Since the modern Western mission in the continent, African Christianity has been struggling to find its own identity to imbed in African culture, to be the faith of Africans that pervade their mind and soul and speak to their daily life in every context. Because of the unhealthy marriage of mission and colonialism, by many Africans, at the beginning of Western mission, Christ was perceived as uninvited guest. This course examines the progress of African Christianity and its potential impact in global mission.
This course provides insight how African Christianity respond to contextual issues such as urbanization, ethnic conflict, migration, Islamic theology and mission. The course also scrutinizes the strengths and weaknesses of the contextualization process to build African Christology and missiology.
In the environment of imperial expansion, Christianity grew from an obscure Jewish sect to become a world religion. From the womb of the slave trade and colonialism, African Christianity has emerged to be a global Christianity that can share the burden of global mission and contribute to the development of Christian theology and missiology. This course aims to introduce, the scope, influence and contribution of African Missiology beyond colonialism.
Since its inception, Christianity has been translatable. Whether the Scripture is communicated in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, English or various African languages, the message of the prophets and the apostles retains its final authority and remains as the revelation of God. This course affirms that in content, and its various shape and form, African Christianity is Biblical.
Ever since Christianity take root in African soil and began to cloth African cultural garb and speak in African languages and idioms. Christianity has become dynamic and the fastest growing religion. The conversion rate within the continent, the church planting in Europe and the U.S by Africans to reach out the Western people, the tent-maker African missionaries in various parts of the world are evidence of the nature of African Christianity. It is vibrant and missional.
Presenting the revelation of God through the cultural forms of the recipients is a daunting task of the church and every missionary. This course contributes to the effort of those who labor to make the Bible speak to the contexts of their audience.
African Christianity transcends tribal, racial, cultural, socioeconomic, political and geographical boundaries.
Africans pattern of thinking is concrete relational. In other words, if one writes volumes of books on “forgiveness” or “loving your enemy” and does not practice that, Africans discredit both the messenger and the message. To understand the depth of Africans’ faith one should not ask for articulation of doctrines but observe the life of the Christians. This course explores the practicality of Christianity in various spheres of the African culture.
Christianity is best expressed and understood through the life of African believers in the context of colonialism, apartheid, poverty, dictatorship, and diaspora. Students will be assigned to visit African migrant churches and do field research.
