I once took an extended trip to the Ryukyuan Island, a collection of islands between Japan proper and Taiwan, with Okinawa Island being the most well-known. I had the privilege of visiting all the Ryukyuan islands. However, one island still stands out in my mind: a small island known as Ishigaki. While there, I discovered that the people celebrate a festival shrouded with myth and legend. Moreover, the myth and legend appear to be a redemptive analogy.
Redemptive analogies are truths that God has embedded in culture. They are elements or fossils within a culture that anticipate aspects of the Gospel and are how God has placed the remnants of His presence within each society. They paint a vivid picture of what Christ has done using a familiar object in the host people’s culture.
Don Richardson developed and expounded the idea of redemptive cultural analogies — traditions, prophecies, or customs in a culture that correspond in some way to Biblical ideas or symbols, to help the people of that culture grasp the Biblical Message. Richardson ventures that God has prepared these “bridges” in every culture on earth. Somewhere in each culture is a custom or legend that is like some Biblical story or symbol of God’s Message. Richardson writes:
Some redemptive analogies stand out in the legends and records of the past: Olenos the Sinbearer; Balder the Innocent, hounded to his death, yet destined to rule the new world; Socrates’ Righteous Man; the unknown God of the Athenians, an analogy appropriated by the apostle Paul; The Logos, appropriated by the apostle John; the sacrificial lamb of the Hebrews, appropriated by both John the Baptist and Paul. Other redemptive analogies have been found hidden away in the cultures of the present — dormant, residual, waiting: the Sawi tarop [Peace] child and the words of remon [regeneration]; nabelan-kabelan, the Dani tribe’s deep-seated hope of immortality; the Asmat new birth ceremony. Still others are the places of refuge and the legends of the fall of man, of the Deluge, and a “ladder” connecting earth and heaven. (In Don Richardson’s Peace Child, 1979, page 288)
Redemptive analogies are often found in myths and legends. Myths and legends are like children’s fairy tales. Children’s fairy tales frequently begin with the phrase “once upon a time” to emphasize an event that happened at a particular time in the past. Such a phrase usually gives the impression that the event never occurred. However, this is not always the case. In Asia Pacific, many “once upon a time” stories inform culture and how people celebrate their festivals.
I often wonder, “What if I entered a cross-cultural setting and failed to learn, know, understand, or even appreciate how God has already gone before me and left a witness for the people?”
Acts 14:17 states, “Yet he has not left himself without testimony.” So, as you enter a cross-cultural setting, take time to learn, know, understand, and even appreciate how God has already gone before you and left a witness for the people.