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https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19608
Title: | The Sermon on the Mount or Cultural Religion: Ministry Practice and Theological Education in Papua New Guinea | Contributor(s): | Charlesworth, Scott (author) | Publication Date: | 2016 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19608 | Abstract: | The Sermon on the Mount is a profound critique of first-century Judaism's accommodation of culture. Cultural imperatives are turned on their head on two fronts. (1) Honour and shame: shame becomes the new honour in a series of antitheses that expose the external focus of Jewish religion. (2) Covenant: as far as the Jews were concerned, the Abrahamic covenant appeared to be compatible with culture. It was easy to equate cultural honour - i.e., status deriving from wealth or position - with the blessing of God. That theology is largely reinterpreted, if not denied, by Jesus. The greatest blessing that the righteous can receive is persecution and shaming by cultural religionists. Jesus draws his covenant theology from Isaiah, Lamentations, wisdom literature, and the experience of the prophets. He understands that all who speak against cultural religion will be persecuted. From an honour-shame cultural standpoint, this is an enormously confronting teaching. In view of that, the implications of a counter-cultural Jesus for Christianity in Papua New Guinea are examined. Since I am a New Testament scholar, and not a missiologist, parts of the second half of this essay are anecdotal and based on what I learned teaching biblical languages and studies during a lengthy sojourn in Papua New Guinea. | Publication Type: | Journal Article | Source of Publication: | Melanesian Journal of Theology, 32(1), p. 37-58 | Publisher: | Melanesian Association of Theological Schools | Place of Publication: | Papua New Guinea | ISSN: | 0256-856X | Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 220405 Religion and Society 220401 Christian Studies (incl. Biblical Studies and Church History) 169905 Studies of Pacific Peoples' Societies |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: | 500405 Religion, society and culture 500401 Christian studies 451801 Pacific Peoples and the law |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 950406 Religious Traditions (excl. Structures and Rituals) 970122 Expanding Knowledge in Philosophy and Religious Studies |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: | 130503 Religious rituals and traditions (excl. structures) 130502 Religious philosophies and belief systems 280119 Expanding knowledge in philosophy and religious studies |
HERDC Category Description: | C2 Non-Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal |
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Appears in Collections: | Journal Article |
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