Contextualization of Theology

These are the transcriptions of a few of the lectures from the course taught by John A. Gration, Ph.D., at Wheaton Graduate School, 1991. Used by permission of Wheaton College.

Gration Chapter 7

African Theologies and the Contextualization of the Gospel

We now take up the subject of African theology. We really cant understand the topic without considering its historical situation, like Black theology in the U.S. that has a particular social, economic, and political history to which it is a response. We need to know where, historically, African theologies come from. We need to understand their cultural contexts, seeing each context in its totality, for such theologies do not arise out of a vacuum, nor are they born, for the most part, in an ivory tower. So we need to know where it is now. I dont like to use the term source regarding theology in terms of its context, for to me the Bible is the basic source of any theology that is purporting to be Christian. But theology, especially African theology or a similar theology, including our own here in the United States, grows out of a particular context and within a particular context, for all theology has historical roots and a cultural context. Lets think, then, about the historical situation that has given rise to African theology. Africans in general in the past three or four decades, especially since 1960, have sought for four kinds of identity and independence. They have sought first of all for political independence. How well I remember feeling the dynamism of nationalism as it swept across the Congo in 1960, sweeping like a great prairie fire across that vast country, as we watched a nation being born and then almost tearing itself apart. We lived through three evacuations; thats another story, yet really its a part of this story. Accompanying this search for political independence has been a search for cultural identity and freedom. Political independence brought about what I call a cultural renaissance. A key term in Africa, in Zaire in particular, after independence was authenticity, going back to what was genuinely or authentically African. The theme Bantu is beautiful was more or less paralleling the Black is beautiful theme of the 1960s of the civil rights movement in the States. That cry Bantu is beautiful! echoed through the rain forests of Zaire. In addition, the African church has sought for ecclesiastical identity. This, you may recall, gave rise to the moratorium issue in the early and mid-1970s: a call for a moratorium on foreign funds and personnel so that the church could establish its own African identity. It was a cry, then, for ecclesiastical independence. A while later, there was a call for theological independence. Africans did not want to be living on a theology that was imported from the West. This was expressed by the Pan-African Christian Leadership Assembly in 1976 in a statement saying that, Imported Christianity will never, never quench the spiritual thirst of African peoples. There was also the desire on the part of African theologians to share in the theological formation of the West. As John Mbiti expressed it, speaking of the church in the West, You have become a major subconscious part of our theologizing. We are privileged to be so involved in you through the fellowship we share in Christ. Then he went on to ask this question: When will you make us part of your subconscious process of theologizing? This call for theological independence obviously relates to contextualization, for its a cry for a theology that fits Africa, one that is related to the African context, that speaks to the realities of the present situation. We must understand the significance of all these four elements and the reciprocal interaction among them, because they cannot be ultimately separated; they are closely intertwined. For example, it is interesting to note the influence of politics on the search for ecclesiastical independence, and also the influence of the church on the search for national political independence. I wish I had time to develop these concepts, especially as they unfolded in Kenya. From one perspective, we can say, for example, that the call for cultural, ecclesiastical, and theological independence grew out of the political independence that has come to most of the African continent. On the other hand, political independenceand this is not always realized

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African Theologies and the Contextualization of the Gospel

