Lesson 4 Flashcards
The worldview is ____ the culture
within
define worldview
the principal way a given people define what is real in everyday existence
A main reason for the difference between the Navajo and the Christian idea of progress is….
Navajo belief in the circularity of existence
Why must cross-cultural missionary communicators take seriously the culturally determined worldview of the people with whom they are trying to communicate?
because these people take their worldview seriously
How does Hesselgrave relate worldview to the words “see” and “know”?
a worldview is the way people see the world, the way they know it to be
Robert Redfield’s definition of worldview is “the way we see…
1
God in relation to ourselves
2
God in relation to the universe
3
ourselves in relation to all else
4
ourselves
3
List the 3 categories of worldviews discussed in the section
materialistic or naturalistic
religious
in-between
How does hesselgrave characterize worldviews?
in terms of their basic understanding of supernature, nature, humanity, and time
Circle each TRUE statement.
1
When a respondent decodes a message, the decoding is based on his or her worldview.
2
few missionaries have been ignorant of what is happening in the decoding process of their respondents
3
Christ adapted His messages to the worldviews of His respondents
4
Peter did not find it necessary to adapt his message at Pentecost to the worldview of his respondents
5
Paul did not adapt his message in Athens (Mars Hill) to the worldview of his respondents
1, 3
Circle each TRUE statement. It is impractical for a Christian missionary to invite his or her non-Christian respondents to lay aside their own worldview and temporarily adopt the Christian worldview because…
1
few of them are able to do it
2
it is impossible for them to do it
3
few of them who could do this are willing to do it
1, 3
State how cross-cultural Christian missionaries can approach their non-Christian respondents in keeping with their missionary calling and the realities of culture.
by contextualizing the Christian message into the worldview of their respondents
Using the discussion of preevangelism, describe what cross-cultural missionaries must do in reaction to what their respondents believe about existence and the nature of reality
the missionary must adapt to those beliefs
Contextualization includes 4 steps:
definition, selection, adaptation, application
Which contextualization step (definition, selection, adaptation, application) is this?
making the message compelling and personal
application
Which contextualization step (definition, selection, adaptation, application) is this?
noting and adjusting to special concerns of the worldview
adaptation
Which contextualization step (definition, selection, adaptation, application) is this?
choosing aspects of the whole truth to fit time limitations and other circumstances
selection
Which contextualization step (definition, selection, adaptation, application) is this?
bridging the distance between divine truth and cultural error by contrasting them with each other
definition
list 4 characteristics of the naturalist (atheist, etc) worldview and how these characteristics are regarded.
- the supernatural: disregarded or dismissed as some less-developed stage of evolution
- nature: sometimes regarded as kind to humanity and sometimes as an enemy of humanity
- humanity: regarded as existing by a chance arrangement of atoms
- time: regarded as the element that solves all problems (unending)
Select each TRUE statement. The study of philosophy and apologetics will help missionaries to…
1
show naturalists that one unbelieving system usually cancels out another
2
offer naturalists a defense of the Christian faith
3
declare to naturalists that Christ is the Wisdom of God
4
openly disclaim the basic tenets of the naturalist
1, 2, 3
State why missionaries should not go beyond their knowledge and abilities in their attempt to communicate Christ through reasoning.
to do so would cause bad arguments that their audience would hold against them and against the Christian faith
Definition of a religious worldview
“a worldview that involves a linking of nature, man, and history to the supernatural
In regards to the ideas of Jahnheinz Jahn and John Mbiti regarding the African worldview, circle each TRUE statement.
A
Jahn’s emphasis on “force” as a key concept to describe the African worldview is evidently stronger than Mbiti’s.
B
Mbiti evidently disagrees with Jahn’s idea that for the African the whole of existence is a religious phenomenon.
C
Jahn’s emphasis on “time” as the key to understanding the worldview of Sub-Saharan Africa is evidently stronger than Mbiti’s.
D
Evidently, both Jahn and Mbiti believe that in Africa, religion is understood as pertaining to being.
E
If Jahn has overstated his case, Mbiti probably has done the same.
A, D, E
State what Mbiti says about the phenomenon in African animism that Westerners called “ancestor worship.”
He calls it “remembrance of ancestors”
animism definition
a belief in spiritual beings concerned with human affairs and capable of helping or harming human interests; attributes life and an indwelling spirit to all material forms of reality
To which group of forces in Jahn’s categories of African belief should the Japanese kami be related?
the Muntu group
Describe 4 realities of God that Paul communicated to the people of Lystra and Athens through “points of entry” into their tribal worldview.
God’s power as demonstrated by the healing through Paul of the lame man at Lystra
God’s patience as implied in Paul’s reference to His overlooking ignorance
God’s goodness in providing rain, seasons, and so forth
God’s revelation or unveiling in the sense of being made known as indicated by Paul
It is clear that those who hold to the tribal worldview believe…
1
much more strongly in the supernatural than those who hold to the naturalist worldview
2
a little more strongly in the supernatural than those who hold to the naturalist worldview
3
as strongly in the supernatural as those who hold to the naturalist worldview
4
less strongly in the supernatural than those who hold to the naturalist worldview
1
