LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Research Paper:
CHRISTIANITY CAND ULTURE ELIGION AND ULTURE OF AST AND EST: R C E W
Submitted to Dr. McDonald,
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
THEO 525-B01
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY I
By
March 08, 2019
Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
What is culture?.............................................................................................................................2
How do religions function like culture?.......................................................................................3
How does religion influence culture?...........................................................................................4
Western and Eastern Christian culture, religion, and theology................................................5
Christianity in China.....................................................................................................................7
A look at two cultures....................................................................................................................9
Intracultural similarities and differences..................................................................................11
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................13
Bibliography.................................................................................................................................14
ii
Introduction
Through the age’s religion has become an important part of society and every civilization
in the world has had some sort of religious belief or spiritual system. Religion and culture are
tied together and can affect the way we think as a society. Paul Tillich the noted theologian and
existentialist exclaimed that “religion is the substance of culture, culture is the form of religion”.1
Religions function a lot like cultures, and they can influence each culture in different ways. We
understand religion can affect culture, but it also can be affected by culture. Exploring the
relationships among religion and culture can help us to understand how they shape society
globally and how each culture effects one another. As, we are becoming a closer society with
globalization, faster transportation, technology, and worldwide telecommunication;
understanding each other’s culture is vital to communicating more efficiently with one another.
This paper will include definitions of culture and religion and will focus on the effects
they have on each other. We will compare western and eastern thought with an emphasis on
religion and culture. We will pay special attention to China and explore how Christian theology
and doctrine effects their culture. We will compare and contrast American culture to that of
China with an emphasis on Christian ministry. We will explore how religious doctrines can cause
cultures to develop in certain ways and by understanding this we can have better communication
which will lead to a more successful global Christian ministry. Religion and culture are
interrelated as a result, religious doctrines can cause culture to develop in certain ways, this can
affect cultural norms and beliefs in those societies.
What is culture?
1 Paul Tillich, Theology of Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981) 1
1
Many of us talk about culture and we are told we need to be culturally sensitive, but do
we really know what that means? Defining culture can be a difficult task at best, for Tillich
culture is a society’s relative engagement with theology, science, and art. In other words, culture
is a mediation between religion, and science. A very existential answer for an existential person,
2
E. Randolph and Brandon J. O’Brien define culture as a set of shared mores, attitudes, values,
goals, and practices of a community or group Mores are quite interesting concept according, to
3
Webster’s dictionary mores are the fixed morally binding customs of a particular group.
Randolph and O’Brien describe mores as “Folkways of central importance accepted without
question and embodying the moral views of a group.” Mores tend to be geographic in nature
4
and they usually determine what is considered moral and ethical behavior, this effects how
people act in certain cultures.
5
Adam Cohen defines culture as consisting of certain parts “First, culture emerges in
adaptive interactions between humans and environments. Second, culture consists of shared
elements. Third, culture is transmitted across time periods and generations.” For our purposes
6
we can define culture as a shared belief system, between certain geographic groups pass on from
generation and they govern how a person is supposed to behave and live within and outside the
group. Culture helps define who we are and how we apply it and live our life’s. It also affects the
we communicate with others and interact with them. It also effects the way we learn and what we
will focus on when we are learning. Culture and the way people communicate and interact from
these cultures has effect on our world globally.
2 Ibid., 3
3 E. Randolph Richards, and Brandon J. O'Brien. MISREADING SCRIPTURE WITH WESTERN EYES:
Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012) 29
4 Ibid., 29
5 Ibid., 29
6 Adam B. Cohen, "Religion and Culture." (Online Readings in Psychology and Culture 4, no. 4
(2011). doi:10.9707/2307-0919.1108) 2
2
How do religions function like culture?
Now, that we defined culture, we can understand that cultures are quite complex. Culture
and religion are different but have similarities. First, both religions and cultures have symbols.
Symbols are tangible manifestation of strong ideas. In culture this may be the idea of “justice” or
“honor” in religion it may be the idea of “God” or “faith”, but they also can overlap like “justice”
which can be both a culture and religious concept. Second, both culture and religion have rules
7
and laws it is governed by and we call these norms. Norms are the behaviors and actions on how
a group conducts itself, for example in the west a social norm that is quite prevalent is personnel
space.8 We do not stand to close to a person to invade their personal space. A religious norm may
be bowed heads, kneeling, and close eyes during prayer. Third, both religion and culture have
values, values are general guidelines for our conduct. Some Christian values may consist of:
Faith in God, self-control and moderation, and kindness and compassion. Cultural values could
9
consist of similar values like respect, responsibility, and honesty and integrity. Finally, both
culture and religion have social interaction like birthday parties, weddings, church services, and
funerals. Religion is not culture but has similarities to culture that allow religions to function like
a culture. Religion and culture are interrelated as a result, religious doctrines can cause culture to
develop in certain ways, this can affect cultural norms and beliefs in those societies.
