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UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXT. Samuel Telemaque. DIVINE REVELATION. In order to communicate divine revelation in the human context, it is necessary to understand the structures and functions of the human context. . The Reasons for Communicating Divine Revelation . People would believe in Jesus
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UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXT Samuel Telemaque
DIVINE REVELATION In order to communicate divine revelation in the human context, it is necessary to understand the structures and functions of the human context.
The Reasons for Communicating Divine Revelation People would believe in Jesus People would chose to obey Jesus People would chose to follow Jesus in baptism Societies would be transformed NB. It is not sufficient to understand the divine revelation. We need to also understand our human contexts.
Definition We define human contexts as the arenas in which people live their lives from day to day. We all live in various arenas/contexts at the same. For instance, Global Mission Pioneers are expected to reveal divine revelation in the economic context, social context, cross-cultural context, education context, urban context and so on
The Core Structure of All Contexts BELIEFS A belief is an idea or an absolute that a person considers to be truth.
The Core Structure of All Contexts People form beliefs after: A close examination of facts Consistent practice of habits Sudden changes in their environment Emulation of heroes and From direct revelation
The Core Structure of All Contexts BELIEFS The core of a community is its belief system The first task of the Global Mission Pioneer is discovering the beliefs system of the people in that community or city. Why? It is because conversion begins with a change in thinking.
The Core Structure of All Contexts VALUES Another important element of society is values. A value is a desirable quality which gives meaning and distinction to society and people. Examples of some values are obedience, loyalty, Sabbath keeping, fiesta, and perseverance.
The Core Structure of All Contexts VALUES It is the responsibility of Global Mission Pioneers to understand the values of people among whom, they hope to plant new churches. The Global Mission Pioneers seek to understand the values of people from observation of their behaviors and their cultural forms.
The Core Structure of All Contexts BEHAVIOR Behavior is another element in the structure of a society. It refers to how people eat, sleep, dress, socialize, and greet each other, express love, worship and play. All behaviors are influenced by peoples’ beliefs and values.
The Core Structure of All Contexts • BEHAVIORS • The behaviors of the people are windows to their beliefs, values, and culture.
The Core Structure of All Contexts The cultureof a community is formed by consistent reinforcement of beliefs and values. These beliefs and values are reinforced through government legislations, festivals, worship, sports and special holidays. People of influence in the community also help to reinforce a community’s beliefs and values. This consistent reinforcement of beliefs and values result in what is known as culture.
The Core Structure of All Contexts The core structure of any community consist of its beliefs, values, behaviors and customs. As the Global Mission Pioneers seek to plant new churches, their biggest challenge will be to change the beliefs of the people.
ALL CONTEXTS HAVE VISIBLE AND INVSIBLE STRUCTURES All context have visible and invisible structures. The invisible structures consist of the beliefs and values of the people. Conversely, the visible structures of the context consist of the behaviors and forms or symbols.
ALL CONTEXTS HAVE VISIBLE AND INVSIBLE STRUCTURES BELIEFS - ideas people consider to be true VALUES - desirable qualities BEHAVIORS- eating, greetings, romance, CUSTOMS- symbols, festival, music, flags
How to Communicate Divine Revelation in Human Context DYNAMIC EQUIVALENT Dynamic equivalent is the art of using cultural symbols which exist in a community to communicate divine revelation to people in their unique context. For example, Jesus used water to communicate that He gives eternal life to people from every ethnicity.
Comunicarse a través de la revelación divina de la cultura DYNAMIC EQUIVALENT Jesus used the principle of dynamic equivalent to communicate divine revelation through the cultural forms and symbol the people. This cross-cultural method of communicate facilitates understanding, conviction, and acceptance the divine revelation.