alien land. Foreign in one sense the church must always be; its citizenship is in heaven, and it is an agent of transformation. But implementation of this dream has been slow, especially among evangelical theologians. Imasogie, in his book Guidelines for Christian Theology in Africa, makes the point that, contrary to expectations, no serious efforts were made to implement the implications of this declaration in Africa until about twenty years later when at a consultation people began to grapple with the issue. He makes the comment, One wonders what has been the cause of hesitancy to carry on Christian theologizing within the framework of African worldviewsa procedure that he notes was accepted as normal by early Christians. He answers his own question by saying, Perhaps the traditional Christians negative attitude to other religions and worldviews has been responsible for the lack of enthusiasm in this regard. He makes the point, then, that there is a need to grapple with theological issues in an African context. I referred also to the cultural context, and well see the significance of this for African theology. Its obvious, but its often been ignored for a number of reasons. Let me refer again to Imasogies Guidelines for Christian Theology in Africa. In this book, his main thrust is that Christianity is a universal religion which only becomes an authentic religion for a particular people when their worldview and self-understanding within that worldview are taken seriously as they are confronted with the claims of Christ. Imasogie goes on to say, Failure to do this invariably leads to ambivalence in their Christian commitments, especially in times of crisis. The need to prevent such an ambivalence is the reason for this book. I trust you are aware of the significance of seeking both to evangelize and to theologize within the framework of a peoples worldview. If we fail to do this, we end up with an incomplete or truncated gospel. So I strongly agree with Imasogies contention that confronting people with the claims of Christ must be done in the context of their worldview and selfunderstanding. My major disappointment with Imasogies book is that he devotes only six pages to this particular topic which is the books title. I hope he gives us another volume on this crucial topic. Ive been using the term and the concept of African theology in the singular. Obviously there is no one African theology, any more than

developed in Kenya and other parts of Africa to a large measure out of an ecclesiastical or church context. David Sandgrens Ph.D. dissertation from the University of Wisconsin demonstrates that early movements toward political independence developed from the churches. Fledgling political leaders tried out their tactics on missions, sort of did dry runs on them, and his thesis on the Kikuyu and the Africa Inland Mission makes very intriguing reading. John Mbiti makes the same point when he states that the majority of African peoples have entered the period of independent nationhood since 1960. He goes on to say that in most of these countries Christians have been instrumental in bringing about the spirit of nationhood and actual political independence. They have been on the front lines fighting for the independence of African countries still under Portuguese and white minorities. As a further example of the interaction among these four elements, it is interesting to note that the independent church movement in Africa (there are more than 5,000 independent churches) often combines an indigenous theology with an independent ecclesiology. So theres interaction among these four elements. This whole movement, then, is an attempt to make Christianity a citizen of Africa, and not just a resident alien, epitomized in a book by Welbourn and Ogot, entitled A Place to Feel at Home. The need for a contextualized church and a contextualized gospel was actually articulated back in 1952 by the International Missionary Council, where this statement was made: While the church of Christ in any place and at any time must exhibit the marks without which it will not be a church, it has a responsibility to exhibit them in a distinct way, incorporating into the service of Christ whatever heritage of cultural values that may have been given by Gods grace. This is not being rooted in the soil, but related to the soil. That is, culture is not the source, but the context, of the church. In one sense the church will always be foreign because, as we have seen, it is always supracultural, and the church can only really be rooted in Christ; but the gospel has to be so presented to men and women that its contemporary and compelling relevance is recognized. It cannot be recognized, this conference asserted, as long as it disappears in a foreign guise, imitating and producing the characteristics of a church in some remote and

John A. Gration
there is one African culture, but there are enough common strands to enable us to talk of African theology. We need to recognize, though, that the term has two very distinct meanings. First of all, it refers to Christian theology addressing itself to the African situation. To elaborate this a little more fully, I like the definition provided by the participants at a workshop on African theology some time ago. They agreed to four aspects as comprising African theology. They said, Its a theology which is, first of all, done in Africa. To a significant degree it arises out of the identity of African people. Thirdly, it draws on African categories of thought. And, finally, it speaks to the historical situation of African people. It becomes obvious, then, that any theology claiming to be African can be measured by the degree to which it speaks to the needs of Africans in their total context. And it almost goes without saying that the correctness of any African indigenous theology must be judged by the degree to which it is faithful to the Scriptures. This takes us right back to what we saw earlier in this book: that the two basic elements of any contextualized theology are relevance to the context and fidelity to the Scriptures. Lets turn now to the African context and look at some specific African issues. You will note that African theology, as we are using the term, turns out to be very practical, very pastoral, if you will. Thats not a bad idea for any theology. A lot of our Western theology grew out of the interaction of the Christian faith with Greek philosophy, and naturally still reflects that encounter in its concepts and terminology. African theology, as Ive observed it and experienced it, relates to life situations; consequently it is less abstract. Lets take a quick sampling of some African issues. There is the whole area of the spirit world. This was discussed in our lesson on worldview, and its still a very live issue, even among the well-educated. Then there is the question of the church and polygamy. Let me put some questions to you, questions that the church has to face relating to those who were polygamous before their conversion. What stance does the church take? Do they say to the polygamists, Put away all your wives except one? Do they say, Put away all your wives except the first one? Or, Wait until they all die but one, and then well take you into the church? Do they extend full privileges to the polygamist who was a polygamist before he

