Jean Bosco Nsekambizi

Jean Bosco Nsekambizi

BOOK REVIEW

 

INTRODUCTION

The African theology is a subject that speaks about African Christian faith within their social context. Therefore, J.N.K MUGAMBI worked deeply on African reality in matter of Christianity and theology. He distinguishes the African theology and African Christian theology.

 

AFRICAN THEOLOGY: some Christian theologians have used this since 1960. African theology is about the experience of God by Africans before their contact with the missionaries. The influence by Christians also involves African Muslim theology, African religious tradition.

 

AFRICAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY: is based on the practical need to interpret the gospel in terms relevant to the historical and experiential situation as African Christians.

 

Through this book, Mugambi improved and clarified the African Christian theology that is based on African context.  This subject was at the beginning considered by most of theologians as a vagueness and ambiguity concerning.  Some theologians thought that to speak about the African Christian theology was offense. Therefore, Mugambi came to stimulate the reflection on it.   According to him, African Christian theology is a study of theology with process in which the African church is involved. Thereby, this theology should develop the African’s faith within their particular situation, challenges, cultures, experiences, background and historical context. This conception contradicted the ideas and prejudgments of many churchmen especially in Europe according to which African theology is anti-Christian, because it implies a deviation from Biblical theology. However, African Christians as members of a wider community, which has its cultural and religious foundations in the social institution of traditional society, can experience in their life the meaningful and the power of the Gospel of Jesus in their context. They do not have to copy the norms of Europeans or any other race but to consider the values, which help to live Christianity as African Christians. Thereby, an African Christian theology succeeds when people express their faith through the culture, the federation, the social institution with the notion of enculturation.

 

AUTHOR’S CONTRIBUTION

For Mugambi, Africans have to ask themselves what Jesus could do now if he was present in Africa. If missionaries came with Christianity in African with their back ground ignoring the African context and tradition, it could not be helpful for Africans to grow in faith as Christians.  However, if we look back to the ministry and teaching of Jesus who preached the kingdom of God by considering the particular context, situation life, challenges of people of his time and his area such as poverty, persecution, culture, politics and sufferings, we will be convinced that the object of Christianity in African according to Mugambi  is still following the examples of  Jesus.   Therefore the gospel of God has to be interpreted in accordance with African situation and today the church has to be involved in what Christians are facing such as poverty, oppression, righteousness, exploitation.  In this perspective, if Jesus did his ministry in a rural Society, it was the way of converting people from their context. Thereby, there are many reasons whereby African Christian theology can be considerate by taking the example of Jesus.

First, Jesus concentrated on the need of the rural society to whom he ministered. He showed that he was concerned to alleviate the physical suffering as well as enhance their spiritual freedom, which brings liberation and salvation.

Second, Jesus integrated physical liberation and spiritual salvation

Third, Jesus worked with a community of disciple’s dawn from among the rural people.

Indeed, those examples of Jesus justified the reason of having African theology which has to be understood in the African context so that African Christians may live deeper their faith within their life, poverty, problems which they face today in accordance with the church’s teaching.

The church in African plays the role of the integration of the universal church’s service into the local programs of development. That is why the church’s teaching has to be based on the physical and spiritual aspects of individuals. Actually, Jesus’ message needs to be interpreted in the context and in the life of people. If missionaries brought the Gospel within their culture, it does not mean that they have to reject African culture but to consider some values. Even Africans have to accept their culture by considering what is value and good for their faith. The author gave the concrete example of the church in East African which in spite of challenges relative to the new Christian way of life brought by the missionaries , they did not  deny the significance of missionaries enterprise but they tried until now to celebrate Christianity in their context by introducing the new concepts such as:

-They introduced the concept of family in African context, which included a whole household with grandfathers, grand mothers, fathers, mothers, uncles, brothers and sisters and also the extended kinship group, the clans, ethnic community. This conception of family was quite different from the regard family of Christians and in African to consider this relationship cannot affect negatively the understanding of Christianity.

-They introduced the new concept of education in which the school as an institution of learning became a way of communicating and storing information among African communities.

-They introduced the translation of the Bible into African languages such as Swahili. This took the meaning of enculturation because African religious heritage was not based on written scriptures but it was passed on from generation to generation-through oral tradition but when they put the Bible in vernacular, it was their own initiative as Africans.  

From this, Mugambi gave for instance some expressions of Christian faith in east African as following:

  • The independency
  • The new movements as Pentecostal and charismatic…

 Moreover, Mugambi wanted to show the availability and existence of the African Christian theology, which is different from other brands of Christian theology such as German protestant theology, American liberal theology…

When Christianity came, the conversion to Christian faith was introduced by modern missionaries but with the conception of acculturation and the way of implanting this religion could traumatize Africans because of the instauration of new life against the African’s culture. In addition, when Christianity was introduced into the interior of African, the western missionaries involved in this enterprise were convinced that their Christian interpretations of history were correct. Indeed, they did not entertain the possibility that Africans had another interpretation, which might also be valid.

To defend the African Christian theology, Mugambi tried to show how the theology, which is a discourse about God, could be interpreted in different ways in accordance with what the people are experiencing in their faith. That is why the author speaks about the discourse about God, which has to be conducted by Africans who relate their own cultural and religious heritage to Christianity.

 

CONCLUSION

Finally, I agree with what the author has explained to improve the existence and the importance of African Christian theology in matters of faith. Thereby, the good news does not concern a particular culture but it is addressed to the whole world and those who receive it can more believe when they interpret and live their faith as Christians in their particular context. Moreover, the church in African in enculturating the Gospel in African context it does not mean that she is separated from the universal community. However, by enculturation, the way of doing things requires to combine what are values in what Christianity brought and what is value in African culture. However, Africans are only the people who can in the end define and articulate their priorities and experiences with regard to the Gospel of Jesus and to other aspects of life. Theology as a discipline, which interprets all realities in terms of faith, has to look for the understanding of God by African Christians.

 

 

Jean Bosco Nsekambizi

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