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Inculturation: an Ongoing Drama of Faith-Culture Dialogue

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Inculturation: an Ongoing Drama of Faith-Culture Dialogue 92 Inculturation: An Ongoing Drama of Faith-Culture Dialogue ALLAN A. BASAS InstitUte OF RELIGION CentRE FOR RELIGIOUS STUDies AND Ethics UNIVERsitY OF SAnto TOMAS [email protected] Inculturation emerged as a result of paradigm shifts in the missionary outlook of the Church necessitated by a heightened sense of culture, especially the plurality of cultures. This outlook saw culture as a tool for the transmission of the Gospel message to different frontiers. In view of this, dialogue with culture has passed from being an exception to the rule to becoming normative. Inculturation is a complex process, which must be undertaken gradually and critically. Overall, it aims to incarnate the Gospel in every culture by maintaining a healthy balance between tradition and progress. In this paper, the method of inculturation that is highlighted is the one developed by Charles Kraft and Anscar Chupungco known as “dynamic equivalence,” which seeks to build a “communicational bridge” between the Gospel message and human experience. This paper, therefore, embarks upon the discussion of faith-culture dialogue, keeping in mind Church’s efforts to proclaim the message of the Gospel: first, by first tracing the historical development of Inculturation, highlighting the Church’s disposition towards faith culture dialogue; second, by discussing the nature and dynamics of inculturation, focusing on its essential characteristics; and lastly, delineating the process of inculturation, which underscores dynamic equivalence as method. Keywords: Inculturation, Faith, Culture, Dialogue, Dynamic Equivalence Dates: How to cite this article: Copyright: Received: July 19, 2018 Basas, Allan A., “Inculturation: An Online: Asean Citation Index, DOAJ. Accepted: January 31, 2020 Ongoing Drama of Faith-culture This work is licensed under the Creative Published(Online): March 31, 2020 Dialogue”, Scientia Vol 9 no. 1. (2020), p. Common Attribution License © 2020. Published(Printed): April 30, 2020 92-108. Print: Philippine Copyright © March 2020 San Beda University Read online Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online www.scientia-sanbeda.org 93 IntRODUction accommodation include the birth of Jesus Christ, the Great Commission of the Apostles, the Inculturation, as it is now known, emerged Council of Jerusalem in 49 AD, the Missionary gradually. A reading of its history reveals the Journeys of Saint Paul, the growth of the Church changing attitude of the Church towards under the Roman Empire, and the missionary culture, relative to evangelization. The Church’s activity of the Church to Europe during the appraisal of culture is crucial for the acceptance 7th century onwards.3 Central to these events is of approaches, which are based on Gospel- what Mercado describes as the building up of the culture dialogue. Gerard Arbuckle avers that “Church-for-the-kingdom” where the Church is the disposition of the Church towards faith- viewed as the means established by Christ for culture dialogue can be described as flexible the salvation of all, distinguished from “Church- and inflexible.1 Filipino theologians explained for-itself ” which is more concerned with the the same attitude of appreciation and disfavor establishment of the Church as an institution.4 towards the said approach, notably: Leonardo The “Church-for-the kingdom” underscores a Mercado and Jose De Mesa who remarked that Church that is not constrained to any physical the shift from ecclesiocentric to empirical and boundaries because it sees the Kingdom of God personalist approaches significantly influenced as transcendent of any culture and immanent in the said changes.2 This paper, therefore, every culture at the same time. In this period of discusses the drama of faith-culture dialogue flexibility, the Church was open to the culture in the Church’s efforts to proclaim the message of the Jews, Greco-Romans, and the Europeans, of the Gospel: first, by tracing the historical which cradled Catholicism during her infant development of inculturation, highlighting years. As a result, there are discernible influences, the Church’s disposition towards faith culture both in the theology and liturgy of the Catholic dialogue; second, by describing the nature and Church, which can be said to have originated dynamics of inculturation, stressing its essential from these places. For example, Tertullian, in characteristics; and third, delineating the the third century used Roman juridical language process of inculturation, underscoring dynamic to explain aspects of the faith, specifically, in equivalence as method. the liturgy where the sacrament of baptism was viewed as forging a contract with Jesus Christ while at the same time breaking an agreement 5 A SKetch OF INCULTURAtion’S EMERGence with the world. In broad strokes, the emergence of inculturation can be traced back to the Church’s attitude of 3 See Robert Schreiter, “The Legacy of St. Francis Xavier: Inculturation flexibility