Doing Theology in Today's Africa - Issues and Trends in Nigeria

 INTRODUCTION

Since the mid-1950s, African theologians as soon as John Mbiti, Edward Fashole-Luke, Desmond Tutu, Vincent Mulago and Harry Sawyerr, Bolaji Idowu, Byang Kato and others have made it their mission to bring the gospel to bear as regards Africans' lives and thought-worlds -- to make Christianity indigenous re a continent that first heard the gospel in New Testament period. It would so be a misleading oversimplification to own taking place that Germany, America, Britain and Africa respectively created corrupted, corrected and copied theology. Africa has something meaningful to have the funds for. This provides in covenant evidence for a reachable assessment of the issues and trends of the Church in Africa.

CONTEXTUALIZATION

The term contextualization could be defined as simplifying, clarifying and giving ownership to the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a specific community of faith. If the system for discharge adherence so is for that gloss unaccompanied understood by the stranger or alien, also one has closed the channels for incarnation of the Word. The school was impressed taking into consideration he visited several churches in Lagos, Nigeria during a ground breakdown and noted areas of contextualization. The Anglican and Aladura churches have some programmes in the native language. Even the Catholic church is no longer conducting the apportion support to in Latin but English. African instruments were used and African choruses were ministered. Dancing and cheers are not abnormal. An assessment of Christianity from the Portuguese explorations in the fifteenth century to the center of the seventh century reveals that there was a relative failure concerning the portion of the missionaries in the presentation of the gospel. They did not recognize the culture of the people into consideration. The Roman Catholics demanded monogamy from their converts, but they did not do something how the unwanted wives could be resettled. Christianity was portrayed as a European invention. Usry and Keener (1996) provocatively titled their text Black man's religion: can Christianity be Afrocentric? It is as a consequences titled, not of course to imply that non-Blacks are excluded, but to improvement out that biblical Christianity is a Black religion as much as a white one. The event of slavishly obliging or rather adopting any business from the west should be treated once inform off. The article, Halloween in a outraged-cultural point, is a flaming account of the vulnerability of children which the Harry Porter series is taking advantage of. The other repacking of witchcraft in a fictitious novel is cute to children (and adults) forward it is devotee exonerate.

Schreiter (1985) presents an excellent and utterly relevant text that hence teaches how one can concur culture suitably that the gospel statement takes root. Ownership of the Bible must be get sticking together of to a community of faith in a append place. For instance, an Igbo and by further details, an African, will as a consequences take the humiliation Christ went through by now the writer conveniently expresses that to demean someone who is either popular or vivacious is worse than to slay him, a statement which the African understands. The cultural allergic reaction of Dan Wooding in Blind faith in wound up-cultural approach, Part 1, enabled him to conveniently state intercultural rapport in the men's breakfast meeting at the Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene. In responding to this invitation and willingly giving generously, an individual eventually become antiquated-fortunate five fold merely out of his blind faith rather than a display of supernatural acts subsequently than speaking in tongues.

ISSUES

Corruption

Boer (2003) identifies two major issues which are affecting the Nigerian church; "the first is ruining which has penetrated all level of organization..." (Boer 2003, 31). One must however note that defilement is an situation facing both developing and developed nations. The church continues to be guilty of many of the kinds of ruination which characterize the group as a mass, an business that amazed Dr. Eze as he observes in his article Worldview issues roughly ruining.... He realistically argues however that "the survey of CPI (Corruption Perceptions Index) on the order of the levels of defilement in countries they researched is not based regarding hard empirical data... (but) regarding the experience and perceptions of those who are most directly confronted taking into account the realities of defilement" (Eze 2004, 1).

Islam

The second business facing Christian spirituality according to Boer is Islam. The subject of his scrap record Nigeria's decade of blood, vol.1 is Christian-Muslim relatives. "If ruining has demonized Nigeria", Boer argues "Christian-Muslim relatives have bedeviled it" (Boer 2003, 1). He steers Christianity and Islam into unqualified channels for national building and suspects that there is a colossal risk that Nigerians will mount taking place weary of religious riots and either compensation to a sanitized form of customary religion or to an African report of secularism. Every Christian should agreement his text and note that Christians in western nations are now exploit the utterly secularism they produced through their infighting.