How does religion influence culture?
Now, that we know that a religion can function like a culture does religion really have an
effect on cultural? Cohen proclaims and astounding yes! Cohen claims religion can affect the
way we act and think. In a recent study conducted on how Jews and Christians think, Jew and
10
7 Ibid., 29 -30
8 Ibid., 29 -30
9 Ibid., 29 -30
10 Adam B. Cohen et al. "Religion and Culture." 2012. 1-12
3
Christians were shown to think differently and have differing views on religious doctrine. When
11
participants were asked, if thinking about sexually about a person who was not their spouse was
cheating, Christians unanimously said yes, they thought they would be cheating. The Jewish
participants were on the complete opposite side they thought that thinking about having sex with
somebody other than their wife was not cheating. According to Cohen: “Christians consider such
thoughts to be adulterous, but Jewish people consider lustful thoughts to be much less important
than actions.” We can see the influence of Jesus on Christians from Matthew chapter 5 “You
12
have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks
at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye
causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your
body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Jews do not see anything wrong with
13
thinking about the action but the action itself would be bad.
Christians see both action and thought of adultery equal to each other. This thinking is
directly related to religious influences. Though not all religions establish specific rules for
behavior and thoughts, many religions in the world do set some guidelines that influence culture.
In many cultures due to religious influence there may be many rules that dictate how people
conduct themselves. For example: In most middle east countries women must be veiled, and
people must observe dietary laws due to religious influences. In American we still have many
blue laws which prohibit the sale of certain items on Sunday’s like the sale of alcohol due to the
influences of religious factors. In India a majority of people are vegan or vegetarian due to the
11 Ibid., 1-12
12 Ibid., 1-12
13 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New International Version (Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011.)
4
influence of Hindu doctrine. Religion influences culture in both action and thoughts of certain
groups of people.
Western and Eastern Christian culture, religion, and theology
Now, that we have explored culture and how religion influences it, we will now see how
Christianity developed in two different cultures in different ways. Many people in American
assume Christianity started in the western cultural tradition, and many times when we think
about the beginnings of Christianity, we tend to think of it as a Roman or western European
religion. In many artist representations in the west Jesus is portrayed as a white Anglo Saxon
man with blue eyes, but Jesus was actually born in the east and grew in the traditions of eastern
culture. What is the major difference between eastern and western culture? According, to
Randolph and O’Brien “Western societies are, by and large, individualistic societies,” and in a
western society “a person’s identity comes by distinguishing herself from the people around her.
She is encouraged to avoid peer pressure and be and independent thinker.”
14
Eastern societies tend to be a collectivist culture where the family, group, or nation is
more important than and individual, important decisions are usually made of the group. Another
difference is eastern society tends to be an honor and shame-based society. “in shame cultures,
people are more likely to choose right behavior on the basis of what society expects from them.”
15 Do not get us wrong we are not saying this is because of guilt or an inner voice but outside
“pressures and opinions direct a person behave a certain way” The west tends to have a right
16
and wrong culture we try to choose right to avoid wrong instead of having group pressures we
internalize matters within the mind of the individual and usually do not take other people into
14 E. Randolph Richards, and Brandon J. O'Brien et al. MISREADING SCRIPTURE WITH
WESTERN EYES: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible. 2012. 96
15 Ibid., 116
16 Ibid., 116
5
mind. Time can also differentiate east and west, now we understand there is only 24 hours in a
day. In western culture time is a commodity to be scheduled and it is a limited resource to be
cherished. Eastern folk have a different concept of time and it can be sum up with these words’
things happen when they happen’. In the east if church starts midday it does not mean 12 o’clock
but its related to the weather Church starts when the weather cools down about 2:30. Finally,
17
We westerners seem to see everything in terms of rules, again we see with the concept of right
and wrong. Jesus never saw things in this black and white method. What we think as virtue like
saving money the bible may not see as virtue, a virtue in the bible would be helping the poor, a
