Contextualization
Homo sum humani a me nihil alienum puto – this is a Latin saying (dating back to 160 BCE) that roughly means “I am a human being, so nothing human is strange to me.” It is a motto advocating for respecting people and cultures that are different from our own. It is a nice saying,…
Read MoreIn thinking about talking about our faith it is helpful if we broaden the discussion and think about what God has actually called us to be and do. He sends us out to be His representatives. Jesus is our example of what it means to be God’s representative. He came as a whole individual and…
Read MoreIn Genesis 16:11-12 God promises Hagar that she will have a son. God goes on to say that this son will be a “wild donkey of a man.” This metaphor is a bit jolting. Who would want to be told that their son is to be a “wild donkey of a man?” Yet, Hagar interpreted…
Read MoreEthnocentrism is believing in the superiority of one’s ethnic group. Even though it sounds like ethnocentrism is bad, ethnocentrism has positive and negative qualities. For a minority group in oppressive conditions, ethnocentrism enables the group to create and sustain an identity over extended periods of time. The downside of ethnocentrism is that it causes a people…
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