3.5. Sources of African theology
3.5.7. The Christian tradition
Reconstruction is the new priority for African nations in the 1990s (and beyond).
The churches and their theologians will need to respond to this new priority in relevant fashion, to facilitate this process of reconstruction. The process will require considerable efforts of reconciliation and confidence building. It will also require re-orientation and re-training. New frontiers of mission will need to be identified and explored. The various projects of the All Africa Conference of Churches are challenged to become constructive agents in this process (1991:36).
In concluding this subsection, it is essential to concede that the AACC is an important source of African theology even though its first General Assembly in Kampala, 1963 did not make a definitive statement on "What is African Theology" (Shorter 1977:23). Idowu, a key member of the AACC only hinted at the definition of African theology when he said that for the African Christian, "Knowledge of God is not totally discontinuous with our people's previous traditional knowledge of him [sic]" (Dickson and Ellingworth 1971:16).
Since the Kampala Mandate, the major sources used in African theology have mainly been the Bible and African traditional religion (Muzorewa 1985:63). As Muzorewa explains:
The implication here is that the real concern of the AACC is to establish a way to indigenise the Christian faith and Christianise certain African traditional religious beliefs with the hope of discovering something uniquely relevant to Africans (Muzorewa 1985:63).
Thus the AACC works towards a definite African identity. This makes the study of Mugambi's concepts of liberation and reconstruction important, for what Bediako calls
"the hermeneutic of identity" (1996:427).
The study of the AACC as a major source of African theology prepares us to study another source of African theology, the Christian Tradition. As in the previous case, the study of the Christian tradition as a source of African theology helps us locate Mugambi's place in African theology. In other words, do his concepts of liberation and reconstruction fit in the developmental trends in African theology? Is he an authentic scholar in this field?
Mugambi builds on the Christian tradition as a source of African theology when he talks of the triune God. He says that the doctrine of the Trinity, which was "formulated and established in the Great Councils of the fourth and fifth centuries, is central to the fundamental beliefs of Christianity" (1989b: 65). In citing the "Great Councils," Mugambi refers to the Council's of Chalcedon and Nicaea, which affirmed the true Christian doctrine as opposed to heretical groups such as Arianism, Donatism and Plagianism, some of which denied the divinity to Christ. As Mugambi further states, "God is confessed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are three persons and yet he [sic] is only one God"
(1989b: 65). This central belief in the triune God is clearly expressed in the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds. Around this central belief, "there are other beliefs which are largely an attempt to make the cardinal affirmations of the creeds clearer" (1989b: 65). This implies that African theology subscribes to the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds as formulated in the Christian tradition. This also shows that apart from seeking to reflect upon the Christian faith with regard to the African context by spicing Christianity with the richness of African culture, it addresses the social realities facing Africa. African theology is no different from other Christian theologies such as Western theology; in that, commonalities far outweigh any points of departures.
Mugambi (1989b: 54) builds further on the Christian tradition as a source of African theology when he discusses the fourth century Christianity when Constantine used the Christian faith to stabilise the Roman Empire. He writes, "before AD 311, Christians were a persecuted minority; the rulers had considered conversion to the Christian faith as a disgrace" (1989b: 54). Following Constantine's conversion, "it became fashionable to be a nominal Christian." Mugambi goes on to explain that after the conversion of Emperor Constantine, Bishops in both the eastern and western parts of the Roman Empire began to collaborate with the political rulers:
In Rome, the bishops and Popes became the most influential leaders, and managed to maintain the dominant influence on Europe until the Renaissance and Reformation. During the so-called Dark-Ages and the Middle Ages in Europe, anyone who publicly challenged the doctrines of the Catholic Church as maintained by the pope and his henchmen was branded a heretic and was persecuted. Heretics were viewed as enemies of God, the church and the so-called
"Holy Roman Empire" (: 54).
Mugambi further notes that after the Lutheran Reformation of 1517, the new protestant denominations did not effectively change this role of the church as the defender of the status quo thereby championing the interests of the ruling groups (1989b: 54). Rather,
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those denominations, which sprung up after the Reformation, became agencies for popularising nationalism in Europe. In offering this as a critique of the Christian tradition as a source of African theology, Mugambi appears to be returning to his evangelical Christian roots. He adds a note of caution not to follow the popularist African trend of championing for "home" nationalisms, as they may turn out to be a diversion from the channel of the Gospel.
