African Perspectives On Culture And World Christianity

Author : Joseph Ogbonnaya
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Page : 231 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2017-05-11
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781443891592

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African Perspectives on Culture and World Christianity by Joseph Ogbonnaya Pdf

Unlike the global North, “the ferment of Christianity” in the global South, among the majority of world people, has been astronomical. Despite the shift in the center of gravity of Christianity to the global South, intra-ecclesial tensions globally remain those of the relationship of culture to religion. The questions posed revolve around to what extent Western Christianity should be adapted to local cultures. Should we talk of Christianity in non-Western contexts or of majority world Christianity? Is it appropriate to describe the shift as the emergence of global Christianity or world Christianity? Should Christianity in the global South mimic Christianity in the global North, or can it be different in the light of the diversity of these cultures? Can Africans, Asians, Latin Americans, Europeans and North Americans – the entire global community – speak of God in the same way? This book is devoted to examining varieties of the intercultural process in world Christianity. It understands culture broadly as a common meaning upon which communities’ social order is organized. Culture in this sense is the whole life of people. It is the integrator of the filial bond holding people together and the various institutional structures – economic, technological, political and legal – that guarantee peace and survival in societies, states, and nations, both locally and internationally. As this book shows, the centrality of culture for world Christianity equally showcases the important position the scale of values occupies in world Christianity.

Author : Yusufu Turaki
Publisher : Langham Publishing
Page : 547 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2020-04-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781783688418

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Engaging Religions and Worldviews in Africa by Yusufu Turaki Pdf

In a world of increasing globalization, we live amidst a clash of cultures, religions, and worldviews – each battling for the human heart and mind. In this in-depth study, Yusufu Turaki offers a theological framework for engaging this clash of perspectives in Africa, where traditional African religions, colonialism, and exposure to Christianity have each had a lasting impact on contemporary African worldviews. Professor Turaki undertakes a systematic analysis of the nature of African Traditional Religion, its complex history with Christianity, and the need for African Christian theology to address its cultural and historical roots effectively. He provides both a conceptual framework and practical guide for engaging African cultures and religions with compassion, understanding, and a firm foundation rooted in scriptural truth. This book is an excellent resource for students of religion and theology, as well as those interested in Africa’s traditional heritage or drawn to the important work of cross-cultural and inter-religious dialogue.

Author : Tim Hartman
Publisher : Augsburg Fortress Publishers
Page : 230 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2022-02-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781506480459

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Kwame Bediako by Tim Hartman Pdf

Ghanaian theologian Kwame Bediako presses all Christians to question their own theological commitments. He does so by rethinking Christian identity in light of cultural identity and the shortcomings of colonialism. Bediako's quest to be both African and Christian informs what it means to be Christian in a secularized Europe and North America. Far more than just chronological and biographical, Tim Hartman's analysis of the arc of Bediako's theology demonstrates that Bediako's vision of Christianity as a non-Western religion allows it to serve as a resource for World Christianity amid the exponential growth of Christianity in the Global South. Hartman points to how Bediako sidesteps the influence of Western thought by rooting African Christianity in a twin heritage of pre-Christendom patristic theology and precolonial traditional religious practices of Africa. Bediako expands the canon of theological resources available for Christians by eliminating the distinction between gospel and culture. Since there is no such thing as a pure theology for Bediako, culture itself becomes a source of divine revelation through the incarnation. Hartman's study of Bediako helpfully corrects inaccurate portrayals of African Christianity. The growth of African Christianity should not be feared, nor mischaracterized as narrow-minded or too conservative. Bediako asserts a polycentric understanding of the Christian faith based in grassroots theologies and the beliefs of actual Christians. While Bediako agrees that Christianity in Africa (and the Global South) is the future of the Christian faith, he rejects assumptions that the Christian faith needs to be yoked to political power. Instead, Bediako offers an alternative understanding of politics based on democracy and nondominating power. Both Bediako and the book offer a way forward in thinking about questions of religious pluralism. African Christianity has never known cultural hegemony as African Christians have always lived with Islam and African traditional religions. Bediako offers a theology of "Jesus is Lord" while appreciating the integrity of Islam and traditional African religions. In the end, the book presents an African Christian theologian who values--and does not simply reject--African traditional religions. Bediako believed that traditional African religions, far from being demonic, served as evangelical preparation for the Christian faith and as the substructure of African Christianity, and that African religious imagination was the foundation for the Christian faith worldwide. As Hartman shows, the more distinctively African Bediako's Christianity became, the more suited that theology became for the world.