very collectivist idea.18
As we see above, we can see there was already a natural divide between western and
eastern thinking. David Hall said it quite eloquently Westerners ask “what” questions and
easterners ask “when’ questions “If a new kind fish was found in the ocean westerners would try
to identify it and categorize it, but easterners would figure out how to cook it and when to eat
it”19 We all know of the division of the Church from between East and West in 1054. We tend to
think of this division as purely theological, but if we really look carefully, we can see that the
division had been there all along, it was a division between eastern and western culture. An
individualistic western culture versus a collectivist eastern culture. According to Slavica Jakelic:
collectivistic religious traditions are generally viewed with suspicion. Public in character
and defining people’s group identities, these religions are perceived as the remnants of
some premodern time. They are seen as traditional, ethnically shaped identities, which
17 Ibid., 141
18 Ibid., 141
19 Richard M. Eckersley, “The Relation between Religion and Culture." (Religion and Culture: 35-
48. doi: 10.2307/j.ctt3fgpgd.6) 35
6
oppose the late modern… the idea that collectivistic religiosity as a model of being
religious…20
When the Way aka (Christianity) was started by Jesus in the midst of a society deeply based on
the eastern culture tradition. Originally Christianity was first espoused by group of Jewish
followers later the message expanded to larger gentile populations at first eastward and then
westward. The first centuries the eastern church expanded eastward. Christianity was starting to
be establish in far east communities by 300 AD. In Ethiopia Christianity became the state
religion under King Ezana the Great of Axum and by 600 A.D. Christianity had a strong foothold
in India . China’s introduction to Christianity happened sometime in the 7th century and
21
coincides with the Tang Dynasty. Christianity help produce the golden age of literature and art in
China even comparable to the Han Dynasty.22
Christianity in China
Let us briefly explore, Christianity in China a model of eastern collectivist culture. As
stated above Christianity in china exploded in the 7 centuries. The lessons in the bible were
th
written originally by eastern writers for an eastern audience, this fit quite well in china during the
Tang Dynasty (618–907 A.D.). The Nestorian Christian movement help create the golden age of
art and poetry in China. Due to politics and a return to Han synthesis reforms many ideas not
based on Confucius were banned. Buddhism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism went underground
and were left nearly forgotten until the 16 century. China has always been a collectivist society
th
it believed in the Han idea that only certain things were truly Chinese, and they needed to be
protected from foreign ideas that would disturb the group as a whole. Many western ideas were
20 Slavic Jakelić, "Collectivistic Religions." (2016. doi:10.4324/9781315572710) 3
21 Zhen Han, and Weiwen Zhang. "Introducing Traditional Chinese Values." (Contemporary Value Systems
in China Insights, 2018, 1-70. doi:10.1007/978-981-13-2393-5_1) 5
22 Ibid., 5-12
7
eradicated during similar like synthesis, some western ideas like Aristotelian logic was preserved
by a group known as the Mohoist, all other western thoughts were abandoned for the protection
of the greater good. Later, both Franciscans and Jesuits reintroduced Christianity which had gone
underground hundreds of years before but had been preserved by a few solitary communities.
Steadily Christianity grew among the poor and indigenous population in China. 23
In the 21 century Christianity continues to explode but again it faces the threat of being
th
banned because it threatens Chinese culture, but the problem is that Christianity fits in so well
with eastern culture that it seems so natural for people to except Christian doctrines. The authors
of the bible were closer to Chinese culture than they were to western culture. According to Katrin
Fiedler:
China is undergoing a remarkable religious renaissance, which includes not only
revival and re-invention of many traditional forms of Chinese religion, but also the
creation and creative adaptation of new forms. Literally millions of local deity temples
have been built or re-built in the past 30 years, pilgrims flock to refurbished Buddhist
temples and Daoist shrines, multiple forms of Christianity have been undergoing
explosive growth.
24
This is all “the more surprising because during the era of Mao Zedong Chinese leaders
tried to suppress all forms of religious practice, and during the Cultural Revolution rapidly
growing movements of Christian converts went in directions that would make government
uneasy.”25 Among the most rapidly growing forms of Protestant Christianity are Pentecostal
23 Ibid., 5-12
24 Katrin Fiedler, "China’s “Christianity Fever” Revisited: Towards a Community-Oriented Reading of
Christian Conversions in China." (Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 39, no. 4 (September 2, 2010): 71-88.
