Bachelor of Arts in Theology

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African And Christian Perspective On Widowhood Rite
(Tangaza University College, 2005) Acquaye, Emmanuel
One of the earliest Christian movements to arrive in Ghana was the Catholic Church, which made its debut in around 1899. The missionary zeal couple with the dedication of the local catechist and clergy enabled the church to make significant inroads into extensive stretches of the country, such that as at now, "Ghanaian Catholic population is 12.18% of the total population which is about 20 million. "1 Against the relative success, in the absence of any deliberate moves to integrate the strong local traditions, the church's teachings remained a largely foreign concept to many. Early missionaries, it would appear, had failed to grasp the significance or import of the local, albeit enriching cultural practices, which they dismissed outright as devilish or as fetish. Rituals pertaining to widowhood are particularly poignant here. A new convert would find it conflicting and difficult to reconcile what one believes compelling in the traditional values and the new Christian teaching. The situation becomes even worse for the hapless widow who faces severe challenges related to the loss of a loved one, material and emotional deprivation and then the conflicts between cultural and spiritual welfare. It therefore remains the onerous duty of the pastors and theologians and religious scholars to revisit the issue, study the matter, and come up with some solution to this burning problem. This research study aims at taking a critical look into the subject, seeking out the meaningful components of the traditional practices and reconciling them with the church's teachings and liturgy. It is anticipated that the findings will contribute in some way to the other efforts that are being made to formulate an acceptable procedure in the rites aimed at giving the widow some solace following the traumatizing loss. The research focuses on the Akan community, made up of several groups that are widely spread throughout Ghana. The afflictions and the indignity that befall the widows among these distinctive groups are similar in many aspects. Some references will, however, be made to relevant issues on the subject emanating from other ethnic groups, in order to elucidate certain points. The study begins with the background of the Akans and their culture, in particular as it pertains to rites for bereaved widows. It goes on to sift through the cultural practices to find out possible applications and integration into the church's liturgy. Finally, a look is made into what the support groups within the civil society, government agencies and the church itself can contribute to ameliorate the plight of the widow.
The African Concept Of Marriage And The Inculturation Process
(Tangaza University College, 2003) Muichavali, Benedict
Culture is a set of meanings and values that organize human life and a world view In the life of each individual and especial!) the faithful. there are particular significant and decisive moments for discerning Gods call and embracing the mission entrusted M Him. Inculturation enables the local church to li e the best of the tradition oi her people in a w a\ that full integrates them within the life and message of Jesus Christ.
African Trinitology A Response to Ethnocentrism in Kenya.
(Tangaza University College, 2001-02) ODIGWE UCHENNA, FRANCIS
This essay sets out to achieve dual objectives. It serves the purpose of making the doctrine of the most Holy Trinity intelligible to Africans. This intelligibility lies in the essay's focus on the communitarian model of the Trinity, which evokes familiar communitarian sentiments among the Africans. The sentiment is deepened with the use of African communitarian categories like the ancestors and their descendants. Besides the objective of intelligibility, the other objective is relevance. The essay seeks also to make the communitarian Trinity respond to a specific African problem, ethnocentrism. The relevance of the communitarian Trinity to the question of ethnocentrism makes the essay not just theoretical but also practical and thus dispels the abstract connotation that goes with the traditional doctrine of the Trinity. Therefore, the goal of the essay is to demonstrate the intelligibility and relevance of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to an African mindset. The essay is presented in the methodology of liberation theology designated as pastoral cycle. The methodology begins with an observation and an analysis of the social situation, followed by an evaluation from the gospel point of view of the social situation, and ends with some plans of action(s) towards ameliorating the situation. Chapter one of this essay tries to analyze the dynamism of ethnocentrism in Kenya. This analysis is presented in a socio-political frame such that it traces the evolution of ethnocentrism in the political history of Kenya. In this section of the essay my sources are both library and some fieldwork. I used