, more to
conquer.
Limited good. One can gain
more only at the expense of
others. Attempts to improve
your life pose a threat to the
community.
Sufficient good. In God’s
creation, he provides good
for all. However, human
injustice denies many their
rightful share.
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‘Third Culture,’ Bridges
Missionary model – Members of one cultre adopt the language and customs of a second culture and
introduce new beliefs and practices or technology.
Bridge model -- Members of two culture groups form together a new groups that shares aspects of each
culture and creates new customs. They discuss together new ideas and practices, and each takes some
new ideas and practices back to their own culture group.
Bridge groups:
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Unique. There are no two bridge groups that have an identical culture.
Blended. The group borrows some practices from both cultures.
Independent. The group members choose a common language and agenda.
Temporary. The third culture will die when the group disbands.
Safe. They can discuss and test ideas before introducing them into a society.
Peaceable. They allow for congenial relationships.
Enjoyable. Bridge group members often enjoy each other with little stress.
Missionaries who can form a bridge group with a third culture can introduce helpful changes more
rapidly that in traditional missionary methods.
21. Set Theory in Anthropology
In all cultures, humans categorize objects or ideas. A category includes some things and excludes others.
Two variables provide four ways to form categories:
Variable 1 – the basis on which elements are assigned to a category, whether (a) their nature or
attributes, or (b) their relationship to other things or to a reference point.
Variable 2 – the boundary around those elements, whether (c) sharp or clear, or (d) fuzzy or missing.
Discreet
Clear boundaries
Variable
Fuzzy (unclear) boundaries
Intrinsic
Elements share certain attributes.
These form a static set.
For example, apples.
For example, mountains and
valleys.
Extrinsic
Elements are related to something.
These form a dynamic set.
For example, siblings related to
the same parent.
For example, Sport fans
whose interest waxes and
wanes.
Who are Christians?
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Intrinsic, discreet set.
Intrinsic, variable set.
Extrinsic, discreet set.
Extrinsic, variable set.
Who are church members?
Intrinsic, discreet set.
Intrinsic, variable set.
Extrinsic, discreet set.
Extrinsic, variable set.
Who must be evangelized?
Intrinsic, discreet set.
Intrinsic, variable set.
Extrinsic, discreet set.
Extrinsic, variable set.
22. Spiritual Warfare in Current Christianity
Pre-modern cultural themes (world view)
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Eternal existence of good and evil engaged in cosmic battle, and humans are the victims.
Gods control the world and humans manipulate gods through magic.
The objective is to get good to win over evil until the battle starts again.
Modern cultural trends
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A dualistic worldview that excluded spiritual activity.
Faith in science and secular materialism.
Abstract theology or denial the truth of the gospel in churches.
Post-modern cultural trends
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Loss of faith both in secular materialism and in religious myths.
Emphasis on types of spirituality.
Popular acceptance of Hindu and Buddhist philosophies.
Spiritual warfare in low Christianity

A battle between God and Satan for control of human beings.
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Believers seek to bin Satan and his demons, to free up his human captives.
Demonic manifestations and prolonged exorcisms.
Scriptural evaluation
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God remains eternally supreme and Satan is a temporary usurper.
Humans are not victims but rebellious sinners.
Jesus Christ has despoiled Satan and his demons by the cross. 1 Cor. 1:18-25
The believers’ struggle with evil is won by their faith and faithfulness.
Scriptural guidelines
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The cosmic battle has been won; Satan was defeated at the Cross.
Our struggle is for the hearts and souls of humans by the power of the Holy Spirit.
God may permit Satan power to demonize people, in order to test their faith.
The demonized are more to be pitied than feared.
Our efforts go into love, reconciliation, peace and justice.
Neither deny Satan’s reality nor fear his power.
23. Anthropology of Your Ministry
A. Material Culture
 What are the buildings, artifacts and objects that your church employs in its ministry?
 What are the kinds of costumes that church members and ministers wear to church?
B. Ecology
 How does your ministry change its activities between seasons?
 How does your ministry finance its activities?
C. Communication
 What are the major symbols that your ministry employs, and what does each one signify?
 What are some ways in which your ministry uses the twelve signals systems?
D. Life Cycle
 What are the stages that members of your ministry pass through? (Seeker, convert, elder?)
 What kind of ‘rites of passage’ marks a transition from one stage to the next?
E. Social Groups
 What are the major statuses in your ministry? List the statuses in rank order.
 What is the main role of each status?
F. Marriage and Kinship
 How do your ministry members arrange for marriage and weddings?
 Which are the major kinship systems (extended families) in you ministry?
G. Economic System
 What kinds of property and equipment does your ministry own?
 In what ways does your ministry finance itself?
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H. Legal Systems and Political Organization
 Who are the power holders in your ministry?
 How does your ministry enforce its rules?
I. Religion
 What are your ministries main beliefs?
 What are your ministries regular and occasional rituals?
J. Expressive Culture
 How does your ministry express itself in art, music, drama or dance?
 What forms of entertainment does your ministry provide for its members?
galen@currah.us