How can the church meaningfully and intelligently engage cultures with Christianity? Oftentimes, it is not the message but the messenger that provides the greatest stumbling block for the average non-Christian. A missionary's ability to identify with the people, not in sympathy, but in empathy, is one of the keys. Language is another crucial factor. Anthropology and missions have much to learn from each other. Customs and Cultures provides practical ways missionaries can become acquainted with the cultural anthropology of the local community. Eugene Nida, a leading scholar and devout Christian, presents a thorough study of the means and methods which best communicate Christianity to people of diverse backgrounds. Dr. Nida is uniquely equipped to write this book because he is a well-known specialist in linguistics, anthropology studies, and the interpretation of the Christian faith, who worked with missionaries on translation problems for over thirty years. The development of the church is the real goal. The power of Jesus Christ working through his consecrated servants can sanctify all of life to the glory of God.
Amidst being bunged up with a heavy cold, this book highlighted to me anew, the rich diversity of humanity expressed in a plethora of ways.
The book does reflect very much being from the 1950s. In places, the author seems quite ahead of the time, and then there are other occasions where they are not so. But maybe that could be said of most of us!?!
For a book of the 50s, I do think the author shows a willingness and ability to critique missionary activity in a way so to point towards constructive changes. Possibly, they would not seem radical enough now in their 6 in 1950s mission work, I am sure this might have stirred some heart searching.
From across the globe, there is a huge range of examples given. Some surprising, some shocking to me looking through my own cultural lenses. The occasional example does read rather anecdotally, and it made me wonder, did this actually happen?
I am not sure what star to give it. It was good to read in relation to intercultural studying I am doing at present. Yet I am not sure I would recommend it for general reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The book is essentially a catalog of stories about tribal practices that seem odd to the modern Westerner and that often involve a clueless western missionary who doesn't understand what's going on. As these are things that the author has read or heard about but not observed, it's not clear how many of these anecdotes actually happened. The author does intersperse the tales with short reflections on how Christian missionaries should approach culture, but these do not go very deep. The author's philosophy leans heavily toward cultural relativism, and his ideas contemplate the Insider Movement of today. But the book itself feels as dated as the mid-century anthropological works that inspired it.