ancestors and their ownership of cattle held in trust for them by household heads and other community leaders. The chapter will also act as a bridge to enable me to move on to the next chapter on the interface of the gospel and culture.
In the South African context, and among AmaZulu, it is my contention that cattle or beast theology provides an interpretative key to understanding the persistence of ilobolo not only in the community selected for study, but in many others as well That kind of theology takes seriously its context and is likely to make a lasting impact on its recipients in that it deals with issues closest to the peoples concerned.
How such a theology works will be the topic of discussion in subsequent paragraphs.
[with little or no theological understanding among Africans], Africa may become a Mohammedan continent." At that gathering there was a general belief among European interpreters of Africa that what they termed noble savages could articulate any form of theology, that religion was foreign to the animistic people of Africa.
Not only were such statements inaccurate and untested, but they showed lack of understanding of the theological heritage of African people. That view remained current until after the a second missionary conference in Le Zoute, Belgium at which, according to Smith (1926) cited in Bediako (2000:4), delegates this time affirmed that:
" It has now become recognised that Africans have been prepared by previous experience for the reception of the Gospel and that their experience contains elements of high religious value."
Tutu and many other proponents of African theology70 brought about a welcome corrective to the view popularised during the Edinburgh conference by pointing out that God was known among Africans long before missionaries arrived. One African woman put it this way, " missionaries did not bring God to Africa, but God brought missionaries to Africa."
5.2.2 To the known God of African religion.
Unlike the inhabitants of first century Athens who worshipped idols71, Africans have always embraced a monotheistic faith. Religion has always been at the very
70 See Bolaji Idowu 1962:1969 on Communicating the old and the new in Africa's religious experience; Kenneth Cragg 1980:194 on Integrity in consciousness; Fashole-Luke 1975:267 on Conversion in cultural continuity.
71 Acts 17:22f.
heart of Africa's traditional societies and, still to a very large extent, urban communities as well. The recent growth and impact of eastern religions notwithstanding, the monotheistic faith existed on the African soil long before the arrival of Western missionaries. In the words of Bujo (1992:17), " God was recognised as the source of all life" by Africans. They held that both the animate and inanimate did not just emerge, they were created by God. Consequently land and, for the particular purpose of this chapter, cattle were regarded as religious or theological symbols rather than being seen as mere articles of trade and exchange.
God's rule and domain encompassed life in its totality, hence Mbiti (1969:29) could write that;
" God is the origin and sustenance of all things ...He is outside and beyond His creation. On the one hand, He is personally involved in His creation, so that it is not outside of Him or His reach. God is thus simultaneously transcendent and immanent; and a balanced understanding of these two extremes is necessary in our discussion of African conceptions of God."
By way of illustration, recently721 was driving along the Edendale road past Imbali township towards Edendale hospital. I stopped at a traffic intersection and saw on the left a store in an informal settlement with a caption Bongumusa weNkosi (thank
God for his grace) Mini Market. This was a classic example of the close link between business and the religious values of the proprietor. It is not uncommon to see mini-bus taxis in many of South Africa's urban centres with religious inscriptions such as Jehovah Jireh, or Jesus Saves, hence Bediako (2000 :xii) could write:
" In Africa, religion remains part of African consciousness as a whole.
Identity is tied up with it and so it relates more fully to everyday life, in contrast to the European secular self-understanding."
Africa's theology, disparagingly referred to by outsiders as fetishes, superstition, or traditional religion73 is nevertheless a theology because it is the African's own reflection on the nature and character of God and his relation to the universe that he created. It laid a firm foundation for the introduction of the Christian faith by missionaries in the nineteenth century in that, according to Th. Kamainda, cited in Bujo (1992:18);
" The novelty of Christianity for Africans did not consist in its proclamation of one God, but rather in the more complete and definitive proclamation of one God whom Africa already knew, and also in the God of Jesus Christ. It showed more clearly than the African tradition was able to show how this one God wishes to be, and can be in fact, better known and loved."
This God was known and he revealed himself in acts of benevolence such as providing fields and increasing fertility, ensuring that there was enduring peace in the land, plenty of rain and cattle. Among the Basotho this belief is expressed in their national anthem:
73 The more commonly used term even in recent literature is African Traditional Religion (ATR). One hardly ever hears of American, German or English traditional religion. Their reflections on God and the universe is assumed to be theology while that of Africans has to remain traditional religion.
