PS 302 Theories in Philippine Studies Dr. Vicente C. Villan Critique of a Chosen Dissertation Michael J.

. Fast 2013-78255 Chosen Dissertation: Dave Johnson, Theology in Context: A Case Study in the Philippines (Baguio: Asia Pacific Theological Seminary Press, 2013). This book is a published version of the authors PhD Dissertation at the Asia Graduate School of Theology. Johnson states that within Filipino society there is a deeply engrained indigenous consciousness which bears little resemblance to biblical Christianity.1 He goes on to say that Roman Catholicism has impacted practices but has not challenged the animistic worldview.2 Johnsons goal is to study the worldview and religious beliefs of the Waray people as well as the growth of the Assemblies of God in this region to indentify the elements that would be of value in presenting the gospel in a contextually effective manner. Johnsons approach to the problem is Contextual Theology, which he defines as a theology that presents the gospel of Jesus Christ within the worldview of the people while being faithful to the Scriptures. Johnson does not claim to be making an exhaustive effort at contextualization.3 He only looks at two aspects of Christian ministry, namely proclamation of the gospel message and the initial follow-up process. Johnson approaches his study from a Protestant Christian worldview. Moreover, his Christianity can more clearly defined as being western in its origin and orientation. Further, he comes from a branch of Protestant Christianity known as Pentecostalism, which has certain foci and emphases that make it somewhat distinct from other branches. In particular, and this does plan an important role in the study, Pentecostals believe in a second work of grace after salvation where the Holy Spirit baptizes or fills a Christian. Critique of Purpose: My purpose in this book is to first understand, respect, explain and engage this worldview while comparing it to biblical revelation. I intend to show how Christians can impact this worldview through an explanation and demonstration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Filipino within their cultural context.4 Johnson's study focuses on the Waray of Samar and Leyte. He decries the lack of contextual theology for the Waray and says that only the Roman Catholics have done any work in that area. He also claims that Roman Catholic contextual theologies were written from a point of view that calls for cultural accommodation rather than transformation through the power of the Word of God.5 What does this mean? What does cultural accommodation mean? What is his evidence of this? How does his view differ from that of the Roman Catholics'? I.e. In what way is his method transformative rather than accommodating? What are the markers/signposts? Johnson does revisit this in his conclusion where he elaborates on the Roman Catholic position. According to Johnson, the works of the major Roman Catholic contextual theologians are built on the belief that cultural values should be accommodated even if they are not in line 1. Dave Johnson, Theology in Context: A Case Study in the Philippines (Baguio: Asia Pacific Theological Seminary Press, 2013), 1. 2. Johnson, 1. 3. Johnson, 6. 4. Johnson, 1. 5. Johnson, 2.

2 with the Scriptures.6 As an example, he cites the idea that within their writings, idolatry is permissible because it accords well with Filipino culture.7 Johnson rejects this on biblical grounds.8 Johnson's approach to the problem is to develop a contextual theology. He defines contextual theology as ... a theology that presents the gospel of Jesus Christ within the worldview of the people while being faithful to the Scriptures. In other words it is communicated in a way in which people will understand and will not seem foreign to them.9 1. validates what is biblical in the Waray culture 2. allows what is not unbiblical 3. seeks to transform ... that which falls short of biblical revelation One of Johnsons early key statements is: The development of a contextual theology is important as it provides for the opportunity to express the unchanging Good News of Jesus Christ within the worldview of the people, making it easier for the Waray to understand God's revelation and to make an informed decision as to whether or not they will become followers of Jesus Christ.10 It is hard to reconcile the concepts in use in this sentence. Johnson begins the book with the idea that theology itself is always in context.11 The whole idea he is trying to get across is that cultural context, which is different in every part of the world, means that our expressions of who God is are always different, depending upon our culture. The difficulty lies when Johnson then goes on to talk about the unchanging Good News of Jesus Christ. Wait a minute. Is it contextual or is it unchanging? At what point does one draw the line between what is unchanging and what is context? Maggay states, our sociohistorical situations determine the selection of central motifs in the formulation of theologies.12 Thus, even the unchanging Good News is culturally selected. He then continues by talking about presenting a revelation that is now understandable. Does one understand revelation or receive revelation? Maggay says, It seems that at the heart of the failure to situate the Gospel adequately within the context of people is the failure to perceive that we have a faith delivered, not interpreted, once for all.13 Johnson uses terminology that is typical of an evangelical Christian theoretical framework. At one point he speaks of his desire to develop a contextual theology so the Waray may make and informed decision on whether to become followers of Jesus Christ.14 These words identify for us what the unchanging Good News is. Notice the emphasis on personal 6. Johnson, 182. 7. Johnson, 182. 8. Johnson, 182. 9. Johnson, 3. 10. Johnson, 3. 11. Johnson, i, where he quotes Dean Flemming, Contextualization of the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2005). He then has an entire paragraph explaining the different meanings of this phrase. 12. Melba Padilla Maggay, "Theology, Context and the Filipino Church" in Maggay, ed. Communicating Cross-Culturally: Towards a new Context for Missions in the Philippines (Quezon City: New Day, 1989), 58. 13. Johnson, 57. 14. Johnson, 3.