Author : Hermen Kroesbergen
Publisher : Digital on Demand
Page : 309 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2014-08-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781868044993

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Christian identity and justice in a globalized world from a Southern African perspective by Hermen Kroesbergen Pdf

What does the globalized world that we live in mean for our Christian identity and for our struggle for social justice? That is the central question that is addressed in this book from a wide array of angles by members of the Association of Theological Institutions of Southern and Central Africa (ATISCA) and Justo Mwale Theological University College (Lusaka, Zambia). "This book is about the struggle for social justice in relation to the self-understanding of Christians from Southern and East Africa in a globalizing world. Among other concerns, it brings out the connection between theology and disability where disability is reflected as an issue that calls for self-identity and self-re-definition. This book is an important resource on contextualisation of theology and it is worthy reading" Dr. Samuel Kabue, Executive Director of the World Council of Churches network EDAN. "In a work long overdue theologians and other researchers in Christianity investigate, discuss and critique the influence of globalization on Christian identity in Southern Africa and its consequences in the struggle for justice. Despite all talk about a 'global village', the voices of Christians from Southern Africa are hardly ever heard. This book represents an important change in this respect. The book has been well edited by Hermen Kroesbergen and it is a must read for all theologians and ministers who want to reflect on our shifting identifies. " Christian Literature Fund

Author : Oliver Alozie Onwubiko
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 1992
Category : Africa
ISBN : UCAL:B3783636

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Theory and Practice of Inculturation by Oliver Alozie Onwubiko Pdf

Author : James Leland Cox,Gerrie ter Haar
Publisher : Africa World Press
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : History
ISBN : 1592211143

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Uniquely African? by James Leland Cox,Gerrie ter Haar Pdf

Concerning themselves with the problematic nature of African Christian identity, the contributors to this book adopt various cultural, historical, national and educational perspectives in order to reflect on the problem of African identities in a world dominated by Western ideological and religious systems.

Author : Adriaan van Klinken
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 201 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2021-12-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780197644157

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Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa by Adriaan van Klinken Pdf

Religion is often seen as a conservative force in contemporary Africa. In particular, Christian beliefs and actors are usually depicted as driving the opposition to homosexuality and LGBTI rights in African societies. This book nuances that picture, by drawing attention to discourses emerging in Africa itself that engage with religion, specifically Christianity, in progressive and innovative ways--in support of sexual diversity and the quest for justice for LGBTI people. The authors show not only that African Christian traditions harbor strong potential for countering conservative anti-LGBTI dynamics; but also that this potential has already begun to be realized, by various thinkers, activists and movements across the continent. Their ten case studies document how leading African writers are reimagining Christian thought; how several Christian-inspired groups are transforming religious practice; and how African cultural production creatively appropriates Christian beliefs and symbols. In short, the book explores Christianity as a major resource for a liberating imagination and politics of sexuality and social justice in Africa today. Foregrounding African agency and progressive religious thought, this highly original intervention counterbalances our knowledge of secular approaches to LGBTI rights in Africa, and powerfully decolonizes queer theory, theology and politics.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 370 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2019-09-16
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9789004412255

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Faith in African Lived Christianity by Anonim Pdf

Faith in African Lived Christianity – Bridging Anthropological and Theological Perspectives offers a comprehensive, empirically rich and interdisciplinary approach to the study of faith in African Christianity. The book brings together anthropology and theology in the study of how faith and religious experiences shape the understanding of social life in Africa. The volume is a collection of chapters by prominent Africanist theologians, anthropologists and social scientists, who take people’s faith as their starting point and analyze it in a contextually sensitive way. It covers discussions of positionality in the study of African Christianity, interdisciplinary methods and approaches and a number of case studies on political, social and ecological aspects of African Christian spirituality.

Author : Lamin Sanneh,Joel A. Carpenter
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2005-03-10
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780190292164

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The Changing Face of Christianity by Lamin Sanneh,Joel A. Carpenter Pdf

Over the past century, Christianity's place and role in the world have changed dramatically. In 1900, 80 percent of the world's Christians lived in Europe and North America. Today, more than 60 percent of the world's Christians live outside of that region. This change calls for a reexamination of the way the story of Christianity is told, the methodological tools for its analysis, and its modes of expression. Perhaps most significant is the role of Africa as the new Christian heartland. The questions and answers about Christianity and its contemporary mission now being developed in the African churches will have enormous influence in the years to come. This volume offers nine new essays addressing this sea-change and its importance for the future of Christianity. Some contributions consider the development of "non-Western" forms of Christianity, others look at the impact of these new Christianities in the West. The authors cover a wide range of topics, from the integration of witchcraft and Christianity in Nigeria and the peacemaking role of churches in Mozambique to the American Baptist reception of Asian Christianity. The Changing Face of Christianity shows the striking cultural differences between the new world Christianity and its western counterpart. But with so many new immigrants in Europe and North America, the faith's fault lines are not purely geographical. The new Christianity now thrives in American and European settings, and northerners need to know this faith better. At stake is their ability to be good neighbors-and perhaps to be good Christian citizens of the world.

