Afua Kuma’s Prayers and Praises as Evidence of a Vibrant Primal Substructure in African Christianity

Following from the assertion that there exists a symbiosis between Christianity and the Primal Substructure in Africa, this paper sets out to examine Afua Kuma’s Jesus of the Deep Forest using Harold Turner’s six feature analysis of primal religions. It focuses on how Afua Kuma’s poetry builds upon the six features of the primal worldview with her new insights from the Christian faith. The author argues that this is evidence of the vibrant primal substructure in African Christianity. This article thus contributes to the growing body of scholarship on African Christianity and its primal underpinnings and Christianity as a non-Western religion Keywords: Primal Worldview, African Christianity, Apae, Afua Kuma

Yorùbá Coastal Christian Communities: From the Evangelist Band Mission to the Zion and Holy Apostles Communities

This article highlights the diversity of African Christianity in the Ìlàjẹ and Ìkále areas of present-day Ondo State, as well as in neighboring communities. It compares the successive religious movements led by E. M. Líjàdú and his Evangelist Band Mission, which represents an African missionary effort of the first generation in the Ikale and Ìlàjẹ areas, and the more recent Zion and Holy Apostles communities that have been established along the coast as independent Christian settlements under local spiritual leaders and kings. The article shows that there are certain similarities and differences between the successive movements. While the different conditions of the periods in which these movements operated, and the different conditions in which these religious activities were organized, matter, both movements offered their converts a new understanding of the world in which existing practices, were re-examined through an engagement with education and ‘modernity’ in a more general sense, and through existing forms of spiritual expression such as music, dance, and dress.

Contemporary Historiography on Christianity in Roman Africa

This essay follows the broad contours of patristic and ecclesiastical history relative to African Christianity. Rival Catholic and Protestant narratives of the origin and trajectory of African Christianity in the early modern period continued to influence historiography, even after the acceptance of critical historical methods in the 19th century. The advent of archeological research in the colonial period opened new vistas on African history and ushered in the sociohistorical approach which characterized early Christian studies in the 20th century. Finally, the “linguistic turn” in early Christian studies inspired by critical theory has directed recent research toward issues surrounding the identities of African Christians, rhetorical and real.

Esotericism in Botswana

The article argues that “esotericism” can usefully be applied to a number of religious currents in Southern Africa. With a focus on Botswana, we survey a range of practices, from traditional “shamanic” healing to Pentecostal NRM s to New Age spiritualities and neoshamanism, some presented here for the first time. The term esotericism is useful for analysing the religious situation in Southern African contexts for three reasons. First, through a typological understanding of esotericism as initiation-based knowledge systems, we define one part of the landscape (usually termed “shamanism”) as constituting a form of “indigenous esotericism”. Second, through the European colonial expansion, this indigenous esotericism faced a violent rejection campaign that parallels the construction of “rejected knowledge” in Europe. While this forced many practices underground, they have resurfaced within Southern African Christianity. Third, “western” esoteric currents have recently been imported to Southern Africa and enter into dialogues with the “indigenous” forms.

Conversion Experience of Akan Christian Royals in Ghana

The study is an examination of the conversion challenges confronting Akan Christian Royals in Ghana. The Western missionaries and missionary established churches demand that as part of their conversion requirements, Akan Royals must reject and disassociate themselves from the Black Stool, ancestors and all ancestral related activities. The Royals who claim that their families have become Christian royal families insist that authority symbols like the Black Stools and ancestral ceremonies like the Adae do not take the place of the sovereignty of God and the Lordship of Christ in their belief system. Moreover, participation in Palace services prepares them for traditional leadership and does not take them away from their faith in Christ. The traditional leadership institutions and the Royals that welcomed the Western missionaries, provided them with hospitality, security and resources for the missionary work have come to be considered as unchristian and an anathema to the Christian faith. The position of the church has created tensions within Akan Christian Royal and put the genuineness of their conversion in doubt. The study which is qualitative in nature uses both primary and secondary methods in its information gathering. Its findings provide responses to some contemporary tensions in gospel and culture studies in African Christianity. Keywords: Akan Royals, Christian Conversion, Cultural Identity, Black Stool, Authority Symbols

SOCIAL CLASS, CONSUMPTION AND CONFLICTS: A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ON CONSUMERS IN A WEST AFRICAN CHRISTIAN CONTEXT

The relationships between alcohol consumption and conflicts has been explored in several contexts. Little research has been conducted on the subject in Burkina Faso. The purpose of this research is to deeply investigate the relationship between social class and alcohol consumption on one hand, and alcohol consumption and household conflicts on the other in Burkina Faso where alcohol consumption is on the increase. This exploratory research is focused on the constructivist epistemological posture. A qualitative method research design is used to collect data from both primary and secondary sources for analysis. Semi-structured interview guide was used for data collection. The results show that social class moderates the relationship between alcohol consumption and conflicts, and a high relationship between alcohol consumption and household conflicts. The findings imply that there should be a rigorous segmentation and religious hyper-personalisation of the alcohol beverage market in order to meet the local Christian consumers’ core needs and real expectations. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is an exploratory research in the West African Christianity context that shows the relationship between different social classes and alcohol consumption and conflicts. Keywords: Social class, Alcohol Consumption, Household Conflicts, Ouagadougou

Whiteness in Christianity and Decoloniality of the African Experience: Developing a Political Theology for ‘Shalom’ in Kenya