3 decision in this process. This represents a typically American Protestant approach to the Christian life but it is by no means the only option for expressing salvation in common usage.15 Johnson also says, I also needed to learn the cultural issues that impact and are impacted by Waray religious beliefs. ... the cultural issues that impact Waray religious beliefs. This seems like an odd statement since it is hard to separate religious beliefs from cultural issues. I wonder if Johnson has made a clear enough distinction between the two in his study. Critique of Sources of Information An examination of Johnson's bibliography is revealing. It appears that the two major sources cited for definition of key religious terms are the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia and the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. These decidedly Christian sources make Johnson's study somewhat one-sided. Six Bible commentaries, covering only a few parts of the Bible, are also cited. This is surprisingly few given the devotion the study has on comparing Waray beliefs with the Bible. A third surprise was that apparently only two Greek words were studied. One would expect more, especially given the strong biblical emphasis given in this study. Critique of Research Methods Johnson lays out his research methods in this section. He describes using books, dissertations and other written materials on the Waray.16 From these he was able to develop two questionnaires and one interview, as follows: Questionnaire #1 for the General Waray population. Questionnaire #2 for Assemblies of God, namely Waray members and adherents. An open-ended interview with the pioneering pastors of Assemblies of God working among the Waray. No indication is made as to whether or not these questionnaires are in English or in the vernacular. Critique of Methods Johnson's goal is a contextual theology, which explicitly identifies those who create the theology i.e. those within the context. In spite of the fact that Johnson's goal is to develop a partial contextual theology, his research method seems to be entirely externally driven. The questions are formulated by not just an outsider, but also a foreigner to boot. Perhaps Johnson is trying to create a contextualization from without rather than the contextualization from within that the term contextual theology implies.17 Contextualization from without is where the forces that drive the contextualization as well as the formulation and presentation of that message, are external to the culture being discussed. Contextualization from within is much different in that the forces shaping the contextualization are all internal to the culture. He also says, To construct such a theology, the religious presuppositions of the target audience must be understood.18 This is truly contextualization from without. In all fairness to Johnson, it would be difficult for him to See for example works by Donald MacGavran, who studied the conversion of castes in India and developed a community-oriented and shaped conversion experience. 16. Johnson, 5. 17. See Virgilio G. Enriquez, Indigenous Psychology and National Consciousness, Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa Monograph Series No. 23, (Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, 1989), 69-76, for a discussion of contextualization from within and without. 18. Johnson, 69.
15

