A Reflection on African Christian Theology

Konadu Adam ORCID iD & Collins Boafo

Issue: Vol.8 No.10 November 2022 Issue  Article 1 pp 280-286
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20228101 |   Published online 8th November 2022.
© 2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Views: 1,270
1987 Downloads

DOWNLOAD PDF

The African heritage and identity have been intensely religious. Africans carry along their religio-cultural background and tradition wherever they go and in whatever they find themselves doing. Africans embraced Christian theology while having already imbibed and appreciated African theology and identity. Being religious beings, African Christians have sought to appreciate Christian theology through the lens of African theology and heritage. This paper establishes that African Christian theology should go beyond championing African heritage and identity. It should rather be proactive and go a step further to address the challenges and ills of human society in the African setting. This will make it worthy as a source of hope for hopeless Africans in their religious existence. Using secondary data resources from the internet, and published and unpublished literature in the form of books and journal articles, this work discusses African Christian theology and the way forward. It is the ardent hope of the authors that African Christians and theologians develop the need to see theology beyond the lens of the African identity and rather contemplate how theology can be therapeutic to the ills and challenges of the African society.

Keywords: Christian Theology, African Christianity, African Theology, African Heritage, African Identity

Bujo, Benezet, African theology in its social context, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 1992.

Edusa – Eyison Joseph M.Y., “Kwesi A. Dickson: The Bible and African Life and Thought in Dialogue” in African Theology: The Contribution of the Pioneers, ed. Benezet Bujo and Juvenal IIunga Muya. Kenya: Paulines Publications Africa, 2008.

Mashau, Derrick and Frederiks, Martha, ‘Coming of age in African theology: The quest for authentic theology in African soil’, Exchange 37, (2008):115 -201. Available at https://doi.org/10.1163/157254308X278549.

Mbiti, S. John. The Biblical Basis for Present Trends in African Theology. Kisamu: Evangel Publishing House, 1975.

Mugambi, Jesse N.K., From liberation to Reconstruction: African Christian Theology after the Cold War. Nairobi: EAEP, 1995.

Nkansah-Obrempong, James, ‘Evangelical theology in Africa: Ways, perspectives, and dilemmas’, Evangelical Review of Theology 34(4) (2010): 293-299.

Nthamburi, Zablon, “Toward Indigenization of Christianity in Africa: A Missiological Task,” in International Bulletin of Mission Research (1989):114, http://internationalbulletin.org/issues/1989-03/1989-03-112-nthamburi.pdf. Accessed on 12/07/22.

Nyamiti, Charles, African Theology: Its Nature, Problems, and Methods. Kampala: Gaba Publications, 1971.

Okoye, James C., ”International Society for Catholic Theology”.http://www.unituebingen.de/INSeCT/african/okoye.html. Accessed on 16/05/22.

Rwiza, Richard, “Laurenti Magesa An African Liberation Theologian” in African Theology: The Contribution of the Pioneers, ed. Benezet Bujo and Juvenal IIunga Muya. Kenya: Paulines Publications Africa, 2008.

Setiloane, Gabriel M., African Theology: An Introduction, Johannesburg: Skotaville Publishers, 1988.

Sawyerr, Harry, What is African Theology?” in A Reader in African Theology, ed. John Parratt; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Torres, Sergio and Fabella, Virginia, The Emergent Gospel: Theology from the Developing World, London: Chapman, 1978.

Waweru, Humphrey Mwangi, “African Theology in the 21st Century: Mapping Out Critical Priorities”, European Scientific Journal, 14(8) (2018): 213-216.

Konadu Adam holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He also holds a Diploma in Education from the University of Education, Winneba, all in Ghana. Moreover, he also holds a Master of Philosophy in Religious Studies from KNUST. His research interest has been in Religion and Society, Comparative study of Religions and Interfaith Relations. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Religious Studies at KNUST. He is a Tutor of Religious and Moral Education at St. Ambrose College of Education at Dormaa-Akwamu in the Bono Region of Ghana.

Boafo Collins holds a Bachelor of Education in Religious Studies from the Valley View University in Ghana and a Diploma in Education from the Seventh Day Adventist College of Education in Asokore in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He is currently pursuing a Master of Philosophy in Religious Studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana. His research interest has been in Religion and Society. He is a Tutor of Christian Religious Studies at Abuakwa State College at Kyebi in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

Adam K. & Boafo C. “A Reflection on African Christian Theology,” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 8 no.10 (2022): 280-286. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20228101

© 2022 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Articles in this Issue

About Journal