or openness towards culture, which of the Gospel Then and Now” East Asian Pastoral Review 44 (2007): 17. See also Gerard A. Arbuckle, “Christianity, Identity, and Cultures: A goes back to the Church’s growth from Judaism Case Study” The Australasian Catholic Report ( January, 2013): 41-43. See also Gerard Timoner, “Theology of Inculturation: A Critical Appraisal,” up to the time before the colonial expansion Philippiniana Sacra XL no. 119 (2005): 322-325. th 4 Mercado, Inculturation, 5-6. Mercado makes a distinction between of the 15 century. The key moments which the notion of the Church-for-itself and the Church-for-the-kingdom, exemplified attitudes of critical interaction and referring to the former as the visible Church on her pilgrimage to plenitude, simul justus et peccator, and semper reformanda. On the other hand, the Church-for-the kingdom is described as the eternal and 1 Gerard Arbuckle, Earthing the Gospel: An Inculturation Handbook for universal kingdom and God’s sovereignty over the world which the the Pastoral Worker (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1990), 10. missionaries endeavor to realize in this world but which can only be 2 Leonardo N. Mercado, Inculturation and Filipino Theology, Asia Pacific realized at the end of time. Missiological Series 2 (Manila: Divine Word Publication, 1992), 2. See 5 See Arbuckle, “Christianity, Identity, and Cultures” p. 41. Quoting Jose M. De Mesa, Why Theology is Never Far from Home (Manila: De La Anscar Chupungco in “Liturgy and Inculturation,” East Asian Pastoral Salle University Press, Inc., 2003), 3. Review 18 (1981): 264. www.scientia-sanbeda.org 94 The shift to inflexibility was a mark of the 15th Nobili, who were back then missionaries to century European colonial expansion during Japan, China, and India, respectively. Employing which, as Arbuckle averred: “the missionaries the method of accommodation, they asserted shared the intolerant and prejudiced views of the the need for the faith to interact with the local conquistadores of the native cultures and religions.”6 culture instead of merely imposing it. However, De Mesa, for his part, refers to this as the classical the condemnation of Matteo Ricci proved that period, which absolutized the Greco-Roman Church authorities during that time were not culture that eventually evolved into the western yet prepared to accept such approaches.11 This European-North-American way of life.7 This age classical approach was intertwined with the of triumphalism and centralization oriented the western culture that was deemed as superior, efforts of the Church towards the establishment hence the paradigm on which other cultures of the visible, institutional Church in those must be patterned.12 places where it had not yet been established. In this context, to be Catholic meant being John XXIII, in his thoughtful remark, articulated subordinated to European cultural expressions. the radical shift that would significantly impact Moreover, juxtaposed with the expansionist mode, the relationship between the Gospel and the the Christian message was generally viewed culture as the Church was being led into the as an integral part of the package of European era of Vatican II: “The Church does not identify civilization.8 This disposition was justified and herself with any particular culture, not even rationalized by the conviction that conquest European and Western culture…the Church is of pagan lands was a blessing to people from ever ready to recognize, to welcome and indeed the non-Christian world. Such attitude, as encourage all things that honor the human mind described by Rolando V. Dela Rosa, made the and heart even if they have their origin in places missionaries treat the natives as little children to of the world that lie outside this Mediterranean Madre España.9 basin.”13 The changing tides ushered the Church to an emerging context or situation, looking To address this issue, the Congregation for the beyond the Eurocentric model. As hitherto Propagation of the Faith was established in mentioned, the changes happened as a result 1622 to appeal to the missionaries of the time of another paradigm shift that would influence to give more weight to the preaching of the faith faith-culture dialogue. Mercado and De Mesa instead of bringing France, Spain, or Italy into concur in the idea that the impetuses for change China.10 Moreover, resistance to this monolithic are: the emergence of empirical approaches and view of the faith was championed by some Jesuits the openness of theology to interdisciplinary who brought the Gospel to Asia, most notably: approaches.14 The Church would consider as Francis Xavier, Matteo Ricci, and Roberto de part of her pool of sources those contributions coming from secular fields or other specialized 6 Ibid. 43 quoting G. Voss, “Missionary Accomodation,” Missionary Academic Study 2 (New York: Society for the Propagation of the Faith, sciences, thus paving the way for the influx of 1964), 17. 7 Jose M. De Mesa, Why Theology is Never Far From Home (Manila: cultural data, which introduced culture as a DLSU Press, 2003), 3.
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