Customs and Cultures (Revised Edition)

Eugene A. Nida

Description

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.

Preface

1.     Shocks and Surprises

2.     Rhyme and Reason

3.     Race and Ranting

4.     Hoes and Headaches

5.     Friends and Frustrations

6.     Devils and Doubts

7.     Drums and Drama

8.     Queer Sounds, Strange Grammars and Unexpected Meanins

9.     Old Customs and New Ways

10.  New Solutions to Old Problems

Appendix

Bibliography

Notes

Index

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Theology
• Philosophie et théologie
• Anthropology

Informations

• Publié par: William Carey Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 juin 1975
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780878088263
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

The William Carey Library Series on Applied Cultural Anthropology
William A. Smalley, Editor
The Church and Cultures: An Applied Anthropology for the Religious Worker by Louis J. Luzbetak, 448 pages.
Culture and Human Values: Christian Intervention in Anthropological Perspective by Jacob A. Loewen, 443 pages.
Customs and Cultures: Anthropology for Christian Missions by Eugene A. Nida, 320 pages.
Manual of Articulatory Phonetics by William A. Smalley, 522 pages.
Oral Communication of the Scripture: Insights from African Oral Art by Herbert V. Klem, 256 pages.
Readings in Missionary Anthropology II , William A. Smalley, Editor, 944 pages.
Tips On Taping: Language Recording in the Social Sciences by Wayne B. and Lonna J. Dickerson, 198 pages.
Understanding Latin Americans: With Special Reference to Religious Values and Movements by Eugene A. Nida, 176 pages.

