THE PROBLEM OF TEACHING TWOFOLD LOVE: CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND A CULTURE OF PEACE IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION
By
EMMANUEL MUAMBA KAMUANGA
Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY
in the subject
PRACTICAL THEOLOGY
at the
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
PROMOTER: PROF AP PHILLIPS
JOINT PROMOTER: PROF KASONGA WA KASONGA
MARCH 2008
I Student number: 3440-364-7
I declare that: THE PROBLEM OF TEACHING TWOFOLD LOVE: CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND A CULTURE OF PEACE IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted from have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references.
______
Rev. Emmanuel Muamba Kamuanga March 5, 2008
II
EPIGRAPH
Your Holiness and My Loneliness
I was hungry and you held meetings to discuss my hunger. I was imprisoned and you crept of quietly to pray for my release. I was persecuted and you explained to me how Christ was persecuted. I was sick and you knelt down and thanked God for your health. I was homeless and you preached to me of spiritual shelter of the love of God. I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me. You seem so holy and I’m still very lonely (Green, as quoted by Pazmino, 1988: 54).
III
ABSTRACT
Practical theology has society as its horizon and should not be limited to a clerical paradigm because Christianity is not limited to a church but its horizon is the whole of society. In line with this understanding of practical theology, this study is a contribution to Christian education for a culture of peace in the Great Lakes region (the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi). Millions of people have been slaughtered in this region where Christianity is the main religion. The Church in this region has lost its credibility and is seen as contributing to a culture of violence through its church leaders and parishioners. This study focuses on the research question: Can teaching twofold love contribute to a culture of peace in the Great Lakes region? The thesis has empirically argued that the cause of turmoil in the Great Lakes region is the lack of twofold love, which has disguised itself in all evils known in the region, such as corruption, hegemony, predation, indirect rule, divide and rule, tribalism, fetishism, mass killings, prostitution, over-trust in modernism and breaking God’s Ten Commandments, more than anything else. Humankind finds it difficult to love the neighbour like oneself and this lack of neighbourly love causes unrest in this region. The discussion in chapter three has empirically demonstrated through educational psychology that teaching is love of the learner. Therefore, an effective teacher should be able to give loving care to the learner's spiritual, physical and social needs, in a specific context. This is what Jesus did through verbal and behavioural media (Byrskog, 1994: 321). Such a liberationist teaching that should avoid pouring socially irrelevant knowledge on the learner is still an urgent need in the Great Lakes region. Christian education in this region has been learnt in a rote manner without educating Christians to be problem solvers. The fourth chapter makes practical suggestions on how to deal with the dilemmas of teaching Christian education in the region. Thus the study has empirically confirmed the research hypothesis that an effective teaching of twofold love can contribute to a culture of peace in the Great Lakes region.
IV
KEY TERMS
Practical theology, education, Christian education, teaching, learning, twofold love, peace, culture, educational psychology, Jesus’ method of teaching, capitalism and socialism.
V
DEDICATION
I dedicate this thesis to: