Culture and Tradition

WEDNESDAY 21 JULY 2021 World’s Most Stunning Winter Destinations SEE ON PAGE 4-5 Kopi in Need of Saving SEE ON PAGE 3 Culture and Tradition What is the difference between culture and tradition? Is there a difference between the two? These two words are often used interchangeably, but they each carry different and important meaning. We live in a truly connected world. You can access any culture you like with a swipe of your finger. You can learn about traditions you may never experience firsthand. But without understanding their meanings, you may end up culturally appropriating and offending, even if your intentions are to honour them. Why the Japanese remove their shoes? Around 2,300 years ago, Japanese people began to wear shoes to aid in rice cultivation. They wore them to keep their feet dry during the long, humid, and wet days they spent outside. And so, before entering the house each evening, they would remove their shoes to avoid bringing any dirt inside. But cleanliness was only part of the reason. Another came down to manners, and how they considered their house a sacred place. It’s suggested the origin of this came from the raised floor storehouse used to house the rice paddies during the Meiji Period. The amount of rice paddy you collected Melchizedek represented power, so bringing dirt into the storehouse after a long day was seen as an insult to the work you did. A tradition began that’s still practiced throughout modern-day Japan. Not just in people’s homes, but in certain restaurants, schools, temples, and even tea ceremonies. The difference between culture and tradition The main difference between culture and tradition is The Mystery of that traditions describe a group’s beliefs and behaviours that are passed down from one generation to another. Culture describes the shared characteristics of the entire group, which has been amassed throughout its history. For example, the tradition to remove your shoes when entering a home in Japan is a shared custom passed down from parent to child. It’s rooted in good manners, as is the tradition of bowing to those you greet. These Melchizedek manners honour Japan’s greater culture which largely centres on showing respect. The mysterious biblical figure rather awkward insertion of Culture acts as the underlying thread that connects you of Melchizedek has intrigued Melchizedek, priest-king of to everyone else, with traditions acting as the events and (and puzzled) religious thinkers Salem, into the war narrative of customs to honour these. and scholars for centuries. He Genesis 14? Robert Cargill, a We witness this not only in Japan but across every makes a brief but significant professor of classics and country in the world. In Mexico, for instance, the appearance in Genesis — the religious studies at the importance of family plays a huge role in its culture. first book of the Hebrew Bible University of Iowa, has some There are certain traditions that honour this. The Day of (known to Christians as the Old interesting theories. the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is a widely celebrated Testament) — when he blesses In his latest book, tradition that honours those that have already passed. Yet the patriarch Abram and is Melchizedek, King of Sodom: other traditions, such as the role of friends and family at introduced as the, “Priest of the How Scribes Invented the weddings, and huge family get-togethers for birthdays are Most High God.” Biblical Priest-King, Cargill customs that centre on the importance of family. From that single mention, provides textual evidence from Each culture has certain traditions that help honour it. various Jewish sects and early the earliest Hebrew and Greek They play a huge role in the culture’s continued evolution, Christians developed their own versions of Genesis 14 that yet no tradition alone can tell the whole story. disparate interpretations of who Melchizedek was originally Why knowing the difference is important Melchizedek was and what he introduced as the king of As we become more connected as a species, we get represented. Some apocalyptic Sodom. According to Cargill, glimpses into how other people live. You can open your Jewish writers cast Melchizedek early editors of the Hebrew phone right now and learn about a culture you have never as a heaven-sent high priest who An image of Melchizedek painted onto the altar side near the Royal Bible chose to distance Abram experienced firsthand. Maybe you feel guilty about certain existed before the flood and Doors at Libotin wooden church, Maramures County, Romania from any positive encounters aspects of history, or simply come across a culture you would return to usher in the with a king of Sodom, since love and one you wish to honour. messiah. Meanwhile, early Then Melchizedek king of Sodom and Gomorrah came to The traditions of these cultures give you an opportunity Christians saw Melchizedek as a Salem brought out bread and be equated with vile wickedness to do just that. But without understanding the bigger ‘type’ or precursor of Jesus wine. He was priest of God Most and sin. picture, your appreciation can turn into cultural Christ, in that they both derived High, and he blessed Abram, That would explain why appropriation. authority from an eternal and saying: Melchizedek is so abruptly You are part of a culture yourself, although you may higher priesthood. Some have “Blessed be Abram by God inserted into the narrative after take many aspects of it for granted. Much of it exists wondered if Melchizedek was Most High, the king of Sodom greets beneath the surface, but you can be sure that it plays a even Jesus Christ himself in Creator of heaven and earth Abram. In the original version, large role in the person you are. It impacts your beliefs another form. And praise be to God Most they were the same person. and values. It affects your personality and character. A High, Cargill asserts that the scribes person’s culture is sacred. Who was the real Who delivered your enemies switched out Sodom for Shalem, We share an incredible ability to learn about different Melchizedek? into your hand” a known city in Samaria. cultures these days. It’s a gift. It’s easy, for instance, to Then Abram gave him But how, then, did we get pay homage to Mexico’s culture by celebrating the Day of Unlike nearly everyone Meeting of Abraham and from Shalem to Salem The Dead. But are you honouring the culture or simply mentioned in Genesis and other Melchizedek by Dieric Bouts the a tenth of everything (translated as ‘peace’), a city partaking in a tradition you know little about? books, Melchizedek has no Elder (1464–1467) believed to be a precursor to This is why it is important to know the difference recorded father, no genealogy. As we’ll see, a lot has been Jerusalem? That’s the result of between culture and tradition. He is not the ‘son of’ anyone. If a Genesis 14 tells us, was Lot, the made of those short verses. Here yet another, later textual Traditions are often the most externally-facing parts of a man by that name ever existed, nephew of ‘Abram the Hebrew.’ was a priest of ‘God Most High,’ ‘tampering,’ writes Cargill. culture. They show the personality, colour, and heritage of he’s been long lost to time. But At this point in the story, Abram — understood as the one true Starting around 300 CE, there a culture. They help you know what to do and when (and exploring how the meaning of was not yet Abraham because he God of Judaism, Christianity was a rivalry between the Levite what not to do). They give you a glimpse into a person’s Melchizedek has been had yet to make a covenant with and Islam — blessing Abram, priests in Jerusalem (who had culture, but to truly understand a culture, you need to interpreted and reinterpreted God. But Abram was a wealthy who would soon become the sole authority to sacrifice at the spend time listening and learning. over time is equally fascinating and powerful landowner, so he patriarch of God’s chosen Jewish temple) and the Once you know the difference between culture and and instructive. Let’s start with decided to go save his nephew. people. And here was Abram Samaritans. The Samaritans tradition you can go beneath the surface and understand the account in Genesis, which Abram took 318 well-trained paying a tithe to this high priest, worshipped the same God as the bigger picture. This leads to empathy, respect, appears straightforward at first, servants and attacked whose elevated position and the Jews but had their own appreciation, and the ability to properly honour a person but is as problematic as they Kedorlaomer at night, chasing authority predates all of the priests and their own temple on and their culture. come. the enemy to Damascus and ancient prophets. Mount Gerizim in Samaria. (preemptivelove) retrieving the stolen goods and Yet right after this momentous Cargill believes that the Levite Melchizedek makes people, including Lot. occasion in the history of priests were the ones who his only appearance Here’s where things get monotheism, Melchizedek changed Shalem to Salem as interesting. Lot and his family disappears. In the very next part of a centuries-long Genesis 14 starts off as a lived in Sodom. When Abram verse, we’re back to the king of campaign to centralise all chronicle of war. A group of makes his triumphant return, Sodom, who offers Abram a priesthood authority in cities, including Sodom and he’s first greeted by the king of share of the spoils, which Jerusalem and write Samaria Gomorrah, were under the Sodom (identified earlier in the Abram, being a righteous man, out of the picture.

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