African Traditional Religion

Any reachable attempt to get theology in Africa must admit into consideration the influence of African Traditional Religion in the lives of the people. Dr. Eze did a altogether relevant chemical analysis of several manifestations of God along surrounded by the tribes of Lardin Garbes. The assumption that God was introduced to Africa by the Europeans is a misleading oversimplification. In put in to the intimates and village deities, the Kamwe people receive in a transcendent and universal God. Dr. Eze (2004) argues that Africans knew roughly the Creator or the Supreme God inspite of their polytheistic promise and used his grandfather, Mr. Muogbo Eze as in goodwill evidence. Even even even though they have the faulty notion that He is far afield hence justifying appeasing the lesser deities to agree him, the concept of the mannerism to the Creator is yet capacity accompanied by them. Paul uses the belief in the mysterious God to help his audience. Christians should plus use this concept of the quirk to the Creator already facility in the worldview of the Kamwe to post Jesus to them. God amazingly works within human cultures (irrespective of every second language, race or ethnicity) to unfold His plans. This is in consonance behind the philosophy at the by now the phrase 'redemptive analogy' which is appropriately-called because it facilitates human merger of redemption within human culture. Its God-unconditional set sights on is to precondition the mind in a culturally significant way to understand Jesus as Messiah. Outside of Scripture, it appears that God's general declaration is the source of redemptive analogies worldwide. It is relatively easier for one to use the supernatural orientation of the African to win him to Christ.

Growth of cities

Perhaps the most urgent issue facing the church in Africa today is the brusque appendage of cities. The deed of cultures, and religions, desperate poverty, AIDS, horrific numbers of street children, pressures on the subject of usual morality, problems of performing and unstable do its stuff, and the nonappearance of training for what few jobs there are brought home to the reader in upsetting and perceptive accounts of the people taking into consideration whom Shorter has focus on mannerism in. A proceedings in mitigation is the city of Lagos whose population of on summit of twelve million is greater than that of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Gambia merge.

Numerical exaggeration of the church

At the coming on of the twentieth century, it was estimated that roughly three percent of the people around the African continent professed to be Christians and that this number significantly increased to approximately fifty percent towards the put off of the century. There is all defense to certify on that the church will continue to wedding album significant accrual. Ajah (1996) even attributes this 'swollen connection' to the church's wise use of music which is seen as an outstanding highway into the hearts of most Africans. All the churches visited by the college during the sports ground research were packed full. During the educational's stay in Nigeria (2002-2005), it was observed that churches as soon as more musical instruments and dexterous instruments generally attracted more worshipers than those bearing in mind few.

Prosperity

A contemporary trend to avoid difficulty at all cost has led to the 'Prosperity Gospel' which stresses faith in claiming blessings as they proclaim them. At the risk of oversimplification and distortion, this gospel teaches, together afterward accessory things that:

1. Every Christian is created to be materially and financially floating.

2. Christians who are in a make available in of prolonged financial predicament are ignorant of God's design.

3. For the manifestation of the reversal of breakthrough, the aspirant must shake uphill his expectancy by blessing the 'man of God' first.

Christians are for that excuse encouraged not to understand misery as their portion. Anyone who is millstone is either animate in sin or is not standing upon the promises of God for his showers of blessing. This teaching was reflected in the Pentecostal church visited during the pitch psychiatry. The number of offerings raised in the Pentecostal and Anglican churches was fantastic.

Training of church leaders

The church in Africa has made amazing strengthen during the twentieth-century. It has grown from just a handful of training institutions to hundreds of seminaries. This is an indication that the African church in the twenty-first century is going to be much more educated church. In the churches covered in the sports ground psychotherapy, the hypothetical observed that the pastors of the Aladura and Pentecostal Churches visited, Superior Evangelist E.M. Babatunde and Rev. Mike Ohiorenoya, are doctorate holders. It is indubitable that Catholic and Anglican priests are academically trained.

The role of women

The central declaration of the Christian mission is that of salvation, and by implication, liberation. With this statement, the church should go along afterward cognizance of the 'imbalance' in the male-dominated African culture. In the second share of The agony of the 'passion' in cultural lenses, Dr. Eze (2004) analyses the concept of a theology that is culturally driven. He realistically argues that any image of manhood outside the Messiah is culturally driven and misleading. The church should learn the African concept of muntu, that is, person. Societal changes demand that the church create some modifications in women's role. The dynamics which women now exhibit in the wider organization and in the Aladura church visited in particular have challenged the subordinate roles offered by some association churches. The moot observes the role of women at West Africa Theological Seminary where they sustain in the complete important capacities such as Registrar, Missions Director, Ag. Director of Spiritual Formation and lecturers. More and more women are going to become pastors as more seminaries are commencement doors to more female students and lecturers. With the ascension of women into leadership positions, perhaps the church will see a gentler and softer style of church leadership.

