GENERAL CONCLUSION
EVALUATION AND PROSPECT FOR THE
FUTURE
1.
Introduction
It
is clearly mentioned in the introductory part that the primary purpose of this
study is to construct a relevant Mara theology of mission out of the
interaction between the Gospel and Mara culture in the context of Maraland. The
whole task of this study can be seen as re-rooting the Gospel in the Mara cultural
soil to remove alienation of the Gospel or the western theology of mission
introduced by the missionaries. Mara religious and cultural practices have been
re-read with the purpose of finding hermeneutics for reinterpretation of the
Mara theology of mission. For this purpose, this section highlights some of the
contributions made by this study to the Mara Christian theology and also makes
suggestions for further research.
2.
Contribution
to Mara Christianity
The
author will highlight some of the contributions this study has made towards
Mara Christianity, including Mara hermeneutics, recognition of God’s revelation
in the Mara traditional religion and culture, shift in subject matter of
theology, narrowing the gap between church theology and the academic theology
and awareness of the validity of Mara traditional religious and cultural
elements for constructing a Mara theology of mission.
2.1.Mara
Tribal Hermeneutics
With
the emergence of various contextual theologies from third world countries,
people of different cultures are beginning to find new ways of reading the
Bible in their respective context. Similarly it is also necessary for the Mara
Christians to find new ways of reading and understanding the Bible. The older
habits of biblical interpretation in fact, take the social and cultural
conditions of the Mara society into consideration. As a result, the Bible
continues to contribute towards alienation of the Mara from their culture and
customs. Interpreting the Gospel in its own context is required.
The
question which confronts us in the construction of the Mara theology of mission
is how to interpret the Bible in the context of Maraland. As Moltmann has
rightly expressed, ‘reading the Bible with the eyes of the poor is a different
thing from reading it with the eyes of the man with a full belly’.[1]
There
are different ways of reading the Bible; the Mara people read the Bible in the
context of alienation from their land and culture. The way they read the Bible
cannot be the same as that of those who do not face the same problems. Their
context requires a reinterpretation of the Bible to address the problems that
encountered their lives. Unless the Maras are allowed to be different in their
interpretation of the Bible, the Bible will not only lose its significance,
Christianity will remain superficial without really taking root into the Mara
culture. In fact, Christianity is quite visible and popular in the Mara society
and to a great extent it appears indigenized. But an in-depth study, however,
reveals that Christianity has not taken root, deep within the Mara culture. It
is therefore, the task of Mara tribal theology to develop a hermeneutical
principle to fill this lacuna.
2.2.God’s
revelation in Mara primal religion
Recognition
of God’s revelation in the Mara primal religion and culture is a new
contribution this study has contributed to the Mara Christianity. The dominant
theology in Maraland was the theology inherited from the Missionaries which
rejected other religions as false religions and did not even recognize the
revelation of God in other religions except Christianity. However, this study
maintains that the Mara traditional religion did not end with animism alone,
but with the worship of the Supreme Being or God. Theologically, by
reinterpreting Acts 17:26-28 in the Mara context the Maras also were not left
without God’s revelation. Hermeneutically, there
can be a point of contact between the unknown God and the Mara traditional
concept of God called Khazohpa.
The Maras knew something about the good god ‘Khazohpa’ as the
ancient Greeks used to offer sacrifices to the ‘unknown God’, they worshipped
him and used to offer sacrifices so that they might receive his blessings at
home and in lyu. But Khazohpa remained
a hidden god, about whom, only a little was known.
This
statement claims that God’s revelation in Mara religion as the unknown God is
valid. This accommodates the Mara traditional understanding of God into a new
theological paradigm and advocates the validity of divine revelation in Mara
traditional religion. The unknown God in Acts 17:23 was a valid revelation of
God among the Athenians, so it was also valid in the Mara context.
In
the light of this, the Mara religion can be re-read in a new perspective. When
the Mara traditional concept of God interacts with the biblical concept of God,
new images of God appear in the Mara context. This does not mean that Mara
traditional religion was a perfect one, rather it was a religion in which God
revealed himself through the Mara practice of their religion. Recognizing the
revelation of God in Mara religion has contributed theological hermeneutics
which spearhead the dialogical model, moving from monologue to dialogue in Mara
Christianity.
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