with the Vatican than with Protestant evangelicals. We should be If we should miss or dismiss the promise and the presence grateful for the many contacts between the WCC and the Roman of the crucified and risen Lord in the continuation of missionary Catholic Church during and after Vatican Council II, but it is likely work, our task would be a lost cause, a meaningless enterprise. that the official trend in the Vatican in the 1990s will continue We would make concessions to the professional pessimists who more in the direction of counter-reformation than co-reformation. think it is their task to spread alarm and defeatism. But within We should certainly continue official contacts with the Vatican, the light of the Lord's promise and presence, the continuation of but on the national, regional, and continental levels we should the church's mission in the last decade of this century will not strengthen our relations with those groups within the Roman be a lost cause or a meaningless enterprise, since we know that Catholic Church that, in spite of heavy pressure from the Vatican, in the Lord our labor cannot be in vain. are still moving in the direction of a co-reformation. Mission in the 1990s needs Christians and churches that work in the spirit of the document "Mission and Evangelism: An Notes ------­ Ecumenical Affirmation." Our task now is to put flesh on the spirit of that document, in our words and deeds. 1. Harvey Cox, "Many Mansions or One Way? The Crisis in Interfaith Dialogue," Christian Century, August 17-24, 1988, pp. 731-35. 2. Ronald K. Orchard, ed., Witness in Six Continents: Records of theMeeting The Lord's Promise of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches Held in Mexico City, December 8th to 9th, 1963 (London: Jesus promised to be with us "all the days," to the end of time Edinburgh House Press, 1964), p. 147. (Matt. 28:20). This promise is related to the unfinished task of 3. Lamin Sanneh, "Christian Missions and the Western Guilt Com­ world mission. Therefore we must always ask: Which day is it plex," Christian Century, April 8, 1987, pp. 330-34. today? What is the importance of this decade for the Christian 4. Stephen Neill, Salvation Tomorrow (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1976), world mission? pp. 18f£.

The Roots of

Kwame Bediako

Pre-Christian Africa: A Religious IITabula Westermann has not been alone in being troubled by what Rasa"? to do with the pre-Christian religious traditions of Africa, and the Western missionary estimation of Africa's traditional religions, in n his Duff Lectures of 1935, subsequently published as the main, took Westermann's line. The Edinburgh World Mis­ I Africa and Christianity, Dietrich Westermann took the sionary Conference of 1910 had concluded that the traditional view that in Africa the transposition of Christianity ought to entail religions of Africa, roundly described as "Animism," con­ the complete elimination of all that went to form the pre-Christian tained "no preparation for Christianity" (Report of Commis­ I~ religious tradition. "However anxious a missionary may be to sion TheMissionary Message in relation to non-Christian Religions, appreciate and retain indigenous social and moral values, in the 1910:24). case of religion he has to be ruthless.... he has to admit and Accordingly, when seventy years after the Edinburgh Con­ even to emphasize that the religion he teaches is opposed to the ference the expression "Christian Africa" becomes current in existing one and the one has to cede to the other" (Westermann, a major publication of a leading African theologian (see John 1937:94). In short, for Westermann, "giving the new means Mbiti, 1986), it may be worthwhile to investigate whether it is the taking away the old" (1937:2). view at Edinburgh, Westermann's judgment, or Cragg's intuition The response to Westermann would come thirty years later. that has prevailed. What, insofar as it can be discerned, underlies In a series of lectures given at Cambridge University and sub­ the African apprehension of Christianity at the specific level of sequently published as Christianity in World Perspective, Kenneth religious experience? What are the theological roots of Christianity Cragg countered Westermann's view and suggested: "On the in Africa as a historical reality in African life, as African Christians contrary: it means harnessing its possibilities [i.e. of the old] and themselves, and particularly African theological writers, perceive setting up within it the revolution that will both fulfil and trans­ them? form it. For if the old is taken away, to whom is the new given?" African Theology: The Pre-Christian Past as a (Cragg, 1968:57). Prime Concern

These are not idle questions. For when one turns to the academic is Director of Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission Research and Applied Theology in Akropong, , an academic and pastoral institution established by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana to foster renewal This essay is based on the Duff Lectures, a series of nine lectures given within the church through theological reflection and research and the training of under the title "The Roots of African Theology," presented in the Christian workers for mission in the Ghanaian context. He is also General Sec­ autumn term of 1987 at the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the retary of the Africa Theological Fraternity. Non-Western World, New College, University of Edinburgh.

