The Roots of African Theology PDF
The Roots of African Theology PDF
Kwame Bediako
Pre-Christian Africa: A Religious IITabula Westermann has not been alone in being troubled by what
Rasa"? to do with the pre-Christian religious traditions of Africa, and the
Western missionary estimation of Africa's traditional religions, in
the main, took Westermann's line. The Edinburgh World Mis
I n his Duff Lectures of 1935, subsequently published as
Africa and Christianity, Dietrich Westermann took the
view that in Africa the transposition of Christianity ought to entail
sionary Conference of 1910 had concluded that the traditional
religions of Africa, roundly described as " Animism," con
the complete elimination of all that went to form the pre-Christian tained "no preparation for Christianity" (Report of Commis
religious tradition. "However anxious a missionary may be to sion I~ TheMissionary Message in relation to non-Christian Religions,
appreciate and retain indigenous social and moral values, in the 1910:24).
case of religion he has to be ruthless.... he has to admit and Accordingly, when seventy years after the Edinburgh Con
even to emphasize that the religion he teaches is opposed to the ference the expression "Christian Africa" becomes current in
existing one and the one has to cede to the other" (Westermann, a major publication of a leading African theologian (see John
1937:94). In short, for Westermann, "giving the new means Mbiti, 1986), it may be worthwhile to investigate whether it is the
taking away the old" (1937:2). view at Edinburgh, Westermann's judgment, or Cragg's intuition
The response to Westermann would come thirty years later. that has prevailed. What, insofar as it can be discerned, underlies
In a series of lectures given at Cambridge University and sub the African apprehension of Christianity at the specific level of
sequently published as Christianity in World Perspective, Kenneth religious experience? What are the theological roots of Christianity
Cragg countered Westermann's view and suggested: "On the in Africa as a historical reality in African life, as African Christians
contrary: it means harnessing its possibilities [i.e. of the old] and themselves, and particularly African theological writers, perceive
setting up within it the revolution that will both fulfil and trans them?
form it. For if the old is taken away, to whom is the new given?"
(Cragg, 1968:57).
African Theology: The Pre-Christian Past as a
Prime Concern
These are not idle questions. For when one turns to the academic
Kwame Bediako is Director of Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission
Research and Applied Theology in Akropong, Ghana, an academic and pastoral
institution established by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana to foster renewal This essay is based on the Duff Lectures, a series of nine lectures given
within the church through theological reflection and research and the training of under the title "The Roots of African Theology," presented in the
Christian workers for mission in the Ghanaian context. He is also General Sec autumn term of 1987 at the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the
retary of the Africa Theological Fraternity. Non-Western World, New College, University of Edinburgh.
April 1989 59
ogy. For identity thus took on the importance of a theological as humanity. The preponderance of material relating to "tradi
well as a methodological principle. This entailed confronting con tional" (as against Christian or Muslim) Africa is legitimate, since
stantly the question as to how and how far "the old" and it indicates the main substratum of later developments in African
"the new" in African religious consciousness could become religious tradition. The inclusion of Christianity, Islam, and other
integrated in a unified vision of what it meant to be African and religions in the treatment is also justified, for they too flow into
Christian. The issue of identity also forced the theologian to be the overall history of African religion. Mbiti rightly stresses, there
come in himself the locus of this struggle for integration through fore, that "both Christianity and Islam are 'traditional' and
a dialogue, which, if it was to be authentic, had to be an inner 'African' in a historical sense, and it is a pity that they tend to
dialogue and so became infinitely more intense and personal. be regarded as 'foreign' or 'European' and'Arab' " (1969:xii).
