Diverse and Creative Voices

Theological Essays from the Majority World

Noelliste, Chung

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781498270144
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

As the twentieth century passed its midpoint and was rushing toward its end, a growing number of Majority World theologians came to realize that they could in fact do theology in their own contexts for the benefit of their own people. Thus, from the 1960s onward, theologians in the global South have embarked on a form of theological construction that has sometimes been described as "contextual" reflection or "contextualized theology." This volume is motivated by the conviction that these efforts have resulted in theological work that is also beneficial for Christians in other parts of the world. The editors have invited Majority World theologians to share their reflections on several themes of Christian faith from their own sociohistorical perspectives but with an unswerving commitment to the authority of Scripture. It is hoped that these fresh reflections will help Christians in the West engage and benefit from the perspectives of fellow believers in the global South.

part 1

God and Humanity

1

God and Humanity in African Religious Beliefs and Christianity

Abel Ndjérareou (Chad)

Introduction

A study of God and humanity in an African perspective cannot be done without referring to the findings of the basic elements of the African religious system known as African Traditional Religions (hereafter ATR). In recent times this has become even more true with the resurgence of the ATR that occurred in the aftermath of the African independence movement of the 1950s, and the explosion of the African cultural revolution movement of the 1970s. These developments have inspired a search for an African Christianity that takes into serious account the African religious experience. This has resulted in the production of a body of literature that has focused for the most part on the phenomenological study of the ATR.

Yet, concomitant with this resurgence of the ATR which African theologians regard as “a contemporary living reality”1 is an explosion of Christianity on African soil. Richard Gehman observes that “within a little more than a century Africa has turned away from ATR to embrace the Christian faith.”2 To many, Christianity appears to pose a mortal threat to the ATR. But more serious than the question of religious competition is the dilemma the encounter of Christianity with the ATR poses for African Christians. Put bluntly, the issue is how to live the Christian life with the haunting legacy of a religious past.

While we have admitted that we cannot study God and humanity in an African perspective without an adequate understanding of the ATR, we also know that the identity and the acts of what that religious system refers to as Supreme Being have been a puzzle for Africans in their search for the truth about God and his relationship to humanity. In light of this, the purpose of this chapter is to explore what it means to be human, how Africans can come to know God and thus have a genuine relationship with him, and what it means to experience an identity that embraces both their cultural heritage and their faith in Christ.

Our inquiry will follow a threefold approach encapsulated by the following questions: How do Africans view God and humanity? How does the Bible describe what Africans conceive as God? And what are the implications for Christianity in Africa today of the encounter of the traditional African view of God with the biblical perspective. Although we are aware of the danger of syncretism that African Christianity faces, our inquiry will, nonetheless, take into serious account Africa’s pre-Christian religious experience as an important step toward the knowledge of the true God and his relationship to humankind.

Yusufu Turaki, to whom I am indebted for the perspective that I will share in this chapter, warns that the interpretation of the concepts and attributes of God in the ATR should be measured by the traditional religion itself. He goes on to state that, “They cannot be interpreted by using Christian categories, for then, they lose their traditional meanings and import.”3 In other words, according to Turaki, in order to accurately understand the African concept of God, our interpretation needs to be undertaken in the framework of the African religious worldview itself. But, since Turaki himself acknowledges that, “the traditional concepts of God as stated by . . . African . . . scholars are comparable with those of Christianity,”4 we will not seek to interpret the ATR as a religion. Instead, we will highlight those areas that it shares with Christian faith in order to come to an understanding of what it means to be an African believer in Jesus Christ. In light of this, our description of the ATR will be limited to the categories which bear on the themes of God and humanity.

Before considering the questions mentioned above, we will describe briefly the religious context in which the biblical revelation of God to humanity through Jesus Christ took place. This is extremely important for our purpose here. For the people to whom God revealed his plan of salvation came out of their own religious experiences just as the Africans. Yet, they were challenged to embrace the new message of salvation through Jesus Christ just as the Africans are challenged to do.

Setting the Biblical Religious Background

The Bible shows that people of traditional religions were confronted by the revelation of the God of Israel as the true God who claimed the whole human race to himself by right of creation (Gen 1:1; Exod 19:5; Ps 100:1). From Abraham to the Jews, to the Africans via the Athenians, the challenge has always been to reflect critically on the original religions of the nations in light of the new revelation of the true God and his relationship to humanity. Abraham left his pagan family to respond to the call and mission of God to become a source of blessings to “all the families of the earth” (Gen 12:1–3). Later on, Joshua will refer to his pagan ancestors as idol worshippers, and choose, along with his family, to abandon their “foreign gods” and serve Yahweh alone (Josh 24:14–24). Paul, likewise, challenged Jews, Gentiles, and pagans alike to establish a proper relationship with God which requires a drastic adjustment of their previous concept of God and humanity (Acts 14:8–18; 17:16–34).

In his discourse to the Athenians, Paul rehearses the basic doctrines of Christian faith and challenges his hearers to re-examine the tenets of their religious systems in light the biblical view, and to respond accordingly. This comes out with particular clarity in his exposition of the doctrines of God and humanity. Paul states:

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.

In light of Paul’s discourse, we contend that the Supreme Being of ATR can be identified with the “Unknown God” of the Athenians. Hence, adherents of the ATR, like the Athenians, are challenged to respond to the new message. What kind of knowledge of God and humanity do Africans have outside God’s revelation of himself through Jesus-Christ? How do we integrate the revelation about the true God and his will for humanity into our African traditional religious beliefs? We argue that the search must begin with the Africans’ own religious awareness and proceed with a spiritual journey that leads to a proper relationship w...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• List of Contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part One: God and Humanity
• Chapter 1: God and Humanity in African Religious Beliefs and Christianity
• Chapter 2: God and Humanity in Islam and Christianity
• Chapter 3: The Self-Revealing God and the Human Predicament
• Part Two: Christ and Salvation
• Chapter 4: Redeemer and Transformer: The Relevance of Christ for China’s Cultural Renewal and Liberation
• Chapter 5: Christ and Liberation: Toward a Messianic Christology for a Postcolonial Society
• Chapter 6: The Promise of a Trinitarian Christology for the Latin American Evangelical Church
• Part Three: The Holy Spirit and The Church
• Chapter 7: The Church as Pneumatic Community: Toward an Ecclesiology for the African Context
• Chapter 8: The Church as Liberated and Liberating Community: A Primer for a Latin American Ecclesiology
• Part Four: Eschatology and Mission
• Chapter 9: An Eschatologically Driven Missiology for Holistic Engagement with African Realities
• Chapter 10: Prophecy and Preaching in the Last Days in John’s Revelation: A Reflection on the Ministry and Mission of the Church in South-East Asia
• Chapter 11: Sino-Theology: Recapitulation and Prospect
• Bibliography