4 do contextualization from within simply because his is an outsider. It would be better to have developed a research tool that was open to adaptation by the respondents; one that utilized some indigenous research methods more suited to finding out what was in the consciousness of the Waray.19 A major part of Johnson's study includes the idea that contextual theology must address issues related to supernatural beings. The supernatural beings indicated here include the middle range of supernatural beings existing between the upper level (God and Jesus) and the human world. Since most Western theologies have not traditionally addressed this topic, it is one of the key ways in which the Waray consciousness can be honored. This is also of special importance to Johnson, as a member of the Christian denomination Assemblies of God. As mentioned above, one of the key features of their theology surrounds the concept of being baptized and/or filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus, perhaps, Assemblies of God theology is has a sense of closeness with Waray ideas of the spirit. Johnson does not appear to offer any answers to the differences between Christian conceptions of the Holy Spirit and Waray conceptions of the spirit other than to suggest a number of questions that need answering. Another aspect of the study was that the data was compared to what the Bible teaches about each related theological issue.20 This concept of biblical, which for Johnson denotes an ultimate kind of authority, needs further examination and definition in that it raises several issues. Biblical is defined as of, relating to, or contained in the Bible by the New Oxford American Dictionary. However, this definition is somewhat unclear. Biblical could merely define something as being found in the Bible. The problem with this definition is that most words are found in the Bible and hence could be labeled with the biblical tag. However, this in no way imparts anything special to them -- they are merely communication tools used by the writer. To complicate matters, the Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Thus for one to claim that any English word is biblical is also a bit of a misnomer. Any true study of biblical words must return to original languages. As noted above, Johnson only refers to two Greek words in his study. Biblical could also be defined as something that is taught in the Bible. This is easier to accept than the above definition in that instead of talking about ideas, one is now talking about concepts. The difficulty lies, however, with the fact that there are several teachings in the Bible that are identified in the Bible as being false.21 So what does Johnson mean when he uses the term biblical? Based upon the analysis he gives of his data, Johnson is firmly within the Assemblies of God camp when it comes to interpreting the Bible. The Bible stories are seen as truth and they are applicable to people's lives See Rogelia Pe-Pua, ed., Sikolohiyang Pilipino: Teorya, Metodo at Gamit (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2011) for some examples of indigenous research methods. 20. Johnson, 6. 21. An example being that the advice of Job's friends, which claims to be an accurate understanding of God and, at least on the surface, appears to be valid, is specifically identified at the end of the story as being false. It is interesting to note that some Western theologies still include the statements of Job's friends as truth about who God is in spite of the textual evidence to the contrary.
19

5 even in the present day. His examples cover both Old and New Testaments, with little discussion being made of how transferrable his interpretations are to different periods and different cultural settings. I must admit that I don't disagree with his ideological belief in the truth of the Bible nor in his interpretive tool. I do wonder how much I myself am limited by my own cultural methods and philosophies when it comes to theology. Critique of Conclusions Johnson applies Kraft's Worldview Model of Contextualization to the Waray situation. Since worldview is a culture's driving force.... change must take place at the worldview level which means that understanding how this transformation takes place is critical to seeing it happen.22 Johnson also cites Jocano, who observes, individuals seldom evaluate things in way alien to their cultural background.23 Johnson seeks to evaluate the Waray worldview to find clues as to how to effect transformation. He explains Kraft's Model as follows: 1. explanation as to how and why things are the way they are 2. evaluation and judgment of cultural values and goals 3. psychological reinforcement for that culture 4. integration of their perceptions of life into an organized design 5. the idea that no one's worldview is complete, answering all of the questions of life all of the time.24 Kraft asserts, members of different cultures arrive at different conclusions regarding reality because they have started from different assumptions.25 In the conclusion, Johnson returns to this model and fills in the blanks, so to speak, with the data he has gathered through the questionnaire and interview process. 1. Explanation: Johnson's research shows similarities and differences between both the general population of Waray (GP) and the Assemblies of God Waray (AG). Both see a close relationship between the supernatural and the physical. For the AG however, God is at the center of the equation. 2. Evaluation: According to Kraft, one evaluates values and goals based upon one's view of God. If you want to change the culture, you must change their view of God. Of course Johnson's data shows evidence among the AG that they have changed their view of God and as such have a different evaluative system for things such as demon possession and protection from demons and evil spirits. 3. Psychological Reinforcement: According to Kraft, a person's conceptual system engages during times of liminality and provides the strength to get through to the other side. Johnson saw evidence of this in both

22. Johnson, 85. 23. Johnson, 85, referring to F. Landa Jocano, Folk Christianity: A Preliminary Study of Conversion and Pattering of Christian Experience in the Philippines (Quezon City: Trinity College, 1981), 67. 24. Johnson, 85-86. 25. Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical Theologizing in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1979), 57, quoted in Johnson, 86.