58 International Bulletin of Missionary Research literature of African theology since its first flowering in the late African Theology: Identity as the 1950s, one of the more difficult problems is how to account for Hermeneutical Key the fact that "the chief non-biblical reality with which the African theologian must struggle is the non-Christian religious To the extent that this "anthropological" concern of African tradition of his own people" and that African theology early be­ theology "to rehabilitate Africa's rich cultural heritage and came "something of a dialogue between the African Christian religious consciousness" (Tutu, 1978:366)ha.sbeen mad~ as a self­ scholar and the perennial religions and spiritualities of Africa" consciously Christian and theological effort, It can be sald to have (Adrian Hastings, 1976:50f.). Hastings even ventured to suggest been an endeavor to demonstrate the true character of African that one effect of this concentration of interest was that "areas Christian identity. For looked at from the context of African the­ of traditional Christian doctrine which are not reflected in the Af­ ologians themselves (that is, as Chri~tian sc~~lars), the traditi~n~l rican past disappear or are marginalised" (ibid.). religions of Africa belong to the Afncan relIgIOUS past. Yet this IS These observations were confirmed in a survey article on not so much a chronological past as an "ontological" past, "Researchin the History of Religions in West Africa" by Kwesi which, together with the profession of the Christian faith, gives Dickson of Ghana. Dickson expressed regret that West Africa had account of one and the same entity-namely, the history of the not produced enough researchers in the area of "biblical i~eas religious consciousness of the African Christia~..In thi~ ~ense the and customs." The favored fields of study were, rather, Afncan African theologian's concern with the pre-Chnstian relIgIou.s her­ traditional religion and ethics, interaction of religions and the itage becomes an endeavor to clarify the nature and meanIng of Independent Churches (Dickson, 1975). African Christian identity. If, as E. Fashole-Luke (of Sierra Leone) There is probably no issue mo~e crucial .than the ne~d. to has argued, lithe quest for African Christian theol.ogies understand this heightened interest In the Afncan pre-Chnstian amounts to attempting to make clear the fact that conversion to religious tradition if Africa's theologians are. to be inte~reted Christianity must be coupled with cultural continuity," then it correctly and their achievement duly recognized, W~~t IS the becomes understandable that "what Africa~ theologians have explanation for the extraordinary fact that the very relIgIOUS ~a­ been endeavouring to do is to draw together the various and ditions that were previously deemed to be of scant theological disparate sources which make up the total religi~us experienc~ significance should now come to occupy "the very centre of of Christians in Africa into a coherent and meaningful pattern the academic stage"? (Hastings, 1976:50). (E. Fashole-Luke, 1975:268, italics ad~ed). It is the q~est for ~~at A glance at the bibliographies of the continent's leading the­ Kenneth Cragg, in another connection, has descnbed as In­ ological writers will confirm Andrew Walls's observation that tegrity in conversion, a unity of self in which one's past is gen­ "Each ... was trained in theology on a Western model, but each has moved into an area for which no Western syllabus pre­ pared him, for each has been forced to study a~d lectur~ .on African traditional religion-and each has found himself wnting "The very issue of on it" (Walls, 1981:49). identity becomes the However, it has not been generally recognized that the kind of study that the African theologian makes of African traditional single most helpful tool religion cannot be compared with "a c.linical. o~se:;ation of for interpreting the early the sort one might make about Babylonian religion, because literature of African "he is handling dynamite, his own past, his people's present" (Walls, 1981). In the process, African theologians ~a:e arriv~~ at theology." a generally more sympathetic view of the pre-C~nstia~ t~adltiO~ than the Western missionary interpretation of Africa, WIthItSbaSIC uinely integrated into present commitment. Thus the crisis of cultural and theological presumptions, could do. There could be repentance and faith that makes us Christian truly integrates what no more eloquent statement of this African theological perspective we have been in what we become" (Cragg, 1980:194). on the pre-Christian tradition than the follo,:ing appraisal.of the Perhaps the real significance of the concentration of interest achievement of African theology by Archbishop (then BIshop) on the African religious past in African theology has been to make at the 1975 [os (Nigeria) Conference on Christi­ the issue of identity itself into a theological and Christian problem. anity in Independent Africa: It constitutes the African response to the earlier widespread iden­ tification of Christianity with European values in the missionary African theologians have set about demonstrating that the African history of African churches. Ten years ago Andrew Walls made religious experience and heritage were not illusory and that ~~ey should have formed the vehicle for conveying the Gospel verities the following incisive observation on African theology: to Africa .... It was vital for the African's self-respect that this kind of rehabilitation of his religious heritage should take place. It ... no question is more clamant than the African Christian identity is the theological counterpart of what has happened in, say, the crisis. It is not simply an intellectual quest. The massive shift in study of African history. It has helped to give th~ lie t~ the ~u­ the centre of gravity of the Christian world which has taken place percilious but tacit assumption that religion and ~IStOry In ~frica cannot be separated from the cultural impact of the West in imperial date from the advent in the continent of the white man. It IS re­ days. Now the Empires are dead and the Western value-setting of assuring to know that we have had a genuine knowledge of God the Christian faith largely rejected. Where does this leave the Af­ and that we have had our own ways of communicating with deity, rican Christian? Who is he? What is his past? A past is vital for all ways which meant that we were able to speak authentically as of us---without it, like the amnesiac man, we cannot know who we ourselves and not as pale imitations of others. It means that we are. The prime African theological quest at present is this: what is have a great store from which we can fashion new ways of speaking the past of the African Christian? What is the relationship between to and about God, and new styles of worship consistent with our Africa's old religions and her new one? JWalls, 1978:13.] new faith. [Tutu, 1978:366.] As a result, the very issue of identity becomes the single most helpful tool for interpreting the early literature of African theol­