Author : Peter J. Paris
Publisher : Duke University Press
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2009-11-25
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780822392309

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Religion and Poverty by Peter J. Paris Pdf

A Ghanaian scholar of religion argues that poverty is a particularly complex subject in traditional African cultures, where holistic worldviews unite life’s material and spiritual dimensions. A South African ethicist examines informal economies in Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, and South Africa, looking at their ideological roots, social organization, and vulnerability to global capital. African American theologians offer ethnographic accounts of empowering religious rituals performed in churches in the United States, Jamaica, and South Africa. This important collection brings together these and other Pan-African perspectives on religion and poverty in Africa and the African diaspora. Contributors from Africa and North America explore poverty’s roots and effects, the ways that experiences and understandings of deprivation are shaped by religion, and the capacity and limitations of religion as a means of alleviating poverty. As part of a collaborative project, the contributors visited Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, as well as Jamaica and the United States. In each location, they met with clergy, scholars, government representatives, and NGO workers, and they examined how religious groups and community organizations address poverty. Their essays complement one another. Some focus on poverty, some on religion, others on their intersection, and still others on social change. A Jamaican scholar of gender studies decries the feminization of poverty, while a Nigerian ethicist and lawyer argues that the protection of human rights must factor into efforts to overcome poverty. A church historian from Togo examines the idea of poverty as a moral virtue and its repercussions in Africa, and a Tanzanian theologian and priest analyzes ujamaa, an African philosophy of community and social change. Taken together, the volume’s essays create a discourse of mutual understanding across linguistic, religious, ethnic, and national boundaries. Contributors. Elizabeth Amoah, Kossi A. Ayedze, Barbara Bailey, Katie G. Cannon, Noel Erskine, Dwight N. Hopkins, Simeon O. Ilesanmi, Laurenti Magesa, Madipoane Masenya, Takatso A. Mofokeng, Esther M. Mombo, Nyambura J. Njoroge, Jacob Olupona, Peter J. Paris, Anthony B. Pinn, Linda E. Thomas, Lewin L. Williams

Author : Joe M. Kapolyo
Publisher : Langham Global Library
Page : 145 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2013-05-14
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781907713040

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The Human Condition by Joe M. Kapolyo Pdf

Human beings are complex. For all our contemporary knowledge and ability, however wonderful and widely available, people around the world face a crisis of human identity that calls into question the meaning of existence and the basis of moral behaviour. Responding to these challenges, Joe Kapolyo recognizes both the authority of the Bible, which teaches that people are created in the image of God but also corrupted by rebellion and sin, and the relevance of distinctly African perspectives on what it means to be human. Although he reads these perspectives critically, they lead him to reaffirm the biblical vision of redeemed human life in community in Christ. This vision offers a solution to the crisis of identity experienced by people who have forgotten who they are - and whose they are.

Author : Osadolor Imasogie
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 108 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 1983
Category : Christianity
ISBN : STANFORD:36105038554007

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Guidelines for Christian Theology in Africa by Osadolor Imasogie Pdf

Author : Lamin O. Sanneh
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Religion
ISBN : UOM:39015032930631

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Encountering the West by Lamin O. Sanneh Pdf

Does religion reinforce the balkanization of cultural attitudes or does it help people transcend their culture? A noted scholar of world Christianity, Lamin Sanneh offers Westerners a perspective on such questions, a way to test the religio-cultural water and air in which they live. He shows how modernity has made of moderns "cultural believers" and "religious agnostics, " and how the stubborn refusal to confront this bias in both secular and religious culture depletes both Christianity and Western culture.

Author : Klaas Bom,Benno van den Toren
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2020-04-14
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9789004420298

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Context and Catholicity in the Science and Religion Debate by Klaas Bom,Benno van den Toren Pdf

Based on a thorough study of the ‘lived theology’ of Christian students and university professors in Abidjan, Kinshasa and Yaoundé, this book proposes a theoretical framework that makes an intercultural and interdisciplinary debate on science and religion possible.

Author : Afe Adogame
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2013-04-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781441112729

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The African Christian Diaspora by Afe Adogame Pdf

The last three decades have witnessed a rapid proliferation of African Christian communities, particularly in Europe and North American diaspora, thus resulting in the remapping of old religious landscapes. This migratory trend and development bring to the fore the crucial role, functions and import of religious symbolic systems in new geo-cultural contexts. The trans-national linkages between African-led churches in the countries of origin (Africa) and the "host" societies are assuming increasing importance for African immigrants. The links and networks that are established and maintained between these contexts are of immense religious, cultural, economic, political and social importance. This suggests how African Christianities can be understood within processes of religious transnationalism and African modernity. Based on extensive religious ethnography undertaken by the author among African Christian communities in Europe, the USA and Africa in the last 17 years, this book maps and describes the incipience and consolidation of new brands of African Christianities in diaspora. The book demonstrates how African Christianities are negotiating and assimilating notions of the global while maintaining their local identities.