CHAPTER 2: EZRA-NEHEMIAH AND THE QUEST FORAN AFRICAN THEOLOGY OF RECONSTRUCTION RECONSTRUCTION
2.2.1 Liberation theolo2Y
2.2.3.4 Socio-political reconstruction
In his analysis, Mugambi questions the economic poverty of Africa and its richness in the Christian faith and wonders why other richer and more prosperous nations are impoverished in their Christian faith. Thus he critiques Christianity, when he says that,
It is paradoxical that those nations in which Christianity is supposedly declining and some in the orient where Christianity has never made a significant impact, are the ones which, at the same time, are economically prosperous ... How can we account for the fact that God seems, at least in the twentieth century, to favour those nations that have rejected their theistic religion? (Mugambi, 1995 :33).
It is precisely this critical analysis which seems to have prompted him to propose to African leaders and theologians the reconstruction theme, bearing in mind that in order to be progressive, theologians should be pro-active instead of being reactive to the challenges facing Africa. He firmly believes that Africa can rise from some of the ruins and rubble if it were to adopt the notion of reconstruction.
Mugambi then goes on to ask, How can Christianity in post-colonial Africa help us to grow out of the excessively publicized crises? While acknowledging the role of churches, organisations and individuals in relief and emergency work, Mugambi argues that a greater challenge lies ahead,
It is necessary to discern the causes and contexts which generate these crises, then participate actively in long-term pro-active programmes to ensure more secure existence for Africa's peoples. This approach will appreciate the fact that many of the social crises in Africa are causes[sic] more by external conditionalities, than internal disorder. For example, it is significant that the African countries most acutely afflicted with famine, are at the same time afflicted with civil strife. This civil strife is funded and armed by external bodies, which are keen to test new weapons and dump obsolete ones in Africa, with possible exertion of their own policies if the side they support (Mugambi,l995:164).
Mugambi also notes that due to the crises facing Africa, the people of Africa are in greater need of hope than ever before. He then goes on to highlight some of the many crises in Africa.
First, he mentions a political crisis due to the lack of democracy. Mugambi describes this African crisis in this manner,
Thirty years after the achievement of constitutional independence, African nations seem to have returned to 'square one', whereby the former colonial masters have to bailout economies in ruins and political institutions that have collapsed. Just as autocracy was paraded as a magic solution to Africa's problems in the 1960s, so is pluralism championed as the magic formula for reconstruction in the 1990s. It is important to emphasize, however, that human societies defy over-simplification. Democracy has many models, and economic prosperity is the result of a combination of many complex factors. The Christian faith has many inculturations, neither of which is perfect. As human beings we need the humility to accept our limitations, and the courage to continue living even when on the verge of death (Mugambi, 1995 :50).
The second crisis is economic, manifested through food deficit (Mugambi, 1995: 160). However, Mugambi argues that the food shortage in Africa need not be a perpetual crisis. Thus, he believes that in order to avoid perpetual hunger, we must understand why there is food shortage. By and large he believes that hunger in Africa has to do with the infrastructure which we ourselves created. In order to avert the hunger crisis, he suggests that we must be committed to reforming our social structures in order to make them more effective, efficient and productive (Mugambi, 1995: 161).
In addition, Mugambi believes that the church has a major role to play in addressing the economic
cnSIS.
The churches can design alternative strategies to enable the people in the exploited nations to cope with economic marginalisation. These strategies include self-reliant programmes for
strengthening and stabilizing of local and national marketing infrastructures, and so on (Mugambi,1995:156).
He mentions debt as the third crisis. Mugambi explains that Africa is next to South America as the most indebted continent in the world (Mugambi,1995:160). Mugambi further explains that during the 1980s the economic situation in Africa deteriorated greatly. He explains thus,
The balance oftrade increased against Africa, and the debt burden weighed very heavily upon African nations and peoples. As the ideological pressure of the Western Bloc against the Eastern Bloc intensified, the marginalization of Africa became more evident (Mugambi, 1995 :4-5).
It is especially this debt burden and marginalisation of Africa which according to Mugambi "called for review" of the theme ofliberation (Mugambi,1995:5). He believes that reconstruction theology should help Africans in addressing their debt crisis.
However, Mugambi maintains that despite all the crises that Africa is undergoing, Africans should not despair. He therefore suggests that the church, at this time of crisis has a responsibility to prepare the people for the task of reconstruction, and to proclaim that with "faith, hope and love, God makes possible what to human beings appears an impossibility" (Mugambi,1995:50-51). He believes that faith, hope and love are important aspects which inform or guide the social reconstruction process.
How does Mugambi describe this "trilogy without which life is impossible"? (Mugambi,1995:50).
He describes it thus,
Hope is nurtured by the determination of an individual or a community to survive despite any threats to survival. Faith is the conviction that despite all evidence towards despair, yet there is hope for survival. Love is the bond which holds the people together, to enable them survive against all odds (Mugambi,1995:50).
So this "trilogy" serves to encourage Africans to refuse to despair, and empowers them to discern
"new creative ways to resiliently ensure our integrity and survival" (Mugambi,1995:50).