April 1989 59 ogy. For identity thus took on the importance of a theological as humanity. The preponderance of material relating to "tradi­ well as a methodological principle. This entailed confronting con­ tional" (as against Christian or Muslim) Africa is legitimate, since stantly the question as to how and how far "the old" and it indicates the main substratum of later developments in African "the new" in African religious consciousness could become religious tradition. The inclusion of Christianity, Islam, and other integrated in a unified vision of what it meant to be African and religions in the treatment is also justified, for they too flow into Christian. The issue of identity also forced the theologian to be­ the overall history of African religion. Mbiti rightly stresses, there­ come in himself the locus of this struggle for integration through fore, that "both Christianity and Islam are 'traditional' and a dialogue, which, if it was to be authentic, had to be an inner 'African' in a historical sense, and it is a pity that they tend to dialogue and so became infinitely more intense and personal. be regarded as 'foreign' or 'European' and'Arab' " (1969:xii). This is what gives to the early literature of African theology so In the final analysis, Mbiti's interpretation is determined by much the character of an apologia pro vita sua. It is another way his Christian theological commitment and is motivated by the of saying that in African theology, certainly in its formative stages, thesis that all the religious traditions of Africa, other than the the theologian would not stand over against his subject; rather, Christian, constitute in their highest ideals a praeparatio evangelica. the development of theological concern and the formulation of Convinced that "the religious traditions of Africa contain the theological questions became linked as the unavoidable by-prod­ only lasting potentialities for a basis, a foundation and a direction uct of the process of Christian self-definition. Here, in fact, is the of life for African societies," it is through the Christian faith-and answer to Adrian Hastings's complaint that "areas of tradi­ supremelythroughJesus Christ-thatthe African questfor identity tional Christian doctrine which are not reflected in the African past and "the freedom ... of mature manhood and selfhood are disappear or are marginalised." attainable.', It was by ignoring the issue of identity as outlined above that Benjamin C. Ray, though rightly recognizing the "primary The strength and uniqueness of Christianity do not lie in the fact theological purpose" of the studies on African traditional religion that its teachings, practice and history have all the major elements of the other religious traditions The uniqueness of Christianity by John Mbiti (of ) and E. Bolaji Idowu (of Nigeria), yet is Jesus Christ.... It is He and only He, who deserves to be failed to appreciate their positive value for understanding African the goal for individuals and mankind.... I consider traditional religious life. It would seem as if the writings of Mbiti and Idowu­ religions, Islam and other religious systems to be preparatory.... probably the two most influential figures in the early development But only Christianity has the terrible responsibility of pointing the of African theology-were regarded as less helpful precisely be­ way to the Ultimate Identity, Foundation and Source of security. cause they were "attempting to lay the basis for a distinctively [Mbiti, 1969:277.] African theology by blending the African past with the [udeo­ Christian tradition" (Ray, 1976:15). Perhaps even more than African Religions and Philosophy, Mbiti's Concepts of God in Africa shows the depth of the author's Mbiti and Idowu as Two Representative commitment as an African Christian scholar. Concerned to set Figures forth the evidence of the African pre-Christian reflection about God contained in African wisdom sayings, myths, ritual pronounce­ John Mbiti may justly be described as a biblical scholar in view ments, and prayers, Mbiti offered no apology for suggesting that of his 1963 doctoral thesis presented to the University of Cam­ many of the African concepts bear striking resemblance to biblical bridge and subsequently published as New Testament Eschatology ideas, particularly those of the Old Testament. Several African in an African Background (1971). Nevertheless, Mbiti's influence as societies speak of God as "Creator," "Father" (and Grand­ a leading African theologian has been most deeply felt in the field father), and a few as "Mother" and "Friend," while some of African traditional religion, his major publications in this area understand themselves to be "children of God." Countless being his great Africana trilogy: African Religions and Philosophy simple acts and- expressions, especially in relation to worship, (1969), Concepts of God in Africa (1970a), and The Prayers of African provide the evidence for Mbiti's contention that religion is the Religion (1975). richest and most profound part of the cultural heritage of African Very early in African Religions and Philosophy Mbiti acknowl­ peoples. edged that he might be venturing forth as an innovator: "Our The finest illustration of Mbiti's evaluation of African tradi­ written knowledge of traditional religions is comparatively little, tional religion as praeparatio evangelica is found in The Prayers of though increasing, and comes chiefly from anthropologists and African Religion. Its merit lies in its theological interpretation of sociologists. Practically nothing has been produced by theolo­ the prayers in African pre-Christian religious life. It was important gians, describing or interpreting these religions theologically" for Mbiti that the majority of the prayers preserve religious tra­ (p. 1). But if one expected to find a treatment in depth of the ditions that dated from well "before the penetration of Chris­ particular and complex religious traditions of Africa, one would tianity into the interior of Africa" (1975:x). For this meant that the be looking in the wrong place, for that was not the author's overwhelming theism. of the prayers constituted a significant cor­ intention. Rather, taking the view that "religion permeates into rective to the earlier assumption about the African sense of God all departments of [African] life so fully that it is not easy or held by European interpreters of Africa. Thus, without polemical possible always to isolate it," Mbiti posited the methodological engagement, Mbiti was able to let the prayer literature of African principle that "a study of these religious systems is, therefore, societies speak for itself; the result is a collection of the spiritual ultimately, a study of the peoples themselves in all the complex­ riches of African pre-Christian religious tradition, and for Mbiti, ities of both traditional and modern life" (p. 1). Thus the merit a worthy foundation for, and an integral element of, African of the book lies in Mbiti's perception of the close connection Christian spirituality (Mbiti, 1978). between the religious concepts and practices that he discusses, These three books need to be taken together in order to and the peoples whose religious lives embody them. appreciate Mbiti's contribution to the establishing of African the­ Seen from this angle, the true character of African Religions ology. It is equally important to recognize the sense of movement and Philosophy becomes apparent. It can be regarded as a religious and the sharpening of focus that occurs through them. For they history of African societies taken together as a cultural unit within represent the outworking of Mbiti's own perception of the fun­