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became a Christianfull privileges except pastoral leadership? Or do they extend full privileges to the wives and children, but deny them to the husband? Try to bring some biblical commands and principles to bear on your thinking about these questions. This gives you some idea of the complexity of the issues. Just to throw one more in, what should the church do about the person who becomes a polygamist after his conversion? That is another whole issue that we cannot begin to enter into at this point. You might want to interact with the next Christian you meet from Africa on these questions, if that doesnt happen to be your own place of ministry. Then there is the whole question of the traditional marriage and church weddings. Traditional marriages take place with the consent of the clan. Once a marriage agreement has been reached, it is sealed with feasting and drinking and the marriage is assumed to have taken place. The bride has ceremoniously left her parents home, escorted by the women of the village, or maybe the peers of the bridegroom. For the church to insist on a church wedding does what? It devalues the importance of culture. It makes Christians with traditional marriages feel that their marriages are inferior, or that they are actually living in sin. A recent evangelical consultation in Africa decided that traditional marriages are valid, and that there were really no Christian marriages for the first four centuries of church history. The church should therefore embrace some of the good aspects of the traditional marriage approach in its liturgy. The pastor, for example, should be encouraged to be present when families enter into a formal agreement in traditional marriage and give his blessing. Further, it was noted that church weddings were becoming too expensive, so that many couples were just starting to live together. So it appears that in Africaand Ive observed this personallyin many cases the old traditional customs are disappearing, but the new Christian ones are too expensive. Maybe African Christians need to realize that expensive dresses and wedding cakes are not necessary to a church wedding. Really, all you need are a bride and bridegroom, two witnesses, and a pastor. So its been suggested by this particular evangelical conference on this topic that the church should encourage those with traditional marriages to have them blessed in the church, and that there could be an appropriate liturgy, but not to make it sound as if they were not previously married.

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African Theologies and the Contextualization of the Gospel

or ATR theologies for short. ATR theologies would elaborate the belief systems of specific peoples in Africa. At this point we need to answer the question I raised earlier: What are the essential components of any ATR? Different scholars divide their study of ATR into different categories, breaking certain broad aspects down into specific ones. My good friend and missionary colleague, Dr. Richard Gehman, in his excellent book, African Traditional Religion in Biblical Perspective, ably covers the waterfront with three basic components. He refers to, first of all, belief in the Supreme Being, the Creator, the Ultimate Power; secondly, the spirit world, spirits that are subordinate to the Supreme Being; and finally, mystical powers, such as magic, sorcery, and witchcraft. Let me make some general observations regarding the topic of ATR. First, anyone seeking to do research and write on this subject is going to face the problem of the great diversity in the beliefs and practices of different groups of people, in spite of some basic underlying commonalties. Gehman speaks to this problem in the preface to his book on African traditional religion. He explains why. In the first chapter in each major section of his book, he surveys the general beliefs and practices of ATR, followed by a chapter giving a case study of the Akamba people in eastern Kenya. He states If we would limit ourselves to generalizations, we would lose some of the concrete dynamics of traditional religion, and we would also misrepresent the enormous differences among the traditional beliefs and practices of Africa. On the other hand, if we would content ourselves with a specific example of ATR, omitting generalizations, we could become lost in details and lose the continent-wide perspective. We have therefore chosen to combine the two emphases of generalizing and particularizing. The problem is compounded by a further factor; namely, even within one group, scholars come up with different interpretations or understanding of the data regarding specific beliefs and practices. This problem is exacerbated by the growing influence of Western secularism and a rising generation in Africa that is often not fully indoctrinated and initiated into the religious beliefs and practices of their forefathers. Gehman talks about this, likewise, in his book, and makes the point that the early students of Akamba traditional religion were perplexed about the Akamba traditional belief in God. He

