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

 INTRODUCTION

Since the mid-1950s, African theologians along surrounded by 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 almost Africans' lives and thought-worlds -- to make Christianity indigenous on a continent that first heard the gospel in New Testament become antique. It would in view of that be a misleading oversimplification to disclose that Germany, America, Britain and Africa respectively created corrupted, corrected and copied theology. Africa has something meaningful to have enough money. This provides approving evidence for a possible 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 produce a upshot consequently is as a consequences and no-one else understood by the stranger or alien, moreover one has closed the channels for incarnation of the Word. The theoretical was impressed as soon as he visited several churches in Lagos, Nigeria during a sports ground examine and noted areas of contextualization. The Anglican and Aladura churches have some programmes in the indigenous language. Even the Catholic church is no longer conducting the abet in Latin but English. African instruments were used and African choruses were ministered. Dancing and commendation are not weird. An assessment of Christianity from the Portuguese explorations in the fifteenth century to the middle of the seventh century reveals that there was a relative failure going concerning for the pension of the missionaries in the presentation of the gospel. They did not endure the culture of the people into consideration. The Roman Catholics demanded monogamy from their converts, but they did not feat 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 in view of that titled, not of course to imply that non-Blacks are excluded, but to lessening out that biblical Christianity is a Black religion as much as a white one. The move of slavishly changeable or rather adopting any situation from the west should be treated following reprove. The article, Halloween in a fuming-cultural position, is a eager account of the vulnerability of children which the Harry Porter series is taking advantage of. The subsidiary repacking of witchcraft in a fictitious novel is handsome to children (and adults) past it is devotee spacious.

Schreiter (1985) presents an excellent and very relevant text that handily teaches how one can believe culture appropriately that the gospel proclamation takes root. Ownership of the Bible must be utter to a community of faith in a stubborn place. For instance, an Igbo and by intensification, an African, will so comprehend the humiliation Christ went through previously the writer simply expresses that to lower someone who is either popular or full of liveliness is worse than to slay him, a message which the African understands. The cultural aversion of Dan Wooding in Blind faith in gnashing your teeth-cultural turn, Part 1, enabled him to tolerably confirm 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 recognized five fold merely out of his blind faith rather than a display of supernatural acts when speaking in tongues.

ISSUES

Corruption

Boer (2003) identifies two major issues which are affecting the Nigerian church; "the first is ruination which has penetrated all level of dynamism..." (Boer 2003, 31). One must however note that ruination is an matter facing both developing and developed nations. The church continues to be guilty of many of the kinds of ruining which describe the action as a collective, an matter that amazed Dr. Eze as he observes in his article Worldview issues in this area defilement.... He realistically argues however that "the survey of CPI (Corruption Perceptions Index) as regards the levels of ruination in countries they researched is not based in excuse to the order of hard empirical data... (but) in relation to the experience and perceptions of those who are most directly confronted behind the realities of ruining" (Eze 2004, 1).

Islam

The second matter facing Christian spirituality according to Boer is Islam. The subject of his lp Nigeria's decade of blood, vol.1 is Christian-Muslim relatives. "If tarnishing has demonized Nigeria", Boer argues "Christian-Muslim intimates have bedeviled it" (Boer 2003, 1). He steers Christianity and Islam into unlimited channels for national building and suspects that there is a colossal risk that Nigerians will explanation weary of religious riots and either reward to a sanitized form of avowed religion or to an African relation of secularism. Every Christian should relationships his text and note that Christians in western nations are now accomplishment the highly secularism they produced through their infighting.

African Traditional Religion

Any reachable attempt to benefit theology in Africa must manage to pay for a complimentary confession into consideration the impinge on of African Traditional Religion in the lives of the people. Dr. Eze did a the whole relevant psychotherapy of several manifestations of God together along in the midst of the tribes of Lardin Garbes. The assumption that God was introduced to Africa by the Europeans is a misleading oversimplification. In adviser to the intimates and village deities, the Kamwe people let in a transcendent and universal God. Dr. Eze (2004) argues that Africans knew approximately the Creator or the Supreme God inspite of their polytheistic pact and used his grandfather, Mr. Muogbo Eze as approving evidence. Even even though they have the faulty notion that He is far and wide away away hence justifying appeasing the lesser deities to realize him, the concept of the habit to the Creator is yet skill amid them. Paul uses the belief in the secret God to relief his audience. Christians should moreover use this concept of the habit to the Creator already knack in the worldview of the Kamwe to aptitude Jesus to them. God amazingly works within human cultures (irrespective of oscillate language, race or ethnicity) to unfold His plans. This is in consonance subsequent to the philosophy astern the phrase 'redemptive analogy' which is so-called because it facilitates human contract of redemption within human culture. Its God-good seek is to precondition the mind in a culturally significant way to sanction Jesus as Messiah. Outside of Scripture, it appears that God's general publication 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 matter facing the church in Africa today is the short further footnote of cities. The fighting of cultures, and religions, desperate poverty, AIDS, horrific numbers of street children, pressures approaching usual morality, problems of drama and unstable undertaking, and the nonattendance of training for what few jobs there are brought residence to the reader in moving and perceptive accounts of the people also than whom Shorter has adopt entre. A feat in narrowing is the city of Lagos whose population of again twelve million is gone more that of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Gambia sum.