60 International Bulletin of Missionary Research "Who hears the voice of my supplications?" (Psalm 130:1-4) by SouthAfricanartist Azariah Mbatha. Reprinted from Theo Sundermeier, SUDAFRIKANISCHE PASSION: LINOLSCHNIITE VON AZARIAH MBATHA. Copyright C> 1977 by Luther-Verlag, Bielefeld, and AussaatVerlag, Wuppertal. Used by permission. damental task of the African theologian. Commenting on the a "theology which .bears the stamp of original thinking and place of the traditional religions of Africa in relation to the coming meditation of Africans," having devoted a whole book to the of Christianity, Mbiti had earlier written: subject in his Towards an Indigenous Church (1965). Though he addressed himself primarily to the church in his native Nigeria, The number of full adherents of the traditional religions in Africa Idowu had little doubt that his conclusions had a relevance for by 2000 A.D. will be almost negligible. In their traditional settings the wider African church. these religions will have dwindled numerically though not in their It is indicative of the range of Idowu's concerns that he treated beliefs, but they will have bequeathed to Christianity some of the as "concrete examples" of areas that needed attention, the riches of African traditional religiosity. As such, Christianity will in Nigerian languages, the language of evangelism, theol­ have become an agent of fulfilment in the sense that it will not ogy, liturgy, dress and vestments; but not surprisingly, his fullest destroy Traditional Religions as such, but it will have superseded them by bringing into them other dimensions of religion which treatment came under "theology." It is of the nature of a the­ they lack and which are not opposed to the traditional religiosity. ology that bears "the distinctive stamp of indigenous origi­ In missiological jargon, these Traditional Religions will have been nality" that it should arise from Christians in Africa doing their a real praeparatio evangelica (preparation for the Gospel); and it is own thinking and grappling "spiritually and intellectually now up to African theologians to interpret the meaning of that with questions relating to the Christian faith" as their own ques­ preparation for the Gospel, in the African context of not only the tions (Idowu, 1965: 23). Accordingly, what was needed in the past, but today and tomorrow [1970b:36.] Nigerian church was that "Christian Nigerians must be able It is not surprising that having articulated the components of to say if Christ has become real to them. The Church in Nigeria "that preparation for the Gospel" in African pre-Christian re­ can only develop a distinctive theology in consequence of their ligious tradition, Mbiti should subsequently turn his attention to own personal knowledge of God and personal appropriation of questions that arise from the ongoing life and witness of the the Lordship of Christ" (1965: 24). Christian church in Africa. This he has done in his most recent Had Idowu left the question there, he would have contrib­ major publication, Bible and Theology in African Christianity (1986). uted little beyond stating the obvious handicap of a Christian Before John Mbiti's major books began to appear, Bolaji church that seemed to have learned the gospel in predominantly Idowu had already become well known as a leading advocate of "loan words." However, Idowu then transposed this need for