Having described and analysed the components of Mugambi's reconstruction theology, we will, in the next section, explore several biblical metaphors Mugambi has suggested could be used in a theology of reconstruction. We will begin by discussing several texts before analysing how he uses
Ezra-Nehemiah.
2.2.3.5 Biblical metaphors
Mugambi believes that after the abolition of apartheid, the "metaphor" of the Exodus has become
"inapplicable and irrelevant" (Mugambi, 1995: 165). He then asks the question: What other metaphors are possible? (Mugambi, 1995: 165). Mugambi argues that the Bible is replete with illustrations of social reconstruction over a long span of time. He identifies ~hem as follows.
Mugambi takes his first example of the reconstruction metaphor from Deuteronomy.
Theologically, we need to appreciate that entry into the land of Canaan from Egypt is only the beginning of a long process of human fulfilment. The Exodus is only a prelude to that process. Moses did not enter the promised land, but he provided the bridge for the people to cross the Red Sea, the wilderness and the River Jordan. He established the foundation upon which the new "nation was to be built, but later generations would have to build that new society. The Book of Deuteronomy, written perhaps more than six centuries later, recaptures that significant role of Moses, but highlights the necessity of later generations to revise the plans to match new circumstances and resources (Mugambi, 1995: 166).
Explaining the reconstruction theme in Deuteronomy 1: 19-20, Mugambi argues that,
It is important to note that the book of Deuteronomy was written in the 7th century B.
c.,
long after the settlement in Canaan. The book represents an effort, under the long reign of King Josiah, to formulate a theology of reconstruction based on Mosaic law and highlighting those aspects of society which required further explanation. Thus, Deuteronomy is based on the exodus, but offers an updated version of Mosaic law. How can this text be applied in a relevant manner so as to discern a new ideological emphasis to propel African churches into the future? Quite obviously, Africa today needs a theology of reconstruction, just as King Josiah needed such a theology in 622 B.C. (Mugambi,1995:65).The second text Mugambi identifies is from the New Testament, namely, Matthew 5-7. Explaining the context of this text, Mugambi states that the critics of Jesus accused him of trying to destroy Judaism and its institutions. In response, Jesus replied that his mission was reconstructive rather than destructive. Thus Mugambi contends that the sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) can be considered as the most basic of all reconstructive theological texts in the synoptic gospels (Mugambi, 1995: 13).
Having briefly discussed how Mugambi draws on the above texts in a theology of reconstruction, we will, below discuss in more detail how he uses Ezra-Nehemiah for a theology of reconstruction.
Mugambi states that the challenge, as we enter the twenty first century, is to discern other biblical motifs that would be relevant for a theology of transformation and reconstruction. He maintains that such texts might, for example, be the Exilic motif (Jeremiah), the Deuteronomic motif (Josiah), the restorative motif (Isaiah 61:4), the reconstructive motif (Haggai and Nehemiah), and so on (Mugambi,1995:39). Having identified these several motifs, Mugambi goes on to focus, though superficially, on Ezra, Haggai and Nehemiah. He argues that if we were to opt for the Exilic motif,
"the logical follow- up would still be social transformation and reconstruction identified with Ezra, Haggai and Nehemiah" (Mugambi, 1995:40).
Mugambi focuses specifically on the text of Nehemiah, as a possible exilic text appropriate for reconstruction theology. The book of Nehemiah, says Mugambi, explains the process of reconstruction in Jerusalem and Judah after the exile. The central biblical text for African Christian theology in the twenty first century will, perhaps, be the Book of Nehemiah, rather than the Book of Exodus. The book of course, continues Mugambi, should be read critically, taking into consideration all the hermeneutical, exegetical, theological and ethical limitations associated with the reconstruction project of Nehemiah (Mugambi, 1995: 166). It is worth noting here, that though Mugambi advocates a critical reading of the book of Nehemiah, he himself does not do it. He does not seem to read the text carefully at all!
Even though, like Villa-Vicencio, Mugambi mentions the Book of Ezra-Nehemiah as part of an array of biblical texts which deal with the theme of reconstruction, unlike Villa-Vicencio, Mugambi seems to put more emphasis on the Ezra-Nehemiah text. Using Ezra-Nehemiah as a model for a reconstruction theology, Mugambi declares that,
After the Babylonian exile, a new nation was reconstructed under the direction of Ezra and Nehemiah. The role of Nehemiah as the director of the reconstruction project is lucidly explained in the book bearing his name. Nehemiah becomes the central text of the new theological paradigm in African Christian theology, as a logical development from the Exodus motif (Mugambi, 1995: 13).
Mugambi sees the figure of Nehemiah not only as an exemplary character, but also as a leader who represents the aspiration and contradiction of Africa's social reconstruction at this time in history (Mugambi, 1999:iii-iv).
We have so far attempted to outline both Mugambi's theology of reconstruction and how he uses Ezra-Nehemiah in his theology. It is important to note that Mugambi does not say anything more than we have outlined above on the role of Ezra-Nehemiah's text in the reconstruction process. Before coming to my critique ofMugambi's proposal concerning Ezra-Nehemiah, I will discuss Maluleke's critique of Mugambi's reconstruction theology.