Shame Archives -

“Shame” in the New Testament

By HonorShame Posted on March 16, 2021 Posted in NT, Shame No Comments

The New Testament uses a variety of words to speak about shame. This post discusses main three roots for shame. This first pie chart shows the various Greek terms behind the word “shame” in the NRSV. The primary NT word …

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Tagged with: NT, shame

Shame in the Old Testament

By HonorShame Posted on February 16, 2021 Posted in OT, Shame 1 Comment

Shame is a hot topic in the Old Testament! To convey the concept of shame, the OT uses at least ten different words over 300 times. With many different words, shame is the proverbial ice in Eskimo culture. Several verses …

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7 Problems with Defining “Honor” & “Shame”

By HonorShame Posted on February 2, 2021 Posted in Honor, Shame, Theology 1 Comment

What do the words “honor” and “shame” mean? What is their theological meaning? These questions are surprisingly complex, for the several reasons listed here. This post explains 7 challenges with defining “honor” and “shame.” Honor and shame are invisible. The terms …

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Tagged with: definitions, Honor, shame

Honor and Shame as (New) Covenant Language

By HonorShame Posted on June 3, 2020 Posted in Bible, salvation, Shame, Theology 4 Comments

The removal of shame is a new covenant reality. When God (re)makes his covenant, he removes the shame of his people. This covenantal context, I believe, is crucial to properly understanding the nature of biblical shame, and, thus, salvation as …

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Tagged with: bible, covenant, salvation, theology

Shame and Transgender Issues

By HonorShame Posted on February 13, 2020 Posted in Shame 8 Comments

I live in the Middle East, so we hardly ever hear conversations about transgenderism or sexual identity. So during a recent visit to the U.S., I observed how transgenderism and sexual identity have grown more prominent in cultural conversations. To …

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Tagged with: community., sexuality, transgender

Honor Is Not One Dimensional

By HonorShame Posted on August 1, 2018 Posted in Communication, Culture, Honor, Relationships, Shame 4 Comments

Rich Y. (B.Th) has worked in the Arab world for eight years. When I was new to the Arab world, I used to have a one-dimensional view of “honor” and a stock approach to discipleship with Arabs—“Those who exalt themselves …

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Tagged with: al-'izzah, al-karamah, Honor, multidimensional

Is Africa ‘Power-Fear’ or ‘Honor-Shame’?

By HonorShame Posted on June 13, 2018 Posted in Culture, Honor, Ministry, Missiology, Shame 4 Comments

People often assume Africa is a “fear-power” culture. The animistic and magical practices of African Traditional Religions (ATRs) reflect the values of fear-power. Although Africa ranks higher in the fear-power category than other regions of the world according to The …

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Tagged with: africa, animistic, ATR

The Meaning of ‘Fear-Power’—3 Options

By HonorShame Posted on May 30, 2018 Posted in Culture, Guilt, Honor, Shame, Spirituality 6 Comments

The label “fear-power culture” has various meanings, depending on the perspective of the speaker. This posts explains the three ways people have defined “fear-power culture.” 1. Religious: Fear-Power as Spiritual Control The worldviews of Majority World cultures, especially tribal religions, …

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Tagged with: anxiety, fear, political, power, psychology, spiritual

The Model of Guilt-Shame-Fear—A Short History

By HonorShame Posted on May 24, 2018 Posted in Culture, Guilt, Honor, Shame, Wesetern 4 Comments

The idea of “guilt vs. shame” has a long history in 20th-century scholarship (see previous post). But how did the cultural model of guilt-shame-fear develop? Here is a super short history of the cultural trichotomony. In 1954, Christian anthropologist and …

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Tagged with: anthropology, history, models, psychology

The Meaning of ‘Shame’—A Short History

By HonorShame Posted on May 16, 2018 Posted in Communication, Culture, Honor, Shame, Wesetern No Comments

Where do these categories of “guilt-shame” or “shame-honor” come from? Like all ideas, the notion of “shame” has developed over time. This post summarizes the main currents of shame research in the 20th century. The Beginning: Ruth Benedict The binary …

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Tagged with: anthropology, guilt-innocence, guilt-shame, honor-shame, psychology, Ruth Benedict

3 In 1: Integrating Guilt, Shame, and Fear

By HonorShame Posted on April 25, 2018 Posted in Culture, Guilt, Honor, Shame 4 Comments