Apri11989 61 "a distinctive theology" in African terms into the much wider lem of "the one and the ~ny" in Yoruba religion may con­ issue of the "question of God's revelation" in the pre-Christian stitute his most valuable theological insight into African religious past and its relation to the Christian present. Thus Idowu was tradition, and can be compared to similar results in studies on posing the question of indigenization in an entirely new light. African traditional religion by writers working without his pre­ He was also, perhaps unwittingly, answering his own query as suppositions as an African Christian theologian (cf. E. Evans­ to why the church in Nigeria had not developed an indigenous Pritchard, 1956; G. Lienhardt, 1961). theology. Could it have been because hitherto "the revelation In African Traditional Religion-A Definition (1973), which ,already vouchsafed to Nigerians" had not been "linked with Idowudescribed as "definitive and interpretative" (p. xi), his Biblical revelation"? (1965:26). Therefore, for Idowu, the problem viewpoint on the question of God in traditional religion had be­ of theology in the African church came to center on "finding come quite certain: "African traditional religion cannot be de­ 'the bridge' between the old and the new" (1965: 26) in African scribed as polytheistic. Its appropriate description is religious experience. By conceiving of the problem in this form, monotheistic, however modified this may be. The modification Idowu brought the issue round to the question of the identity of is however inevitable because of the presence of other divine the African Christian or, as he would put it, the "Christian beings within the structure of the religion" (1973: 168). Further­ African." But behind the matter of identity lay the more insistent more, the significance of African traditional religion had grown question of the continuity of God in the total African religious and deepened in Idowu's thought: "African traditional reli­ experience: " ... where, ethnically, [do] Nigerians come in in gion is the religion practiced by the majority of Africans" (1973: this one world which belongs to God ..." (1965: 24). 208), for "in strictly personal matters relating to the passages In saying "God," Idowu meant "God as revealed in of life and the crises of life, African traditional religion is regarded the Biblical religion" and who "so loved the world that he as the final succour by most Africans" (1973: 206). sent His only begotten Son to redeem it" (1965: 24, 26). But for Thus Idowu could state quite confidently, "It does not yet Idowu, "God" meant also Olodumare, God as known and ex­ appear what we shall be," quoting 1 John 3:2, but applying the perienced in Yoruba pre-Christian tradition. It is in the interplay biblical text not to the church in Nigeria, but to the prospect of of these two concepts, and how they in fact become one reality, African traditional religion (1973: 208). The task of vindicating that we may locate Idowu's most enduring theological interest. and securing the grounds of an African identity and selfhood, For it is in relation, to the question of God-God in African pre­ which in Towards an Indigenous Church was laid upon the Christian Christian tradition-that Idowu considered the problem of indi­ church, now came to be entrusted to the old religion revitalized genization to be at its sharpest. This was, for him, the "fun­ with its "God-given heritage of indigenous spiritual and cul­ damental question": tural treasures" (1973: 205). And yet it would be misleading to conclude that Idowu had ... whether in the past pre-Christian history of Nigerians, God therefore obliterated Christianity from African religious life. What has ever in any way revealed Himself to them and they have ap­ can be said is that in the development of his theological thought, prehended His revelation in however imperfect a way; whether the sense of the continuity of God's revelation had the effect of what happens in the coming of Christianity and as a result of placing African traditional religion and Christianity in a contin­ evangelism is that Nigerians have been introduced to a completely uum of revelation that secured for the indigenous religion' a per­ new God who is absolutely unrelated to their past history. [1965: manent place in African religious experience. However, the way 24.] . this continuity was perceived by Idowu has meant also that he And for Idowu the irreplaceable raw material for resolving this has since never clarified what constitutes the "newness" of question one way or the other was the revelation contained in the gospel for Africa. the "heritage from the past." Hence the primary theological The perspectives of Bolaji Idowu and John Mbiti on the pre­ task in Africa became the theological interpretation of African Christian religious heritage represent two divergent answers to traditional religion: "The materials gathered from the study of the question of identity as it lies at the root of all the theological the indigenous beliefs of Nigeria," in order to ascertain "what reflection that has emerged in the African church in the post­ God has done, in what way He has been known and approached missionary era. Almost every major African theological writer of in the past and present history of Nigerians, ... will form a basic the period in the field of religions has addressed the issue in one raw material for in Nigeria" (1965: 25). form or other; for instance, Christian Baeta (1962);Harry Sawyerr Idowu's two other major publications, Olodumare-s-God in Yo­ (1968, 1970); Mulago (1965, 1980); Gabriel Setiloane (1976). Even ruba Belief (1962) and African Traditional Religion-A Definition Byang Kato, who postulated a radical discontinuity between the (1973), may be regarded as the logical outworking of this prin­ pre-Christian tradition and Christian belief (Theological Pitfalls in ciple. Olodumare, the substance of his 1955 doctoral thesis pre­ Africa, 1975), found it necessary to address the identity question sented to the University of London, treats the problem posed by in his African Cultural Revolutionand the Christian Faith (1975) and the presence in Yoruba religion of a multitude of divinities who felt the need to write on the subject of "Christianity as an "so predominate the scene that it is difficult for the casual African Religion" (1979). observer to notice that under them, there is one vital cultic basis" There are indications that the specific issue of the religious (1962: 141). Idowu's solution was to reduce radically all "di­ past is giving way to other concerns, like (John Pobee, vinities" to the status of manifestations of Olodumare, "His 1979; Charles Nyamiti, 1984; Kwame Bediako, 1984), theological ministers, looking after the affairs of His universe and acting as methodology (0. Bimwenyi-Kweshi, 1981), biblical interpretation intermediaries between Him and the world of men" (1962: 62). (M. Oduyoye, 1984), and theological education in the context of This enabled him to establish conclusively that "the religion the life of the churches (K. Dickson, 1984). But the identity ques­ of the Yoruba ... consisted in a 'Primitive Monotheism,' " but tion still underlies these newer explorations. a "diffused monotheism"; so that "if we speak of the 're­ ligion of the Yoruba' we can only do so in reference to the fact African Theology and Indigenous Languages that Olodumare is the core which gives meaning and coherence to the whole system" (1962: 202-4). Idowu's solution to the prob­ Yet there remains a troubling question for African theology. Can