This is just scratching the surface of one particular issue. We could raise another question: for example, what does the Bible say about intertribal relationships? This is still a burning issue in the church in many areas. I recently did two seminars on this topic in Zaire, one in French and one in Swahili. This was one of the agenda items growing out of my very first Gospel and Culture seminar a few years ago, one of the top three items listed by the church leaders themselves as part of the unfinished agenda of the church. But there is a second usage of the term African theology. I refer to African traditional religions (ATR). This leads us into a vast field of literature, one that is constantly expanding; in part, at least, because of a growing interest in this area, largely for reasons that Ive already suggested, namely, the desire to rediscover what is authentically African, including traditional religion. This whole thrust has been and still partly is a reaction to colonialism, which was seen not just as political imperialism, but cultural and religious imperialism as well. What do we mean by African traditional religion, and what are its essential components? Let me quote the words of Dr. Agbeti, of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He draws a clear distinction between Christian theology as we used it in our first definition, and African theology that we are now discussing in our second usage of the term. He states that we may think of different kinds of theologies, such as Christian theology, Islamic theology, Hindu theology, and African theology. Consequently, when we talk about African theology we should mean the interpretation of the pre-Christian and pre-Muslim African peoples experience of their God. In a word, Agbeti is defining African theology as the religious beliefs and practices of Africans before the intrusion of either Christianity or Islam. He goes on to say: Materials about African religion are being collected and collated regionally. From these regional sources could grow later a religion which could be truly called African religion. It will be from this source that an African theology may be developed, a theology which will critically systematize the traditional African experience of God and his relation with man; of man and his relation with God; of the spiritual universe; of sin, etc. We can label Agbetis African theology, therefore, as theology of African traditional religions,

John A. Gration
says that even today the Akamba themselves convey contradictory notions about the Supreme Being. He goes on to cite the example of two contemporary scholars, themselves Akamba, who cannot agree whether the God of the Akamba is personal or impersonal. Remember, we are talking about one tribe in a rather limited area. So the subject of ATR is exceedingly complex. At this point you may be asking, Why does all this really matter? My primary purpose and focus in dealing with this topic of ATRs is to see how they relate to Christianity. So the answer to the question, Why does all this really matter? is found in my third observation; namely, the powerful influence of ATR on all of life. Africans do not compartmentalize their religion as we in the West do. For them it integrates and permeates every area of their lives, which, by the way, is not a bad model for us as Christians. In 1973, Dr. Bolaji Idowu of Nigeria wrote, and Im convinced his assertion is still true, that While every African may wish to be regarded as connected with one or the other of the two fashionable religions, most are at heart still attached to their own indigenous beliefs. It is now becoming clear to the most optimistic of Christian evangelists that the main problem of the church in Africa today is the divided loyalties of most of her members between Christianity with its Western categories and practices on the one hand, and the traditional religion on the other. It is well known that in strictly personal matters relating to the passage of life and the crises of life, African traditional religion is regarded as a final succor by most Africans. As a corollary to this, and to underscore the point just mentioned, let me underline a further observation: ATR is not primarily an ideology; rather, it is the practice of people, based on a traditional worldview. As Idowu expressed it in speaking of ATR, There can be nothing like religion in the abstract, or religion considered apart from persons who worship and practice the tenets of their faith. ATR is therefore something very concrete, lived out and practiced in everyday life. The next observation should really not come as a surprise in light of the previous two: that Christians are tempted to rely on ATR, African traditional religion. We cannot deny that many professing Christians, and genuine Christians, are sorely tempted to rely on ATR in times of crisis, such as suffering and sickness. Dr. John Mbiti, originally from Kenya, who has written extensively on ATR, speaks of a religious

