Bachelor of Arts in Theology

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://192.168.4.170:4000/handle/20.500.12342/182

Welcome to Bachelor of Arts in Theology collection

Browse

Filters

20013

Settings

Subject: search.filters.subject.Igbo

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    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
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Symbolism of Oji among the Igbo People Of Nigeria
    (Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Amunwanuba Nwadiice, Emmanuel
    Knowing your roots/culture is not a phrase that will upset us in any way nor should it be an abuse. Rather it is a reminder for us to think in order to know what we are and the values we have as Africans. As African Christians, we are faced with two world views, that of Africa and that of Christianity. This remains a challenge to us African Christians. The only thing that can help us is to know the cultures so as to be able to integrate and harmonize the values of the two world-views. Accordingly, the Church in its reflection has coined words or terms such as Adaptation, Indigenization and Inculturation which will help it understand or better articulate its teachings and doctrines.These terms include "adaptation," "indigenization"and " inculturation." "Adaptation" simply means making the message of the gospel suit the culture of the local people. Thus it attempts to select certain rites and customs, purifying them and inserting them within Christian rituals where there is any apparent similarity. The term "indigenization" referred to the same process but underlines or emphasizes the necessity of promoting indigenous church ministers in every locality. Vatican II stressed reformulation of the Christian doctrine in the thought and language understood by contemporary persons. Soon after the council the term incarnation of the Christian message" came into general use. It is a very expressive term and theologically sound. It means that as Christ himself chose to become a human being in order to save humanity, Christianity has no alterative but to do the same in every culture and time in order to continue the salvation brought by Christ. The word "inculturation" expresses that same reality while underlining the importance of cultures as the instrument and the means for realizing the incarnation process ofthe Christian religion. The new term, interculturation, has been developed in the recent past to stress the interdependence of cultures for mutual enrichment. In this work we want to examine how the Eucharist can be inculturated into the Igbo culture by looking at the Kola-nut and its significance for the Igbo people. Inculturation means the honest and serious attempt to make Christ and his message of salvation ever more understood by peoples of every culture, locality and time. It means the reformulation of Christian life and doctrines into the very thought-patterns of each people. It is the conviction that Christ and his Good News are ever dynamic and challenging to all times and cultures as they become better understood and lived by each people. In a way, it is the continuous endeavor to make Christianity truly "feel at home" in the cultures of each people'. Inculturation has a deeper significance which can be understood from the consideration of its necessity. Waliggo says that," The durability of Christian faith in Africa will not depend on its network of schools and parishes, hospitals and other institutions. Economic strength and even political support will not guarantee its future. The permanence of Christianity will stand or fall on the question whether it has become truly African: whether African have made Christian ideas part of their own thinking, whether Africans feel that the Christian vision of life fulfils their needs, whether the Christian world view has become part of truly African aspiration"? It is only when the question or concern have been addressed and when Africans feel that Christian ideas do not fulfill their needs and thinking, that inculturation of Christian values and symbols and ideas become very pertinent. It is also within this context that we start to ask whether the African values and symbols we have can adequately have the same impact as the Christian values and symbols we want to inculturate. In other words, we need to ask whether an Africa value or symbol such as "Oft ," ( Kola-nut ) which is the focus of our discussion, has the same impact as the Eucharist. A question of this kind, has a double answer. On the one hand we might answer in the affirmative because Eucharist is a communion for Christians and oji is a communion for the Igbo people, hence they see themselves as one whenever they break and celebrate of! (kola-nut) together, which is what is expressed when we partake the Eucharist and in doing so identify ourselves as one with Christ. On the other hand we might answer negatively because "Oft" kola-nut is a fruit of a tree but symbolically used by the Igbo and how can you compare oji with the Eucharist, which is the body of Christ? However, we are dealing with symbolism, since signs and symbols point to the reality and signify what they symbolize. In a sense, oji is a symbol of communion, life, peace and unity. We can see in it an analogy to what Eucharist is for Christians.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The African Value of Life: A Case of the Igbo and Inculturation
    (Tangaza University College, 2001-02) Anichitkwu Ugwu, Stephen
    The central concern in contemporary African Christian theological reflections on evangelization is how to help Africans respond positively to and accept the message of salvation. The core message of salvation is that God the Father, in His mercy and love, wills that all human beings be saved from their sinful human condition and then come to the dignity of sharing fully in His divine life. The divine life is a life shared by the Trinity: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That life is often called "eternal life," "a life of love", "the essence of God's existence" and it tells us how God the Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit existed together before creation. It is the life brought to all people by Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. This is the noblest value to which every human being is called for the purpose of attaining fullness of life. Sharing in that life means entering into a loving relationship with God the Father, uniting one's life with that of His Son and relying on the Holy Spirit for a transformation in love as Jesus rightly puts it, Al came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly" (Jn 10: 10). As a student of theology and someone who will be involved in the work of evangelization, I have been asking myself these questions: "After my studies, how am I going to present what I have studied, especially the above mentioned value, to my fellow Africans in general and my people the Igbo of Nigeria in West Africa in particular? Since people easily understand an idea related to their cultural values, what value would help the Africans to deepen their relationship with God? What value would help them to appreciate more the person of Jesus and his role in salvation?" While I was reflecting on all these questions, the word "life" struck me. Life is an important Igbo (African) value, an intrinsic good held in high esteem. It is what gives meaning to all the good things obtainable in Igbo society. Life as a value determines how all human beings are related to God, themselves, to each other and the world in which they find themselves. In fact, life is a value that determines how moral, social, spiritual or religious an Igbo person is, and how he or she understands and seeks the realisation of his or her destiny. Believing that life is an important value in Igbo society, I sought to understand this value better. I became more interested in ascertaining the depth of this value when I read from the Synod of African Bishops held in 1994 that we must develop a deep theological concern and reflection on African values if the effort to help Africans welcome Jesus Christ, as the one who fully reveals God and through whom they can deepen their relationship with God, is to bear much fruit. In their conference, the Bishops identified three African cultural values as good tools for theological reflection and inculturation: a religious sense, a sense of community and a sense of life! These values are evident among the Igbo. They are inseparable from each other. But for the sake of the scope of this study, we shall focus on life as an important value in Igbo society. Because the Igbo society sees life as its most important value strongly connected with God, it seems suitable as a basis on which inculturation could start and evangelization bear much fruit not only in Igbo society, but also in all African societies. This essay attempts to highlight the Igbo understanding of life as a value. The study recommends that this value be preserved, protected and promoted, lest it loses its meaning and significance. It also attempts to unveil the incompatibilities and the compatibilities of the Igbo value of life with the Christian's for the purpose of a proper inculturation. From this background, we could learn to see life as a strategic value for evangelization, not only in Igbo society, but also in any other African society. For that reason, this essay will further attempt to disclose the Christian view of the value of life. However, because the issues here are so complex, this essay is somewhat longer than originally anticipated. Reducing the number of pages, I felt, would have required eliminating material essential to the argument. And so I beg the reader's patience at the length. This essay has five chapters. Chapter one gives the clarification of some terms used in this work. Chapter two deals with the meaning of inculturation, its principles, its importance for the Church and for Africa, and the inculturation of the Gospel values into the Igbo society. Chapter three highlights the Igbo understanding of life as a value. Chapter four deals with the Christian teaching on the value of life and the possibility of inculturating that value into the Igbo value of life. And, chapter five gives us the general conclusion of this essay with some recommendations.