Syncretism and the Eternal Word
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Vol. 33, No. 4 October 2009 Syncretism and the Eternal Word yncretism—the combining of two apparently incompat- Sible things to produce a third entity—is an everyday occurrence. Across much of Africa and Latin America, for exam- On Page ple, horses and donkeys blend their DNA to generate the mule 171 Jesus Imandars and Christ Bhaktas: Report from —a unique and extraordinarily versatile animal combining the Two Field Studies of Interreligious Hermeneutics sure-footedness of the latter and the strength of the former. Polit- and Identity in Globalized Christianity ical, social, racial, chemical, and biological syncretisms occur so Jonas Adelin Jørgensen frequently that we are scarcely aware of them. It is religious syn- 177 The Church, the Urban, and the Global: Mission cretism that startles us. in an Age of Global Cities This is surprising, Dale T. Irvin in some ways, since the 182 Declaration on Creation Stewardship and Christian faith itself Climate Change springs from the most Micah Network astonishing syncretism 185 Ivan Illich and the American Catholic conceivable—God be- Missionary Initiative in Latin America comes a human being; the Todd Hartch eternal becomes tempo- ral; omnipotence yields 189 The Church in Nepal: Analysis of Its Gestation to powerlessness. This and Growth audacious syncretism John Barclay scandalized the custodi- 195 My Pilgrimage in Mission ans of Judaism in Jesus’ David Dong-Jin Cho day, and it scandalizes 196 Ralph Winter, 1924–2009 non-Christian monothe- Paul E. Pierson ists still. After two full 200 Thirty Books That Most Influenced My millennia of puzzling, it Understanding of Christian Mission continues to far exceed Gerald H. Anderson the intellectual compass 201 The Legacy of Philip Beach Sullivan of even the most penetrat- Ray Dirks, 2002 Jessie G. Lutz ing theological minds. Sudanese Madonna and Child 206 Mission to Nowhere: Putting Short-Term In missiological dis- Missions into Context course, syncretism has been largely confined to the vocabulary, Brian M. Howell formulations, symbols, and systems of Christendom-forged 208 Noteworthy doctrines and practices. “Syncretism,” Harold Turner wrote in his 212 Ignace Partui: Iroquois Evangelist to the Salish, masterful summation of the subject four decades ago, “arises in ca. 1780–1837 the course of presenting Jesus Christ as the sole Lord and Saviour John C. Mellis to men of other religions living in cultures not moulded by the biblical revelation. By translating the gospel into local languages, 216 Book Reviews and adapting or accommodating to local ideas and customs, these 226 Dissertation Notices are absorbed into the life of the church. Many such elements 228 Index Continued next page 232 Book Notes have, however, been intimately related to another religion, and Jonas Adelin Jørgensen’s lead article shows how Christian it is often difficult to incorporate them without also absorbing witness on cultural-religious frontiers raises fresh questions about their previous religious associations and meanings.” He goes on bewilderingly complex and constantly evolving issues of contex- to note that “when Christian elements are themselves interpreted tualization and syncretism in predominantly Hindu and Muslim and transformed in a pagan direction, it becomes again a pagan societies, where the word “Christian” has long been associated religion, although now enriched by Christian borrowings” (Concise with the worst that the West has to offer. In such environments, Dictionary of the Christian World Mission [1971], p. 580). identifying oneself as “Christian” suggests the jettisoning of basic The essays in this issue of the IBMR point up the endur- personal integrity. In such cultures to be a follower of Jesus is one ing challenge of ensuring both the fidelity and the relevance of thing; to be a Christian quite another. Christian faith across the shifting boundaries of time, languages, The man whose short obituary appears in this issue did cultures, and institutions. Throughout most of the “Christianized” more than most to help remove doctrinal blinders that have world, such concerns are most explicitly the domain of theological long ensured the theological myopia of Christian missions. seminaries, whose mandate is the transmission of sound apostolic Ralph Winter opened our eyes to indisputable evidence of teaching “to faithful people who will be able to teach others as God’s salvific grace outside and beyond inherited Christendom well” (2 Tim. 2:2). But concerns with revelatory fidelity and cul- theologies and ecclesiologies. The constructive missiological tural relevance are implicit at multiple levels across the frontiers dialogue on “insider movements” fostered by his International of Christian witness, where the letter and, it is hoped, the spirit of Journal