The decolonial discourse around Christianity must not avoid dealing with Whiteness if there is going to be any fruitful decolonization. Colonialism and the Western missionary enterprise were not necessarily two distinct and unrelated entries to precolonial Kenya. How then did Christianity, for decades, live side by side with colonialism? In this article, we contend that Colonialism in Kenya could not have been possible without the missionary enterprise activity. The impact of that unholy relationship is felt and sustained in contemporary forms of violence. Unfortunately, critics of such a discourse dismiss the decolonial efforts in African Christianity citing intellectual activism. Such voices of dissent may not be far from the truth as Jesus’ ministry involved elements of activism. Whenever he confronted oppressive institutional structures, he used activism tempered with a degree of pacifism. Looking at the history of historical injustices in Kenya, we see instances whereby missionary Christianity conveniently abetted injustices for colonial structures to sustain the oppression of the indigenous Africans. Such injustices have been unresolved to date because the oppressive structures are still in place in the shape of neocolonialism. Land, for example, is a present source of conflict in Kenya. In the precolonial African ontology, the land was in harmony with the people. For land to be taken away from its owners, a separation of the people from the land had to happen. This was facilitated by a Christian theology that created existential dualism, violently separating the African bodies from their souls and the person from the community. Hence, Christian doctrine that emphasized ‘saving souls’ and ‘personal salvation’ was entrenched. This separation and fragmentation are fundamental to Whiteness. Whiteness universalizes truth, even theology; it puts a face of neutrality that obscures specificity. Such has made the church uncritical of oppressive and unjust political structures. Whiteness realizes that it is hard to enter into something that is in harmony. Therefore, separation needs to happen for Whiteness to succeed. Unfortunately, much of our theological understanding today is tempered with a neocolonial mindset that separates the soul from the body for Christian triumphalism. It anesthetizes the pain of oppression with the eschatological promise of future deliverance. This paper will analyze the impact of Whiteness in Kenya during and after colonialism to demonstrate how the British explorer–settler–missionary alliance ‘oiled’ the religious and economic disenfranchising of African people. Secondly, it proposes a political theology that will restore ‘Shalom’ in a socially, economically, and spiritually broken country. It is such a theology undertaken in Africa that will confront oppressive structures and identify with the marginalized communities in Kenya.

Doing Public Theology in African Christianity: A Reflection on Communiques by Churches in Ghana

Faith in public life can be associated with Christianity in Ghana from the days of the early Western missionaries. Christian faith perspectives on matters of public concerns however, assumed a wider scope with the practice of regular issuance of communiques to governments and the people of Ghana by the churches. Christian ministry is expected to be holistic. A holistic approach in Christian ministry is considered to lead to the holistic development of the nation for the common good and the glory of God. Church leaders subsequently, bring their faith perspectives to matters of public concerns as a ministerial mandate to be in pilgrimage with the people. The study is a reflection on how the churches’ communiques are done and the factors that make the communiques theological in the public space. It further seeks to identify the contribution of the construction of communiques to public theology in Christianity in Ghana. The study as qualitative, examines both available primary and secondary sources. Copies of communiques of some selected churches, ecumenical bodies and joint communiques by ecumenical bodies are examined to appreciate insights of communiques by the churches. The study seeks to make a contribution to the theological construction of public theologies in Ghana and African Christianity. KEYWORDS: Public Theology, African Christianity, Communique, Common Good

Interrogating Issues of Sexuality in Africa: An African Christian Response

The issues of sexuality have been very contentious in Africa more so after the legalization of same-sex marriages by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2015 under the President Obama reign. Africans have resented the way sexuality is understood and practiced in the west and has termed it un-African. Some scholars and indeed African leaders have argued that the attitude towards sexuality is a modern practice which is being introduced and even forced to Africa by modernity and influenced greatly by the western worldview. In a modern setting, different sexual orientation has been accepted as a lifestyle and has been institutionalized. Although African does not refute the fact that there were and indeed still are people with different sexual orientation, they do not find it right to institutionalize it since according to African culture, this is an abnormality that needs to be corrected, sympathized with and tolerated. To that end, African peoples assisted those with a different sexual orientation to live normal lives as much as possible. At the same time, the community was kind and tolerant and never banished or mistreated them based on their sexual orientation. This paper will attempt to show the attitude taken by the African people, the process of assisting those with different sexual orientation and how they were incorporated into the society. The paper will draw valuable lessons to be learned by modernity and which will correspond to African Christianity in accordance with the teaching of Jesus Christ

Christian Advocacy Ministry in African Christianity: The Nature, Prospects and Challenges in Ghana

The contributions of the church to the social, economic and political growth of Ghana have been locally and internationally recognized. There is the need therefore, to subject the nature, prospects and challenges of the Christian advocacy of the church in Ghana to intellectual scrutiny to identify the issues that must be addressed for the church to perform its advocacy effectively. The study is an examination of the Christian advocacy ministry of the church in Ghana. It used both primary and secondary materials to generate data. Minutes and reports were examined for some primary information. The analysis of the available information points to the fact that the church must pay attention to niche management, capacity building of church leaders, enhance its public theology, creation of platforms for reflections, address the attacks on voices of wisdom, and direct attention to the role of the non-clergy in the advocacy ministry for its future Christian advocacy ministry. The study has added to knowledge in the disciplines of Church and Society and Public Theology. Keywords: Advocacy Ministry, Public Theology, African Christianity, Capacity Building, Public Witness