ASIAN EVANGELICAL BIBLE SEMINARY

Communication through Cultural commonalities

A paper presentation

Submitted to

Jani

In partial fulfillment of the requirement of the course of

“Cultural Anthropology”

Submitted by

Noktam Chemdok

Bth-IV
 Contents

Introduction

I. Definition of Cultural Anthropology

II. Understanding Culture
III. What is communication
IV. Men the communicating creature
V. The Relationship Between Communication and Culture
VI. Purpose: Divine Intent and Human Interaction
A. Scripture insight
B. Theological implications
VII. God’s communicates in the Human Context
A. Old Testament example of Communication in context
B. New Testament examples of Communication in Context
VIII. Jesus’ example of Communication in Context
A. To the Jewish religious leaders
B. To the Samaritan Woman
C. To the Fishermen
D. To the farmers

Conclusion
Bibliography

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Introduction

From this paper we will be dealing with the topic communication through cultural
commonalities. Since communication is a crucial part in a human life and it is always used in
our daily life, we humans have developed immensely in this communication area and is
changing rapidly. We will see how culture will help us in communicating since some of our
beliefs, culture is somehow inter linked with each other even though we are from different
cultures

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 I. Definition of Cultural Anthropology

Cultural anthropology is devoted to studying human cultures worldwide, both their

similarities and differences. Cultural anthropology makes “the strange familiar and the
familiar strange”. It teaches us to look at ourselves from the “outside” as a somewhat
“strange” culture.

II. Understanding Culture

Culture is a complicated word to define, as there are at least six common ways that
culture is used in the United States. For the purposes of exploring the communicative aspects
of culture, we will define culture as the ongoing negotiation of learned and patterned beliefs,
attitudes, values, and behaviors. Unpacking the definition, we can see that culture shouldn’t
be conceptualized as stable and unchanging. Culture is “negotiated,” culture is dynamic, and
cultural changes can be traced and analyzed to better understand why our society is the way it
is. The definition also points out that culture is learned, which accounts for the importance of
socializing institutions like family, school, peers, and the media. Culture is patterned in that
there are recognizable widespread similarities among people within a cultural group. There is
also deviation from and resistance to those patterns by individuals and subgroups within a
culture, which is why cultural patterns change over time. Last, the definition acknowledges
that culture influences our beliefs about what is true and false, our attitudes including our
likes and dislikes, our values regarding what is right and wrong, and our behaviors. It is from
these cultural influences that our identities are formed.1
III. What is communication

Communication is the process of sending and receiving meaningful messages. Among

humans, it involves some form of language, a systematic set of symbols and signs with
learned and shared meanings. Language may be spoken, hand-signed, written, or conveyed
through body movements, body markings and modifications, hairstyle, dress, and
accessories.2 Communication according to Latin root communis means “to establish
commonness of experience.” Communication takes place when commonness is established
between the communicator and the respondent. Effective communication takes place when
the respondents “hears” what the communicator “says.”3

1
https://pressbooks.pub/umcoms101/chapter/chapter-7-culture-and-communication/ accessed on 18-08-24
2
Barbara Miller, Cultural Anthropology (Washington: Pearson, 2017), 28.
3
S.D. Ponraj, Missionary Anthropology (Chennai: Mission Educational Books, 2004),106.

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 IV. Men the communicating creature

Communication is fundamental to human beings. To be sure, they are not the only
creatures of God that can communicate. But they are the only creatures on earth who can put
communication in the form of symbols that have no relationship to their referents aside from
that which the human mind assigns to them. Moreover, transcending time and space, human
beings can transfer information to others in remote places or to those who will yet be born.4

V. The Relationship Between Communication and Culture

The relationship between communication and culture is a very complex and intimate one.
First, cultures are created through communication; that is, communication is the means of
human interaction through which cultural characteristics— whether customs, roles, rules,
rituals, laws, or other patterns—are created and shared. It is not so much that individuals set
out to create a culture when they interact in relationships, groups, organizations, or societies,
but rather that cultures are a natural by-product of social interaction. In a sense, cultures are
the "residue" of social communication. Without communication and communication media, it
would be impossible to preserve and pass along cultural characteristics from one place and
time to another. One can say, therefore, that culture is created, shaped, transmitted, and
learned through communication. The reverse is also the case; that is, communication
practices are largely created, shaped, and transmitted by culture.5

VI. Purpose: Divine Intent and Human Interaction

A. Scriptural Insight: The Book of Proverbs teaches, “A word fitly spoken is like apples
of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). This highlights the power of
purposeful communication in fostering understanding and wisdom.
B. Theological Implication: Our communication should reflect a divine intent to build
up, encourage, and guide others. Whether we are conveying theological truths,
offering comfort, or engaging in dialogue, our purpose should align with the broader
mission of love and truth as exemplified by Christ.6

4
David J. Hesselgrave, Communicating Christ Cross- Culturally (Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House,
1991), 27.
5
https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/culture-and-
communication accessed on 20-8-2024
6
Raymond Scupin and Christopher R DeCrose, Anthropology A Global Perspective (Boston: Pearson, 2016),
56.

