Bachelor of Arts in Theology

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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.
Marriage And Family Among The Akambas
(Tangaza University College, 2003) Natal, Antonio
I will focus this study on traditional marriage among the Akamba people, without, of course, ignoring their today's society. I will dwell more on the traditional customs, which are more typical to this group, which explains in a great deal their experience and concept of marriage. I chose Marriage, because it an institution that plays a central place among the Akamba, as well as in many other African societies. Unfortunately, many young people especially those who happened to live out of their traditional society find themselves in married life without a minimum of preparation for it, and at times with no idea of what marriage entails. Part of the reason maybe attributed to the breakdown of families, often caused by the social, economic and cultural pressures that contemporary life brings. I find this paper relevant to these situations, which are of common interest in our pastoral work. I will try to highlight some aspects in this field, and try to see how the Church would be relevant to them. In the same line, I will stress the virtues and strengths of the traditional Akamba family. I do believe that as I journey in this field, I will discover many other pertinent issues for pastoral concern. I will have a specific interest in the social factors underlying persistence of certain values, continuity and change, as they are appear in contemporary times. I will try to present the values, attitudes, functions and significance attached to traditional Akamba marriage. As mentioned above, I chose the Akamba ethnic group, as one of groups that would help me to understand what an African marriage is; of course, with respect for all shades of the difference that exist within various African communities. I will not pretend to deal with all the issues concerning marriage and family; my aim is therefore to cover the subject within a relatively limited area. Why Akamba? Because it is an ethnic group with whom I have shared and lived more than any other ethnic group in Kenya.
Inculturation of Marriage Among the Bemba People of Zambia
(Tangaza University College, 2002-02) Misengo, Theophan
One of the deepest aspirations and desires that the Bemba have and long to see fulfilled is marriage. When we have some knowledge about their marriage encounter, it will help us to understand on the way they respond to their Christian faith. This understanding is important for our pastoral work as ministers of the Word of God. A good number of marriages, among the Bemba, are traditional ones. Some of these Christians prefer traditional marriage to ratified marriage in the church. Among the Bemba, there are polygamous families and polygamy is accepted. Within their marriage practice, there are some elements that do not conform to Christian values. At the same time, the Bemba are in favour of Christianity. The Christian and traditional point of view have to meet and embrace each other somewhere. In Africa today, inculturation continues to be an urgent issue. The Bemba should experience the Good News of the Gospel in their cultural situation. Traditional marriage practices should be enriched by the Gospel message and vice-versa. Christianity has to grow in an African environment where each Christian will feel at home. The issue of traditional marriage has persisted since the early missionaries. The early missionaries addressed this matter with less success. The search for better understanding of traditional marriage continues. The church should look for suitable ways by which to accept traditional marriage. In the process of reinterpretation of the Bemba traditional marriage, the Bemba community and the church should be faithful to each other.
Inculturation of Marriage among the Akamba of Kikumbulyu
(Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Munyao, Zachaeus
It is intention of this essay to study Kamba traditional marriage, and to offer reflections, which might inculturate Christian marriage in Kikumbulyu. Among the Kamba customs there are plenty of values, which are useful in building Christian marriage. Church leaders and believers hesitate to incorporate these cultural values into Christian marriage probably due to misunderstandings and lack of right information on what inculturation really means and what should be inculturated. It is, however, observed that "the people who have maintained their cultural heritage are more attracted by the spiritual churches, which have room for culturally related patterns.... ' Conservatism in the mainline churches has slackened the process of inculturation and as a consequence the faith has not had much meaning in Kikumbulyu, since the missionaries opposed African traditional practices such as traditional marriage. In his study on the history of Christianity in Africa, Baur attested that "independent churches spearhead the movement to inculturation."8
Gender Impact on Spousal Relationship in Marriage Among The Agikuyu
(Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Kamande Muguro, Fredrick
Marriage is an institution that is vital in the society. However, the experiences reflect that marital relationship is threatened and is going through a crisis. It is observed that couples are living their relationship painfully. Many a couple calls it off through separation or divorce. This is a problem that is rocking the marital relationship. This has prompted me to attempt to study the problems that are facing the couples in their relationship. There are numerous factors and an essay of this nature would be insufficient to treat it. Thus, we limit ourselves to write on the aspect of gender and its impact on the spousal relationship. In addition, we have limited it only to the Agikuyu community who lives in Central Province of Kenya. Due to the economic opportunities they have dispersed all over the country. but still have a similar cultural tenet. Gender issue in marriage is affecting couples especially on ways they relate to each other. In the contemporary society where gender awareness has escalated as to reach high levels, often resulting to violence meted out by either of the spouses. Our objective here is to suggest a more integral and healthy view on gender. We will not treat gender as though in a manner biased. Our wish is to look into men and women as those living in the spousal relationship. This paper is meant to bring more understanding about the married. To carry this out our paper is divided into four chapters. In the first chapter, we will make an analysis of the social and cultural setting of gender and suggest some problems. We will look at oral literature, and how they teach gender at the rites of passage. In addition, we shall look to contemporary learning about gender in relation to the Agikuyu culture assessing hom, it affect the relationship. Finally we will examine how the gender attitudes learned affect the marriage relationship. In the second chapter, we will make an overview of Agikuyu gender attitudes and how they are being challenged by contemporary trends. We will see how this has positively contributed to the assertion of women in the society. We will examine resistance to these trends. Then these changes in attitudes shall be applied to the marriage relationship to see what impact it has made. In the third chapter, we shall assess both the tradition and the contemporary trends. We will attempt to offer corrections to the above situation, and then discard what is not necessary and retain what is of value from both trends. It will be a kind of social reconstruction on the gender issue. Then we will see how this can have an impact on marital relationship. In the fourth chapter. it would be an affirmation of the Third chapter. We will offer construction of a theology of equality between men and women. From it, will ensue marital relationship spirituality. We will then suggest how this theology can affect the marital relationship. In the fifth chapter. we will suggest pastoral activity that would bring wholeness to individuals in the marital relationship. This chapter will be more practical, making some recommendations that could be effected through a structured pastoral activity. Then we shall give the conclusion of the essay.
