Church and society: the value of Perichoresis in understanding Ubuntu with special reference to John Zizioulas by JELE SAMUEL MANGANYI In fulfilment of the requirements for the degree PHILOSOPHIAE DOCTOR In the Department of Dogmatics and Christian Ethics FACULTY OF THEOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Johan Buitendag November 2012 © University of Pretoria ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my heartfelt, profound gratitude to the following people for various kinds of assistance and encouragement I received during the course of this study: To Prof Dr J. Buitendag, the promoter of this thesis for his loving care, advice and encouragement. I say thank you for your support as my mentor, teacher and friend. You made me walk the journey to being a disciple of Christ. May God richly bless you. To Dr C. Steyn for his insights and the time we spent on correcting the document. Thanks also to Ms. S. Duncan for her availability and willingness to assist me with editing my work and providing valuable advice. I am humbled by her spirit of Ubuntu. To Mr. M. Ralephata for his support and critical analysis; to Mr. W. Mathebula, Mr. M. Vongo and Mr. L. M. Mangquku for your time spent reading and editing the material. To those who helped me through their computer skills, like Miss N. Lallo, N Qayiso and G. Mfolo. Many thanks to Cornerstone Christian Institute who laid a good foundation for my academic endeavour. To my fellow workers in the Assemblies of God, Gauteng office, for your understanding and encouragements. To Pastor T. Zuma who believed in me more than I did, thank you and may God bless you. To the following churches, Soshanguve South Assembly of God (AOG), Sivana AOG, Soshanguve Central AOG and Orlando AOG, for your support and power of your prayers which helped me tremendously along the way. To my late parents who will not be able to read this thesis. To my dear wife Alice who has been a pillar of strength to me throughout the years, your love and confidence in me has been a great source of inspiration. To Nyiko, Junior and Smangaliso, be inspired. To God be the glory. 1 | P a g e COPYRIGHT NOTICE The copyright of this thesis is vested in the University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa, in accordance with the University’s Policy. No portion of the text may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including analogue and digital media, without prior written permission from the University. Full acknowledgement must be made of the author and the University. I declare that the thesis Church and society: the value of Perichoresis in understanding Ubuntu with special reference to John Zizioulas, which I hereby submit for the degree Philosophiae Doctor at the University of Pretoria, is my own work and has not been submitted by me before for a degree at this or any other tertiary institution. JELE S. MANGANYI (25403592) 30 November 2012 2 | P a g e ABSTRACT The African Initiated Churches (AICs) are the custodians of the African Traditional Religion (ATR). In the South African census, the AICs are classified as Christian. Africans claim that long before the Christian faith came through missionaries there was some form of worship of God by Africans. This means Africans practiced ATR outside Christianity and after Christianity came through missionaries, they started practising it as Christians. One of the reasons given for the Africans moving out of the missionary churches to start their own was a search for an African identity. There was a hunger for a place where the African culture could be accommodated. One of the features of African culture is the worship of ancestors. The question of monotheism encountering polytheism does arise in this kind of discussion. The doctrine of the Trinity is uniquely Christian. There is a historical background concerning the teaching and the foundation thereof. As the AICs responded to a situation, so did the Early Church Fathers who faced question of monotheism encountering polytheism. There was a need to redefine Jewish monotheism within the Christian faith in reference to the event of Jesus Christ. The Church Fathers struggled to defend and grappled with the Christian faith with reference to the scriptures in the light of Jesus Christ. They took the gospel from the Jewish setting into the Greek setting. Their efforts benefited the church throughout history. One may say the writings and the teachings of the early church stood the test of time. One may also say the writings and the teachings were based on the solid foundation being of Jesus Christ and the authority of the scriptures. Juxtaposition is the approach employed in this thesis. Two traditions are being critically assessed based on the notion of Perichoresis by the Cappadocian Church Fathers and the notion of Ubuntu in the ATR. Chapter one deals with the theological background with specific focus on the African church and contextualisation. Chapter two, deals with the debate concerning the position and nature of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It also investigates the origin of the Nicene Creed. Chapter three investigates the terminology within the doctrine of the Trinity, while Chapter four explores the term ecumenical and communion with reference to Ubuntu. Chapter five 3 | P a g e analyses the work of Zizioulas, and the conclusion attempts to find an appropriate approach for the African church. Therefore the study concludes that the reference for Ubuntu should be found in the relationship with God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and not in the veneration and worship of the ancestors. The benefits of the relationship with God through Jesus supersede all other relationship with any deity in the now and the future. Umuntu ngo munthu nga bantu Mothu ke mothu ka batho 4 | P a g e TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................. 1 COPYRIGHT NOTICE ...................................................................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 3 CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 1: SETTING THE STAGE .............................................................................................. 11 1.1 Preliminaries .......................................................................................................................... 11 1.1.1 Research Problem .................................................................................................. 16 1.1.2 Research Statement .............................................................................................. 16 1.1.3 Challenges .............................................................................................................. 17 1.1.4 Hypotheses ............................................................................................................ 17 1.1.5 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................... 18 1.1.6 The importance of this research ........................................................................... 19 1.1.7 Research Methodology.......................................................................................... 19 1.1.8 Delimitation ........................................................................................................... 20 1.1.9 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................ 21 1.1.10 Composition .......................................................................................................... 22 1.1.11 Personal Testimony ............................................................................................... 25 1.2 Contextualisation .................................................................................................................. 26 1.2.1 Missionary work in Africa ...................................................................................... 27 1.2.2 African identity ...................................................................................................... 31 1.3 God’s Revelation: The development of the Christian God .................................................... 34 1.3.1 From Judaism to Christianity ................................................................................. 44 1.3.2 The state of the church ......................................................................................... 45 1.4 Heresies ................................................................................................................................. 45 1.4.1 Monarchianism ...................................................................................................... 45 1.4.2 Modalism ............................................................................................................... 47 1.4.3 Sabellianism ........................................................................................................... 47 1.5 Councils and the Creed .......................................................................................................... 48 5 | P a g e 1.6 Four thousand years quest for God ......................................................................................