Throughout human history, theology has been meant to be a source of hope, giving meaning to our lives. It has also been meant to serve as guidelines on how to morally live our lives and shape our culture to act according to God’s will. However, culture and theology have conflicted with each other, creating confusion on what place theology holds in our culture, and vice versa. What, if anything, do culture and theology contribute to one another? If humanity fails to address this crucial question, we are bound to repeat the same mistakes that have been committed for thousands of years. The purpose of our culture is to give people complete freedom to act in accordance with God’s will. Theology has the purpose of shaping our culture and lives,
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Phan in his work Christianity with an Asian Face. In his writings, Phan explains not only the suffering brought through poverty and oppression, but through the unjust systems of Communism and Socialism. Approximately half of the Asian population is a citizen to one of these several Communist regimes, which poses a serious threat to Christianity. In light of the state of these Asian countries, Phan poses the questions “Will theology be able to explore the religious and spiritual meaning of the unbelief and atheism that accompany the political realization of the Marxist dream? Or will it continue the mindless demonization of Communism and ignore this loudest of questions God is posing to contemporary Christianity?” (Phan, 101). Phan’s question is calling us as Christians to use our theology to reflect upon the culture that is affecting such a great portion of the world population. I believe that it is important to take this question a step further, and reflect on not only the issue of atheism that goes hand-in-hand with Marxism, but with the issues of restricted freedom. In a Communist society, the duty of culture is neglected. This is because citizens are deprived of the freedom of having control of their life outcomes. They also do not have any opportunities to climb the social ladder. In a Communistic society, people are locked into a single class of society in which everyone is equal. There is only a select few that are able to prosper at higher societal class, and they are the ones in power. When we are presented with faulty cultures such as these Communist regimes, humanity should follow the advice of Gustavo Gutierrez by reflecting on it, and then acting to change this culture. We should act in such a way to mold our society to a world in which every individual has the opportunity to dictate the course of their lives, as long as nobody else’s freedoms are
Phan in his work Christianity with an Asian Face. In his writings, Phan explains not only the suffering brought through poverty and oppression, but through the unjust systems of Communism and Socialism. Approximately half of the Asian population is a citizen to one of these several Communist regimes, which poses a serious threat to Christianity. In light of the state of these Asian countries, Phan poses the questions “Will theology be able to explore the religious and spiritual meaning of the unbelief and atheism that accompany the political realization of the Marxist dream? Or will it continue the mindless demonization of Communism and ignore this loudest of questions God is posing to contemporary Christianity?” (Phan, 101). Phan’s question is calling us as Christians to use our theology to reflect upon the culture that is affecting such a great portion of the world population. I believe that it is important to take this question a step further, and reflect on not only the issue of atheism that goes hand-in-hand with Marxism, but with the issues of restricted freedom. In a Communist society, the duty of culture is neglected. This is because citizens are deprived of the freedom of having control of their life outcomes. They also do not have any opportunities to climb the social ladder. In a Communistic society, people are locked into a single class of society in which everyone is equal. There is only a select few that are able to prosper at higher societal class, and they are the ones in power. When we are presented with faulty cultures such as these Communist regimes, humanity should follow the advice of Gustavo Gutierrez by reflecting on it, and then acting to change this culture. We should act in such a way to mold our society to a world in which every individual has the opportunity to dictate the course of their lives, as long as nobody else’s freedoms are