Problem of Marriage and Divorce Among Young Couples
(2000-02) Labila, Placido
Once a Parish priest told me that divorce rate among the Catholics in his parish is alarming He said, 'the more people wed the more they divorce,' Most of the divorcees are among the young couples. Last year, when 1 met three of my old friends in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, they told me that they had divorced their wives and remarried. Every time one opens a newspaper or switches on a television he/she will never miss something on marriage problems What has gone wrong with marriage institution today? I asked myself. There are numbers of factors, which have contributed to the increase of divorce cases today among young couples. Young couples this work means those who are married from 0-5 years of marriage. In chapter three, some of the factors that cause divorce are discussed at length. It is a result of some research I did in Magomeni and Manzese Parishes, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Most of the examples given in this work are from East Africa and few from Zambia. While reading the Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesial in Africa of John Paul 11, the same concern about marriage is expressed in major Challenges emphasized almost unanimously by the Episcopal Conferences of Africa, is the concern of the Christian marriage and family life.
Marriage and Divorce in Mt. 19:1-12
(Tangaza University College, 2000-02-12) Andrei, Kokany
The sun was like a robin egg blue down coming when the Fr. In-charge of Bondeni Parish invited his confreres for a wedding ceremony that afternoon. But the response he got from the Assistant Parish Priest caused a laughter in the whole community. "You go and marry them but tomorrow I will open my marriage tribunal office and they will be the first to come requesting me to have them divorce one another", responded Fr. Keller. This is one of the jokes that a community of Priests make in parishes but from the out look of the joke it gives a clear picture on how severe the problem marriage and divorce is. In these last years the parish of Bondeni experienced a lot of divorce cases, and also experienced a lot of cases on polygamous marriage as well. Today divorce have become rampart, it is being experienced more often than before. In one of the local daily news print, they showed a mathematical figure on divorce whereby if the issue is going to be taken lightly the future of marriage vocation is at stake because the question on divorce is growing at an alarming rate. It is proposed that one out of six women you meet in a matatu who has reached a marriageable age is divorced or at least is a single women parent. Again, in the Daily Nation, Friday, Jan 21,2000, on the section of your weekender magazine, there is a current situation of the problem. Many of these single women in the town of Nairobi have resorted to put on wedding rings. "They are wearing a mark of a married person which they think can be a good camouflage." Nancy K. is one of such women who are wearing wedding rings in belief that the symbol keeps men form bothering her. She has a marriage ring on her second finger and an engagement ring on the third. Many others have resorted to put on wedding rings as a good camouflage to stop men from persuing them romantically and father with her another child. To prevent from reviving her past painful experience which is now cooling down from her previous failed marriage, they wear these rings now a days. Divorce is a problem at Bondeni Catholic Parish and even at the universal level of the Church today. Parish Priests often get suprised to seeing good Catholics married in Church, divorcing later or the husband adding another wife to his already existing marriage. My own Parish Priest blessed a marriage of one of his Catechists, and as if it was a blessing to his blessed marriage the husband went to an interview and by good luck he was promoted to the post of sub-chief of the sub- location. But to the suprise of many, even though he did not divorce the first wife which is bad he equally added another wife. It is from this present day experience of marriage and divorce, of many single women parents, that we have decided to write this composition trying to find out what does the Good News of Jesus teach concerning marriage and divorce. We believe that many of the divorced cases incidents are being experienced by our baptized sisters. According to the whole population of Kenya, 60-70% of Kenyans are Christians of which 50-55% are Catholics. Each Sunday at least there is a celebration of the Eucharist, plus good homilies, and of course a bumper Sunday collection but many of those going to these Sunday services, taking part in the choir singing during the Liturgy are our divorced sisters. We will, learn the teaching on marriage and divorce according to Saint Matthew 19:1-12, because chronologically it is the first Gospel which Jesus Christ our teacher instructed us. And this will form our first chapter. In our second chapter, we will solely dedicate it to the theological significance of Jesus' teaching in Matthew's Gospel. Our third chapter will be comparing the relevance of Jesus' teaching in Matthew with other New Testament writers on the same issue. This is due to the fact that the Gospel of Matthew in general is an exceptional one, and also this gospel passage which we are going to embark on, Jesus taugh about marriage and divorce with exceptions. For example, Jesus is said to have forbidden divorce except for pomeia. The exception word put us to doubt if we will get a satisfactory answer if we rely on Matthew alone. This is why we are going to seek other clarifications from other New Testament writer like Saints Mark, Luke and Paul where Jesus taught about marriage and divorce as well. However, we can not stop at this level of saying to married couples look here the bible forbids or allows divorce and we have great proofs from our findings. Therefore, in our fourth chapter, we will dedicate to the factors we will consider in helping young people contemplating marriage. We hope marriage and divorce which is a pastoral problem and urgent one, marriage and divorce which is a biblical problem since it is tarnishing the biblical image of marriage will get some solutions:There will be a reduction of the number of divorce cases, also a reduction in the number of single women who wear wedding to appear "social correct"2 as one Clinical Psychologist, Emmy Gichinga would.