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concubinage in which people embrace, as he calls it, the good in both Christianity and ATR. Even a cursory study of ATR, as Dr. Gehman makes clear in his book, reveals many truths and spiritual insights which traditional Africans held before the coming of the gospel. These include knowledge about the Supreme Being; knowledge about creation, the original state of man, the spiritual nature of man; knowledge concerning the lost paradise; a sense of right and wrong; and blood sacrifice. Mbiti explores and develops many of these concepts in his book entitled Concepts of God in Africa. All of this leads to the next observation articulated by Mbiti and others, including Gehman, that African traditional religions should be regarded as preparation for the Christian gospel. Listen to the words of Dr. Mbiti again: It is my contention that even though officially Christianity either disregarded African religion altogether or treated it as an enemy, it was, in fact, African religion more than anything else which laid down the foundation and prepared the ground for the eventual rapid accommodation of Christianity in Africa, and for the present rapid growth of the church in our continent. Without African religiosity, whatever its defect might be, Christianity would have taken much longer to be understood and accommodated by African peoples. So one cannot deny that ATR did serve indeed as a preparation, in a very real sense, for the Christian gospel. But this observation needs to be quickly balanced by a further one. If there are biblical truths and insights in ATR, incomplete and imperfect though they may be, we need to note also that there is error in ATR from a biblical perspective. These errors include a relationship to mystical powers: the use of sorcerers, witchcraft, and relationships with the dead. But the primary error, as Gehman brings out, is that God has been removed from the center of African life, replaced by the divinities and the ancestors, for the most part. As Mbiti expressed it: It is a paradox that they know him and they do not know him. He is a stranger to them, and yet they are estranged to him. He knows them, but they do not know him. Africans have done in their religion what all peoples have done; in the words of Romans 1:21-22: for even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God, or give thanks, for they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.

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significance of ATR. Let me share some guidelines, both out of my own experience and from the writings of others. Im sure that some of your reflections on this topic will appear in these guidelines as we seek to think through how we can develop our own African Christian theology from a biblical perspective. Let me suggest first of all that we need the sense of history to which Ive already referred, to see where Africa is coming from. This is true wherever we minister, whether its in the inner city or wherever it might be. We all have to be able to exegete our context as well as Scripture. Furthermore, we need an appreciation of culture, wherever we may be. Dr Mbiti again has a very appropriate word here. He says, There is a great deal of culture awareness in Africa right now, mainly in the form of rediscovery of traditional culture and a longing to reassert our cultural independence and identity, something Ive already referred to. He says, The mission of the church in Africa has to be carried out within this cultural consciousness. Culture shapes the form of Christianity which will emerge in Africa. And more important, says Mbiti: Christianity should participate in the formation of this emerging African culture whatever it will be. The church must not become an instrument of cultural colonization or alienation. If it despises African culture, there is no guarantee that African culture will not also despise the church, and then put the mission of the church out of step with the peoples of Africa. Culture cannot be obliterated, but culture can be controlled and used to fulfill certain goals and objectives. Mbiti adds, There is nothing sinful about using our culture to fulfill the mission of the church in Africa. He closes with the challenge: Let the church stimulate African culture, activate it, reclaim it, produce it, use it, and redeem it by the grace of God reminiscent of my own words and thinking a while back on the whole concept of possessio, seeing a culture possessed for the gospel. We need a realization of how relevant the Bible really is. I think of those words of the Lord at the grave of Lazarus where he said, Loose him and let him go! Somehow I feel this is what we have to do with the Word of God in African culture, in any culture: to facilitate the process of the Bible interacting with the culture in which we are working. We need, furthermore, to develop a biblical,

