Contemporary Trends in Christology in Africa (Full Thesis)

1 CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN CHRISTOLOGY IN AFRICA CHARLES DE JONGH 1. Introduction Setiloane, in his poem ‘I am an African’ (1976:128-131), reflects the struggle of African Christians to come to terms with that man, Jesus of Nazareth. That man who is central to the Christian faith, how is he understood by African people? It was Jesus himself who asked his disciples the vitally important question: “... what about you? Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20). In response, de Carvalho (1981b:27) has asked, “What do the African people say that Jesus Christ is? Here there is a relevant question for Christianity in Africa.” The depth of the challenge is highlighted when it is observed that in Africa ... Christ has been presented as the answer to the questions a white man would ask, the solution to the needs that Western man would feel, the Saviour of the world of the European world-view, the object of the adoration and prayer of historic Christendom. But if Christ were to appear as the answer to the questions that Africans are asking, what would He look like? If He came into the world of African cosmology to redeem Man as Africans understand him, would He be recognizable to the rest of the Church Universal? And if Africa offered Him the praises and petitions of her total uninhibited humanity, would they be acceptable? (Taylor quoted in Goreham, 1975:236). There is a gulf that exists between a ‘Western’ or ‘European’ worldview that cannot be bridged by simply translating Christologies into the languages of Africa; therefore it is crucial that the church in Africa address the search for a Christology that is relevant and meaningful to all the inhabitants of this continent. That search has presented itself in two main trends in Christology in Africa; trends that reflect the manner in which African Christians have sought to answer Jesus’ question, “... what about you? Who do you say that I am?” 2. The Cultural Trend Kurewa (1980:182) opens an essay on Christology by commenting that “... the question, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ is now posed by the risen Christ to the African church. The question demands a Christological response with African authenticity.” Through the cultural trend, it is endeavoured to make the person of Christ understood by the people of Africa. It has been proposed that “... indigenous cultural insights enable us theologically to say with confidence who Christ Jesus is.” (Kurewa, 1980:182). However, consideration must be given to what is meant by the terms ‘culture’ and ‘cultural’. It is acknowledged that ‘culture’ is a multi-interpreted concept, and it is necessary to seek an understanding of what the people of Africa regard ‘culture’ to refer to. While no definitive response is possible for all of Africa, it appears that culture refers to the dynamic experiential context of people which is comprehensible to and understood by them, especially with reference to historical ethnicity. In other words, it is the experiential frame of reference of people, which is bound to vary by context, situation and history. Makunike (1974:59) argues that “... evangelism is telling the Good News. All good news is public news, and public news is of interest to the whole community. 2 We must seek to present the good news in a simple, familiar voice and in local accents.” This gives rise to the questions, “Can the community think of Jesus Christ as belonging to them rather than as a foreign Christ? Can the community worship Jesus Christ in a pattern that is understandable to its own people?” (Adeyemo, 1981:216). The need for a cultural consideration in Christology in Africa is highlighted by Pobee (1992:15), when he affirms that it is “... important who the African is, because homo Africanus is encountered by Christ as he or she is.” In this light, Christ has regularly been confirmed as being at the heart of such endeavours. “... Christology is at the very heart of any theology of inculturation.” (Hearne, 1990:90). An emphasis affirmed by Ntetem (1987:107), ... the content of Christian salvation is Jesus Christ. The event of Jesus Christ has absolute primacy in the Christian message. The event of Jesus Christ, and nothing else, must be preached (1 Cor.1.23). And when it is preached it must be so presented that it finds a ready response in the hearers, that is, it must be comprehensible, using the ideas, symbols, conceptual values of the hearers; in short, it must be in their language. The essence of the cultural trend may be considered in relation to a desire to: a. Secure the Christian faith; b. Interact with African culture; c. Communicate the Gospel message. 2.1 Securing the Christian faith It is necessary to stipulate, from the outset, that any attempt to inculturate the Gospel message does not necessarily equate to any undermining of the Christian faith. While it needs to be acknowledged that the danger of syncretism can be very real, the desire to take African culture seriously does not automatically equate to the loss of a deliberate and secure Christian faith. Most African theologians seek, in all their endeavours, to simply and effectively communicate Jesus Christ to the people of Africa. This desire is expressed by Okure (1990:56) when he says that “... the point of the identity and mission of Jesus Christ is important, because for us, too, the mystery of Christ and his definitive role in God’s plan of salvation holds the key to the true understanding and correct implementation of inculturation.” Christ and the Christian faith are the definitive focal point, and point of origin, in most attempts and endeavours in