This is what gives to the early literature of African theology so In the final analysis, Mbiti's interpretation is determined by
much the character of an apologia pro vita sua. It is another way his Christian theological commitment and is motivated by the
of saying that in African theology, certainly in its formative stages, thesis that all the religious traditions of Africa, other than the
the theologian would not stand over against his subject; rather, Christian, constitute in their highest ideals a praeparatio evangelica.
the development of theological concern and the formulation of Convinced that "the religious traditions of Africa contain the
theological questions became linked as the unavoidable by-prod only lasting potentialities for a basis, a foundation and a direction
uct of the process of Christian self-definition. Here, in fact, is the of life for African societies," it is through the Christian faith-and
answer to Adrian Hastings's complaint that "areas of tradi supremely through Jesus Christ-that the African quest for identity
tional Christian doctrine which are not reflected in the African past and "the freedom ... of mature manhood and selfhood are
disappear or are marginalised." attainable.',
It was by ignoring the issue of identity as outlined above that
Benjamin C. Ray, though rightly recognizing the "primary The strength and uniqueness of Christianity do not lie in the fact
that its teachings, practice and history have all the major elements
theological purpose" of the studies on African traditional religion
of the other religious traditions The uniqueness of Christianity
by John Mbiti (of Kenya) and E. Bolaji Idowu (of Nigeria), yet
is Jesus Christ.... It is He and only He, who deserves to be
failed to appreciate their positive value for understanding African the goal for individuals and mankind.... I consider traditional
religious life. It would seem as if the writings of Mbiti and Idowu religions, Islam and other religious systems to be preparatory....
probably the two most influential figures in the early development But only Christianity has the terrible responsibility of pointing the
of African theology-were regarded as less helpful precisely be way to the Ultimate Identity, Foundation and Source of security.
cause they were "attempting to lay the basis for a distinctively [Mbiti, 1969:277.]
African theology by blending the African past with the [udeo
Christian tradition" (Ray, 1976:15). Perhaps even more than African Religions and Philosophy,
Mbiti's Concepts of God in Africa shows the depth of the author's
Mbiti and Idowu as Two Representative commitment as an African Christian scholar. Concerned to set
Figures forth the evidence of the African pre-Christian reflection about God
contained in African wisdom sayings, myths, ritual pronounce
John Mbiti may justly be described as a biblical scholar in view ments, and prayers, Mbiti offered no apology for suggesting that
of his 1963 doctoral thesis presented to the University of Cam many of the African concepts bear striking resemblance to biblical
bridge and subsequently published as New Testament Eschatology ideas, particularly those of the Old Testament. Several African
in an African Background (1971). Nevertheless, Mbiti's influence as societies speak of God as "Creator," "Father" (and Grand
a leading African theologian has been most deeply felt in the field father), and a few as "Mother" and "Friend," while some
of African traditional religion, his major publications in this area understand themselves to be "children of God." Countless
being his great Africana trilogy: African Religions and Philosophy simple acts and- expressions, especially in relation to worship,
(1969), Concepts of God in Africa (1970a), and The Prayers of African provide the evidence for Mbiti's contention that religion is the
Religion (1975). richest and most profound part of the cultural heritage of African
Very early in African Religions and Philosophy Mbiti acknowl peoples.
edged that he might be venturing forth as an innovator: "Our The finest illustration of Mbiti's evaluation of African tradi
written knowledge of traditional religions is comparatively little, tional religion as praeparatio evangelica is found in The Prayers of
though increasing, and comes chiefly from anthropologists and African Religion. Its merit lies in its theological interpretation of
sociologists. Practically nothing has been produced by theolo the prayers in African pre-Christian religious life. It was important
gians, describing or interpreting these religions theologically" for Mbiti that the majority of the prayers preserve religious tra
(p. 1). But if one expected to find a treatment in depth of the ditions that dated from well "before the penetration of Chris
particular and complex religious traditions of Africa, one would tianity into the interior of Africa" (1975:x). For this meant that the
be looking in the wrong place, for that was not the author's overwhelming theism. of the prayers constituted a significant cor
intention. Rather, taking the view that "religion permeates into rective to the earlier assumption about the African sense of God
all departments of [African] life so fully that it is not easy or held by European interpreters of Africa. Thus, without polemical
possible always to isolate it," Mbiti posited the methodological engagement, Mbiti was able to let the prayer literature of African
principle that "a study of these religious systems is, therefore, societies speak for itself; the result is a collection of the spiritual
ultimately, a study of the peoples themselves in all the complex riches of African pre-Christian religious tradition, and for Mbiti,
ities of both traditional and modern life" (p. 1). Thus the merit a worthy foundation for, and an integral element of, African
of the book lies in Mbiti's perception of the close connection Christian spirituality (Mbiti, 1978).