Marriage and the Hereafter in the Kitiul Yansi A Psycho - Religious and Missionary Analysis For Inculturation in Africa
(Tangaza University College, 1999-02) Kikasidi, Jean-Marie Ebul Bul
Today more than ever in the past, clan structures in which marriage took roots are disintegrating. The kitiul system is one of the matrilineal customary forms of marriage that still prevails. It portrays the communal continuance of the family lineage and the preservation of the unity of the visible and invisible families within an anthropology of clan relatedness. Captivated by the psycho-religious, theological, missionary, pastoral and soteriological questions that it raises in the Church, I selected this topic of marriage and the hereafter. Aiming at an inculturated form of marriage for Yansi Christians, our methodology will be expository, deductive, analytical and comparative. It dwells upon socio - anthropological field research already done by others in the African context. That is, as source, we made moderate attempt to consult quite an amount of French and English literature on different fields of marriage and salvation. However, the scope of this study remains that of kitiul customary marriage in the Yansiland, so to come up with a contextual idea of inculturation. The scheme of our essay follows the different chapters purposely organised. They develop and separate the intertwined themes conveyed in this work. The first chapter much longer than others intends to narrow down the presentation of the Yansi location, their system of marriage based on their world - view, and the socio-religious function of the kithd. The second chapter sketches out the Church teaching on marriage and the presents the sacramental life of these people in their pastoral milieu. The third one assesses and discusses critically church and kitiul traditions on marriage and pave the way to the fourth chapter that deals with inculturation. All together, this essay modestly tries to analyse the marital situation among the Yansi in order to implement properly the teaching of the Church; to empower her people and promote better communal life in a Church known as a family.
Tonga Marriage : A Pastoral Issue
(Tangaza University College, 1998-02) Mainza, Billiard
This long Essay is concerned with Tonga marriage. The meaning and purpose of marriage among the Tonga people. Marriage seen as a uniting factor of the two families. Because of the stress on marriage as an issue meant to be of the whole life, it was protected communally and had laws governing it. This also called for a long preparation. This preparation does not contradict Christianity which also prefers a good Christian couple. The permanence and unity that existed required a good person. Though at death of one partner this unity was seen to be contaminated by the deceased spouses spirit hence, leading to cleansing of the surviving partner. Since culture is dynamic, this causes tension between a traditional man or woman and a modem young man and woman in the way of looking at reality. Where a traditional person favours cleansing, a modem one will say no to this, where the former promotes extended family, the latter will go for a nuclear family. The chain of preferences goes on and on from each side until both sides find a common ground in Christianity. There is no way we can achieve this unless with the help of pastors and the whole church at large. Extended family and nuclear family that are involved in marriage, need a counsellor for any couple to counsel the whole extended family system if there is any marriage problem for the whole community may contribute to such a conflict at a nuclear family level. Unless the whole community sews its good values onto its way of living, it would be impossible to build a community of faith, hope, and love or a Christian marriage. This long essay also indicates possible areas that snouici ne induced in C nristian marriage for a fuller understanding of what is happening in Tonga marriage.
To Investigate the Cultural Practices in Moral Education Among The Ameru People.
(Tangaza University College, 1998-02) Njagi, Michael
In the first chapter of my essay, I will look at a few views about morality. This is in view to broaden the difinition of morality and to serve as an introduction to my topic of study. The different moral views illustrate methods and the understanding of morality vary but the end of any morality is the desired human action. In the second chapter I will summarise the practices used to achieve the moral development or education among the Meru community. Though the practices take many years to implement or happen, the goal is to shape the attitudes of the people to have the desired moral values. This enables them to behave in ways acceptable to others and the community in general. In chapter three I will consider some of the moral views, in chapter one, which favours the moral values of the Meru community. This is to support my argument that the Meru moral values attained in moral development are good and should be maintained. The moral values and practices should be incoporated in moral teachings and pastoral action, when dealing with the community. The last part of the essay is the conclusion where I draw several observations.

Bachelor of Arts in Theology

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