Christian Evidences - C.D. #6 - The Trustworthiness of the Bible

Statement:

I read the whole text.

Outline:

What is Enculturation? Enculturation is the process by which culture is passed from one generation to the next and through which individuals become members of their society. How Does Enculturation Influence Personality? A structural relationship has been developed through studies that show there is the relationship between enculturation and personality development although, each individual begins with certain broad potentials and limitations that are genetically inherited. Are Different Personalities Characteristic of Different Cultures? Every culture emphasizes certain personality traits as good and others as bad—and has distinct ways of encouraging and discouraging those traits accordingly.

Summarize the Content:

The process of enculturation starts when individual’s become apart of their society, which soon happens after birth. The agents involved with enculturation come from the members of an individual’s household and later other members of society become involved. For enculturation to continue, individuals must possess self-awareness, the ability to identify oneself as an individual, to reflect on oneself, and to evaluate oneself.

Social Identity is established through personal naming, which is a universal practice with numerous cross-cultural variations. Personal names are important devices for self-definition in a culture. Without a name, an individual has no identity, and no sense of self. Many cultures hold special ceremonies when naming a child. The Aymara Indians in the Bolivian highland village of Laymi do not consider an infant human until they have given it a name. The naming ceremony marks their social transition from a state of nature to culture and full acceptance into the Laymi community.

As an individual develops a social identity, overtime they develop a personality (the distinctive ways a person thinks, feels, and behaves) from their life experience. Most anthropologists believe early childhood experiences play a key role in shaping adult personality. Anthropologists are interested in studies that seek to prove, modify, or at least shed light on the cultural differences in shaping personality. An example of this is viewed in how we raise males (tough, aggressive, dominant, and assertive) and females (gentle, passive, obedient, and caring) in a traditional Western society fashion. Nevertheless, most cross-cultural studies of gender-related personality characteristics show that differences between men and women are extremely malleable (flexible). Psychological anthropologists in the field of cross-cultural studies have established the interrelation of personality, child-rearing practices, and other aspects of culture. Although a society may emphasize one sort of behavior over the other, it may not emphasize it the same degree in both sexes.

Gender behaviors and relations are extremely malleable (flexible) and vary cross-culturally. Each culture presents different opportunities and expectations concerning ideal or acceptable male and female behavior. In some cultures, male-female relations are based on equal status, with both genders expected to behave the same. In other cultures, male-female relations are based on inequality and are marked by different standards of expected behavior.

Psychological anthropologists have established the interrelation of personality, child-rearing practices and other aspects of culture for meeting the basic physical needs of its members to survive. A good example of this is dependent training associated traditional farming societies that try to ensure that members of society will willingly and routinely work for the benefit of the group, performing the jobs assigned to them. The contrast of this is the independent training that comes from a society that puts emphasis on self-reliance and independent behavior. National character studies have focused on the modal characteristics of modern countries. They have attempted to determine the child-rearing practices and education that shape such a group personality.

Each culture chooses traits they feel are normative or ideal. Those who conform to certain traits constructed in a society are usually rewarded, while those who do not conform are not rewarded and in some cases treated, as an outcast of what is considered normal. The modal personality of a group is the personality typical of a cultural bounded by the population indicated by the central tendency of character. Intersexuals are individuals who do not fit into either a male or female biological standard or into a binary gender standard. Many cultures have created social space for transgender individuals who are classified in a third gender category.

What defines normal behavior in any culture is determined by the culture itself. All cultures have an abnormal behavior that develops when certain actions are displayed and socially the action is not accepted in the culture.

Reflection:

When I read this chapter I thought about the enculturation of new converts (from the society of the world and its culture of sin) into the church (after their re-birth through baptism) and the concept of one body many members. The text said on page 120 that from the moment of birth, a person faces multiple challenges to survive as an individual human being. Newborns cannot yet take care of their own biological needs. This is true in the church. Those who have an understanding of why Jesus died for their sins and are born of water and spirit are escaping the hold of sin to live faithful until death unto God. The moment after this re-birth, a person faces multiple challenges (from Satan) to survive as a Christian. New babes in Christ need assistance from other mature Christians for their physical (1st John 3:17-19) and spiritual needs (1st Corinthians 3:1-2; Hebrews 5:11-6:3; 1st Peter 2:2). They also need assistance to meet the needs required to please God the Father (Hebrews 11:1,3,6; 2nd Peter 1:3-11) to develop into a mature disciple of Jesus Christ (God the Son).

