In Anthropological Insight for Missionaries, Hiebert sees the need for young missionaries to understand both Scripture and people in their cultures (9). His argument in this book consists of four parts. He first asserts that anthropology could be a great help in understanding cultures for mission. Anthropology is often viewed as being in opposition to Christianity, yet, according to Hiebert, after all, it is a discipline that gives us a perspective of realities to help cross-cultural ministry, as well as to help us to evaluate our own personal cultures. Hiebert himself was an anthropologian who has experience in the mission field.
In the “Gospel to Culture”, Hiebert further argues that “Not everything in human culture is condemned” (56). This argument is based on the doctrine of humans as image-bearers of God. It assumes that therefore cultures, which are created by humans, would have positive things that can be used by Christians. He seems very hopeful in this argument, although he also comprehends the reality of human sinfulness that corrupts culture and that there are evil structures and practices in all cultures.
In part 2 of his book, Hiebert focuses on cultural differences and the missionary as the messenger. He argues that every one of us has cultural presuppositions that can lead to ethnocentrism when we enter a new culture. He then asserts that missionaries should first understand and evaluate their own culture and worldview before they can deal with other cultures for the sake of communicating the gospel effectively.
Hiebert then continues discussing the message and its relation to cultural differences. He begins the discussion on how to communicate the gospel effectively, in which he asserts that we need to consider the implicit elements of communication, and we must also learn to become receptor-oriented in our thinking. Although he affirms that communication is important in communicating the gospel, he emphasizes the fact that God is at work through the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the listener. He further proposes critical contextualization as the way to go in dealing with traditional beliefs and/or customs. He argues that traditional beliefs and customs are subjects for evaluation under the light of the Scripture. In the last portion of the book, Hiebert discusses the situation where missionaries live and work, which is followed by a discussion on missionaries’ roles.
Throughout the book, Hiebert was very consistent in emphasizing his argument that anthropology gives aid in doing effective cross-cultural ministry. His hopeful argument that cultures could serve as vehicles for the communication of the gospel raised a warning for me when I began reading the book. It was a relief to find out that his argument was biblically based. He was wise to drive the readers back to the Sovereignty of God in mission and to evaluate everything biblically.
Writing on this topic is never an easy thing to do without falling into cultural relativism, over-contextualization, or syncretism. Hiebert has done a great job with this book. Anthropological Insights for Missionaries should be a great book to be used to equip missionaries. It is informative and practical. Anyone involved in missions, or thinking of going to a mission field, should read this book and get a glimpse of the realities they will face. In fact, this book should also be good for churches that support missionaries to help them in their awareness of what their missionaries are dealing with overseas.