The African Value of Life: A Case of the Igbo and Inculturation
Loading...
Date
2001-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
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.
Description
Keywords
Inculturation, Igbo, Africa