Marriage and the Hereafter in the Kitiul Yansi A Psycho - Religious and Missionary Analysis For Inculturation in Africa
Date
1999-02
Authors
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Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
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.
Description
Keywords
Customary, Marriage, Socio-Political, Religious, Yansi, Kitiul, Church, Inculturation