inculturation. “... at the heart of the encounter between Christianity and African culture is the subject of Christology, traditionally defined as the doctrine of the person of Christ. The Christian kerygma is the proclamation of the good news of how God through Jesus Christ of Nazareth acts to bridge the gulf between God and man, a gulf existing in consequence of man’s sin, and the imperatives deriving therefrom. And so, at the heart of the kerygma stands Christ ... thus in the evangelistic encounter the questions being posed are: Who is Jesus Christ? What manner of man is he? How does he affect my life? Why should an Akan relate to Jesus of Nazareth, who does not belong to his clan, family, tribe, and nation? These are the matters concerning us in Christology. The answers to these questions determine, to some extent at any rate, the rooting of Christianity in the new [African] setting.” (Pobee, 1979:81). 3 The theologian in Africa, who seriously considers the culture of the people, is usually one who also takes the Christian faith most seriously. Bujo (1992:91) remarks, “I believe that a truly dynamic Christianity will only be possible in Africa when the foundation of the African’s whole life is built on Jesus Christ, conceived in specifically African categories.” Most African theologians, while grappling with culture, will endeavour to secure the Christian faith which is part of their lives as people of Africa. 2.2 Interacting with African culture The African theologian also needs to interact with the cultures of Africa. As has already been noted, it is the desire of African theologians to communicate that Christian faith in a meaningful and relevant manner to people living in an African culture. Referring to Christ, Waruta (1984:45) points out that “... the nature of the quest for African Christology is to translate Jesus Christ into the tongue, style, genius, character and cultures of African people.” To achieve this, there is an unavoidable need to interact with African culture. The revelation of God in Christ shows that culture participates in it not only as an instrument of that revelation, but as part of that revelation. Man is inseparable from culture, so also when God made the decision to become man, it was equally a decision to be identified with culture ... Christian theology and proclamation must take Christ into African culture and allow Him to speak from within and to become part of that culture. (Moyo 1984:107). What most African theologians are seeking to avoid is the common failure to consider culture in the process of communicating the Gospel, and therewith developing a meaningful Christology. Adeyemo (1983:147) has sought to argue that ... Biblical revelation ... was a divine-human drama embodied in history and open for empirical verification. Our commitment takes the historical and cultural contexts under which the Scriptures were given seriously. Our investigation reveals that African history and cultural complexity have a lot in common with the Bible world, a fact which makes theological bridges easier for us to construct. African culture is a wonderful recipient for the message and person of Christ; but the effectiveness of that process demands a serious interaction with the cultures of Africa. The challenge is for African theologians to involve themselves in the study of their culture; while the danger is always for the theologian to assume a proper understanding of the culture involved, even if it be their own, which may indeed be faulty. Theologians are to deliberately interact with their culture: For us in Africa ... the theologian must be fully involved in our African culture in all forms of its manifestations in order to understand the African way of doing things and to be able to translate Christianity meaningfully, so that it becomes part of that culture ... only from within can the theologian hear and respond to the desperate cry for salvation and also experience the joy that comes through meeting of a real Saviour ... only from within the African cultures can we discover the Saviour ... We can only discover [the] Saviour when we have learnt to feel, understand, see and hear things the way Africa feels and understands its environment. (Moyo, 1984:102). 4 Njoroge (1992:135) directs that “... in order to effectively confess Christ in Africa through African language, we must sit at the feet of people at grassroots so as to know and learn the language spoken in the village.” While Obaje (1992:44) urges that “... the confession [of Christ as Saviour and Lord], while it must retain the distinctive marks of the core of the Gospel, has to be shaped by the cultural background of the confessor in order to be meaningful and relevant.” In grappling with culture, the African theologian will and must sit in the dust of the village, without which the people will never know the joy of confessing their Christ as they truly know him. 2.3 Communicating the Gospel message The African theologian and preacher is also to effectively communicate the Gospel message and the person of Christ. The essence of the cultural trend is to most effectively reach that point, at and from which the Gospel and Christ are communicated in the most meaningful and relevant manner possible. It is not an exercise in philosophical academia, but a struggle for effective communication. One of the conclusions of the 1973 ‘Bangkok Conference on Salvation Today’, has been related as follows: “What has culture to do with evangelism? The Bangkok Conference ... answers, ‘Culture shapes the human voice that answers the voice of Christ.’