WEIRD Missiology

Overlap and challenges to contemporary approaches to mission

The WEIRD framework has been making the rounds for the past half-decade or so. It is a way to understand the unique culture that grew up in the Western world following the Protestant Reformation. Joseph Henrich, a “cultural evolutionist,” published "The WEIRDest People in the World" in 2020, detailing this theory. Here is a short AI-generated synopsis of his theory:

Joseph Henrich's book, "The WEIRDest People in the World," explores the origins and evolution of human culture, focusing on the Western world and its unique development. Henrich introduces the concept of WEIRD societies, which stands for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. He argues that these societies have evolved differently from others due to various factors, including religion, science, and technology.

The book delves into the cognitive and social foundations of WEIRD culture, highlighting how these societies think and interact uniquely with the world. Henrich also examines the cultural evolution of WEIRD societies, discussing the impact of colonialism and imperialism on their development. Additionally, he explores the psychology of WEIRD individualism and how it has shaped Western culture. Henrich's work emphasizes the significant influence of WEIRD societies on the global stage, particularly in the realms of science and technology. The book is a thought-provoking examination of how Western culture has become psychologically peculiar and particularly prosperous.

This book is a cultural anthropological tour de force. I suggest you get it (WEIRDest People in the World) if you work cross-culturally. You can also read a short research paper on the primary ideas at this link: The weirdest people in the world?

The WEIRD framework overlaps in particular with two strands of missiology while also cutting against some standard assumptions. Henrich theorizes that when reading came into being, largely through the invention of the printing press and the subsequent teaching of “sola scriptura,” reading flourished across Europe. The use of the written word, according to Henrich, did not simply change how we consume information but fundamentally shifted the way the human brain processes information.

As a result, the nations of West/Central Europe (particularly the Protestant nations) ushered in a new wave of human flourishing. They saw the world in a novel, more analytical way than other cultures do. This is the first area in which I see an overlap with contemporary missiology. A rising focus on orality helps missionaries communicate the gospel without making WEIRD assumptions. Orality recognizes that literate people process information differently than oral cultures.

This book is written from an evolutionary standpoint. However, it is quite charitable to Protestantism, stating that most technological, political, and cultural advances globally have come from the European region influenced by Luther and the Reformation. At the same time, there are copious examples of non-Western cultures interwoven into the text, showing how they have their own unique advantages based on their environments.

I should note that he also credits Catholicism with ending consanguine marriage (marrying cousins) as a prime reason for Western advancement. The Catholic element is not as strong to me, however, because much of the Spanish speaking Catholic world did not enjoy the same cultural re-wiring that literacy among Protestants achieved.

The other missiological area which comes through in the text surrounds the guilt/shame paradigm. We of European descent are WEIRD in part because our social structures are less binding. We do not perceive morality through the lens of relationships as most of the world does. Thus, WEIRD cultures tend toward a more individualized morality in which there is right and wrong morality, not an honor and shame framework.

For those of us steeped in Western missiological constructs, this book struck me as deeply politically incorrect. Comparing cultures (for example, Asians see more context than Westerners) feels wrong. Yet, the evidence is strong. This has big implications for not only communicating the gospel, but the nature of the church itself. WEIRD cultures, according to Henrich, flowed directly from Protestant influences. The Evangelical understanding of the Bible and its place in spirituality are directly tied to the development of WEIRD cultures (he cites “sola scriptura” as a primary contributor). Let me reiterate that Henrich is not merely stating that literacy is a mode of understanding something. He claims that it rewires our brains, both opening up new ways of learning and limiting other ways we might perceive our environment. He compares cultures in ways that would be unacceptable to the Western wokism.

This begs the question: can Protestant theology (and Evangelicalism) be anything but WEIRD? Missiology, since it began a quest for academic respect in the 1960s, has worked hard to avoid Western contamination of the gospel message. Today’s emphasis on indigenous mission is the latest iteration of this effort. If Henrich is correct, people that become literate (Bible-centered) will undergo a shift toward a more Western framework. Literacy in the WEIRD framework is causal.

Christianity existed before Protestantism. Was this Bible-centered, literate version of Christianity we call Protestantism the ultimate destination that God intended? If so, then what does this mean for the future of the church embedded inside of non-WEIRD cultures? Will they inevitably display the same attributes that arose in the Western versions of Christianity? Some will argue that for much of Christian history literacy was not assumed. Does this mean that we embrace a version of Christianity which is explicitly illiterate in order to protect cultures from WEIRD-ness?

Lots to ponder. Feel free to comment below.