With regard to the cross, Mugambi acknowledges that it was not originally a Christian symbol. He says that it is older than Christianity as it was used in various designs before Christianity to represent a variety of things:
Only since the seventh century AD (CE) has the cross-become increasingly the Christian symbol representing the suffering of Jesus for the forgiveness of sinners, and also the persecution of Christians for the sake of their faith in God through Jesus Christ. Thus the cross has continually been used to symbolize the link between the crucifixion of Jesus, and the suffering of innocent Christians under anti-Christian rulers (1989b: 114).
For Christian theology (including African theology), Mugambi sees the cross as both the symbol of death and of new life. It is also a symbol of new creation for Christians:
The cross may be seen to declare: even though death has been imposed on the innocent in his (or her) struggle for salvation, this death is the proclamation of new life, of a new creation. God will raise life out of death, and the powerless will become powerful again through God's will (: 115).
Interestingly, Mugambi does not refer to other symbols of religiosity in Africa such as water, which is a symbol of Kikuyu hospitality that is given to a visitor as a sign of welcome and acceptance. Nor does he cite other symbols of acceptance such as the coffee bean among the Baganda of Uganda and the Haya of Tanzania (Healey and Sybertz 1996:169). Nor does he refer to religious symbols such as Mount Kilimanjaro or Mount Kenya, which are religious symbols among the Chagga of Tanzania and Kikuyu of Kenya respectively (Olikenyi 2001:117). For Mugambi, the cross is common within Christian architecture, ritual and costume as an identifying symbol of Christian communities throughout the Christian era. In this regard, a good dialogue between African cultural symbols and the cross would have been beneficial (1989b: 86).
The symbol of the cross, which was virtually unknown during the first three centuries of the Christian era, became a central Christian symbol after the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 312 CE. Constantine is reported to have seen a vision in which he was
"commanded by God" to paint the sign of the cross on the shields of his soldiers on the evening of the October 26, 312 CE (Mugambi 1989b: 86). After his soldiers defeated the forces of Maxentius for the control of the capital of the Roman Empire, Constantine and the respective Roman Emperors respected the Christian God just as King Darius had respected the God of Daniel after he emerged from the lion's den unhurt (Dan. 6). Since then, the cross as a Christian symbol has remained the dominant and distinguishing symbol of Christianity—although it is true that different denominations place different emphases on other aspects of the teaching of Jesus and his apostles (1989b: 115).
Despite the critical stance taken by most African theologians on the difficulties created by the importation of Western theology and liturgy, they nevertheless, want to be sure that the Theologia Africana remains in the "mainstream of the tradition of the Church" (Sawyerr 1971: 21). Indeed, as Mbiti (1971:189) notes, many African theologians, in their belief that the Christian tradition should be an integral part of African theology, do not wish to be "isolated from the Catholicity of the church." As Mbiti writes
Christian Theology from the major traditions of Christendom will put us in the mainstream of ecumenical and apostolic heritage if we have to constitute an authentic Theologia Africana which is both African and Christian at the same time (1971:189).
This dual approach to theology in Africa opens an important question, namely, if the existing Christian theology as "imported" by the Western missionaries in the nineteenth and twentieth century is important for African theology, why go to the trouble of formulating new theological concepts for the church in Africa? Why not simply follow Western theology, as seen in the Christian tradition, without going to the trouble of Africanising the Christian gospel? Further, if the existing Christian concepts are relevant to African Christianity, why has it remained more or less alien to the African context?
Finally, how can we work out an African theology without moving towards syncretism?
This dual approach to doing African theology begs for clarification. It is noteworthy to consider that faith based on the Bible can bring new insights to the various parts of Christendom. This calls for theologians in African Christianity to do theology from a
"believer-reader" perspective, as is the case with Mugambi's theology.
The study on the sources of African theology has helped us to locate Mugambi's theology in the current development trends of African theology. Consequently, the study has prepared us to survey the dual concepts of liberation and reconstruction. Accordingly, we
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I
shall treat reconstruction paradigm as the climax of this developmental trend in African theology. This sub-section will not go into depth regarding the two concepts; rather it will seek to introduce them within Mugambi's thought, as well as enabling us to understand his overall work clearer.