Christian theology and African traditions / Matthew Michael.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Michael, Matthew, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and culture--Africa.

Christianity and culture.

Theology, Doctrinal--Africa.

Theology, Doctrinal.

Religion and culture--Africa.

Religion and culture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 259 pages)

Place of Publication:

Eugene, Oregon : Resource Publications, [2013]

Summary:

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 engage the human context of its reflection in order to remain relevant. In Africa, Christian theology must engage the worldviews of the African people especially in terms of the beliefs, values and traditional orientations of the African people 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.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781621896432

1621896439