Accessed January 30, 2019. file:///C:/Users/storm/Downloads/358-381-1-PB (1).pdf)
25 Ibid., 71-88
8
churches that preach an imminent end of the world. The government does not like such
26
eschatological talk. “But a greater problem for the government, perhaps, is the independence of
27
such Pentecostal-style communities. Almost anyone can become a charismatic preacher, there is
no need to get certified in a government-controlled institution.” Such Christians are loyal to the
28
Holy Spirit, and not to any worldly authority. Just for these reasons, such “Christian
29
communities can grow very rapidly and in unpredictable ways. Given the Chinese government’s
perceived need for “stability” and predictability, this can be very threatening.”30
A look at two cultures
The USA is a hustle and bustle society who people are over scheduled and is a very
individualistic culture. America has become a postmodern society where everybody is right and
nobody is wrong, but nobody’s right either, all ideas are valid then again none are valid. The
Mainline Christian Churches are suffering a decline, even Churches that pander to the post-
modern generation like The United Church of Christ seems to be evaporating faster than ice on a
hot summer day. Even the non-mainline power house conservative Southern Baptist Convention
saw a decline in membership, this was the first decline in over 20 years.31 The instantiation of
postmodern preferences has had varying effects on ecclesial communities and has even given rise
to new religious groups. The Protestant mainline churches have been greatly weakened, and the
religious culture of the United States profoundly changed, by postmodern influences. “New
32
groups have also emerged that explicitly appeal to the postmodern mind, such as the so-called
26 Ibid., 71-88
27 Ibid., 71-88
28 Ibid., 71-88
29 Ibid., 71-88
30 Ibid., 71-88
31 Kenneth Nehrbass, God's Image and Global Cultures: Integrating Faith and Culture in the
Twenty-First Century (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2016) 30-40
32 Ibid., 30-40
9
“Emerging Church.” With the formation of the Unitarian Universalist Church in 1961, the
postmodern project finds an even more profound realization.”
33
We are becoming a fast food nation in everything we want everything fast, and we want it
now. Stores like Sears, Kmart, Jc penny, and even Macy’s are going the way of the dinosaurs
because we rather have convenience than quality. We are truly becoming an “I” society and I
want this, and I want it now. Compared, China continues to be a collectivist culture where the
group out ways the individual, and the thoughts of the group govern the rest of the people. Even
though postmodern thought has been part of china’s landscape since the 80s, it is not as prevalent
in fact Chinese scholars jest “we are not a Postmodern society but a pre-ironic society.” Chinese
34
culture always finds a way to screen out thoughts that are strange and foreign, this is call Chinese
harmony. According to Zhang Lihua:
35
Harmony means “proper and balanced coordination between things” and encompasses
rationale, propriety, and compatibility. Rationale refers to acting according to objective
laws and truths. Propriety indicates suitability and appropriateness. The value of harmony
advocates harmony but not uniformity.
36
The cultural values of a country influence its national psychology and identity. Citizens’
values and public opinions are conveyed to state leaders through the media and other information
channels, both directly and indirectly influencing decisions on foreign policy. “The traditional
37
cultural values that influence the psyche of the Chinese people are harmony, benevolence,
righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, honesty, loyalty, and filial piety.” Christianity is considered a
38
33 Ibid., 30-40
34 Ibid., 30-40
35 Zhen Han, and Weiwen Zhang et al. Introducing Traditional Chinese Values. 2018. 1-70
36 Ibid., 1-70
37 Ibid., 1-70
38 Ibid., 1-70
10
harmonious religion hence its growth in china has government officials wary. China has seen an
39
increase in most Christianity denominations, but it has especially seen an astronomical growth in
Pentecostalism. The increase has been seen even though there has been a government crackdown
on Christianity, it just keeps Growing in China.40
Even though, things sound bleak in America there is hope a recent Harvard study says
Christianity in the US is actually growing among Hispanics and African Americans. We are
41
starting to see an increase in membership among the Eastern Orthodox, Protestant non-
denominations, and Pentecostal and apostolic churches, these churches have been growing.
42
“People are making theological statements with their feet, shuffling to certain churches because
they offer what people come seeking clear, faithful, practical teaching of the scriptures, help in
living intimately with and obediently to God, and making friends with people who will challenge
and encourage them in their faith.”43
Intracultural similarities and differences
Sometimes “cultural practices look different but serve the same underlying functions. But
then there are some places where it’s hard to decide if a practice is a difference or a commonality.
