During one of my Hermeneutics class, students were assigned a one page reflection on the day's class discussion. We talked about how in our dispensation, it has become hard to communicate Christ from our cultural backgrounds, although those backgrounds lie deep seated connection points for reaching out to our own folks. It came out from the class that language was not an end in itself but rather a means to that end. It is a means for communication. But also acknowledged that sometime, we were language deficient in what we really sought to communicate. Students were therefore tasked to present Christian salvation in relations to atonement without the use of Christian jargon. Here, I present the reflection of pastor Erickson B. Enong on the subject.
"Kankanaey is one tribe amongst the Igorots of the Cordillera. Before the colonization of our nation by the Spaniards, our forefathers worshipped different gods other than the Almighty God. They have different names of gods, as compared to other tribes. When someone is sick, the “Kankanaeys” will perform “canyaw” and call on their god (kabunyan). “Canyaw” is a practice performed by butchering pigs in the presence of the “manbake”, a pagan priest accompanied by gongs and dancing. In this way, they invite the spirit of their forefathers who are dead many years ago. They believe that the reason why a person is sick among the family is because the spirit of their forefathers are hungry and that is why they have to butcher pigs so they could give them food and be satisfied. This however is a ceremony for the sick person but there is one practice that is performed when someone is dead. This I want to talk about in connection with salvation in terms of the atonement.
When a person dies, the whole community holds a vigil for a week. Every day, different people come to express their condolences to the bereaved family. And because he/she was not a follower of God, people who come have different ways of expressing their sympathy. Some come with, “day-eng” (a song of the folk containing the bad and good deeds of the dead), some also come with riddles and puzzles but around the house are also gamblers and drunkards doing their own thing. Now, on the day of the burial, the time for the pagan priest, the ‘manbake’ has come. When the corpse is already kept, pigs are butchered for the cleansing of sins.
The ‘manbake’ understands that the dead person has committed sins while he was alive so before going to the ‘other place’, his/her sins should be forgiven by offering pigs to their gods. This time, the ‘manbake’ calls the spirits of their dead many years ago, who have become gods so that they will take this dead to be with them or take him to the “other place”. ‘Other place’ is understood as a spiritual world or the world of the dead. The “manbake’ teaches that the spirit of a dead person becomes one of the “anitos’ (demons) if they are bad or sinners but becomes a god if they are good or if their sins were cleansed. But there is confusion to this teaching; even if they had done this ritual, they are still not sure if the spirit of their departed becomes a god or one that goes to the ‘other place’. This is so because when a member of the family becomes sick, they blame the spirit of their dead, so they have to do the rituals for the sick, the ‘canyaw’.
Therefore, to speak salvation to them I will address them from this point of view. My way may go like this: “Listen, our fathers and mothers, we believe that there is a place called the ‘other place’ where the spirit of the dead should go. That other place they are calling is a wonderful place, place of peace where wickedness has no more room. It is a place without sorrow, sickness and death; a place where everything is perfect. This place is one prepared by God for those who trust in the One who was killed for our sins. For this is what we are doing in our own way, in that if our departed is a sinner, we need to butcher pigs for the cleansing of his sins and the ‘manbake’ must do this ritual for him/her. I’m sure enough that all of us as sinners need cleansing for those sins.
Brothers and sisters, there is one person I know. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shearers but was silent. He was killed to cleanse the sins of the world and anyone who believes in Him will surely not become one of the ‘anitos’ (demons) but he will be with God who overcame sicknesses and death. We do not need to butcher pigs anymore for the cleansing of their sins. Someone has done it once and for all so that anyone who acknowledges their sinfulness will just believe and accept Him as the substitute of their sins.
He is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, He came on earth more than two thousand years ago and your own calendar at home testifies to this truth. This Jesus Christ loves us so much that He does not want anyone of us to be unsure of our destiny when our life here on earth is done. His love is more than the love we are showing to any member of our family when they are dead. We offer pigs to gods whom we called ‘Kabunyan’ but this Jesus was the one who offered Himself as our sin offering to the Most High God. My beloved fathers and mothers, Jesus Christ is our perfect sin offering so that as we believe and receive Him, we will surely be in that other place!"
PRAISE THE LORD!!