A recent issue of Christianity Today carried a very interesting interview with researcher and author Dr. Philip Jenkins on Global Christianity. Dr. Jenkins was asked: “What are some differences in global attitudes to the nature of the Bible and the Old Testament?” Here, in this short excerpt, is part of his answer: “When you are in Europe or the United States, if you are dealing with ordinary, secular people, the Old Testament can be almost an embarrassment. ‘We do not understand [it]. This is an ancient, primitive world. This is of no relevance to us.’
If you go to many parts of Africa there’s the opposite problem – which is that people can be tempted to read the Old Testament, see it as so relevant, so immediate that they don’t need anything else. The church in the Sudan, for example, tries very hard not to issue translations of the Book of Leviticus because the danger is the people will just read that and not want the New Testament, because Leviticus was so obviously written for their [kind of] society.
Think about that in terms of evangelism. If I am talking to an American or a European and I’m trying to explain a concept like atonement, that’s a very strange idea. Blood sacrifice is strange and alien. But now imagine trying to spread that same message in a society in Africa where they’re very used to the idea of animal sacrifice. They know the idea that blood pays the price of sin. All you have to get across is the idea that all these sacrifices are trivial. There is one sacrifice, which is Christ. They can understand that.” You can read the whole interview here (Christianity Today: Mar 21, 2014, subscription required).
The article certainly makes one think about the many other differences in viewpoint that must apply to Christians in various cultures looking at the Bible from a primarily Old Testament perspective, or an almost wholly New Testament perspective. Moral of the story: being aware of this difference can help us in interacting and working with people of like mind – but different cultural perspectives – around the world.
If you go to many parts of Africa there’s the opposite problem – which is that people can be tempted to read the Old Testament, see it as so relevant, so immediate that they don’t need anything else. The church in the Sudan, for example, tries very hard not to issue translations of the Book of Leviticus because the danger is the people will just read that and not want the New Testament, because Leviticus was so obviously written for their [kind of] society.
Think about that in terms of evangelism. If I am talking to an American or a European and I’m trying to explain a concept like atonement, that’s a very strange idea. Blood sacrifice is strange and alien. But now imagine trying to spread that same message in a society in Africa where they’re very used to the idea of animal sacrifice. They know the idea that blood pays the price of sin. All you have to get across is the idea that all these sacrifices are trivial. There is one sacrifice, which is Christ. They can understand that.” You can read the whole interview here (Christianity Today: Mar 21, 2014, subscription required).
The article certainly makes one think about the many other differences in viewpoint that must apply to Christians in various cultures looking at the Bible from a primarily Old Testament perspective, or an almost wholly New Testament perspective. Moral of the story: being aware of this difference can help us in interacting and working with people of like mind – but different cultural perspectives – around the world.