Just as newborn and young children are biologically ill equipped to survive without culture, children of God (in their infant stage of growth) are spiritually ill equipped to survive without the help of the church. A Christian lifestyle (could be classified as a culture) is socially constructed by its Head, Jesus and carried out in the lives of the members of the body of Christ, which is the church. All societies (Christian or Non-Christian) must ensure that the development of cultures teachings is effectively handed down from one generation to the next. The emergence and function of self-awareness in its four basic orientations are necessary to structure and discipline the behavioral environment in which the person acts.

Here are the four self-awareness orientations:

Object orientation (learning about a world of objects other than the self). Spatial orientation (geographic location and traveling of one place to another).Temporal orientation (a sense of place in time, the past, the present, and the future).Normative orientation (A growing individual needs to understand values, ideals, and standards that constitute the behavioral environment).

You can find these four basic orientations of self-awareness for an individual in the bible. In the case of the church (as a whole and the setting of a local congregation), each member or part of the body must know its function and those around him or/ her in order to successfully operate (function) and survive. 1st Corinthians 12:12-31, the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinth congregation about the body (church) as a unit, made up of many parts (members); though all its parts (members) are many, they form one body (church). Apostle Paul goes on to say that if the whole body was an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts (members) in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts (members), but one body (church).

Here are four orientations the bible speaks of when dealing with the members in the body (church):

The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.The parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.The parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty.While the presentable parts need no special treatment

In the case of the church, God has given us the bible, which gives an individual what it needs to understand values, ideals, and the order and standards that constitute the behavioral environment for the church acceptable before God. Not only can you learn about a world of objects in your environment (plant life, animals, insects, and economic growth) in the bible, you find spatial orientation when read about men chosen by God traveling from different regions to unfamiliar territory like Abraham leaving Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan, to living in Egypt and making his dwelling in the trees of Mamre, Jacob living on the land (Paddam Aram) of his father-in-law (Laban) eventually ending up in Egypt (in the region of Goshen), the Exodus of Israel and eventually dwelling in Canaan. Even in the New Testament we see the apostle Paul traveling to Corinth and Troas and Thessalonica and other various cities preaching the word and establishing the church.

In a Christian society there are things God accepts and rewards and there are things he detests and punishes. He rewards those who diligently seek him and show their love for him by keeping his commands. Those who do so will be rewarded with a crown of righteousness and given eternal life. Those who choose to disobey will be punished for their sins and thrown into the lake of fire.

Roles in the church are different between men and women. Marriage between a man and a woman is symbolic to the relationship Jesus Christ has with the church. Just as Christ is head of the church, man is head of the women in marriage (1st Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:22-33). God has structured the church for men to lead in worship service when the saints meet on the first day of the week. God has given leadership roles for men to function as elders, deacons, and ministers (preachers before the congregation) (1st Timothy 3:1-16; Titus 5:6-9). This doesn’t mean that women are not to preach and lead over younger women (but not over men in the setting of the house or the church (1st Corinthians 14:34 (this is talking about teaching); 1st Timothy 2: 9-15; Titus 2:3-5).

The blueprint and construct of the church has been designed by God and is flawless. When you read the bible you can find temporal orientation starting from the beginning of creation, through history of God’s deliverance of his people, prophecy spoken by prophets (men chosen by God to speak his words) and fulfilled in the future by Jesus who was the messiah to save his people, God had divine plans for man to leave this earth after sin entered into it. Now those who believe Jesus is the Son of God (and are baptized for the remission of their sins) have a relationship with God. That baptism puts you into Christ and you are added to the church. Once your enculturation begins from re-birth you develop over time into a mature Christian equipped for every act of righteousness. These acts of righteousness through God lead us to an everlasting abode. For this world is temporary and those who seek a better dwelling live by faith in Jesus until his return for those who patiently wait to see their faith in view (2nd Corinthians 5:1-10; Romans 8:18-27; Hebrews 11:1-40; 1, 6, 13-16, 40).

I really enjoyed this chapter and besides this review. I plan to further my studies in this chapter and parallel other passages to the scriptures. I hope to find more fun facts to relate the scriptures to this study of enculturation.