Lesotho fatse la bo Ntata rona Hara mafatse le letle ke lona Re na le masimo
Re na le likhomo Re ea le rata
Modimo ak'o boloke Lesotho Ufelise lintoa le matsoenyeho Oho fatse lena
Labo Ntata rona Le be le khotso
Lesotho land of our forbears It is the most beautiful of all lands We have our fields
Our own cattle We love our land
God (we pray) keep Lesotho End all her troubles
Oh! This land
That you gave to our forbears May it experience abiding peace
Similarly the longer, unabridged and original isiXhosa version of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika74 expresses similar sentiments. Sontonga composed the first verse and the rest were added on by Samuel Mqayi in 1927 and published in the Presbyterian hymn book. As Harper (1994:10) points out, the verses express a prayer and a * hope that the aMakhosi will remember and revere their creator, public officials and youth will carry the land with patience, wives and young women will be blessed, ministers will be filled with the Holy Spirit, agriculture and stock raising will flourish and so will efforts on self-upliftment.' Among AmaZulu, likewise, the knowledge of an immanent God, ready to bless his creatures is part of the traditional and present culture.
74 Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika - God Bless Africa, is today a component of a new South African national anthem. It was composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a school teacher who lived in Klipspruit just outside Johannesburg, in a conglomerate of townships known today as Soweto (South Western Townships). The lyrics and the tune were adopted by several countries in the sub-continent until about twenty years ago when these countries became
If the majority of Africans have such a high view of God, it would be incongruous to say that they were animists, as many of anthropologists and sociologists think.
The World Book Encyclopaedia, (1969:476) defines animism as,
" A belief that all things in nature have spirits/ even lifeless objects such as stones. An animist tries to please the Spirits so that they will not harm him. Animists also believe that a spirit may be transferred to another object. For example, an evil spirit may 'possess' a person's body. Many people who live in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands believe in animism."
Leslie et al. (1980:441) define animism and fetishism
" As a most personal form of religion compared to most other belief systems that involve groups. Fetishism also locates power in lifeless objects, whereas most other religions locate it in living ones."
If the two definitions above represent the accepted understanding of animism or fetishism, then Africans are not animists because they do not believe that lifeless objects such as stones possess supernatural powers. To argue otherwise amounts to what Hay (1989:424) terms "the fog of incomprehension." I will show below that according the world- view of Africans, power is located in living beings and in an immanent and transcendent God.
5.2.3 An immanent and a transcendent God
In spite of God's involvement in the daily lives and needs of his people as shown above, his transcendence was also recognised. Among Basotho, Bapedi and Batswana it is seen in the common root -hodimo (up or high) of their translation for God which translates as Modimo. Likewise among AbeNguni, their understanding was that God inhabited the heavens above. Among AmaZulu, it was considered a sign of disrespect for humans to point at the heavenly seat of God by using one's index finger. If there was compelling need to point in the direction heaven, one did so by means of a clenched fist or discreetly turned their eyes in that direction. The belief in a God who inhabited the heavens was balanced by a recognition that he does involve himself in daily affairs. Like all theologies, African theology is not without its weaknesses.
5.2.4 A blind spot of African theology
Given that balanced understanding of a God who is intimately involved in the world that he created, other African theologians such as Oduyoye, have pointed out that an African theology's concept of God, while addressing economic and racial issues, has sadly ignored gender issues (Oduyoye 1995:176). In doing so, it has developed a blind spot to its own socio-historical roots where the 'gender of God does not have a big role to play in Africa's religious language... [and] the African mind contains an image of a motherly Father or a fatherly Mother as the Source of Being,' (: 179).
The main reason, which Oduyoye advances for the marginalisation of women, is that African theology depends on gendered European languages as media of communication, thus women have been ignored in theological discourse. As a corrective, Oduyoye's plea is that African Christian writers make greater use of their inclusive languages and be intentional in ' including both women and men with humility.'O 181)
A complete understanding of a creator God does not permit a classification of people in sexist categories. So to be 'authentic, Christian theology must promote the interdependence of distinctive beings and stand by the principles of inclusiveness and interdependence,^: 181). We move then from a general understanding of God in Africa and focus in on the notion of God among AmaZulu.