some books, journals, and reports of researches especially from the Kenya Human Rights Commission resource center, Nairobi. I also tried to check out some bits of information I got from the library materials by actually visiting some ethnic clash sites like Mob, Nakuru, and Likoni. At these places, with the help of the Sectariate of Catholic Justice and Peace of Kenya, I was able to interview some of the victims of these clashes. The facts in this chapter represents the fruit of these researches both in the library and in the field. The second step in pastoral cycle methodology is the evaluation of the social situation in the light of the gospel. This second step is used in chapters two. While chapter one ends with the observation that the reflection on the implications of our belief in the doctrine of the Trinity could respond to ethnocentrism, chapter two exposes a nascent model of the Trinity ascribed as the communitarian model. In this chapter this model is presented and ethnocentrism evaluated from its perspectives. The final step of the pastoral cycle is planning, the mapping out of courses of actions to combat the social malady. Chapter three of the essay is dedicated to this planning. The chapter advocates for a re-definition of the African concept of community using the trinitarian community as a model and goes further to suggest concrete ways of executing this plan through the declaration of Christ as the Ancestor of the Kenyan citizens, based on the trinitarian ancestral concept of the Trinity. On the trinitarian ancestral interaction is based the christological ancestral relationship to us which forms the point of the unification of the ethnic groups in Kenya. It is in this manner that an African trinitology will respond to ethnocentrism in Kenya. However, before delving into the essay proper, we will present a brief sketch of Kenya. Kenya lies across the equator in east central Africa on the coast of the Indian Ocean. It is a moderate sized country with an area of 582, 650 square kilometers in which only 25 percent is inhabitable and the vast remaining 75 percent is either arid or semi-arid. I Kenya has a population of 28.7milion with an average annual increase rate of 3.4 percent. This population is a conglomeration of 64 ethnic groups ranging from small to large groups. The 1999 population census2 puts the percentages of some of the groups as follows: Kikuyu 22 percent, Luhya 14 percent, Luo 13 percent, Kalenjin 12 percent, Kamba 11 percent, Kisii 6 percent, Meru 6 percent, Asian, European and Arab 1 percent and others 15 percent. In view of the diversity of ethnic communities in Kenya, Kenyans speak English language as the official language and Swahili as the national language. There is also a diversity of religions in Kenya. The religious distribution is: Protestants 46 percent, Roman Catholics 30 percent, Traditional religionists 6 percent, Moslems 16 percent and others 2 percent.3 Historically, paleontologists' researches show that human beings inhabited Kenya about 2 million years ago. The Arab seafarers established settlements along the coast and the Portuguese took control of the area in the early 1500. The largest group of the Kenyan ethnic groups, the Kikuyu, migrated to this region at about the 18th century. This whole area became a British protectorate in 1890; a crown colony in 1920 when it was ascribed as British East Africa. In this area, nationalist stirrings erupted in the 1940s and in 1952, when the famous Mau Mau movement rebelled against the colonial government. Kenya became independent on December 12, 1963 under the leadership of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. From 1964 to 1992, the Kenyan African National Union (KANU), first under Jomo Kenyatta and then under Daniel Arap Moi, ruled the country of Kenya as one-party state. It took demonstrations, riots and international pressure to get the government of Moi to repeal the one party state and accept multi-party elections in 1992. In the Republic of Kenya, there is a one-house National Assembly constituted by 188 members elected for five years by the universal suffrage, 12 nominated members by the president and 2 ex-officio members, to make a sum total of 202 members of Kenyan Parliament. Among the many problems that besiege economic and political growth in Kenya, is ethnocentrism. Several authors and publications depict this reality. "Intricately connected to most of the economic and political challenges and problems that Kenya faces today is the question of the place of ethnic groups"' Atieno Odhiambo puts it that, "Ethnicity forms the strongest cleavages in the Kenyan society"5 Kiraitu Murungi writing on Multi-Partism in Kenya warns; "We cannot pretend that ethnicity is not an important factor in Kenyan politics. It is part of our historical and social reality."6 He then concludes that "the time for lies on this issue is over and an honest and open national discussion on ethnicity should take place."7 These statements bring us to the end of the introductory pages of this essay. We shall now delve into the essay proper.