Looking at these last two observations side by side, we can see that the paradigm that has been used to describe the relationship of Christianity to other religions applies also to ATR. I refer to those who emphasize the continuity between Christianity and other religions, and those who emphasize a discontinuity between them. In ATR we can emphasize, on the one hand, the discontinuity aspect. We can focus on all the elements in which ATR has a sense of discontinuity with Christianity. Gehman points out, for instance, that ATR focuses on man, versus the biblical revelation emphasis and focus on God himself. We can refer also to the ATR understanding of the nature of sin, and its understanding of salvation, etc. On the other hand, the aspect of continuity cannot be denied. Christianity does fulfill mankinds desires. ATR does provide valuable points of contact, for God has not left himself without a witness, as Acts 14:17 reminds us. But along with this emphasis on continuity or discontinuity is a third position called by Gehman a biblical continuity/discontinuity. This third position becomes our final observation. There must be a biblical continuity/discontinuity dialectic, for as Gehman brings out, Unless we hold to the two aspects, we shall fall into an imbalance. Lack of balance leading to distortion of the full biblical emphasis is the root of all heresy. So we need to maintain this biblical balance, with a proper emphasis on both aspects. Were back again, you may recall, to my concept of creative tension that keeps cropping up again and again. I hope that this overview of ATR has helped us to see the relationship between the two uses of the term African theology, one term with two very different meanings. As weve seen, the two are ultimately and even intimately related. I would like you now to reflect on some of the implications of the things you have heard about ATR for the development of a Christian theology. More specifically, what characteristics of ATR should be reflected in a Christian theology that is both biblical and authentically African, and what links should there be between the two? What characteristics do you see? What parallels between the two can you come up with? I raise this question because its obvious that were concerned in this lesson primarily about the first usage of the term African theology, namely, the interaction or dialogue between Scripture and the African context in all its dimensions. We therefore cannot avoid the

John A. Gration
pedagogically sound methodology. My article in Missiology entitled Willowbank to Zaire: The Doing of Theology presents one model where Africans set the agenda and how I sought to follow through on it. Let me refer you now to Imasogies guidelines. They are primarily emphases, but extremely valid and valuable, from his book Guidelines for Christian Theology in Africa. He suggests that we need a new appreciation of the efficacy of Christs power over evil spiritual forces. Since the African worldview is characterized by spiritual forces that are hostile to men and women, he says we need to start here. This is a basic New Testament theme; we find it in the Gospels, the reality of demons; we find it in Ephesians 6:12-13: we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. We find it in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, where we are told that while we walk in the flesh we do not conduct our warfare according to the flesh. Christ has to be seen as the Savior, not only from guilt, but also from the power of sin. He has to be seen as the conqueror of demons, as a deliverer from fear. This goes back to the question, What is the gospel? Where do we begin? And where do we ultimately end up? Imasogie goes on to say, We need also a new emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit and the present mediatory efficacy of the living Christ. The African finds fulfillment in community, and its the Holy Spirit who creates the unity of the body, the Church, the new community, or, the term I like, the new tribe. He is the one who empowers the Christian, who makes real in us what Christ did for us. And I think we have to admit that he is the neglected person of the Godhead. He is the one who comes to comfort and to encourage; he is the Paraclete. We find that the great emphasis on the Holy Spirit at times in many of the independent churches is filling a need and a void that at times our own circles as traditional missions have neglected to provide the proper balance. At times we may lament the lack of balance, and even aberrations, but we need to remember that all heresy is but truth gone to an extreme. The African lives with a consciousness of the spiritual realm. He makes sacrifices to placate the spirits that can influence his life. Now he needs to see Christ as the Mediator, all-powerful, interceding, as Hebrews 7:24-27 beautifully brings out. There is no need for ritual sacrifices. Christ the Mediator is very relevant to the African worldview.

