Abstract
The nature of the relationship of faith to culture often proves problematic for missionaries. Some missionaries, in their concern to emphasize culture, may appear to lose sight of their goal of proclaiming Jesus. Others proclaim a Christ who has very little relationship to the people among whom they are ministering. This paper argues that the gospels are examples of inculturated texts. While Christians have traditionally acknowledged the links between the gospels and the great Old Testament narratives and prophetic texts, it is also possible to claim that the gospel genre relies just as significantly on ‘pagan’ Greco-Roman literary genre. Not to recognize the inculturated nature of Christianity's foundational texts, and its implications, can seriously impede the missionary task.
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