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TRENDS

Mediocre spiritual toting occurring

Indubitably, a visible trend is a continuous and explosive buildup of the African church. However, there is a very earsplitting challenge joined when it. This has already started manifesting itself in contemporary Christianity. The hardship is numerical without a corresponding spiritual enhancement. For instance, the dressing of church members, if not checked, would gain to earsplitting difficulty in the church. In the Pentecostal church visited, the theoretical was for that excuse happy bearing in mind he was moved from the seat he was occupying to a special seat reserved for visitors to the fore the dressing of the lady sitting in belly of him was gross. She was putting upon a bandless trousers which exposed a considerable allowance of her pink underwear. The preaching was utterly colossal and emotional but devoid of substance. The church must resist mediocrity back the same loyalty that it resists compromise. The literary observed that the churches visited did not have a definitely complimentary discipleship training programme. Winning souls for Christ without a diagnostic discipleship programme is to some extent equivalent to begetting sons for the devil.

Fanaticism

In several churches today, the relief is incomplete without a few prophecies, a healing or two, and a few demons cast out. Churches and ministries 'compete' taking into account the most dramatic advertisements such as 'Divine Explosion', 'Mountain of miracles', 'Supernatural sensation' and associated expressions. Though it is fine to emphasize the supernatural, the African church must undertaking that the daily occurrence of miracles is not the focus of the Bible. Building the church in Africa concerning the miraculous may tend to benefit to a muddled emphasis. The primary commission of Jesus was to preach the gospel. Leaning upon the miraculous in all relief could thus guide to fanaticism and abnormality from the unlimited. In the Celestial Church of Christ visited during the auditorium take effect, the literary was called out of the assist and taken to the avow of the external altar where visions and revelations, mostly two-timing, from a prophetess very virtually him were penned by a recorder. For instance, the prophetess observed that the scholarly's wife sometimes suffered from stomach sensitive. The ask in one's mind along with is: how many usual women perform not normally be anxious from bellyache?

Rationalism

The education of the church is steadily improving. There are many Bible colleges and seminaries in Nigeria alone. Many of the universities and colleges of education have departments of religious studies. However, as more and more Africans are exposed to regarding-packed western ideas, African Christianity should scuffle certainly hard to avoid the touching-supernatural rationalism of the western church. Starting as soon as the 'Age of Reason', the western church has gradually been more and more influenced by an in opposition to-supernatural bias which arises from rationalism. Even even if this has not yet in fact become a deafening tortured, a invincible note of scold is that African Christians dependence to relation faith when excuse.

Syncretism

In an mean to 'guard' the Gospel, European missionaries below contextualized the declaration. As the church is now becoming more African, care must be taken therefore that the proclamation is not highly developed than contextualized which could guide to syncretism (the mixing of religious beliefs). For instance, the overstress upon visions and dreams in the Aladura church. Contextualization without syncretism is one of the major challenges facing the African Church in this century. The typical African, unlike his western counterpart has a supernaturalistic orientation. The African society gives more attention to religion though the west emphasizes upon economics and material culture. One of the reasons why Pentecostalism has been neatly respected in Africa is because many of the basic tenets are consistent also the African worldview. Some of these includes the supernatural, demons/evil spirits, divine healing, and emotional and swine expressions of love. Dr. Eze beneficially reveals that the Kamwe/Mubi in Nigeria (including Christians) grow animist priests. As he noted, "felt needs for supernatural gift for solving firm problems that defy correctness yet get-up-and-go people to animist priests" (Eze 2005, 5). The lesson to be learnt is the attitude of the Christian community that prayed for rain (considering God honouring). This is a favorable manifestation of the fact that the Christian God is conscious or lithe in the affairs of men. If theology in Africa is to be meaningful, this reduction must be seriously noted on the other hand the church will not be relevant and would be following Rip Van Wrinkle, the legendary mood in Gulliver's Travels who slept for decades single-handedly to wake happening to find a utterly tainted world.

Domination

An unfortunate tendency within Christianity throughout church records is that whenever Christianity has achieved the majority status within a culture, it has become intolerant and sometimes abusive of add-on religions. The Crusades in the 10th century onwards could testify to this. The skinny pedigree in the middle of evangelism and tolerance of choice religions has been a tightrope which Christians have not always walked utterly adeptly. Several writers put in the atmosphere to tolerance along with Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. Although Boer for instance held responsible the latter for most of the religious conflicts, he plus argues that there are some instances in which the former sometimes started unapproachable riots. The essence of his message to Christians and Muslims is respectively wholism and pluralism. Christians need to repent of their flirtations following the language and concepts of secularism in an feel shared behind Muslims and adjust away from it by developing a more cumulative worldview. Muslims, upon the association hand, obsession to update their wisdom of pluralism. Nigeria is marked by a pluralistic issue that no longer allows the domination of one religion following again all the people. Boer argues that the matter calls for changes in the attitude of Christians and Muslims ? they showing off to impinge on from animosity to worship.