6 GP and AG populations. The major difference being that while GP pray to a variety of spiritual beings and use anting-anting, the AG pray exclusively to God. 4. Integration: Kraft says a worldview serves a systematizing and ordering function in a society. Johnson sees evidence of major differences between the GP and AG Waray systems.26 While a belief in supernatural powers still exists among them, AG now see God as the only benevolent spirit and the rest as malevolent. This change gives the AG different reasons for doing traditional rituals, such as participating in fiestas and visiting the cemetery on All Saints' Day. Rather than trying to appease a spirit, they participate to build and maintain relationships with the rest of the community. Tensions do arise, however, when the new system of the AG interferes with the traditional system of the GP. But this paradigm shift in worldview often causes conflict or dissonance with the old ways. The old values, institutions, customs and actions must then be reevaluated to see if they can be integrated into the new paradigm or whether they must be rejected.27 This has an impact, according to Johnson, on how the Good News is presented. Those points that are in conflict with the traditional beliefs, such as idolatry, are not taught until people themselves see what the Bible says and change their ways of their own accord. To me this is true contextual theology because its source is one culture's encounter with the Bible rather than with another culture's theology.28 It is interesting to note, however, that Johnson points out the biblical teaching on idolatry should not be avoided. Seems like an odd statement in light of the fact that it is just this biblical teaching that has led the AG Waray to change. The old customs which are biblical or at least do not violate the Scriptures can and should be retained as there is no reason why believers cannot also be Waray. Those values that do not measure up [to] the Scriptures must be amended or rejected.29 He uses the church anniversary to illustrate a valid alternative to the town fiesta. However, does this go far enough? What is it about the fiesta that needs change? Why not modify what exists rather than replace it with something new? In spite of Johnson's claims that that is exactly what is happening, notice that these new events take place at AG churches and are largely for AG people whereas the town fiesta is for the entire town. 5. Adaptation: According to Kraft, change is possible within a culture and often this change happens when influential members of the culture influence others to a new way. This change, however, takes a long time. Johnson says there is lots of evidence that this has happened among the AG themselves. However, he also seems to be saying that until there is an adequate explanatory system to make these changes understandable to the GP the culture itself will not be transformed. In many ways, it is not surprising that the AG show evidence of being different from the GP Waray. This is due in large part to the fact that one cannot even be identified as AG without showing evidence of having adopted some Christian practices and ideas.30 Thus, the study 26. He calls it a paradigm shift, 181. 27. Johnson, 181. 28. This is not to deny the fact that hermeneutics is also highly cultural in nature. 29. Johnson, 183. 30 Johnson lists down some of these in the Glossary of Terms on viii. Eg. Members must be baptized, must be 20 years of age, and must attend an Assemblies of God church. Adherents, on the other hand, must show interest in an Assemblies of God church (attending services or attending Bible Studies), may or may not be born again, and not yet be a baptized member.

7 becomes self-fulfilling. I am not sure how it leads to the development of a contextual theology since the basis for inclusion is purely externally determined. I am not sure how to get around this issue other than to perhaps interact with those who have not yet made the transition from GP to AG. It might be interesting to engage those who have encountered and rejected (or just not yet chosen) the AG way to see what it was missing in their mind. It would also be interesting to compare Kraft's model with Enriquez's Phases of Cultural Domination and proposed solutions.31

31. Virgilio G. Enriquez, Pagbabangong-Dangal: Indigenous Psychology and Cultural Empowerment (Quezon City: Akademya ng Kultura at Sikolohiyang Pilipino, 1994), 7-42.

8 Bibliography Enriquez, Virgilio G. Indigenous Psychology and National Consciousness. Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa Monograph Series No. 23. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, 1989. . Pagbabangong-Dangal: Indigenous Psychology and Cultural Empowerment. Quezon City: Akademya ng Kultura at Sikolohiyang Pilipino, 1994. Johnson, Dave. Theology in Context: A Case Study in the Philippines. Baguio: Asia Pacific Theological Seminary Press, 2013. Maggay, Melba Padilla. Theology, Context and the Filipino Church in Maggay, ed. Communicating Cross-Culturally: Towards a new Context for Missions in the Philippines. Quezon City: New Day, 1989. Pe-Pua, Rogelia, ed. Sikolohiyang Pilipino: Teorya, Metodo at Gamit. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2011.