Week 5 - Bevans Chap 5

The anthropological model and indigenization that Bevans talks about in chapter 5 has been something I have been giving a lot of thought to lately. I think many don't realize that God uses culture as his language to communicate with. Or do we really believe that the creator of the universe is intrinsically preoccupied with things like water baptism, blood sacrifices and sacred meals? One cannot understand these theological words and traditions without first understanding the Judaic context they are drenched in. And I think this is the point Bevans is driving at. These things are entirely contextual within Judaism and meant to communicate God's message to the Jews first. This does not mean that we should not understand words like atonement or carry on the Judaic traditions of the early Church. However, is that what we are trying to convert people to, the vocabulary words and traditions of the early Church? I like what Jesus said, "Man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath for man." I think that the Church should be more flexible in allowing cultures to experience God today in the contemporary ways he reveals himself.