62 International Bulletin of Missionary Research What good is a masters without a CONTINUING YOUR working ministry? AtMoody Graduate School, we think you should stay with your ministry while you work toward your Masters MINISTRY Degree. As a matter of fact, it's a requirement. WHILE YOU GO Classes lastone week. While a course continues over several months, you only need to be on TO GRAD campus for asingle week. After that, you head back to your own ministry to complete assignments SCHOOL IS that are practical in the real world. Of the 36 hours many people take from Moody, six hours apply toward afinal NOT RECOMMENDED. field project. Instead ofwriting a master's thesis, we want you to put what you learned into action. IT'S REQUIRED. Classes are team-taught to bring stu­ dents the widest range of academic and practical experience. Our teach­ ers don't stress tests and exams. And you can pursue your MA one class at atime-at your own pace. We keep tuition lowby relying on God forfinancial support-through the generous friends of Moody Bible Institute. And while entrance require­ ments are strict, we'll gladly work with all serious applicants to help them gain admission. Above all, Moody focuses on spiritual growth and evangelism. Just aswe have for over a century. Find out more about the master's pro­ gram that's possible and practical­ even when you're already doing His work. And don't want to interrupt it. Please call1-800-333-3139 InIllinois 1-312-329-4341 Moody Graduate School AMinistry ofMoody Bible Institute 820 North LaSalle Drive Chicago, Illinois 60610 THE WORKABLE PROGUM.(I) African theology make the needed impact within its own African activity in Christian Africa today is being done as oral theology world without taking more seriously than it has done so far the (in contrast to written theology) from the living experiences of indigenous languages in which the vast majority of Africa's Chris­ Christians" (Mbiti, 1986:229). Indeed, evidence such as Afua Ku­ tians hear and live the word of God? Since Christianity rejects ma's Jesus oftheDeep Forest (Twi prayers and praises of an illiterate the notion of a special sacred language and instead affirms the Christian woman from Ghana, which have now also been pub­ Scriptures in whatever language to be the word of God, it is lished in German) indicates that there has in fact taken place a reasonable to expect that the rich linguistic heritage of Africa deep religious apprehension of Jesus Christ in African terms, should provide singular opportunities for developing indigenous mediated through an African reading and hearing of the word of Christian theologies. Indeed, John Pobee of Ghana has argued: God in indigenous African languages. It may be the special task "Ideally, African theologies should be in the vernacular" of Africa's academic theologians also to be in touch with this (1979:23). Yetit is European languages that have been the medium theology-to share in it and to explicate its significance within the for the reflections of the continent's leading theological writers. total theological en terprise of IIthinking through faith in Christ" in African terms (Dickson, 1984:8). It is possible to see the success of African theologians at "There has in fact taken vindicating the pre-Christian religious roots of Africa as analogous to the achievement of the early Hellenistic Christian theologians, place a deep religious who also claimed the best in their cultural and intellectual heritage apprehension of Jesus for the gospel. If such is the case, then to those who in twentieth­ century Africa would speak the language of Celsus and seek to Christ in African terms." set aside Jesus Christ as an alien, intruding figure on the African scene (Okot p'Bitek, 1970; Ali Mazrui, 1980), the theology at the "living roots of the churches" may yet prove the most effective The question is whether an African theology that is "controlled response, affirming Christ again, in the words of Justin Martyr, in language and methodology by its European medium" can give as "the expectation of the nations" (1Apology 32, 1-4). adequate account of the apprehension of Christ at the "living roots of the churches" (Hastings, 1976:58), "where the faith "He [Jesus] is the one has to live" (Balz, 1984). who cooks his food in huge palm-oil pots. It is a sign of hope, therefore, that John Mbiti who, like Thousands of people have eaten, Idowu, earlier lamented the African church's lack of "theo­ yet the remnants fill twelve baskets. logical consciousness" (Mbiti, 1969:232; 1972:51; 1978:188) has If we leave all this, and go wandering off- later felt able to write not only that "the Christian way of life if we leave his great gift, where else shall we go?" is in Africa to stay," but also that "much of the theological [, 1981b:38]

