Jesus—Immanuel, Image of the Invisible God: Aspects of Popular Christology in Sub-Saharan Africa

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-40
Author(s):  
Diane Stinton

Widespread evidence indicates that Jesus Christ holds a most prominent place in popular cultures across Africa south of the Sahara. In the present article, empirical data generated through qualitative research in Kenya, Ghana, and Uganda serve to illustrate similar phenomena attested across the continent. Initial description and subsequent theological analysis highlight two central aspects of these Christologies: Jesus as Immanuel—God with us—in Africa, and Jesus as the "image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15). Following a summary overview of Christological images in Africa, conclusions point out their significance to contemporary Christianity, particularly regarding the intrinsic relation between popular and academic theologies.

Open Praxis ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Pete ◽  
Fred Mulder ◽  
Jose Dutra Oliveira Neto ◽  
Kathleen Ludewig Omollo

This paper is the second in a series of three with a common goal to present a fair OER picture for Sub-Saharan Africa, represented by large-scale studies in three countries: Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. This paper examines a deliberate selection of four Ghanaian universities with randomly sampled students and lecturers. Distinct questionnaires for students and the lecturers have been used, which generated a response from in total 818 students and 38 lecturers. The major outcomes based on the empirical data are: (i) there is a significant digital differentiation among lecturers and students at technical versus comprehensive universities in terms of their proficiency and internet accessibility; and (ii) the awareness and appreciation of the OER concept and open licensing is low but from the actual variety and types of processing by respondents of educational resources (not necessarily open) there is a preparedness for openness for the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina A. S. Daniele ◽  
◽  
Melisa Martinez-Alvarez ◽  
Angela Koech Etyang ◽  
Marianne Vidler ◽  
...  

Africa ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Niezen

Opening ParagraphIn recent decades a scripturalist, anti-Sufi interpretation of Islam has made steady gains in several parts of sub-Saharan Africa. For non-reformers who are confronted with this phenomenon it is easy to consider all active reformers as emerging from the same mould, as turning for inspiration and guidance to the same religious sources, differing only in the intensity of their fervour or commitment. The task of a more scholarly approach to ‘puritan’ Islamic reform, however, is to consider how it is integrated into different social contexts, how it can be used to change or reinforce the social arrangements and institutions of particular groups. This is the general aim of the present article, which considers the social background of factionalism in the emergence of a reform movement among the Songhay of Gao.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. e0224612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ifeoma D. Ozodiegwu ◽  
Mary Ann Littleton ◽  
Christian Nwabueze ◽  
Oluwaseun Famojuro ◽  
Megan Quinn ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 104 (37) ◽  
pp. 14586-14591 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Gregson ◽  
C. Nyamukapa ◽  
B. Lopman ◽  
P. Mushati ◽  
G. P. Garnett ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Okyere Kwesi Barnabas

<p><em>The Asante kingdom is one of the famous and surviving kingdoms in sub-Saharan Africa. The kingdom came on the world stage in the late 16<sup>th</sup> century and gradually expanded its territorial boundaries through wars to cover almost the present day Ghana and some portion of Togo and Cote d’Ivoire.  Much is known about ancient Egyptian society than most other ancient cultures because of their hieroglyphics (picture writing). Even though the history of the Asante kingdom has been preserved in oratory and in written documents, an alternative method can also be made to safeguard its rich historical facts just like that of the Ancient Egyptian society. This research looks into the ancient methodology of preserving historical facts to design and produce a mural that would serve as an alternative to available sources in gathering historical facts about the Asante kingdom. Qualitative research design approach was used and the descriptive and studio based research methodologies were employed. The history of the Asante kingdom was explored from the 16<sup>th</sup> to the 21<sup>st</sup> century to encode the salient facts about their transformational development into a mural of symbols and pictorial imagery, using sketching and Repoussage technique. It was found that symbols and imagery can be used to present facts of the history and also intricate visuals can be Repoussage unto a large metal surface using 0.8mm copper thickness upon a suitable working support.</em></p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Fausat Motunrayo Ibrahim

African culture is implicated in the population dynamics of sub-Saharan Africa which is distinctly pro-fertile. However, there is a dearth of emic African demographic perspectives. In this light, the present article is a representation of demographic motivations of Yorùbá farmers’ who are largely rural residents and “more traditional” in orientation. Their articulations underscore themes cum bases of challenging the African value of high fertility, including the burdensome conceptualisation of high fertility; an appreciation of negative effects of high fertility on individuals and society; and the construction of high fertility as a threat to reaping “child food” (oúnje ọmọ), among others. In the current social climate, traditional culture is altered, manipulated or reconstructed to suit changing realities, thereby vindicating the “culture by the people” as opposed to “culture for the people” approach to cultural understanding.


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