We, the authors, were born, raised, born again, and currently live and serve in what may be appropriately labeled as honor-shame cultures. The prevailing view among many theologians and missiologists concerning our cultural context is that presenting Christ’s atonement in terms of penal substitution is ineffective at best, and is a distortion of the gospel at worst. [i] The categories of law, guilt, punishment, and retributive justice that are intrinsic to penal substitutionary atonement allegedly stem from Western, individualistic cultures and are consequently foreign to Eastern, collectivistic cultures that are steeped in categories of honor and shame. Therefore, it is claimed that what Christ accomplished on the cross must be reframed in the cultural categories of shame, honor, and social credit in order to effectively present the gospel in such cultures.
As pastors in an honor-shame context, we respectfully disagree with such approaches. In fact, we maintain that penal substitution offers a helpful corrective to those living in an honor-shame culture, and helps them rightly understand their status before God and what God has done for sinners in Jesus Christ.
WHAT IS AN HONOR-SHAME CULTURE AND HOW DO PROPONENTS OF HONOR-SHAME CATEGORIES REFRAME THE ATONEMENT?
Honor-shame cultures are collectivistic cultures that prize
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