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Then, says Imasogie, there needs to be new emphasis on the omnipresence of God and the sacramental nature of the universe, for as weve already seen, the African does not dichotomize and make a demarcation between sacred and secular. He lives in the consciousness of nearby spiritual powers, and Imasogie says that this is sort of tantamount to a consciousness of Gods omnipresence. I have a little trouble making this leap, but I do have to agree that Africans seek to placate the spirits by sacrifice when theyve done wrong. Imasogie says that we by our Western worldview have tended to call all of this superstition and to remove God and make him very far away, not the One before whom all are naked and open. Imasogie says we need to reaffirm the omnipresence of God. I would add his omniscience, the one who sees all. Imasogie would also want us to see the world as one big temple where God dwells, a temple which must not be profaned by words and deeds. At this point, frankly, Id like to keep God and his creation a little more separate. The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians sacralized the universe; thats why they had things like sun worship. From my perspective, the early chapters of Genesis actually desacralize the universe and put God as the sovereign one over it as its Creator. But Imasogie does have a basically good point here. To these guidelines, let me offer several suggestions from Fashole-Luke, of the University of Sierra Leone in West Africa. He goes on to say that instead of studying African traditional religions in general, we need to study particular topics in their regions, and in individual ethnic groups, such as God, the ancestors, and witchcraft, and we need to use the research of anthropologists. Then we need to examine, he says, in detail the impact of Christianity on individual African ideas and practices. For example, how has it affected marriage? What has it done in terms of relationship to the ancestors? This is something that I tried to do in my own seminars in Africa. As a further example we need to ask ourselves, How does a biblical christology impact African believers? Have we ever introduced them to the christology of Colossians, which speaks of Christ in you, the hope of glory? Have we taught that in Colossians 2:9 in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and hes the one who now indwells us, so really theres no room for anyone else? Have we let them know that the most powerful Being in the

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African Theologies and the Contextualization of the Gospel

Let me close with a final word from John Mbitiand let me inject a word concerning him. Ive had warm, personal fellowship with Dr. Mbiti; at the same time, I certainly dont agree with all his statements. Even though I would want to take strong exception to some of them, however, I appreciate many of his penetrating insights and questions. So let me close with three major challenges facing the church in Africa in the decades ahead, as Mbiti sees them, and I strongly agree with his observation. He says, first of all, the church must make Christianity relevant. It must Africanize Christianity in its structures and personnel, in its theology, its planning, its worship, in the transaction of its mission and its financial independence. He makes a very interesting observation when he says, Christianity has made a real claim on Africa. The question is, has Africa made a real claim on Christianity? Thats the crux of the matter. Christianity, he says, has Christianized Africa, but Africa has not yet Africanized Christianity. His third challenge is for the church to be a mission-oriented church. Thats a pretty tall order; but given the dynamics of Africa today, the church in Africa cannot afford to do less.

universe occupies and wants to possess and control us? This is a tremendous antidote to the power of evil spirits. And then we need to study the independent churches and ask what they tell us about the development of African theology, and see what gaps they are filling. We need an African theology, to be sure. But there is a sense in which (as Fashole brings out) we also need to see theology in terms of its universal dimensions. He said its great to talk about ethnic and racial categories and emphases, but on the other hand we need to see that there is a universal aspect to our theology. So we are really dealing here with the particularity of the gospel, its ability to be contextualized and localized, as well as its universality; and well know it in its totality only when we see it in its universal dimension. John Mbiti said, in another context: Theology is a universal treasure of the Christian faith. Ultimately it knows no designations. But when African theologians theologize as part of the universal church, responding to its situation in Africa, then we get a contribution to a Christian theology which may rightly be termed African in its best and fullest sense of the term.