Christian Theology and African Traditions

Publisher Description

Christian theology is not naively the study of the Bible "only" or alone but the interactions and engagement of the Bible with these human traditions. To this end, Michael's work is the study of the Bible in close dialogue with African traditions. Arguing that for Christian theology to remain relevant to a given people, such dialogue or interaction becomes inevitable because, as a human enterprise, it must by its nature to engage the human context of its reflection. In Africa, Christian theology must engage the worldviews of the African people especially in terms of their beliefs, values and traditional orientations while remaining faithful to the scriptures. Michael discovers that Christian theology becomes "incompetent" or "ill-equipped" to carry out such a contemporary function within the African context because in the history of its transmission it has been fashioned and shaped to address the needs and aspirations of the Western church and the imposing heritage of the enlightenment period. The African context must "reprocess" or reconstruct "Christian theology" in order to engage African questions which often are ignored by "standard" works on Christian theology, argues Michael. From these highlighted concerns, the book discusses "standard" topics in "Christian theology" in light of African similar or dissimilar forms.