Copyright 1954 by Harper and Brothers
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First published by Harper Brothers, 1954
Reprinted in 1975 by William Carey Library Publishers
Ninth William Carey Library Printing, 1986
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 54-8976
ISBNs: 978-0-87808-723-5 (paperback), 978-0-87808-826-3 (epub)
Published by
William Carey Library
1705 N. Sierra Bonita Ave.
P.O. Box 40129
Pasadena, California 91104
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
PREFACE
1 SHOCKS AND SURPRISES
2 RHYME AND REASON
What Is Anthropology?
What Is Culture?
Easy and Wrong Explanations
It s Just Natural
Why People Act As They Do
What Makes People Click?
Fried or Scrambled?
How Many Parts Make the Whole?
The Part of Culture We Take for Granted
Things and Ideas
How Much Is It Worth?
How Does It Work?
All the Pieces Fit Together
Is There Purpose in Culture?
If Other People Do It, Why Can t We?
What Does Anthropology Show Us?
3 RACE AND RANTING
Prejudice Is Universal
The Myth of Racial Superiority
What Is Race?
Are Some Races More Intelligent than Others?
Mixed Races
Scapegoats and Scapelions
Back Doors and Bogeymen
Frustrations and Resentments
Not Problems but People
4 HOES AND HEADACHES
Not So Dumb
Shell Axes and Sewn Planks
Sour Mush and Sauerkraut
Not By Bread Alone
Share, Give, Barter, or Buy
How Much Is He Worth?
Material and Social Culture
Material and Religious Culture
Material and Esthetic Culture
Material Culture and Christian Missions
5 FRIENDS AND FRUSTRATIONS
From a Single Family to One World
The Family-Small and Large
Sex before Marriage
Who Marries Whom?
Here Comes the Bridel
Multiple Mates
Sex and Procreation
Universal Wrongs
Grounds for Divorce
Family Life
What Shall We Name Him?
Education, Formal and Informal
Coming of Age
Who Does What?
The Weaker Sex?
Death, Inheritance, and Retaliation
Suicide
Governments
Keeping People in Line
All Is Fair in War
The 400
Social and Religious Culture
Christian Missions and Social Culture
6 DEVILS AND DOUBTS
Spirits and Gods, Powers and Prophets
It Just Isn t So
Idols behind Crosses
Man in a Spirit World
Gods and Spirits, High and Low
From the Sun to a Praying Mantis
Blessings, Cursings, Divination, and Communion
Rites and Ritual
Sorcerers, Seers, Priests, Prophets, and Medicine Men
Myths and Magic
From Birth to Death
Animists at Heart
The So-called World Religions
Mixed Wine in Patched Wineskins
Social Structure Influences Religion
Christian Missions and Non-Christian Religious Beliefs
7 DRUMS AND DRAMA
All Men Are Artists
Culture Dictates the Style
Primitivism Is Not Childish Art
Artists with Words
Rhythm and Melody
Dance and Drama
Christian Missions and Esthetic Culture
8 QUEER SOUNDS, STRANGE GRAMMARS, AND UNEXPECTED MEANINGS
Just a Jumble of Sound
Broad Lips and Broad Vowels
Languages Are Arbitrary Systems
Languages Are Constantly Changing
Meanings of Words Reflect the Culture
Language: a Part, a Mechanism, and a Model of Culture
Languages in Competition
Talking and Making Sense
1. Two and Two May Not Equal Four
2. Deceptive Similarities
3. A Part Is Not Enough
4. Meaningless or Ludicrous?
5. Let the Borrower Bewarel
6. Cultural Barriers
7. Keys to the Heart
Learning a Foreign Language
9 OLD CUSTOMS AND NEW WAYS
Primitive and Civilized
With or Against the Stream
Cultures Exhibit Personality
Cultures Change
All Cultures Are in Debt
Diffusion of Traits
New Meanings for Old Traits
Something New under the Sun
Well-entrenched Resistance
Growth and Death
Is There Progress?
10 NEW SOLUTIONS TO OLD PROBLEMS
A Pagan Looks at Missionary Work
In Defense of Missionaries
Christendom Is Not Christianity
Wood, Hay, and Stubble
The Mission and the Indigenous Church
None Righteous
Bridges and Chasms
New Solutions
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
NOTES
INDEX
Preface to the New Edition of Customs and Cultures
Good missionaries have always been good anthropologists . Not only have they been aware of human needs, whether stemming form the local way of life or from man s universal need of salvation, but they have recognized that the various ways of life of different peoples are the channels by which their needs take form and through which the solutions to such needs must pass. Effective missionaries have always sought to immerse themselves in a profound knowledge of the ways of life of the people to whom they have sought to minister, since only by such an understanding of the indigenous culture could they possibly communicate a new way of life. On the other hand, some missionaries have been only children of their generation and have carried to the field a distorted view of race and progress, culture and civilization, Christian and non-Christian ways of life. In connection with my work as a consultant for translations of the Scriptures in some 200 languages and in more than 75 countries, I have become increasingly conscious of the serious mistakes in cultural orientation and adjustment which show up directly and indirectly, not only in translations of the Bible, but also in various aspects of the ministry of missionaries. Accordingly, this treatment of Anthropology for Christian Missions is directed to those who may have been unaware of the invaluable assistance which the science of anthropology can provide or who have become desirous of knowing more of its implications in various parts of the world.
A high percentage of the data in this book comes from copious field notes collected during travel in various countries of the world. In citing praiseworthy achievements by missionaries, I have indicated the precise tribe or area, but in making adverse comments I have purposely not designated the region (though this information can be provided to those who have special reasons for inquiry), since nothing would be gained by appearing to criticize unduly the work of consecrated and well-meaning persons. Data coming from published sources have been cited in footnotes where such information is of an extensive nature or where it has seemed valuable to call the reader s attention to other literature in order to encourage further reading. In general, the literature, rather than original sources, is cited, since the literature is available in most libraries while the original sources exist only in relatively few places and they are often in foreign languages unknown to the average reader. Often repeated anthropological data, such as those concerning the Todas of South India, the Aranda of Australia, and the Polar Eskimos, have not been footnoted, since such data may be verified in several sources and they are frequently referred to in the literature.
It is generally the practice in books on anthropology to describe aboriginal societies in the present tense, as though the distinctive cultures were fully intact. We have attempted, in so far as possible, to indicate something of the breakdown of old patterns by the use of past tense forms when the cultural traits no longer exist or are only historic relics . However, since in many societies the former dominant ways of life are in process of transition, it is very difficult to do justice to the present tempo or stage of change and to be completely accurate in all details, for obsolescence is not a uniform process. Nevertheless, it has seemed preferable to employ this type of wording, despite some slight inaccuracies not covered by qualifying adverbs or footnotes, than to commit the worse error of failing to recognize the transitory character of many of the passing traits.
Since this book on Customs and Cultures was first written some twenty years ago it has acquired perhaps even greater relevance, not merely because missionaries must deal with more sensitive issues under more trying circumstances, but also because there are an increasing number of missionaries from the third world who are equally likely to misjudge the true nature and structure of the societies to which they go. The mistake of missionaries from the Western World should constitute important warnings as to how easy it is to fall into the trap of cultural isolationism and insensitivity, regardless of the culture from which one comes. Perhaps this volume can also serve as a guide to those who wish to understand why there are an increasing number of areas in the world in which missionaries are being asked to go home and why a moratorium on further sending of missionaries and funds is being urged by many responsible local Christian leaders.
In a book of this nature, which is directed to a popular audience, it has been both impossible and inadvisable to attempt to make comprehensive analyses of various culture traits, either within a single culture or in their world-wide distribution. Henc