between the religious concepts and practices that he discusses, These three books need to be taken together in order to
and the peoples whose religious lives embody them. appreciate Mbiti's contribution to the establishing of African the
Seen from this angle, the true character of African Religions ology. It is equally important to recognize the sense of movement
and Philosophy becomes apparent. It can be regarded as a religious and the sharpening of focus that occurs through them. For they
history of African societies taken together as a cultural unit within represent the outworking of Mbiti's own perception of the fun
damental task of the African theologian. Commenting on the a "theology which .bears the stamp of original thinking and
place of the traditional religions of Africa in relation to the coming meditation of Africans," having devoted a whole book to the
of Christianity, Mbiti had earlier written: subject in his Towards an Indigenous Church (1965). Though he
addressed himself primarily to the church in his native Nigeria,
The number of full adherents of the traditional religions in Africa Idowu had little doubt that his conclusions had a relevance for
by 2000 A.D. will be almost negligible. In their traditional settings the wider African church.
these religions will have dwindled numerically though not in their It is indicative of the range of Idowu's concerns that he treated
beliefs, but they will have bequeathed to Christianity some of the as "concrete examples" of areas that needed attention, the
riches of African traditional religiosity. As such, Christianity will Bible in Nigerian languages, the language of evangelism, theol
have become an agent of fulfilment in the sense that it will not
ogy, liturgy, dress and vestments; but not surprisingly, his fullest
destroy Traditional Religions as such, but it will have superseded
them by bringing into them other dimensions of religion which
treatment came under "theology." It is of the nature of a the
they lack and which are not opposed to the traditional religiosity. ology that bears "the distinctive stamp of indigenous origi
In missiological jargon, these Traditional Religions will have been nality" that it should arise from Christians in Africa doing their
a real praeparatio evangelica (preparation for the Gospel); and it is own thinking and grappling "spiritually and intellectually
now up to African theologians to interpret the meaning of that with questions relating to the Christian faith" as their own ques
preparation for the Gospel, in the African context of not only the tions (Idowu, 1965: 23). Accordingly, what was needed in the
past, but today and tomorrow [1970b:36.] Nigerian church was that "Christian Nigerians must be able
It is not surprising that having articulated the components of to say if Christ has become real to them. The Church in Nigeria
"that preparation for the Gospel" in African pre-Christian re can only develop a distinctive theology in consequence of their
ligious tradition, Mbiti should subsequently turn his attention to own personal knowledge of God and personal appropriation of
questions that arise from the ongoing life and witness of the the Lordship of Christ" (1965: 24).
Christian church in Africa. This he has done in his most recent Had Idowu left the question there, he would have contrib
major publication, Bible and Theology in African Christianity (1986). uted little beyond stating the obvious handicap of a Christian
Before John Mbiti's major books began to appear, Bolaji church that seemed to have learned the gospel in predominantly
Idowu had already become well known as a leading advocate of "loan words." However, Idowu then transposed this need for
Apri11989 61
"a distinctive theology" in African terms into the much wider lem of "the one and the ~ny" in Yoruba religion may con
issue of the "question of God's revelation" in the pre-Christian stitute his most valuable theological insight into African religious
past and its relation to the Christian present. Thus Idowu was tradition, and can be compared to similar results in studies on
posing the question of indigenization in an entirely new light. African traditional religion by writers working without his pre
He was also, perhaps unwittingly, answering his own query as suppositions as an African Christian theologian (cf. E. Evans
to why the church in Nigeria had not developed an indigenous Pritchard, 1956; G. Lienhardt, 1961).