An Encounter with the Spirit of God in African Religion
(Tangaza University College, 2002-02) Mrosso, Bartholomew
On 1996, my superiors appointed me to Ghana for two years of pastoral training. From 1996 to 1998 I was doing my pastoral formation among the Sisaala people of the Upper West region of Ghana. The Sisaala people are mainly traditionalists. By this I mean the majority of them if not all are followers of African Traditional Religion. Any one who approaches any village easily notices the predominance of the African Religion among the Sisaala. As you enter in any village the first thing to see is a shrine. Each extended family has a shrine. Among the Sisaala each extended family forms a compound. Then a number of compounds form a village. So the number of compounds in the village determines the number of shrines in it. Coming from East Africa where the phenomenon of shrines is not very dominant, I was very much fascinated by it. I was curious to know what are those shrines for. I was told that those are places of prayer and sacrifice. I witnessed that, if the day of prayers in the shrine, happened to be on Sunday, very few people would attend mass on that Sunday. This experience made me think that prayers in the shrines seem to be more meaningful to the people than our Christian prayers. I thought it was my task as a young missionary to make our Christian prayers more meaningful and appealing to these people so as they could abandon their traditional beliefs and embrace Christian faith. My plan as a future missionary was to convert these traditional believers into Christianity. I never thought of a possibility of dialogue with the African Traditional believers. Another fascinating phenomenon was, the Sisaala firm belief in the presence of the Spirits. For them everything has its spiritual dimension. Every living and non-living creature has a spirit. My first attitude towards the phenomenon of spirits was very negative. To me these traditional believers were simply superstitious. But slowly I started changing my attitude from negative one to a positive approach. I started asking myself about the possibility of God communicating something to us Christians through the traditional believers. In 1998 I left Ghana with a positive view of the traditional believers. It was in that same year I started my theological studies. From the beginning of my theological formation, I thought it is necessary for modern theologians to search for a theological foundation that can sustain a positive approach towards African Traditional Religion. During the course of my theological studies, I had an opportunity to take an elective on Christian theology of other faiths. This course has helped me to re examine my attitude towards African Traditional Religion. It has also opened my theological mind to see the possibility of dialogue between African Religion and Christianity. So it is out of my past experiences with the traditional African believers in Ghana that I chose this topic for my long essay. I am aware that my essay is limited in several ways; first, African religion has not yet been recognized as one of the world religion. Nevertheless it is in the process of being recognized and a world religion. Second there is only now a fully recognized Christian theology of other faiths. Despite positive attitude of the church fathers towards non- Christian religions', it had taken some times to develop a Christian theology of other faiths. Third limitation of my essay is that it is very hypothetical. When I propose an encounter with the Spirit of God in African Religion what I have in mind is the possibility of meeting or experiencing the presence of God in the lives of the Traditional Africans. God is a mystery and so his Spirit is also a mysterious phenomenon. Even after the revelation brought by Christ God still remains a mystery. Having said that, an encounter with the Spirit of God in African Religion is just a theological hypothesis. This hypothesis is aimed at helping to change negative attitudes towards African Religion. I have divided this essay into four chapters. Chapter one is on the understanding of African Religion. The aim of this chapter is to help us conceive African Religion as one of the authentic religious traditions of humanity. In this chapter we will examine common fundamental beliefs in African Traditional Religion. These fundamental beliefs will help us to see African Religion as one religion expressed in different ways. My aim is to alter any negative attitude towards African Religion. That is why Chapter two will trace the origin of the negative attitude towards African Religion. This attitude can be traced back to the early encounter between Christianity and African Religion that will be examined in chapter two. Chapter three is on the Spirit in the Bible. Our aim in this chapter is build a biblical foundation for encountering the Spirit of God in African Religion. Once we are able to affirm the possibility of the presence of the Spirit of God in African Religion, then it would be easy for us to change our negative attitude towards it. Therefore in chapter three we will examine the understanding of the Spirit in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Chapter four is on the presence of the Holy Spirit in African Religion. In this chapter we will attempt to show that all the religious and social good values in African Religion could be attributed to the work of the Spirit of God. We will end with a general conclusion by proposing some required attitudes for dialogue between Christianity and African Religion.
Toward A Model for an Igbo Christian Spirituality
(Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Nwachuicvvu, Peter
As many scholars have noted, there has been an increasing interest in spirituality since Vatican Id Council. This has been evidenced by the number of people who enroll in spirituality courses each year, many writings on spirituality, number of workshops on spirituality designed to foster the lived experience of the spiritual life. People wonder why there is this increasing interest in spirituality. This should not be surprising because the church since Vatican II has focused on the importance of inculturation of the gospel values in the different cultures. Perhaps, the most effective way of doing this is through an understanding of local spiritualities. Spirituality being a lived experience, the progressive, conscious striving toward personal integration through self- transcendence within and toward the horizon of ultimate concern,' could be a good perspective from which to assess and appreciate the cultural context of the gospel values. Spirituality deals with day to day striving towards one's life goal. When we come to Africa, we may ask ourselves, what is that that an African strives