Principles for Identifying and Eliminating Harmful Teaching, Rituals, and Other Practices Contrary to the Bible

The Bible is the final authority when decisions around culture are addressed. Where cultural practices or norms oppose Christian values, or cause harm to persons, these cannot be accepted, for persons are to be valued as image bearers of God. Equally, where cultural expressions are not opposed to Scriptural norms, those expressions should be honoured, even celebrated, as God himself is the Creator of all people groups.

“After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God.”    

Revelation 7:9-11

Does Christianity influence your culture, eliminating harmful practises, or does your culture have a stronger influence on your faith community, causing either syncretism (combining of Christianity with other religions) or secularism (bringing worldly values into the church)?

Have you thought about this before? It is important to do so in light of the Scripture.

We must also be mindful of the Scripture that calls for the protection of the vulnerable.

Cultural practices harmful to children, orphans, women and foreigners, and people not like us are NOT to be tolerated. Rather, the faith community must speak out against human atrocities. As Christians, we MUST be change agents, a people who call for social justice and transformation to what is truly scriptural. 

Here are some examples of harmful cultural practices:

1. Female genital mutilation
2. Child marriage
3. Child labour
4. Child trafficking
5. Breast ironing in Chad, Benin and Guinea Bissau.
6. Debt-bondage of Zimbabwe
7. Wife Inheritance and many others that happen across our continent and the globe

African Cultural Practices and Scripture

In this assignment, you will build a case for either keeping or eliminating certain practices found in an African culture, based on whether it compliments or opposes Scriptural truth.

1. Read the article, “African Traditional Beliefs and the Bible” from the African Study Bible p.331.

2. Identify several cultural practices. You may use examples from the article read and/or come up with examples of your own.

3. Use the table below to indicate which of these are helpful, and which are harmful, and how the church can respond to correct harmful teaching and support the healthful teaching. 

Include at least 6 teachings in each column. In other words, 6 Harmful Practices and 6 Healthy Practices.
Make sure to use the information from the Africa Study Bible. You can add other beliefs and traditions, but whatever you use must be described. Make sure to add appropriate Scripture supporting the teaching of healthful practices and scripture the church should use to counter and intervene with the harmful practices.

Use this format for your work:

Formative Assessment *