References------

Baeta, Christian G. 1962. Prophetism in Ghana: A Study of Some "Spiritual" Kato, Byang H. 1975a. Theological Pitfalls in Africa. Kisumu, Kenya: Evangel Churches. London, SCM Press. Publishing House. Balz, Heinrich. 1984. Where the Faith Has to Live-Studies in Bakossi Society --.1975b. AfricanCulturalRevolution andtheChristian Faith. [os, Nigeria: and Religion. Basel: Basler Mission. Challenge Publications. Bediako, Kwame. 1984. "Biblical in the Context of African --. 1979. "Christianity as an African Religion." In Perception, no. 16 Traditional Religions." In Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden (eds.), (May) pp. 1-6. (Reprinted in Evangelical Review of Theology 4, no. 1, Sharing Jesus in theTwo-Thirds World. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans. April 1980, pp. 31-39.) Bimwenyi-Kweshi, 0.1981. Discours theologique negro-airicain-s-prooleme des Kuma, Afua. 1981a. Kwaebirentuw ase Yesu-Afua Kuma ayeyi ne mpaebs. fondements. Paris: Presence Africaine. , Ghana: Asempa Publishers. Cragg, Kenneth. 1968. Christianity in World Perspective. London: Lutter­ --.1981b. Jesus oftheDeep Forest-PrayersandPraises ofAfuaKuma. (Eng­ worth Press. lish Translation by Jon Kirby of original Twi texts.) Accra, Ghana: --. 1980. "Conversion and Convertibility with Special Reference to Asempa Publishers. Muslims." In John R. W. Stott and Robert Coote (eds.), Down to --. 1987. Du fiingst dasWasser in deinem Netz-Lobgesiingeund Gebete aus Earth-Studies in Christianity and Culture. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerd­ Ghana. (German translation by H. J. Becken of Jesus of the Deep Forest.) mans. Erlangen: Verlag der Ev. Luth. Mission. Dickson, Kwesi A. 1975. "Research in the History of Religions in West Lienhardt, Godfrey. 1961. DivinityandExperience-The Religion oftheDinka. Africa." In Religion, August 1975. Oxford: Clarendon Press: --. 1984. Theology in Africa. London: Darton, Longman & Todd; Mary­ Mazrui, Ali. 1980. The African Condition-A Political Diagnosis. London: knoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books. Heinemann. Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1956. Nuer Religion. London: Oxford University Mbiti, John S. 1969. AfricanReligions and Philosophy. London: Heinemann. Press. --. 1970a. Concepts of Godin Africa. London: SPCK. Fashole-Luke, E. W. 1975. "The Quest for an African Christian The­ --. 1970b. "The Future of ." In Communio Via­ ology." In Ecumenical Review27, no. 3, pp. 259-69. torum-Theological Quarterly 13, nos. 1-2, pp. 19-38. Hastings, Adrian. 1976. African Christianity-An Essay in Interpretation. --.1971. New Testament Eschatology inanAfrican Background-A Studyof London: Geoffrey Chapman. the Encounter between New Testament Theology and African Traditional Idowu, E. Bolaji, 1962. Olodumare-i-God in Yoruba Belief. London: Longman. Concepts. London: Oxford University Press. (Republished in 1978 by --. 1965. Towards an Indigenous Church. London: Oxford University SPCK, London.) Press. --. 1972. "Some African Concepts of Christology." In Georg F. Vice­ --. 1973. African Traditional Religion-A Definition. London: SCM dam (ed.), Christand the Younger Churches. London: SPCK. (Published Press. earlier, in 1968, in German as "Afrikanische Beitrage zur Chris-