for and how is he or she living out this life project? According to John Mbiti, Africans are notoriously religious. Religion penetrates all the aspects of life so fully that it is not easy to isolate it.2 This means that the principle which controls an African's day to day striving lies in his or her religion. Similarly, the principle which governs the life of an Igbo person in Nigeria, is his or her religion. This implies that in all their life activities, religious beliefs is a guiding force. But when we examine the attitudes of the Igbo Christians today, we are forced to ask, how far has Christian values penetrated their life and their daily activities? Thus one wonders, is Christianity making any impact among the Igbos who are committed to religion and whose religious values guides all their activities? According to an English saying, "there is no smoke without fire." When I look at many Igbo Christians, I wonder what actually is the force behind what I can call a "double lifestyle" and their inconsistent adherence to the gospel message. Contemporary Igbo Christians manifest elements of "double religious consciousness" and are not completely faithful to the gospel message. "Double lifestyle or religious consciousness," is the situation where, one is a Christian and at the same time an adherent of traditional religion. One may attend Christian worship in the morning, and in the evening go to the traditional priest's shrine or participate fully in the traditional worship practices. My experience of this "double lifestyle" and unfaithfulness to the gospel message during my 1999 long vacation (May to August 1999) which I spent in some Igbo Christian communities raised many questions in me. First, what is the force that makes Igbo people to live as both Christians and believers in traditional religion simultaneously? Second, how rooted is Christianity among the Igbos, and how meaningful is Christianity to them? Lastly, how far has Christianity been incarnated in the Igbo culture? This essay, therefore, aims at examining the root cause or the force behind this "double religious consciousness," and will attempt to show how Christianity can solve this problem. This search for the cause of the "double religious consciousness"is examined from the perspective of spirituality. Spirituality in this essay is considered to be the underlying principle behind any human behaviour. This principle is considered to be the root of all human actions and the core of any human existence. In order to achieve the aim of this project, we shall divided the work into three chapters: Chapter one examines the concept of spirituality. It analyses the Christian and African Indigenous spiritualities. Chapter two focuses on aspects of African spirituality as they are found and lived in the Igbo traditional community. Then, chapter three is dedicated to establishing a model for an Igbo Christian Spirituality. In this case, the need for inculturation, the process of and approaches to inculturation of the gospel message in the Igbo culture are identified and analysed. This is followed by a general summary and conclusion of the work. This essay is based on an evaluation of existing literature relevant to the topic of study. The literature analysed include both Christian and African theologians' texts. Furthermore, particular attention is paid to the daily life of the Igbos, that is, their experiences and their nomenclatures. This enables us to explain more fully the inner feelings of the people based on their own experience and their expressions. Also, the essay is based on discussion with some Igbos and interview with some missionaries who have worked among the people. In selection of the key informants interviewed, consideration was given to those with pastoral experience among the Igbos. Ten informants were interviewed,' but out of this ten people, Fr. Declean was chosen as the Chief informant for more indepth interview. Rev. Fr. Declean has worked among the Igbos both as Parish Priest and also a lecturer in a Major Seminary for over twenty years. Also, coming from outside Igbo land and Nigeria, he was considered to be more appropriate to give an outsider's evaluation of indigenous Igbo Christians. The bible quotations in this essay are from The African Bible.' See
Towards An African Theology of The Cross
(Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Canice Iheanyichukwu, Azuoma
Institutionali/ed corruption is a main future of \hicnii bureaucracies. The African Synod (1994) identified it as an oppressive structure or system that constitutes a major bottleneck on Africa's road to social, political and economic development and progress. As an antidote to the continental malaise, the Synod called for a "serious reawakening of conscience linked with a firm determination of will- among Africans, especially, those who oversee the administration of public affairs, namely. the bureaucrats.' Six years after the Synod, bureaucratic corruption is still on the increase in Africa: subjecting the people to untold suffering. There is. therefore, the need for a Christian symbol, which will help in "reawakening- the conscience of African Christians and motivate them towards the eradication of corruption and liberation from its shackles. The Cross-the unique Christian symbol-serves this purpose. This essay, therefore, attempts at an honest look at bureaucratic corruption in Africa, with specific reference to Nigeria; and proposes the cross as a reawakening or liberating symbol for African peoples oppressed by bureaucratic corruption, Hence. the title: Tarrant an African Theology of the Cross. It is thus hoped that the popular notion of the cross as a purely spiritual symbol with little or nothing to do with life in society, will be corrected. For a better presentation oldie work. the pastoral cycle methodology of see. judge and act is followed. Also, the essay is divided into !bur chapters. Chapter one exposes the dynamics of bureaucratic corruption in Nigeria. It defines and clarifies related concepts. Chapter two examines the development of the theology of the cross in scripture and history of Western theolog). v, Mt particular interest in contemporary theology of the cross as resourceful for a contemporary Alrican theology of the cross. the third chapter attempts to develop a theology of the cross that !lows From and addresses the African experience of oppressive social ills, especially. bureaucratic corruption. In the fifth, final chapter, some pastoral implications of an African theology of the cross are explored, with suggestions on how the Nigerian and African church can re-educate the people on the liberating or reawakening aspect of the cross. For social translOrmation Some concluding remarks then follow.

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