.” (Makunike, 1974:57). No matter how difficult it may be at times to communicate in the cultural framework of the people involved, it remains the only meaningful frame of reference that they have. What many African theologians are doing, is simply to take that culture seriously and to speak Christ into it. It is that struggle to hear the voice of Christ, and to answer in an African voice. Kurewa (1980:182-183) relates his own struggle as a pastor in Zimbabwe: The question, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ is now posed by the risen Christ to the African Church. The question demands a Christological response with African authenticity. We cannot simply imitate Peter who responded, ‘You are the Messiah’; we have to say who Christ Jesus is from the African perspective to express who he is and what he is doing in our midst. We cannot answer this question adequately without knowledge of our culture and our composite religious experiences as African people. As a United Methodist of Zimbabwe, brought up in the Shona culture, I shall try to demonstrate ... how indigenous cultural insights enable us theologically to say with confidence who Christ Jesus is. This does not rule out borrowing theological insights and conceptions from other cultures, but, in fact, it shows that the whole of Christendom has a contribution to make in answering the question, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ In Zimbabwe I hear Christians saying that Jesus is our Brother; Jesus is our Sacrifice; Jesus is our Liberator; and Jesus is our Mhondoro or Mudzimu. He then goes on to demonstrate how the people of Zimbabwe, at least those of the Shona culture, have grappled with Christ in the context of their culture (1980:182-188). “In essence ... the nature of the quest for [many] African Christian theologies is to translate the one Faith of Jesus Christ to suit the tongue, style, genius, character, and culture of African peoples.” (Fashole-Luke, 1976:164). The cultural trend seeks to do that: to translate the message and person of Jesus Christ into a cultural context; that does not sacrifice the essence of the Gospel, but that also does not remain irrelevant because of cultural hindrances or ignorance. Many sit uneasy with this trend; however, it has been 5 shown that ... faithfulness to Jesus and faithfulness to one’s culture are not incompatible obligations. Commitment to the Gospel demands that one reviews and recasts one’s culture and ritual according to the essential demands of that commitment. But this task of reviewing and recasting cannot be done by missionaries. The converts themselves must undertake that responsibility ... It is the task of African Christian theologians to facilitate this process. (Mugambi, 1989:149). 3. The Functional Trend The second trend, to be identified in Christology in Africa, is that of a functional emphasis. While this emphasis is not commonly recognized as a specific trend in Christology in Africa, a careful consideration of the available material clearly points to trend in the theologizing of many African theologians. Pobee (1992:19) has observed that “... Christology is not only the person of Christ but also what he does”, and elsewhere he points out that “... in the biblical faith, Christology was expressed in very functional terms, expressing impressions of Jesus in terms of his activity.” (1979:82). Many of the African theologians have come to grapple with the basic question of the functional trend: ‘What function does Jesus Christ fulfil in terms of human existence?’ Under the influence of especially missionary theology, Christology in Africa has had to take up the challenge of dealing with a tendency to overspiritualize the message and significance of Jesus Christ. Buthelezi (1976:177-178) has typified this tendency, when reflecting on the church in South Africa: ... the greater part of the Christian Church in South Africa has been held captive by a theology that abstracts Christian life from human life. One of the basic maxims of this theology seems to be ‘the more sanctified your life becomes the more irrelevant human and earthly things become.’ In other words, here Christian growth is a matter of the eclipse of human life by the Christian life. It is against this way of approaching the Christian faith and the influence of Christ that the functional trend has acted. An expression of the trend is found in an ‘anthropocentric Christology’, which argues that ... Christ’s humanity is meant to limit His divinity in such a way that we can easily identify with Him since we have a kinship with whoever shares our humanity. My contention is the African Christology employs this approach in understanding the salvific work of Christ. This view concentrates on the functions of Christ rather than on His person. Both His divinity and humanity are seen in the light of His concern with saving mankind. (Nthamburi, 1989:55). There is, therefore, in the theologizing of many African theologians a deep desire to answer the questions around the function of Christ for all people, in the context of human existence and experience. The essence of the functional trend may be considered in relation to an endeavour to demonstrate that: 6 a. b. c. Christ is relevant; Christ is present; Christ is current. 