Our
theme concerns the benefits of diversity in general. My topic today is the
benefit of cultural diversity in reading Scripture.
I
asked for two Scriptures to be read:
Genesis
11: 1-9 (The tower of Babel)
Language diversity and cultural diversity appear as a
consequence of human rebellion.
Acts
2: 5-11 (Pentecost)
Language diversity and cultural diversity appear as a
means of grace conveying the gospel of God’s truth.
A tangential
thought: God regularly uses “judgment” to convey grace.
Our
Diversity Point: We need our various cultural perspectives to hear God’s truth
fully.
This idea assumes that God’s Word Written speaks in
every culture through every language. This idea works only if God is truly the
Creator of all people and if God seeks to save all people and make them part of
one great Family of God.
Two
examples, both from Jacob Loewen
1) (In
Jacob Loewen, The Bible in Cross-Cultural
Perspective (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2000)
Loewen was working with translators in the Congo to
translate the book of Genesis. The Congolese translators noted things in the
text of chapters 4 and 5 that Loewen had not seen. We read the genealogies as
though we are entering data in ancestry.com, while the Congolese translators
read the genealogies to act like their own: giving information about the
character of the people in them.
2)
(Also from Loewen, but I don’t remember the source)
Loewen met with a group of American missionaries and
Congolese pastors. He divided them into their national groups and had them read
the story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50) and establish the most important theme in
it.
The Americans identified
this theme: the value of individual strength and purity that Joseph showed in a
strange land.
The Congolese identified
this theme: the way that Joseph remained fully a part of his family, even when
he was carried away from them into a strange land.
Both
lessons are there, and we learn from both of them. We look for opportunities to
learn from each other here at Providence. Try joining a Bible study with people
from other cultures. Often our insights will match each other (Goldschmidt: “People
are more alike than cultures are different”). Sometimes an African or Asian or
North American perspective will burst into our awareness with new clarity and
we will experience a little bit of Revelation 7: 9f.
A
glimpse of Heaven!
16 Oct 2019
PUC/PTS Community Chapel
2 comments:
And here I thought stories such as the account of the Tower of Babel was an explanatory myth...as in “why do we speak different languages?”
That is one understanding of the origin of the story's composition, but that is not how it functions theologically within the text. The first step in good interpretation is to ask "Why is this story here?" That is, what does the author want to communicate with the story. It may indeed be aeteological in its formulation, but it is used here for a purpose. I think that purpose is to show the height of human rebellion, explicitly juxtaposed to Genesis 12, which shows the height of human obedience. In Gen 11: "Let us build -- make a name for ourselves." In Gen 12, God says, "I will build -- make a name for you." In Gen 11, the people usurp the place of God and are judged for their presumption.
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