Original Research

Recognition and justification: Towards a rationalisation approach to inculturation

Josephine N. Akah, Aloysius C. Obiwulu, Anthony C. Ajah
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 76, No 3 | a6186 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v76i3.6186 | © 2020 Josephine N. Akah, Aloysius C. Obiwulu, Anthony C. Ajah | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 03 June 2020 | Published: 09 November 2020

About the author(s)

Josephine N. Akah, Humanities Unit, School of General Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria; and, Department of Religion and Cultural Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria; and, Department of New Testament and Related Literature, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Aloysius C. Obiwulu, Humanities Unit, School of General Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria; and, Department of Philosophy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria; and, Department of New Testament and Related Literature, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Anthony C. Ajah, Humanities Unit, School of General Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria; and, Department of Philosophy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria; and, Department of New Testament and Related Literature, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

Several religious and theological approaches to culture in African studies have assessed the idea of inculturation as a helpless incorporation of cultural values from one culture into another. We showed in this article that this is a limited perspective to the process of inculturation, and that this limitation is the reason for the failure of several attempts at inculturation. We assessed inculturation from the angle of marketisation of cultures, and we argued that the adoption or adaptation of cultural elements from one culture into another should be an agentic rationalisation process. The article demonstrated that the rationalisation process is validated by pre-adoption pragmatic experiences or expectations such that the feature(s) being adopted has either initially proven – or at least is expected – to be more useful than what it is meant to replace or enhance. We concluded that a rationalisation approach to inculturation is based on an initial recognition of conceptual entities and practices, the need to adopt them, and a follow-up justification for this need. Without such perspective, an inculturation effort will not be successfully completed, sustainable or mutually respectful.

Contribution: Our primary contribution is that we tried to provide broad, agentic, rational approach to inculturation. This contribution is important in sub-fields of Christian Church History and Philosophy of Religion. It properly aligns with this journal’s focus on history of religions, as well as phenomenology, and philosophy of religion(s).


Keywords

inculturation; recognition; justification; adoption; pragmatism; rationalisation; culture; marketisation

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Crossref Citations

1. Why is inculturation in Catholic theology difficult to operationalize?
Vivencio O. Ballano
Missiology: An International Review  year: 2024  
doi: 10.1177/00918296241236728