3.1 Christ is relevant The questions that the functional trend seeks to answer are that ... the first and all-inclusive question that Christians must ask and answer about Jesus is: What difference does Jesus make? Indeed what difference does Jesus make in the lives of the suffering people of Africa? What does faith in Jesus Christ bring to their suffering? What does following Christ concretely mean within the African situation? (Waliggo, 1989:93). It is such questions that the functional trend seeks to deal with and to answer by demonstrating that Christ indeed has a relevance in the lives of all African people. In fact, a relevance that performs a definite function and makes a difference in the lives of the people involved. It has been suggested that ... the Church never stopped to ask whether any salvation which ... allows sinful and violent and fallen structures to remain substantially unchanged ... can really be the good news of Jesus Christ for the people who, by virtue of their social position in society suffer from all kinds of material deprivation, racial humiliation and sociopolitical domination. (Maimela, 1988:21). These critical questions had to be dealt with, to demonstrate the true relevance of Jesus Christ for the people of Africa. Those who include the functional thinking into their theologizing are taking a long and hard, definitely not easy, look at the relevance of Jesus Christ for African people in the reality of their present and real circumstances. Theirs is a struggle to take what tended to be an overspiritualized Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to communicate and share it with all the relevance possible. Considering the nature of the Gospel and equally the realities of Africa, theologians are involved in the most challenging exercise of ‘relevance’. It is recognized that without a genuine functional relevance, Jesus Christ will never come to be a significant person in the lives of the people of Africa. The call to relevance is seen as not only necessary but imperative: “If there is no relevance to daily human experience, then why did Christ even ever live and walk on this earth?” Christ was one who personally experienced the realities of human experience, and therein must lie the origin and foundation of any quest to relevance. The eternal importance of Christ is certainly not ignored or denied; but, without present relevance, Christ is irrelevant to the real needs of the people of Africa. This emphasis is affirmed when it is argued that ... the centre of Biblical revelation is the historical and living Christ, who manifested the fullness of the Godhead bodily. God got himself involved in human history, thus destroying Grecian classical dualism and metaphysical chasm characteristics of African climax of God’s revelation! By the Christ-event ... it is demonstrated that God is not 7 absent from human history and struggles. Christ-centred theology cannot help but be functional, dynamic and relevant. (Adeyemo, 1983:148). There is that basic recognition that when the incarnation of Christ is taken seriously, that then he has a significant functional relevance. Such relevance answers the heartcry of most, if not all, the people of Africa. It means that the Chr also the Christ of present reality. Any consideration of the circumstances and experiences of the African people will compel the theologian to truly demonstrate the relevance of Christ in the present, the ‘here and now’. Through the functional trend, many Christologies in Africa are seeking to do just that: to show that Christ, both in person and work, is relevant to the real life situation of all the people of Africa. And, because he is relevant, he can make a difference. 3.2 Christ is present Arising out of and from the affirmation of the relevance of Christ for present human experience, is the affirmation that Christ is present in the lives and experiences of African people. It is very difficult to declare a relevant Christ, without Christ also being present. In all the religious thought of African religion, the spiritual beings and forces are present in life and by their presence are able to and do influence every facet of life. Therefore, it has been acknowledged by African theologians that Christ is also present, and by his presence is able to make a difference to the lives of those who follow him. Without that presence, or at least a knowledge of it, the African Christian will turn back to other gods in times of crisis and trial. This vital reality has been explained as follows: ... the Christian message brings Jesus as the one who fought victoriously against the forces of the devil, spirits, sickness, hatred, fear, and death itself. In each of these areas [Christ] won a victory and lives now above the assault of these forces. He is the victor, the one hope, the one example, the one conqueror: and this makes sense to African peoples, it draws their attention, and it is pregnant with meaning. It gives to their myths an absolutely new dimension. The greatest need among African peoples, is to see, to know, and to experience Jesus Christ as the victor over the powers and forces from which Africa knows no means of deliverance. (Mbiti, 1972:55). And that experience is one that needs to be and is rooted in the present. The suffering people of Africa must know that Christ and his work are present realities. Without present reality, Christ will simply not be seen as functional in and relevant to life. Dzobo (1983:26) remarks that “... to confess that ‘Jesus Christ is the life of the world’ is meaningless unless we see him sharing the fullness of the Father’s life with us, such a life seen as possibility, potentiality as well as a talent that has room for infinite development and growth provided it is well invested.” He is addressing the present; that fullness of life through Jesus Christ is a possibility and a potentiality in the present life of the believer, not in some ‘superspiritual’ realm. Moila (1990:229) comments on the emphasis of the work of Christ in daily life, when he speaks about salvation: Generally speaking soteriology is not the central issue in Black Theology. Yet it is implied at every level. Most Black theologians make theological statements which either make soteriology the starting point or