theology. Could it have been because hitherto "the revelation In African Traditional Religion-A Definition (1973), which
,already vouchsafed to Nigerians" had not been "linked with Idowudescribed as "definitive and interpretative" (p. xi), his
Biblical revelation"? (1965: 26). Therefore, for Idowu, the problem viewpoint on the question of God in traditional religion had be
of theology in the African church came to center on "finding come quite certain: "African traditional religion cannot be de
'the bridge' between the old and the new" (1965: 26) in African scribed as polytheistic. Its appropriate description is
religious experience. By conceiving of the problem in this form, monotheistic, however modified this may be. The modification
Idowu brought the issue round to the question of the identity of is however inevitable because of the presence of other divine
the African Christian or, as he would put it, the "Christian beings within the structure of the religion" (1973: 168). Further
African." But behind the matter of identity lay the more insistent more, the significance of African traditional religion had grown
question of the continuity of God in the total African religious and deepened in Idowu's thought: "African traditional reli
experience: " ... where, ethnically, [do] Nigerians come in in gion is the religion practiced by the majority of Africans" (1973:
this one world which belongs to God ..." (1965: 24). 208), for "in strictly personal matters relating to the passages
In saying "God," Idowu meant "God as revealed in of life and the crises of life, African traditional religion is regarded
the Biblical religion" and who "so loved the world that he as the final succour by most Africans" (1973: 206).
sent His only begotten Son to redeem it" (1965: 24, 26). But for Thus Idowu could state quite confidently, "It does not yet
Idowu, "God" meant also Olodumare, God as known and ex appear what we shall be," quoting 1 John 3:2, but applying the
perienced in Yoruba pre-Christian tradition. It is in the interplay biblical text not to the church in Nigeria, but to the prospect of
of these two concepts, and how they in fact become one reality, African traditional religion (1973: 208). The task of vindicating
that we may locate Idowu's most enduring theological interest. and securing the grounds of an African identity and selfhood,
For it is in relation, to the question of God-God in African pre which in Towards an Indigenous Church was laid upon the Christian
Christian tradition-that Idowu considered the problem of indi church, now came to be entrusted to the old religion revitalized
genization to be at its sharpest. This was, for him, the "fun with its "God-given heritage of indigenous spiritual and cul
damental question": tural treasures" (1973: 205).
And yet it would be misleading to conclude that Idowu had
... whether in the past pre-Christian history of Nigerians, God therefore obliterated Christianity from African religious life. What
has ever in any way revealed Himself to them and they have ap can be said is that in the development of his theological thought,
prehended His revelation in however imperfect a way; whether the sense of the continuity of God's revelation had the effect of
what happens in the coming of Christianity and as a result of placing African traditional religion and Christianity in a contin
evangelism is that Nigerians have been introduced to a completely
uum of revelation that secured for the indigenous religion' a per
new God who is absolutely unrelated to their past history. [1965:
24.]
manent place in African religious experience. However, the way
. this continuity was perceived by Idowu has meant also that he
And for Idowu the irreplaceable raw material for resolving this has since never clarified what constitutes the "newness" of
question one way or the other was the revelation contained in the gospel for Africa.
the "heritage from the past." Hence the primary theological The perspectives of Bolaji Idowu and John Mbiti on the pre
task in Africa became the theological interpretation of African Christian religious heritage represent two divergent answers to
traditional religion: "The materials gathered from the study of the question of identity as it lies at the root of all the theological
the indigenous beliefs of Nigeria," in order to ascertain "what reflection that has emerged in the African church in the post
God has done, in what way He has been known and approached missionary era. Almost every major African theological writer of
in the past and present history of Nigerians, ... will form a basic the period in the field of religions has addressed the issue in one
raw material for Christian theology in Nigeria" (1965: 25). form or other; for instance, Christian Baeta (1962); Harry Sawyerr
Idowu's two other major publications, Olodumare-s-God in Yo (1968, 1970); Mulago (1965, 1980); Gabriel Setiloane (1976). Even
ruba Belief (1962) and African Traditional Religion-A Definition Byang Kato, who postulated a radical discontinuity between the
(1973), may be regarded as the logical outworking of this prin pre-Christian tradition and Christian belief (Theological Pitfalls in
ciple. Olodumare, the substance of his 1955 doctoral thesis pre Africa, 1975), found it necessary to address the identity question
sented to the University of London, treats the problem posed by in his African Cultural Revolutionand the Christian Faith (1975) and
the presence in Yoruba religion of a multitude of divinities who felt the need to write on the subject of "Christianity as an
"so predominate the scene that it is difficult for the casual African Religion" (1979).
