PART I: THE AFRICAN BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION

In the period since 1960 independent Africa has seen the rapid growth of a new group of African Christian theologians developing a new discourse within the churches planted by European and American missions. It has been established for some time that the theology of this group has gone through a first phase, which is generally called the theology of "Adaptation." This mode of theology was superseded in the early 1970s by a second phase, commonly referred to as the theology of "Incarnation."

My initial reflexion upon works published by the African theologians that I examined for my M.A. thesis at McGill University in 1987, followed by further reflexion upon my own experience of five years in Nigeria, led to a growing sense that African theology since 1960 has developed in three phases, the third of which is unfolding in the 1980s and '90s. However, after collection of a massive amount of data from the already vast African theological literature, I came to the conclusion that my original hypothesis of a third phase marked by a single paradigm was untenable. The current phase, if one may call it that, is in reality an explosion of African theological creativity and maturity marked by a serious wrestling with all of the issues posed by modern African life. So then it seemed that I should document this explosion of paradigmatic diversity, and the plural concerns. Having observed quite a number of new theological developments after 1980, I asked the question, "what social conditions had shifted at that time?" There were many such changes: increased urbanization, increased educational levels, changing religious affiliations, etc. I discovered that it was not possible to understand the plural theologies of Africa without relating them to the concrete historical conditions in which they arose. Despite a common heritage, there is so much diversity in Africa that most generalizations are almost impossible. Theology in Africa is thus, regionally located.

The two discoveries, (i) the explosion beyond a single paradigm, and (ii) the rootedness of theological reflexion in local conditions forced a reorientation. The task now was to document the explosion and to clarify the social contexts in which the various theological orientations arose. This twofold aim demands that the work be interdisciplinary. While my primary training had been theological, since 1988 I had undergone extensive training in anthropology and consequently felt qualified to undertake this task.

This book brings together for the first time the theological literature of both anglophone and francophone Africa, and perhaps its most important contribution to scholarship is a methodological thesis: that theology is inevitably contextual - by showing the light which this approach sheds on African intellectual developments. The same method could be applied to European and American theology.

Part I traces the theological evolution, the phases of "Adaptation" and "Incarnation" and the new phase. Here, the exposition of what I have called the "third phase" demonstrates that the new developments transcend a single paradigm. Therefore it might be argued that there is no distinct "third phase", for as rapid social change engulfs Africa and the rest of the world no one can know what the outcome will be, or how Africa will appear several decades hence.

Part II deals with several concrete issues of African life today that have particularly challenged African Christians, especially in the 1980s and 90s. Here, I explore the various developments of the theological explosion by relating them to the concrete conditions which gave rise to them. Implicit in this methodology is a critique of theological studies that analyse the ideas theologians propose without realizing that these ideas cannot be properly understood unless they are related to their social base.

While several surveys of African theology are available, each of them suffers from one or several lacunae. Gwinyai Muzorewa has written an introductory survey entitled The Origins and Development of African Theology (1985) which is helpful but limited. First, it covers only the period up to 1980, and I shall argue that some of the most significant developments have taken place in the years since, 1980 being a watershed year; second, it does not treat francophone Africa; and third, perhaps partly because of that omission, it deals only superficially with the fundamental tension between the liberationist paradigm and the predominating inculturationist paradigm (see Tutu, 1975).

Until the time of this writing, there has been no book-length survey of African theology covering developments in both francophone and anglophone Africa, and the need of such a survey is voiced increasingly by scholars working in this field (Mbiti 1986, 63; Hastings 1988, 196-7; and Schoffeleers 1990). Indeed one weakness of books in the entire field of African theology generally is that they do not give equal attention to francophone and anglophone Africa.

A work more similar in nature to the present work than any other is that of Zaïrean theologian Bénézet Bujo, now translated into English as African Theology in Its Social Context (1992). First, he seeks to set the development of African theology in its social context, a task that is essential to the understanding of contemporary African theology and is key in my own work. Second, he pays far more attention than do most authors to developments in both English and French speaking Africa. Bujo goes beyond discussion of social context to draw the outlines of a new African theology, one which he feels is more attuned to African realities. Because it is the task of African theologians to articulate, shape and define African theology I do not attempt that task here. What I aim to add to the discussion is as follows: (i) A documentation of the explosion of African theological diversity in the period since 1978 in terms of the investigation of a possible third phase: while there is much in the work of Bujo and other African theologians to support my hypothesis, none have expressed the current development in these specific terms so far. (ii) A more focused examination of the link between social change and theological development. Bujo does not address the importance of social change in the shaping of African theologies, either at the grassroots level in the AICs or in the "mission" churches. (iii) A comprehensive treatment of recent developments: Bujo's work in the original German was published in 1986. His preface in English to the (1992) English edition provides a brief update on the impact in Africa of the great historic events in Eastern Europe, the end of the cold war, and the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, but the book itself remains as it was in 1986. Thus, it does not deal with those new developments in any depth, or with other developments such as the rapid growth in the numbers of African women doing theology, the impact and meaning of the Rwandan genocide, or new responses to the ecological crisis.

(iv) Introduction of new material based on my own original research, particularly the work on the sensorium in Africa. (v) A comprehensive bibliography of works written by both anglophone and francophone Africans.

This study does not set out to measure African theological discourse in the court of western anthropology or by western standards of rationality. Rather, I seek to set African theological discourse into its sociological context to better understand its development. In the interest of brevity, I limit discussion to African Christian theology in sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa, with special reference to Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zaïre and Cameroon. It is those five countries that have produced the greatest volume of African theology, and I have first-hand experience in Nigeria and Kenya. It shall become clear that the term "African Theology" is a genre description, not a geographical description. I shall refer to several lines of evidence: published works by African theologians and Africanists, and personal conversations with African colleagues during my five year stay in Nigeria, during the EATWOT conference in Kenya in January 1992, with visiting African scholars in Montréal from 1990 to 1993, and during six weeks of research in Kenya in 1996.

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