presuppose it. Jesus saves humanity through 8 confrontation and transformation of ordinary life. Salvation is not what Jesus says or said but what he does or did. African theologians declare that even the work of salvation is in fact the present work of Jesus in ‘ordinary life’. Speaking of Christ as a liberator, de Carvalho (1981a:17) again affirms the present nature of Christ in the lives of people: “Jesus as our liberator is another experience of incarnation in the African situation. God reveals himself in Jesus Christ in order to destroy oppression once for all, and to bring liberation. Liberation from sin and from all the consequences of sin, colonialism being one of its most fetid expressions.” Jesus is declared to be present in experience and life of African people; and by that presence, functionally relevant. The African theologians have made Christ to be the present reality that he indeed is. The result is that in Christologies in Africa, there is a discernable effort to place Christ in the centre of every realm of life in such a manner that he makes a difference in life. It is vitally important that this be done; for, without it the people of Africa will seldom take hold of the message and person of Christ. Christ himself declared his present reality and significance; and it is that affirmation that much Christology in Africa is seeking to actualize. 3.3 Christ is current Christ is also current in that he is involved in the ‘now’ of people’s experience. His relevance and his presence are not so bound to the future that the present is unimportant, except in the context of the future. For the functional trend, the present has a significance in and of itself: today does not exist only for tomorrow. For many people tomorrow may never come; therefore, Christ must have a definite function in the ‘today’ of people’s lives. “... Jesus is not only the Giver of life. He is the Supporter and Sustainer of it ... he is the Life of the World.” (Gatu, 1983:135). For the people of Africa that must carry a definite currency; anything less will simply make Christ to be totally irrelevant. As an example, Mbiti (quoted in Bediako, 1993:56-57) argues that ... Jesus is seen above all else as the Christus Victor (Christ supreme over every spiritual rule and authority). This understanding of Christ arises from Africans’ keen awareness of forces and powers at work in the world which threaten the interests of life and harmony. Jesus is victorious over the spiritual realm and particularly over evil forces and so answers to their need for a powerful protector against these forces and powers. Perhaps the tremendous need for this emphasis is well highlighted in the problems many Africans have with the person of Christ: The responses to the question: What image of Christ do the suffering people of Africa have? indicated the divergent views on the issue. The majority emphasized an image of Christ who is irrelevant and passive, remote and unconcerned with the situations of suffering... 9 Many expressed an image of Christ who rewards the victims of suffering only in the life hereafter. He is concerned with only spiritual suffering but not material and psychological suffering. To some, Christ appears partial, allowing some to suffer terribly while others, mainly the rich and the powerful, live happy lives. Because of such images of Christ ... many African Christians turn to Christ only as a last resort, when all other means have failed. In their daily sufferings, the majority revert to traditional religion and its deities and ancestors who are expected to ‘act immediately’ to remove suffering and discover the causes thereof. (Waliggo, 1989:105-106). These are the real struggles of African people; and when Christ is presented to such people, he must be seen to have a current relevance. Nthamburi (1989:58) concludes his consideration of Christ with these words: [Christ is] our mediator, saviour, redeemer and hope. We should not forget that the only way in which we can understand Christ is through concrete historical experience of God’s action which is always a liberating experience. The major question will always remain: How has our understanding of Christ transformed people in our midst, particularly those who have suffered injustice, poverty and deprivation, physically as well as spiritually? It is vital to remember that ... to the African, religion must be functional and indeed practical. It must have the qualities of solving, and be ready to solve most if not all human problems, from disease to want ... religion is ... called upon to answer all life problems. Religion, to be worthy of its name, should be powerful and able to provide all one’s needs and answer all questions in human situations. (Appiah-Kubi, 1981:123). Christ is current, and is so confirmed to be within the functional trend. The significance of Christ is not restricted to a person’s ‘spiritual’ well-being, nor is it limited to the future only. Perhaps under the pressure of an African mindset and worldview, theologians have dealt with an aspect of Christology which does not always receive due attention in many other areas of the world. Much of Christology in Africa has affirmed the functional relevance of Christ for every sphere of human experience and life. 4. Conclusion While there are those who may challenge the trends that have emerged in Christology in Africa, it is important to remember that “… it is with the African that we have to build the African church.” (African Report Group, 1990:43). Within these words lie the heart of the present and the future of Christology in Africa: “it is with the African that we have to build Christology in Africa”. 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