People often voice the concern that reducing cultures down to “guilt,” “shame,” or “fear” is oversimplifying reality—“Aren’t cultures a combination of these factors?” Most certainly. Cultures are too complex to be isolated into just three boxes. These are not three …

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Tagged with: caricature, fear, guilt, Honor, integration, shame

The 3D Gospel: Updated and Revised

By HonorShame Posted on April 11, 2018 Posted in Communication, Culture, Honor, Resources, Shame No Comments

The 3D Gospel started in mind as a 2-page PDF that would help people understand the results of The Culture Test. But it mushroomed into an 80-page book that I published on Amazon. Since then, The 3D Gospel has become a …

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Tagged with: 3D Gospel, book, revised, updated

3 Problems with The Culture Test Results

By HonorShame Posted on April 4, 2018 Posted in Culture, Ministry, Shame 7 Comments

I developed The Culture Test in 2013 to help people better understand cultures. The test is generally helpful in that regard—in five minutes people can get a snapshot of any culture. To help people learn about cultural differences, it is …

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Tagged with: GSF, the culture test

Guilt, Shame & Fear: Revisited

By HonorShame Posted on March 21, 2018 Posted in Shame, Shame & Fear: Revisited, Spirituality, Uncategorized 4 Comments

The notion of guilt, shame, and fear cultures has become a common topic in mission conversations. Ministry organizations and teams around the world are discussing the topic. Four years have passed since I published The 3D Gospel and developed TheCultureTest.com. …

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Tagged with: GSF, guilt-shame

Paul’s Honor Ethic in 1 Corinthians

By HonorShame Posted on January 31, 2018 Posted in ethics, Honor, Resources, Shame, Theology, Wesetern No Comments

Honor and shame are innately social and cooperate realities. For this reason, an honor-centric morality prioritizes relational harmony and communal edification, as seen in Pauline theology. John Barclay says, “Paul’s redefinition of honor thus gives prestige to such traits that …

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Tagged with: 1 Corinthians, morality, Pauline, SEANET

New SEANET Book for Buddhist Contexts

By HonorShame Posted on January 10, 2018 Posted in Culture, Honor, Resources, Shame No Comments

Paul deNeui is Professor of Missiology at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. He recently edited Restored to Freedom from Guilt, Shame, and Fear: Lessons from the Buddhist World (SEANET 13; William Carey Library, 2017; TOC here). This post is …

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Tagged with: anxiety, Buddhist, contextualization, SEANET

Uncovering the Power of Shame

By HonorShame Posted on December 6, 2017 Posted in Bible, Culture, ethics, Shame, Spirituality No Comments

Guest Samuel Albert is Editor in Chief of www.ChristianMusicAndHymns.com. The Bible has a whole vocabulary to do with shame, reproach and disgrace. There are over 10 Hebrew words that translate these words into English, but they have been almost evacuated …

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Tagged with: repentance, shame, spirituality

The Meaning of Romans 3:23

By HonorShame Posted on October 4, 2017 Posted in Bible, Honor, NT, Shame, Theology 16 Comments

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That is how most English Bibles translate Romans 3:23. Western Christianity typically interprets these words as, “Every individual person has done something wrong and not lived up to God’s …

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Tagged with: glory, hermeneutics, morality, NT, Romans, theology

Guilt, Shame, and Fear in Secular Research

By HonorShame Posted on September 6, 2017 Posted in ethics, Honor, Shame, Wesetern 4 Comments

When I wrote The 3D Gospel and developed www.TheCultureTest.com in 2014, I thought that the concept of guilt/shame/fear cultures was unique to Christian missiology. But recently, I encountered a very similar cultural model by a secular psychologist. Richard Shweder is a …

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Tagged with: culture, guilt/shame/fear, research

Shame and Guilt in Racial Reconciliation

By HonorShame Posted on August 16, 2017 Posted in Culture, Honor, Relationships, Shame No Comments

The post is adapted from chapter #3 of The Bridge to Racial Unity: Discussion Guide 2.0 from Be the Bridge ministries. A personal awareness of racism and racial injustice can generate uncomfortable feelings of shame and guilt. In America’s individualistic …

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Tagged with: community., guilt-shame, justice, racism, reconciliation

Category: Shame