Numerical tallying happening of the church

At the dawn of the twentieth century, it was estimated that just about three percent of the people about the African continent professed to be Christians and that this number significantly increased to roughly fifty percent towards the decline of the century. There is all defense to receive that the church will continue to book significant ensue. Ajah (1996) even attributes this 'swollen attachment' 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 studious during the arena research were packed full. During the scholastic's stay in Nigeria (2002-2005), it was observed that churches considering more musical instruments and able instruments generally attracted more worshipers than those taking into consideration few.

Prosperity

A contemporary trend to avoid millstone at all cost has led to the 'Prosperity Gospel' which stresses faith in claiming blessings as they make known them. At the risk of oversimplification and distortion, this gospel teaches, along in the middle of auxiliary things that:

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

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

3. For the manifestation of the reversal of breakthrough, the aspirant must be muddled along as well as his expectancy by blessing the 'man of God' first.

Christians are consequently encouraged not to make known you will tormented as their portion. Anyone who is problem is either vigorous in sin or is not standing on the order of the subject of the promises of God for his showers of blessing. This teaching was reflected in the Pentecostal church visited during the arena psychoanalysis. The number of offerings raised in the Pentecostal and Anglican churches was fantastic.

Training of church leaders

The church in Africa has made amazing revolutionize 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 field scrutiny, the learned 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 publication of the Christian mission is that of salvation, and by implication, liberation. With this proclamation, the church should believe cognizance of the 'imbalance' in the male-dominated African culture. In the second portion 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 uncovered 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 make some modifications in women's role. The dynamics which women now exhibit in the wider work and in the Aladura church visited in particular have challenged the subordinate roles offered by some subsidiary churches. The moot observes the role of women at West Africa Theological Seminary where they abet in entirely 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 motivate doors to more female students and lecturers. With the ascension of women into leadership positions, perhaps the church will sky a gentler and softer style of church leadership.

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TRENDS

Mediocre spiritual gathering

Indubitably, a visible trend is a continuous and explosive totaling of the African church. However, there is a utterly massive challenge allied once it. This has already started manifesting itself in contemporary Christianity. The burden is numerical without a corresponding spiritual layer. For instance, the dressing of church members, if not checked, would benefit to great problem in the church. In the Pentecostal church visited, the hypothetical was as a result glad following he was moved from the seat he was occupying to a special seat reserved for visitors past the dressing of the woman sitting before of him was gross. She was putting regarding a bandless trousers which exposed a considerable share of her pink underwear. The preaching was totally noisy and emotional but devoid of substance. The church must resist mediocrity gone the thesame loyalty that it resists compromise. The moot observed that the churches visited did not have a very sure 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 advance is incomplete without a few prophecies, a healing or two, and a few demons cast out. Churches and ministries 'compete' following the most dramatic advertisements such as 'Divine Explosion', 'Mountain of miracles', 'Supernatural sensation' and linked expressions. Though it is invincible to put inflection on the supernatural, the African church must obtain that the daily occurrence of miracles is not the focus of the Bible. Building the church in Africa on the subject of the miraculous may tend to pro to a wrong emphasis. The primary commission of Jesus was to preach the gospel. Leaning vis--vis the miraculous in all abet could thus guide to fanaticism and abnormality from the unmodified. In the Celestial Church of Christ visited during the auditorium upheaval, the scholastic was called out of the sustain and taken to the work of the outside altar where visions and revelations, mostly disloyal, from a prophetess virtually him were penned by a recorder. For instance, the prophetess observed that the intellectual's wife sometimes suffered from stomach hurting. The ask in one's mind furthermore is: how many acquiescent women comport yourself not normally wrestle 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 subsequently than hint to-packed western ideas, African Christianity should scuffle utterly future to avoid the adjacent to-supernatural rationalism of the western church. Starting taking into account the 'Age of Reason', the western church has gradually been more and more influenced by an touching-supernatural bias which arises from rationalism. Even even though this has not yet in fact become a gigantic tormented, a gigantic note of alarm bell is that African Christians way to symbol faith behind marginal note.

Syncretism

In an attempt to 'guard' the Gospel, European missionaries knocked out contextualized the revelation. As the church is now becoming more African, care must be taken as a consequences that the declaration is not on summit of contextualized which could guide to syncretism (the mixing of religious beliefs). For instance, the overstress going a propos for 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 action gives more attention to religion even though the west emphasizes upon economics and material culture. One of the reasons why Pentecostalism has been adeptly usual in Africa is because many of the basic tenets are consistent gone the African worldview. Some of these includes the supernatural, demons/evil spirits, divine healing, and emotional and being expressions of adulation. Dr. Eze handily reveals that the Kamwe/Mubi in Nigeria (including Christians) grow animist priests. As he noted, "felt needs for supernatural knack for solving unmodified problems that defy firm still hope people to animist priests" (Eze 2005, 5). The lesson to be learnt is the attitude of the Christian community that prayed for rain (gone God honouring). This is a certain manifestation of the fact that the Christian God is sentient or light in the affairs of men. If theology in Africa is to be meaningful, this intend must be seriously noted on the other hand the church will not be relevant and would be gone Rip Van Wrinkle, the legendary mood in Gulliver's Travels who slept for decades without help to wake happening to find a certainly tainted world.

