TY  - BOOK
AU  - Cox, Roland Paul 
TI  - Cultural Biases in New Testament Interpretation: Explaining Them Using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
PY  - 2018///
CY  - Johannesburg South Africa
PB  - South African Theological Seminary
N2  - The  overarching  objective  of  this  dissertation  is  to  substantiate the  idea that Hofstede’s  cultural  dimensions—power  distance(PDI),  individualism versus collectivism(IDV), masculinity versus femininity(MAS), uncertainty avoidance(UAI),  long-term  orientation  (LTO)  along  with indulgence versus restraint (IVR)—can be  used  to  explain most cultural  biases  in  New  Testament interpretations specifically between   works   intended   for   an Anglo   world audience and those intended fora sub-Saharan Africa audience. This task is accomplished  by statistically  showing that  IDV  and  PDI  are  the  areas measured  by  Hofstede  where significant cultural  differences exist between these  regions. Select  criteria  are developed  and  used  in  the  choice  of  New Testament  passages and  corresponding  literature. A modified  deductive content  analysis  procedure  is  used  to  make  comparisons  with  the  selected passages and literature. The John 2:23-3:21comparison  shows  that  PDI  (seen  in  the importance  of the  teacher versus the  learner)  and IDV  (expressed  in postmodernity versus traditionalism) are very likely to explain the  major cultural  biases. The comparison  in Acts  10:1-11:18reveals  that the  principal cultural  differences are probably best delineated with IDV (in terms of in-group versus out-group distinction and honour/shame versus grace/guilt). The main cultural biases in the Romans 8:31-39comparisonare most likely described with PDI (seen via instabilities)  and  IDV  (in  terms  of  in-group versus out-group  distinction).  The James  comparison  reveals  that  IDV  (expressed in  oral/traditional  literature versus  modern  genre)  and  PDI  (via instabilities  and  GNP) seems  to  best account for the principal cultural biases. Across all comparisons IDV and PDI also  account for  the  vast  majority  of  other cultural differences along  with Abstract works  intended  for  an  Anglo  world  audience  using  an  average  of  2.6  times more  cross-references,  which  is  a result  of  IDV  (modern/postmodern  genre versus oral/traditional literature). This  study  demonstrates  that  with  Hofstede’s  cultural  model  it  is  possible  to compare biblical scholarship from two different parts of the globe and explain cultural biases
ER  -