64 International Bulletin of Missionary Research tologie." In Georg F. Vicedom, ed., Theologischie Stimmen aus Asien, Ray, Benjamin C. 1976. AfricanReligions-Symbols, Ritual and Community, Afrika und Lateinamerika, vol. 3. Munich: C. Kaiser Verlag.) Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. --. 1975. The Prayers of AfricanReligion. London: SPCK. Sawyerr, Harry. 1968. Creative Evangelism-Towards a New Christian En­ --.1978. Prayer and Spiritualityin AfricanReligion (The Charles Strong counterwith Africa. London: Lutterworth Press. Memorial Lecture, Australia, August 1978). Bedford Park: Australian --.1970. God: Ancestoror Creator? Aspectsof Traditional Belief in Ghana, Association for the Study of Religion. Nigeria and Sierra Leone. London: Longman. --.1986. Bibleand Theology inAfricanChristianity. , Kenya: Oxford Setiloane, Gabriel. 1976. The Image of Godamong the Sotho-Tswana. Rotter­ University Press. dam: A. A. Balkema. Mulago, gwa Cikala Musharhamina (Vincent). 1965. Un visage africain du Tutu, Desmond. 1978. "Whither African Theology?" In E. W. Fashole­ Christianisme-L' union vitale bantu face a l' unite vitale ecclesiale. Paris: Luke et al. (eds.), Christianity in Independent Africa. London: Rex Coll­ Presence Africaine. ings. --.1980. LaReligion traditionnelle desBantuet leurvisiondu monde. Kin­ Walls, Andrew F. 1978. "Africa and Christian Identity." In Mission Focus shasa, Zaire: Faculte de Theologie Catholique. 6, no. 7 (November), pp. 11-13. Nyamiti, Charles. 1984. Christas our Ancestor-Christology from an African --. 1981. "The Gospel as the Prisoner and Liberator of Culture." In Perspective. Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press. Faith and Thought 108, nos. 1-2, pp. 39-52. (Reprinted in Missionalia Oduyoye, Modupe. 1984. The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men-An 10, no. 3, November 1982, pp. 93-105.) Afro-Asiatic Interpretation of Genesis 1-11. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Westermann, Dietrich. 1937. Africaand Christianity (Duff Lectures, 1935). Books. London: Oxford University Press. Okot p'Bitek. 1970. African Religions in Western Scholarship. Kampala, World Missionary Conference 1910, Report of Commission IV. 1910. The Uganda: East African Literature Bureau. Missionary Message in relation to Non-Christian Religions. Edinburgh & Pobee, John S. 1979. Toward an AfricanTheology. Nashville, Tenn.: Abing­ London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier. don.

The Legacy of Roland Allen

Charles Henry Long and Anne Rowthorn

oland Allen served briefly as an Anglican missionary in ford he was steeped in Anglo-Catholic tradition at Leeds Clergy R China at the turn of the century and even more briefly as Training School. He was described by the principal, Winfred Bur­ a parish priest in England. He never held important office in rows, as being "a refined intellectual man, small, not vigorous, church, mission, or academic institutions, yet few men have had in no way burly or muscular. He is not the sort of man to impress such broad and lasting influence on movements for renewal and settlers or savages by his physique."l reform in Christian mission. His prophetic message was largely In 1892, while at Leeds, Allen had applied to the Society for ignored in his own day, but subsequent generations have redis­ the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG), because "I am simply covered the legacy of his writings on such themes as Missionary thirsting to go to the foreign mission field, and I am ready to go Methods: St. Paul's or Ours?and Spontaneous Expansion of theChurch wherever and whenever the Society has a vacancy.... From my and the Causes Which HinderIt. These small books contain a radical earliest years I was as .firmly convinced of my vocation as I was criticism of missionary policy and practice current at that time of my existence.:" After serving as a curate in Darlington, Allen's and set forth an alternative vision of what might be done to request was granted and he joined the North China Mission in establish truly indigenous, self-supporting churches. 1895. It was intended that he take charge of a small school in Peking A Sketch of Allen's Life "to train men for a native ministry." While preparing himself for the task and learning Chinese he served as chaplain to the Roland Allen was born in Bristol, England, on December 29, 1868. British Legation. In that capacity he had a firsthand view of the He was the youngest of five children; his father was an Anglican Boxer Rebellion of 1900 when the entire foreign community came priest who died when Allen was quite young. He attended St. under siege at the British compound until their rescue by foreign John'S College, Oxford, on a scholarship and came under the troops. Allen kept a diary, which he later published as The Siege influence of F. E. Brightman, the great liturgist at Pusey House, of the Peking Legations (1901). whom Allen considered "my great father in God." After Ox- Following the defeat of the Boxers, Allen went home on fur­ lough. He met and married Mary Beatrice Tarlton, daughter of an admiral and a keen supporter of the SPG. They later had a Charles Henry Long, an Episcopal priest, is Editor and Director of Forward son and a daughter. In 1902he returned to North China, as priest­ Movement Publications in Cincinnati; Ohio. He was ordained in the Episcopal in-charge of a rural mission in Yungching. This lasted only a few Diocese of North China and his first assignment was as chaplain to the British months as his health broke down and he had to return again to Legation Chapel where Roland Allen first served when he arrived in Peking. England with his wife and child. Anne Rowthorn, a lecturer at Hartford Seminary, is a member of the Standing Allen then took a parish in Buckinghamshire, Chalfont St. Commission on World MissionoftheGeneral Convention oftheEpiscopal Church, Peter, but resigned in 1907 on a matter of conscience. The rules and is chair of the Connecticut Diocesan World Mission Committee. She edited of the required priests to baptize any infant Samuel Seabury's Journal for publication, Miles to Go before I Sleep (1982), from the community "on demand" without regard to the par­ and is theauthorof Samuel Seabury: A Bicentennial Biography (1983), The ents' Christian commitment or lack of it. He could not believe it Liberation of the Laity (1986), and Caring for Creation: Toward an Ethic to be right to extend the sacraments of the church to those who of Responsibility (1989). gave no evidence of faith. After this crisis he never again held

April 1989 65