observer to notice that under them, there is one vital cultic basis" There are indications that the specific issue of the religious
(1962: 141). Idowu's solution was to reduce radically all "di past is giving way to other concerns, like Christology (John Pobee,
vinities" to the status of manifestations of Olodumare, "His 1979; Charles Nyamiti, 1984; Kwame Bediako, 1984), theological
ministers, looking after the affairs of His universe and acting as methodology (0. Bimwenyi-Kweshi, 1981), biblical interpretation
intermediaries between Him and the world of men" (1962: 62). (M. Oduyoye, 1984), and theological education in the context of
This enabled him to establish conclusively that "the religion the life of the churches (K. Dickson, 1984). But the identity ques
of the Yoruba ... consisted in a 'Primitive Monotheism,' " but tion still underlies these newer explorations.
a "diffused monotheism"; so that "if we speak of the 're
ligion of the Yoruba' we can only do so in reference to the fact African Theology and Indigenous Languages
that Olodumare is the core which gives meaning and coherence
to the whole system" (1962: 202-4). Idowu's solution to the prob Yet there remains a troubling question for African theology. Can
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THE WORKABLE
PROGUM.(I)
African theology make the needed impact within its own African activity in Christian Africa today is being done as oral theology
world without taking more seriously than it has done so far the (in contrast to written theology) from the living experiences of
indigenous languages in which the vast majority of Africa's Chris Christians" (Mbiti, 1986:229). Indeed, evidence such as Afua Ku
tians hear and live the word of God? Since Christianity rejects ma's Jesus of the Deep Forest (Twi prayers and praises of an illiterate
the notion of a special sacred language and instead affirms the Christian woman from Ghana, which have now also been pub
Scriptures in whatever language to be the word of God, it is lished in German) indicates that there has in fact taken place a
reasonable to expect that the rich linguistic heritage of Africa deep religious apprehension of Jesus Christ in African terms,
should provide singular opportunities for developing indigenous mediated through an African reading and hearing of the word of
Christian theologies. Indeed, John Pobee of Ghana has argued: God in indigenous African languages. It may be the special task
"Ideally, African theologies should be in the vernacular" of Africa's academic theologians also to be in touch with this
(1979:23). Yetit is European languages that have been the medium theology-to share in it and to explicate its significance within the
for the reflections of the continent's leading theological writers. total theological en terprise of thinking through faith in
II
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Churches. London, SCM Press. Publishing House.
Balz, Heinrich. 1984. Where the Faith Has to Live-Studies in Bakossi Society - - . 1975b. AfricanCulturalRevolution andtheChristian Faith. [os, Nigeria:
and Religion. Basel: Basler Mission. Challenge Publications.
Bediako, Kwame. 1984. "Biblical Christologies in the Context of African - - . 1979. "Christianity as an African Religion." In Perception, no. 16
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Sharing Jesus in theTwo-Thirds World. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans. April 1980, pp. 31-39.)
Bimwenyi-Kweshi, 0.1981. Discours theologique negro-airicain-s-prooleme des Kuma, Afua. 1981a. Kwaebirentuw ase Yesu-Afua Kuma ayeyi ne mpaebs.
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knoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books. Heinemann.
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Press. - - . 1970a. Concepts of God in Africa. London: SPCK.
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April 1989 65