JOURNALS

ABSTRACT

The proclamation of the message of the Gospel is addressed to men and women who live in a particular historical and cultural context. God is one, unique and unchangeable, yet differently approached in different cultural ambients. Culture, as a vehicle for transmission of faith, helps in understanding the apparent multiplicity in the means and mode of the search for God. Bearing in mind, however, that there are almost as many cultures as there are peoples, one observes a certain tendency towards cultural relativism. Consequently, there comes the need of striving towards the maintenance of the objectivity of faith lest it becomes a victim of cultural vacillation and vicissitudes. To obviate this imminent danger of relativizing and adulterating the message of faith under the pretext of cultural adherence, it becomes pertinent to initiate an authentic dialogue between faith and culture. However, for us to unravel the dialogue of faith and culture, this research aims making an appeal to Christ himself who is the origin and epicentre of such dialogue. He was born within a culture; lived and experienced the good and ugly sides of the Jewish culture, and was thus better placed to challenge and transform elements of Jewish culture that were incongruous with the Christian living. St. Paul employed the dialogue of faith and culture in his missionary encounters. This research, therefore, applies an expository and interpretative approach to unravel biblical evidences regarding this faith-culture encounter.