of Frontier Missiology has reminded readers of Gospel biblical teaching is articulated, appropriated, and applied within verities that have been too readily set aside: that salvation is not cultural settings and through languages worlds removed from about Christianity but about Christ, and that it is not orthodoxy those of the theologians and missionaries who have systematized but orthopraxy that ultimately distinguishes sheep from goats and standardized this “sound teaching.” In either case, the line on judgment day. Tjolzhitsay, the Flathead chief who had “a between relevance and syncretism can often be exasperatingly reputation for kindness that extended even to his enemies,” variable, difficult to discern, and controversial. Such concerns are could not possibly pass the Christianity test, but his welcome of reflected in Dale Irvin’s elucidation of the issues facing mission Ignace Partui, the Iroquois evangelist whose story John Mellis in an age of global cities. He observes (quoting Edward Said), relates, places him securely in our Lord’s “Well done!” category, “‘No one today is purely one thing.’ Our hybrids are proliferating according to Matthew 25. and, contrary to nature, are multiplying exponentially.” As Todd No human system of thought, language, and behavior can Hartch relates in his article, Ivan Illich was convinced that Ameri- do full justice to the mystery of God revealed through history, can Christianity was so utterly and irredeemably syncretized as through a people, through events, through human languages, to disqualify its citizens from authentic missionary vocation. He through the Word made flesh. The treasure we carry is indeed did everything in his considerable power to undermine his own entrusted to limited, earthen vessels. church’s missionary efforts in Latin America. —Jonathan J. Bonk INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH Established 1950 by R. Pierce Beaver as Occasional Bulletin from the Missionary Research Library. Named Occasional Bulletin of Missionary Research in 1977. Renamed INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH in 1981. Published quarterly in January, April, July, and October by the Editor OVERSEAS MINISTRIES STUDY CENTER, 490 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, U.S.A. Jonathan J. Bonk (203) 624-6672 • Fax (203) 865-2857 • [email protected] • www.InternationalBulletin.org Associate Editor Contributing Editors Dwight P. Baker Catalino G. Arévalo, S.J. Darrell L. Guder Anne-Marie Kool Brian Stanley Assistant Editor David B. Barrett Philip Jenkins Mary Motte, F.M.M. Tite Tiénou Craig A. Noll Daniel H. Bays Daniel Jeyaraj C. René Padilla Ruth A. Tucker Managing Editor Stephen B. Bevans, S.V.D. Jan A. B. Jongeneel James M. Phillips Desmond Tutu Daniel J. Nicholas William R. Burrows Sebastian Karotemprel, S.D.B. Dana L. Robert Andrew F. Walls Senior Contributing Editors Samuel Escobar Kirsteen Kim Lamin Sanneh Anastasios Yannoulatos Gerald H. Anderson John F. Gorski, M.M. Graham Kings Wilbert R. Shenk Robert T. Coote Books for review and correspondence regarding editorial matters should be addressed to the editors. Manuscripts Circulation unaccompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (or international postal coupons) will not be returned. Opinions Aiyana Ehrman expressed in the IBMR are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Overseas Ministries Study Center. [email protected] The articles in this journal are abstracted and indexed in Bibliografia Missionaria, Book Review Index, Christian (203) 285-1559 Periodical Index, Guide to People in Periodical Literature, Guide to Social Science and Religion in Periodical Literature, Advertising IBR (International Bibliography of Book Reviews), IBZ (International Bibliography of Periodical Literature), Missionalia, Charles A. Roth Jr. Religious and Theological Abstracts, and Religion Index One: Periodicals. CA Roth Jr Inc. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Subscribe, renew, or change an address at www.InternationalBulletin.org or write INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH, P.O. Box 3000, Denville, NJ 07834-3000. Address correspondence concerning subscriptions 86 Underwood Rd. and missing issues to: Circulation Coordinator, [email protected]. Single copy price: $8. Subscription rate worldwide: one Falmouth, Maine 04105-1418 year (4 issues) $32. Foreign subscribers must pay with U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank, Visa, MasterCard, or International Mobile: (516) 729-3509 Money Order. Airmail delivery $16 per year extra. The IBMR is available in print and e-journal editions. Fax: (914) 470-0483 ONLINE ACCESS: Use the subscriber number and postal code from the mailing envelope for online access to the journal. [email protected] Visit www.OMSC.org/ibmr.html for details. Index, abstracts, and full text of