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 VII. God’s communicates in the Human Context
A. Old Testament example of Communication in context
In Old Testament times, God communicates Himself to human beings in human
culture context in human culture terms. For example, the offering and the sacrifices of
Leviticus were quite related to the local culture. Some of the miracles performed by God
were not only understood by the people of Israel but by the Gentiles. God allowed a human
king to rule over His people as per the local culture context. However, He also revealed
Himself as “the king” which was understood by the people. Many OT prophets, like Jeremiah
and Ezekiel, used several cultural parables and objects to communicate the message from
God
B. New Testament examples of Communication in Context

The New Testament tells us that, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among
us” (John 1:14). It means that God came into this world and lived among men and His name
was Jesus. In the incarnation, God the Creator, chose to limit Himself by taking a human
form and being born as a baby at Bethlehem in the cultural context of human beings. In the
process of communication, God chose a particular historical and socio- cultural context, that
of the Hebrew

Human beings could not transcend their culture to meet God. Hence, God Himself
became human voluntarily subjecting Himself to the limitations of cultural conditions despite
their inadequacy and sinfulness. John Stott puts it beautifully, “The absolute, and
transcendent God chose to be limited by human culture so that the culture- bound human
could comprehend what God had to say. This, in fact, is the essence of incarnation.” Thus,
God communicate in the human context.

VIII. Jesus’ example of Communication in Context

Jesus was a great example of an effective communicator. He was able to communicate to
different kinds of people the same simple message of the Kingdom of God. He changed not
the content of the message, but only the form of communication.
A. To the Jewish religious leaders

This approach was more b reasoning and logical. Jesus talk about rebirth and said,
‘You must be born again.’ It was a dialogue method and it was effective. Jesus used many
other ways of communication to convey the message to different type of people.

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 B. To the Samaritan Woman

Jesus always knows His audience the approach towards the Samaritan woman was
simple and related to her daily need for water. Jesus started his conversation by asking for
water. Thus, He touched her material need. From her material need, Jesus helped her to
realize her spiritual need. Beneath her material need, there was a spiritual need. Therefore,
Jesus did not condemn her non- spiritual motive when she asked him for water, but rather He
used the non- spiritual motive to bring her to a spiritual need for “the living water.” Thus,
Jesus communicated to her felt needed. It was effective and she responded.

C. To the Fishermen

This approach was related to their lifestyle and livelihood. They know the job of
fishing and Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” The
approach was simple. He communicated in their context to their life situation and they too
responded with a positive outcome.

D. To the farmers

The approach again was connected to their daily life and work. Jesus talked about
soil, sowing seed, and harvesting. Farmers understood the message and responded to Him.
His motives in all the conversation was to let the people understand what He is trying to say
and give them more deeper understanding by picking up their own life style.7

Conclusion

7
S.D. Ponraj, Missionary Anthropology,65.

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 From this presentation we have equipped some important topics on what is cultural
anthropology their roles and duties of it, the meaning of communication, etymological
meaning of communication and its implications to the humans. We have also learned the role
of communication in theological perspective. We have a vivid idea on what are some of the
means of communication in the New Testament and in the Old Testament and how did Christ
tackle the means of communication in sharing the Gospel.

Bibliography

8
Hesselgrave, David J. Communicating Christ Cross- Culturally. Michigan: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1991.

Miller, Barbara. Cultural Anthropology. Washington: Pearson, 2017.

Ponraj, S.D. Missionary Anthropology. Chennai: Mission Educational Books, 2004.

Scupin, Raymond. and Christopher R DeCrose. Anthropology A Global Perspective. Boston:

Pearson, 2016.

Webliography

https://pressbooks.pub/umcoms101/chapter/chapter-7-culture-and-communication/ accessed
on 18-08-24

https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/culture-
and-communication accessed on 20-8-2024