Skip to main content

How to Carry Out SE Research

Not much has been thought about Scripture Engagement research. There are two types:

  1. Research before starting S.E. work
  2. Research to find out how well existing published Scriptures (often print New Testaments) are being used
I will focus on the former.

It's very tempting to dive into making Scripture Engagement products without really thinking through what the needs are, what works and what doesn't, and what people are likely to respond to. Here are some ideas:
  • Find out whether the culture is honour-shame, power-fear, or purity-pollution. This will help you know how to frame the good news in such a way that people will light up in understanding, assuming the Holy Spirit is at work in their lives. To do that one tool is the culture test, though it doesn't cover purity-pollution as a paradigm
  • Read Wayne Dye's article on the Eight Conditions of Scripture Engagement, then fill out a questionnaire based on that article. Give each condition a rating, then work on any conditions that have a low rating e.g. 1-3 if you are scoring out of 5
  • Carry out an anthropological study of the group or nation you are working with to give you some ideas for further S.E. research
Some of the eight conditions my seem very hard to fix. For instance, Spiritual Hunger (Condition 6). Surely either people have it or they don't? Well, that's not completely true. All people have needs, including spiritual needs. Meeting those needs is one step to reaching them. I remember meeting a guy in inner city Coventry who had been helped hugely by a small Gospel hall ('Open' Brethren). He then told me that he believed in a God who can meet his physical needs, like for a new carpet, but wanted to know how he could have hope in being with God in heaven. We started a men's Bible study in his front room that very month! Another difficult condition is Freedom to Commit (Condition 7). Surely people either live in countries with freedom of religion, or they are persecuted for their faith? Well it's not quite that simple. Often there is a hidden curriculum in our teaching i.e. values that we teach, often non-verbally. One example would be the way we dress. Others who come to faith subconsciously start to copy our dress style and give up their own for ours, which might be Western. It's worth encouraging new believers to think in terms of starting an alternative culture within their home culture, so becoming a Jewish/Muslim/Hindu/etc-background follower of Jesus. Once such a sub-culture has developed it makes it much easier for others to become Jesus people, as it were. It's worth getting some input from a Scripture Engagement consultant to help with problems like this.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 Reasons to Make Scripture Impact a Priority

This is a response to some recent posts about the importance of Bible translation in fulfilling the Great Commission. Yes, there is much truth in that, but more is needed. It really helps to have Scripture impact (or 'engagement') the top priority, the 'car' as it were, with translation the engine that sits beneath the bonnet. Not all drivers need to know all the details of the engine, but they need to be able to control the vehicle. The most important thing is to be able to get from A to B (see point 2), rather than knowing how the engine works. These are the ten reasons to make Scripture impact a priority: To help people flourish in their communities. There are all kinds of needs that need to be met for people to flourish. One is clean water. Another is good sanitation. Peace (lack of war), and freedom of religion. Access to education etc. etc. For a community to truly flourish they also need access to the Scriptures in a language (or languages) that they understand a...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Flow Chart for Bible Translation (a Relevance Theory Approach)

One of the current theories behind modern translation work is Relevance Theory. [1] Here is a flow chart that explains the process often used to produce a draft when using such an approach: *Make sure your translation committee makes the decision as to what kind of translation they want. A domesticated translation is one that submits to dominant values in the target language [2] whereas a foreignized translation is one that is happy to import foreign terms and ideas from Hebrew, Greek, or the language of wider communication such as the Greek term baptizo . The chart looks something like this: Text                                   Communicated Ideas                  Context A sower went out to sow  A farmer went out to sow grain   People scattered/threw seed etc. The text has very little information, but behind i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Asking the Right Questions in Bible Translation and Scripture Engagement Planning

If you want to get useful answers you have to ask the right questions. Do you agree? Yes, of course you do. In the Bible translation world we often ask a very narrow question when planning for the next stage of work: 'What would you like to see translated next?' Now, if you simply want to translate, and that's it, that question is fine, but what if you want to see some kind of result from your translation work? What if, for instance, you want to see transformation occur? Then a more powerful question to ask the community and positive stakeholders in the project would be: 'What kingdom goals would you like to see reached?' These kingdom goals should meet felt needs of the community - they should solve problems that are apparent to most or all in the community. See below on how those can be met. If that's too abstract, then try, 'What kinds of things, in your extended family, do you tend to worry about?' This will help establish some felt needs, from which...
7 comments
Read more