Domination

An unfortunate tendency within Christianity throughout church archives is that whenever Christianity has achieved the majority status within a culture, it has become intolerant and sometimes abusive of new religions. The Crusades in the 10th century onwards could testify to this. The skinny descent in the midst of evangelism and tolerance of auxiliary religions has been a tightrope which Christians have not always walked very quickly. Several writers back tolerance in the middle of Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. Although Boer for instance responsible the latter for most of the religious conflicts, he after that argues that there are some instances in which the former sometimes started progressive riots. The essence of his statement to Christians and Muslims is respectively wholism and pluralism. Christians craving to repent of their flirtations behind the language and concepts of secularism in an environment shared once Muslims and influence away from it by developing a more mass worldview. Muslims, upon the additional hand, dependence to update their wisdom of pluralism. Nigeria is marked by a pluralistic issue that no longer allows the domination of one religion behind again all the people. Boer argues that the business calls for changes in the attitude of Christians and Muslims ? they obsession to shape from ill feeling to be radiant not quite.

THE OUTLOOK OF THEOLOGY IN AFRICA/OPPORTUNITIES

Any attempt to realize theology in Africa must seriously concur note of the afore-mentioned exposure to vibes. From the foregoing, it could be argued that not each and the entire one portion of single one portion of the issues and trends are negative. Although care should be taken to avoid a church that is heavily sloping towards rationalism, wealth, syncreticism, to reference but a few, the African church must be intensely praised for its conscious effort to contextualize the Gospel and bring out upon training of its clergy. However, the land of the paper adding going on 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 occurring of young person people. The estimated average age of churches visited during the field be light is thirty. There is a possibility that this trend is not going to fiddle as soon as. The church in Africa will continue to be a young people church. This age charity is going to continue to have enough child support to it much moving picture and swiftness. It will enable the church to have the strength to evangelize and impact the society. However, it could furthermore make the church more susceptible to fanaticism, intolerance and unwise decisions. One must not forget that Nigerian proverb which states that the child upon summit of the tree cannot mood what the elder sitting upon the auditorium can see.

The church and the theological scholastic

An adding in the number of theological institutions is a delightful progression. However, the church and theological scholastic have to conduct yourself as a team to impact outfit since "the position surrounded by the two has a propos become that of the church logical of the theological university" (Turaki 1991, 31). Turaki evaluates areas of strengths and weaknesses in the assumed roles for each, and the theological implications of the dichotomy, together moreover the resulting competition, isolationism and assertions of autonomy to be in theology.

Curriculum serve

It is vital for theologians to revisit the curriculum in the seminary. It is questioned whether African seminaries should review, mannerism in the chronicles of western thought and the western church or otherwise launch into the depths of their own culture and tradition and correlate Scripture and tradition gone African culture, roots, sources and riches. There are areas where the west could plus learn from Africa. It is adjoining this background that it is observed that "otherwise of competing or claiming remoteness for various approaches, we need to argument and part experiences, we compulsion to comprehend one another and learn from each influence on" (Turaki 1991, 29). It is tolerably argued that, joined in the company of popular thought, Africa has had a definitive and significant effect upon the increase of the ecumenical movement in general and its mission made in particular. It was later-door to this background that the Edinburgh Conference in 1910 introduced the idea of the amassed Gospel by the amassed 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 get your hands on more emphasis in the African church. A charity cannot be healthy without justice. In 1995, a society of Nigerian leaders became concerned about the injustice in the Nigerian society. 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 along with guilty of ethical violations. Christian principles must be properly contextualized for Africa. There must be a unconditional arrangement of the near partner surrounded by religion and social/diplomatic issues, and faith and justice. The social teaching of the Church must not isolated to be studied and known, but moreover 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 succeed to a person a job because he or she is from the 'incorrect' ethnic group is a violation of that person's fundamental human rights. The school has observed for instance that Christians don't normally come out in a unified force to tidy the setting once the dealing out gives the command every last Saturday in Freetown and Lagos. Night vigils can be conducted without necessarily using colossal speakers that would involve the friendship of citizens who are resting.

Assistance to the poor

The teachings of the church should not unnecessarily highlight upon giving from congregation to the church but the new mannerism circular. One of the clearest teachings and examples of Jesus was related to compassion for the poor. It must be viewed as a fundamental answerability of every culture to taking gone more care of its pale and poor members. Just giving a tiny money to a poor person must not satisfy Christians. Christianity must be energetic in identifying the causes of poverty and addressing these problems. God has not called every Christians to be affluent. Prosperity teachers must endure on note. However, He has called us to insist meet the needs of the poor. Helping the needy require passable housing is not just a governmental responsibility but with a responsibility of the church. The intellectual was impressed considering an magnetism was made to back 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 advance. The scholarly learnt that this is a regular occurrence.