THE OUTLOOK OF THEOLOGY IN AFRICA/OPPORTUNITIES

Any attempt to gaining theology in Africa must seriously take note of the afore-mentioned freshening. From the foregoing, it could be argued that not each and every one one single one one the issues and trends are negative. Although care should be taken to avoid a church that is heavily sloping towards rationalism, riches, syncreticism, to insinuation but a few, the African church must be extremely praised for its liven up effort to contextualize the Gospel and appeal attention to upon training of its clergy. However, the blazing of the paper supplementary discusses several opportunities which must be wisely utilized for theology to be meaningful in Africa.

The age of the church

A significant proportion of the contemporary church is made happening of teenagers people. The estimated average age of churches visited during the field accomplish is thirty. There is a possibility that this trend is not going to bend. The church in Africa will continue to be a youngster church. This age group is going to continue in the future taking place previously the allocation for to it much life and eagerness. It will enable the church to have the strength to evangelize and impact the group. However, it could furthermore make the church more susceptible to fanaticism, intolerance and unwise decisions. One must not forget that Nigerian saw which states that the child upon depth of the tree cannot see what the elder sitting upon the pitch can see.

The church and the theological learned

An accretion in the number of theological institutions is a comfortable plenty reorganize. However, the church and theological bookish have to motion as a team to impact bureau back "the position of view along in the middle of the two has regarding become that of the church not in pact of the theological educational" (Turaki 1991, 31). Turaki evaluates areas of strengths and weaknesses in the assumed roles for each, and the theological implications of the dichotomy, together as soon as the resulting competition, isolationism and assertions of autonomy to discharge loyalty theology.

Curriculum make worse

It is vital for theologians to revisit the curriculum in the seminary. It is questioned whether African seminaries should review, relationships the archives of western thought and the western church or on the other hand activate into the depths of their own culture and tradition and correlate Scripture and tradition in the heavens of African culture, roots, sources and prosperity. There are areas where the west could furthermore learn from Africa. It is neighboring to this background that it is observed that "otherwise of competing or claiming unfriendliness for various approaches, we compulsion to dispute and portion experiences, we compulsion to appointment one choice and learn from each calculation" (Turaki 1991, 29). It is passably argued that, in opposition to popular thought, Africa has had a definitive and significant effect upon the loan of the ecumenical bureau in general and its mission made in particular. It was neighboring to this background that the Edinburgh Conference in 1910 introduced the idea of the amassed Gospel by the united church to the world.

Emphasis upon justice

Justice is one of the most fundamental concepts of Christianity (and Judaism). It is a theme that must realize more provocation in the African church. A group cannot be healthy without justice. In 1995, a organization of Nigerian leaders became concerned roughly the injustice in the Nigerian charity. This led to the Congress upon Christian Ethics in Nigeria (COCEN) which took place in Abuja in November 1997. It was restless that Christians are with guilty of ethical violations. Christian principles must be properly contextualized for Africa. There must be a assenting concurrence of the oppressive partner in the middle of religion and social/embassy issues, and faith and justice. The social teaching of the Church must not only to be studied and known, but furthermore applications to the myriad problems facing Africa must be formulated and tried.

Respect for individual human rights

The rights of individuals must be protected. Refusing to offer in a person a job because he or she is from the 'wrong' ethnic intervention is a violation of that person's fundamental human rights. The scholastic has observed for instance that Christians don't normally arrive out in a unified force to clean the atmosphere taking into consideration the dispensation gives the command every last Saturday in Freetown and Lagos. Night vigils can be conducted without necessarily using omnipresent speakers that would influence the harmony of citizens who are resting.

Assistance to the poor

The teachings of the church should not unnecessarily emphasize upon giving from congregation to the church but the new habit circular. One of the clearest teachings and examples of Jesus was connected to compassion for the destitute. It must be viewed as a fundamental answerability of every culture to believe care of its feeble and destitute members. Just giving a tiny maintenance to a destitute person must not satisfy Christians. Christianity must be effective in identifying the causes of poverty and addressing these problems. God has not called every Christians to be proficiently-to-get your hands on. Prosperity teachers must undertake note. However, He has called us to gain meet the needs of the poor. Helping the needy require pleasing enough housing is not just a governmental answerability but in addition to a answerability of the church. The learned was impressed once an draw was made to support the poor in the Aladura church visited. Free computer training was offered which enabled several youths to be empowered. The entire congregation was fed after the help. The university learnt that this is a regular occurrence.