1. Intercultural Communication
In a
Presented by

2. Competing Paradigms of Wisdom
Only God Can Know the Whole of Reality
Thus for the rest of us this knowledge is necessarily incomplete and partial, and we tend to understand complex realities according to models and paradigms
Can we speak of authentic cultural paradigms for morality and ethics?
Necessary Openness to Revision of All Paradigms—especially in light of new insights

3. Culture As Framework
Culture as our principal mode of being human, thus the way we are truly human beings
There is no such thing as a non-cultural or “a-cultural” human being
Thus, to speak of “human nature” one must do so always in a cultural context

4. Much of Culture Is “Hidden”

5. Framework for Interpreting Religious Traditions
Texts
Traditions
Belief Systems
Interaction/Non-Interaction with “Non-Group” Outsiders

6. Sacred Texts Canon Commentary Standard
Collection (how included/excluded)
Claims about the Sacred Texts
Revealed
Inspired
Natural Law
Wisdom
Commentary

7. Traditions
History
Ritual
Theologies
Structures

8. Belief Systems Cosmology Dogma and Doctrine Orthodoxy Heterodoxy
Heresy

9. What & Whose Wisdom?
“Truth,” moral or otherwise exists always in a context
In that context what we see, and how we see it, will help “shape” the truth for us
Therefore, seeing broadly and diversely is part of seeing “correctly
Even the same site will truly look different depending on time & circumstance

10. Hermeneutical Theory 101 “Classic” text (vs. a “period piece”)
Which has an “excess of meaning” (Sensus plenior in reference to Scripture)
Which must be “understood”
Understanding is always an act of interpretation, involving reading, encountering, and applying a text by the “reader” in his/her own context
Leading to a “fusion of horizons”

11. Analogical Imagination
A “classic” text invites the reader into an alternative world of “imagination” (as distinguished from “fantasy”)
The audience of a true classic is expanded from the “original” audience
And thus new “imaginations” come into play in interpreting the text

12. Effective History & Fusion of Horizons
Historical consciousness, the uniquely human way of being, of understanding in our world, and re-interpreting events of the past.
The “past” can only be known in the present, and thus can “shift” its meaning
Schneiders’ example of divorced woman
Thus, no possibility of “one” “correct” view of history or one “right” reading of a text!
Rather, speak of “transformative understanding”

13. Multi-Strand Double Helix of Classics & Interpretation
Individual’s Life Experiences and Community Traditions
Variety of Texts, Forms, Genres, Theologies
Intersections Between Texts and Experience

14. The Inculturation of Wisdom
E.g., if the Gospel is ultimately about the deepest truth of our world and ourselves
And if we are called to inculturate the Gospel in every culture
Then we must look at this “truth” in a variety of modes
And the truth will be both the same and different at the same time

15. The Truth about Evangelization
“Evangelization is to be achieved, not from without, as though by adding some decoration or applying a coat of color, but in depth, going to the very center and roots of life. The gospel must impregnate the culture and the whole way of life of men & women.” Evangelii nuntiandi, 20

16. Pathway to Spiritual Wisdom: Pilgrimage of Dialogue
C.S. Song’s Stages of Conversion:
The World is Different
Blessed Ignorance
Bi-Lateral Cease-Fire
Conversion to Dialogue
C.S. Song, Tell Us Our Names: Story Theology from an Asian Perspective, (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1984)

17. Cross-Fertilization of Truth
If inculturation leads to new understanding of moral truth then cross-cultural ethics may help produce a broader and deeper understanding akin to the model of cross-fertilization
As inculturation bears fruit in evangelization then this new fruit should be enjoyed by all

18. Fundamental Values and Root Paradigms
Fundamental Values express assumptions about the world as a whole, and in particular about human nature and concomitant appropriate behavior.
These values are incarnated in Root Paradigms, e.g., The Way of the Cross for Christianity

19. Ethnocentrism
Culture tends to produce ethnocentrism as a way of viewing the world and especially other cultures in terms of one’s own culture.
Ethnocentrism is a natural result of culture’s functioning, but poses great challenges to intercultural communication

20. Inter-Cultural Communication
Ethnocentrism as a whole raises many difficulties
Fundamental Values and Root Paradigms are usually the last things to change in a given culture
Tension between conflicting root paradigms is particularly challenging

21. Acculturation and the Meeting of Cultures
Acculturation refers to the encounter between member(s) of different cultures
Acculturation usually results in some sort of change, which can be both benign or conflictual
Acculturation & Cross-Fertilization

22. Interaction With Non-Groups
Other Religious Traditions/Faiths
Inter-Denominational Dynamics
Intra-Denomination Dynamics
Secular Culture/Non-Believers