Running head: ANTHROPOLOGY 1
What About Our Families? – Case Study
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ANTHROPOLOGY 2
What About Our Families? – Case Study
Issues
In the case study, one of the main issues was learning western Africa's village language
to communicate correctly with them and translate the Bible with their language. Mark and Jim
were responsible for translating the Bible from English, the Village language, as they were
trained linguistics from school. At first, it was difficult and time-consuming for them to learn the
language and then translate it to English so that they could be able to tell God's stories better. But
after a while, Mark and Jim were able to learn western Africa's Village's language, which
enabled them to translate the Bible into their language. The villagers learned how to read and
write, which led to the first Bible translation of their language. This move increased the villagers'
belief regarding God's stories, which attracted the attention of elders from another village.
These elders from another neighboring village, who are blood relatives to this village,
brought the other main issue. They got wind of the stories of God, got interested, and decided
that they would visit the village where we were located. They acknowledged that they heard the
stories from their relatives and wanted to learn more and be baptized like their relatives.
However, they had some queries about following God's rules as polygamists (Paris & Howell,
2011). Their argument was that they followed God; it would mean that they abandoned
polygamy, thus bringing shame to their wives for being left by their husbands. Another concern
was that following God's rules would mean that they would also abandon their children. This
issue made Mark and Jim consult us, even though they prayed to God and searched the scripture
for answers, knowing we were not linguistics but medical doctors. We were not sure how to
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respond since the decision had significant implications for the families in the village and our
work.
Rationales
In terms of belief, there was a conflict of acceptance of God's stories between the village
elders from a neighboring village and Mark and Jim. Mark and Jim had a strong belief in the
Bible which led them to come to the village and spread the word of God. On the other hand, the
village elders were excited and eager to learn more about God through the Bible stories, and it is
indicated that they wanted to be baptized (Elmer, 2006). However, the conflict of belief arrived
when they asked whether their polygamous marriage is part of Christian beliefs since it has
tremendous implications for their polygamous families. In terms of values, the conflict came
where Mark and Jim believed that it is essential to learn the ways of God through Bible stories.
On the other hand, the village elders acknowledged their urge to learn more about God.
Still, they were reluctant due to believing that polygamy is also important as it has always been
among their culture or way of doing things (Paris & Howell, 2011). In terms of practices, it is
evident that the village elders maintained their polygamy culture where each had 3-4 wives but at
the same time wanted to know if they would continue with their culture even after baptism.
Mark, Jim, Sara, and I also had a conflict of deciding what to tell the elders regarding their
polygamy practice which made us pray for God's wisdom and ask regional leaders for insight
and practice.
Solution
The possible solution based on the beliefs, values, and practices that the village elders
adopted was to maintain their families because it is their duty to provide and care for them. Even
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though the scripture does not explicitly forbid polygamy, the best option could be to baptize the
village elders as new Christians to learn more about God and still take care of their polygamous
settings. As the scripture states, any person who does not support and provide for their own,
especially in their household, has denied Christian faith and is therefore considered worse than
an infidel (New King James Version, 1982, 1Tim. 5:8). When the village elders return, they will
discover that they could continue learning about Christianity and also uphold their polygamous
cultural practice.
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References
Elmer, D. (2006). cross-cultural servanthood: serving the world in Christlike humility.
Thriftbooks.
New King James Version. (1982). HarperCollins
Paris, W., J. & Howell. B., M. (2011). Introducing cultural anthropology: a Christian
perspective. Baker Academic.