Consider the fact that Muslims and Jews do not eat pork, but Christians do.” On the face of it,
44
this seems like an obvious religious difference. However, for members of all of those religions,
people are living their lives according to the requirements and expectations that they feel that the
Almighty has set down for them including, for Christians, the notion that regulating specific
39 Ibid., 1-70
40 Ibid., 1-70
41 Ibid., 1-70
42 Ibid., 1-70
43 Salim J. Munayer, “Beyond Bells and Smells: The Gap Between Eastern and Western Christianity."
(Musalaha, September 02, 2016. http://www.musalaha.org/articles/2016/8/18/beyond-bells-and-smells-the-gap-
between-eastern-and-western-christianity)
44 Vatika Sibal, “Food: Identity of Culture and Religion." (ResearchGate, September 03, 2018) 10-15
11
foods is less important than cultivating an inner spirituality. “So, there is a deeper way in which
45
dietary practices can be seen as a broad religious universal. Religion can teach us about culture
writ large is that it can be theoretically stimulating to think about how cultural differences among
religions relate to other cultural differences in psychology.”46
Let us come back to the basic cultural distinction between individualism and
collectivism among Easterners and Westerners We must consider how moral attention to
thoughts might relate to individualism and collectivism. According to Cohen:
You could say that looking at a person’s inner self is an individualistic way of making
moral judgments but looking at a person’s public behavior is a collectivistic way of
making moral judgments. Thus, religions might be relatively individualistic or
collectivistic, just as other kinds of cultures are. On the other hand, religious differences
in moral judgment of thoughts do not disappear, if one accounts for measures of
independent or interdependent self, so such differences could be thought of as a different
kind of cultural difference not related to individualism versus collectivism.47
Conclusion
Eastern and Western culture have always existed and will continue to coexist with each
other. We are not saying in this paper that either culture is right or wrong, in fact the purpose of
the paper is to better understand different cultures. Christianity is not just for one people, but for
all people. Because of this we need to have a better understanding that will help us meet the
needs of the people we are ministering to. It will help us to better implement the great
commission “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make
45 Ibid., 10-15
46 Vassilis Saroglou, and Adam B. Cohen. "Psychology of Culture and Religion." (Journal of
Cross-Cultural Psychology 42, no. 8 (2011): 1309-319. doi:10.1177/0022022111412254) 1-12
47 Adam B. Cohen, Michael Shengtao Wu, and Jacob Miller. "Religion and Culture." (Journal of
Cross-Cultural Psychology 47, no. 9 (2016): 1236-249. doi:10.1177/0022022116667895) 18
12
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew, 28:16-20)
Religions function a lot like cultures, and they can influence each culture in different
ways. We understand religion can affect culture, but it also can be affected by culture.
Relationships among religion and culture can help us to understand how they shape society
globally and how each culture affects one another. Religion is not culture but has similarities to
culture that allow religions to function like a culture. Religion and culture are interrelated as a
result, religious doctrines can cause culture to develop in certain ways, this can affect cultural
norms and beliefs in those societies.
Bibliography
Cohen, Adam B. "Religion and Culture." Online Readings in Psychology and Culture 4, no. 4
(2011). doi:10.9707/2307-0919.1108.
Cohen, Adam B., Michael Shengtao Wu, and Jacob Miller. "Religion and Culture." Journal of
Cross-Cultural Psychology 47, no. 9 (2016): 1236-249. doi:10.1177/0022022116667895.
Eckersley, Richard M. "The Relation between Religion and Culture." Religion and Culture: 35-
48. doi: 10.2307/j.ctt3fgpgd.6.
Fiedler, Katrin. "China’s “Christianity Fever” Revisited: Towards a Community-Oriented
Reading of Christian Conversions in China." Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 39, no. 4
(September 2, 2010): 71-88. Accessed January 30, 2019.
file:///C:/Users/storm/Downloads/358-381-1-PB (1).pdf.
13
Han, Zhen, and Weiwen Zhang. "Introducing Traditional Chinese Values." Contemporary Value
Systems in China China Insights, 2018, 1-70. doi:10.1007/978-981-13-2393-5_1.
Jakelić, Slavica. "Collectivistic Religions." 2016. doi:10.4324/9781315572710.
Munayer, Salim J. "Beyond Bells and Smells: The Gap Between Eastern and Western
Christianity." Musalaha, September 02, 2016.
http://www.musalaha.org/articles/2016/8/18/beyond-bells-and-smells-the-gap-between-
eastern-and-western-christianity.
Nehrbass, Kenneth. God's Image and Global Cultures: Integrating Faith and Culture in the
Twenty-First Century. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2016.
Richards, E. Randolph, and Brandon J. O'Brien. MISREADING SCRIPTURE WITH
WESTERN EYES: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible.
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012.
Saroglou, Vassilis, and Adam B. Cohen. "Psychology of Culture and Religion." Journal of
Cross-Cultural Psychology 42, no. 8 (2011): 1309-319. doi:10.1177/0022022111412254.
Sibal, Vatika. "Food: Identity of Culture and Religion." ResearchGate, September 03, 2018.
file:///C:/Users/storm/Downloads/Food-IdentityofCultureandReligion.pdf.
Tillich, Paul. Theology of Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981.
14
