Inheemswording en inkulturasie : implikasies vir teologie en kerk

Abstract

Although the intimate bond between Church and culture was realised quite early on, it only became a theological issue after missionaries like Xavier, Ricci and DeNobili experimented with accommodation and adaptation in the East. In the 20th century their ideas surfaced again in the concepts of indigenisation and inculturation, that is, of Church and theology amongst peoples and cultures of the Third World. This development led Western theology to realise how historically and culturally contextualised Western ecclesiastical, doctrinal and theological traditions actually were. This in tum led to a fundamental rethinking on Church and culture, and again, on contextualisation; indigenisation and inculturation as missionary principles.