Etic and Emic Perspectives to Christianity
Today, the society has various religious traditions with varying perspectives. Christianity is on the most common and largest religion where members share some common beliefs like having faith in the bible and its teachings. Christian worshippers believe in the concept of God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit. They believe in the demise and resurrection of Jesus that saved humankind from their sins of which they were to perish. It is from the bible teachings that belief perspectives such as baptism and Holy Communion emerge. However, due to the different understanding and interpretation of the Bible, various denominations were formed under the umbrella of Christianity.
The Roman Catholic Church is one of the ancient religions that contains billions of worshippers worldwide, therefore making the largest religious body internationally. Being universal, there are a various understanding of the Roman Catholic Church’s beliefs and various perspectives. This is especially the case depending on whether one is a member of the church or not a member hence has perspectives from outside the church.
Etic Perspectives
In most cases, Roman Catholic traditions appear to be odd to those viewing from outside the church. Other people tend to assume it was something that was made up hence the belief that Catholics focus more into the tradition rather than the scriptures. The way of baptizing is a controversial subject not only to the Roman Catholic Church but too many other protestant Christian Religions (Schreiter, 2015). In Christianity, immersion is the commonly preferred way of baptizing. Baptizing by immersing significantly signifies the sinful old self-being ‘buried’ and the new righteous ‘raised’ in Christ. However, this is not the case with the Roman Catholic Church which baptizes by pouring water on the head.
People believe the Roman Catholic Church is linked with politics, authority, and power. Despite the Catholics viewing the Pope as one who occupies the seat of Apostle Peter to maintain the church, Others view him as an individual restored with power not only to lead the church but to connect and has a crucial part to play when it comes to authority and power which is better expressed in the political world. This goes hand in hand with the belief that the Catholic Church being led by the Pope has a great part to play in the civilization of the western nations. According to Schreiter, (2015) the pope gained influence power and authority when the Roman Empire continued to severely crumble. The successive popes continued to make ambitious claims to authority as well.
Emic Perspective
The Catholic tradition is solely rooted in the concept of Apostles. As Catholics, we believe that it is Christ’s gift to us linked to the active work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore through the spirit of the apostles, the spirit of truth, the word of God can be faithfully preserved, explained and made known widely to all nations (Calvin & Uyl, 2016). We believe that for one to understand the Catholic tradition, the Holy Spirit which is within the church is essential. And as disciples, the communion of saints is to be highly cherished among believers.
One of the main Catholic Church dogmas idea is the holy conception of Jesus by virgin Mary. Believing in Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary and her bodily assumption is one of the major Roman Catholic Dogmas. On top of the Christian belief that Jesus as Immaculate Conception, Roman Catholic beliefs insist that Mary his mother had similar miraculous conception as a point of orthodoxy. Moreover, we believe that her body ascended to heaven until the end of life on earth. Meaning Mary maintained her perpetual virginity even after Jesus’s birth. This makes her one of the saints in heaven through which Christians can pray through.
References
Calvin, J., & Uyl, A. (2016). Institutes of the Christian religion. Lulu. Com.
Schreiter, R. J. (2015). Constructing local theologies. Orbis Books.
