The significance of the biblical-historical framework for translating and retransmitting the gospel: An analysis of the shape of Christianity among East Malaysian Tribal

The growth of the Church in Sarawak, East Malaysia in the twentieth century was extraordinary in terms of its breadth and diversity. What was previously a predominantly animistic context has been transformed into a majority Christian one, even though the extant expressions of faith are anything but uniform. The diversity of this new Christian presence is manifest in the different ways that tribal churches continue to relate to their old animistic beliefs and practices that defined their previous existence. At one end of the theological spectrum exists the conservative Sidang Injil Borneo, marked by her blunt disaffection of the animistic framework. On the other end is the Iban Methodist Church in the Third Division, which has replaced critical elements of the Gospel with religious ones from local Iban animism.;This paper argues that the fusion of the Gospel with the beliefs and practices of Iban animism is the result of contextually insensitive missionary approaches that inadvertently overlooked the cultural, theological and worldview differences of the Iban. The paper seeks to prove that the pioneers to the Than made two critical errors of engagement---they alienated the Gospel from the local socio-cultural context and they legitimized the animistic worldview framework for shaping the interpretation of the Gospel. Both of these missionary missteps were caused by an underestimation of the influence of the messenger's own culture in the way the Christian faith was conveyed and an undervaluation of the significant worldview differences between the messenger and the local context. The resultant theological syncretism has essentially prohibited the retransmission of the Gospel to future generations.;The project will seek to investigate the cultural sources, worldview framework and theological influences that have shaped Iban tribal Christian theology away from the biblical-historical framework, leading to an undervaluation of the story of Scripture. The chief concerns are to exposit the shape of Christianity among Iban tribals, uncovering underlying influences and theological-ethical emphases, and proposing a way forward for their interpretation of Scripture and the Christian life in order to enhance their effectiveness in retransmitting the Gospel to other groups in close geographical and worldview proximity.