Christianity under indigenous leadership in Zimbabwe: Whither the Church’s inculturation of the Shona views on death and afterlife by BENNY HWATA submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF J. M. WOOD JANUARY 2021 i DECLARATION Name: BENNY HWATA Student number: 32281455 Degree: DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY IN SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY Exact wording of the title of the thesis or thesis as appearing on the copies submitted for examination: CHRISTIANITY UNDER INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP IN ZIMBABWE: WHITHER THE CHURCH’S INCULTURATION OF THE SHONA VIEWS ON DEATH AND AFTERLIFE? I declare that the above thesis is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. 07/10/20 ________________________ __________________________ SIGNATURE DATE ii Summary Early Christian missionaries alienated Shona people from their culture and traditional religion. Essential elements of Shona religion were rejected because they were thought to be entertaining paganism, fetishism and idolatry. More than a century of Christianity in Zimbabwe has passed and some Shona still hold on tenaciously to their ancestral religion. The missionaries did not understand Shona language and may have been ignorant of the significance of the Shona religion to the Shona people. However, with the transfer of power from colonial masters to black rule, one would have expected parallel changes concerning creative integration of indigenous cultural values with the Gospel. But today, forty years after independence, not a single Church denomination in Zimbabwe (Mainline Churches, Evangelical Churches and Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches) seems to have made any ‘meaningful adaption’ of the Shona views on death and afterlife, in the light of the Bible, and in particular, the Gospel. Several elements in Shona traditional beliefs on death and afterlife have been proposed for inculturation. In spite of the proposals put forward by various scholars, even the indigenous Church leaders in Zimbabwe seem to have failed to fully adapt the Shona views into the Christian Gospel message, despite the fact that they fully understand and appreciate the Shona culture and values. A literature review will help to extract information from current and past studies underlying this field. The principles followed on comprehending and solving problems, and the methods and methodology employed in the study, will be made explicit. A detailed examination of the Shona views on death and afterlife which the Zimbabwean Church is expected to possibly incorporate into their worship, and the precepts on the eschatological perspective of Christianity on death, resurrection and afterlife, will be conducted. Definition and analysis of the terms ‘dialogue’ and ‘inculturation’, and the progress achieved on dialogue and inculturation, by the Church in Zimbabwe, will follow. The challenges confronting the Church in Zimbabwe, and the Shona Christians, will be investigated, while theological arguments will be employed to identify gaps in knowledge in the previous literature. The study will suggest possible proposals on the way forward. iii Key Terms Death and afterlife; ancestral spirits, rituals of honour; inculturation; interfaith dialogue; witchcraft. iv List of abbreviations and acronyms Cor.: Corinthians Deut.: Deuteronomy AM: Africae Munus EA: Ecclesia in Africa EG: Evangelii Gaudium EN: Evangelli Nuntiandi NA: Nostra Aetate ZINATHA: Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Association v Acknowledgements I am fully indebted to the faithful, omnipotent, loving, the only wise God and his Son Jesus Christ who gracefully sustained me through his Spirit, and saw me through this study in my most difficult times. To him be glory forever and ever. My sincere gratitude goes to my wife Farisayi and my family for their support and encouragement, and the space they gave me in course of the study. My gratitude also goes to my daughter Hazel who tirelessly helped me put things together, assisting me in editing and proof- reading. I also do not forget all those who assisted me in various ways. I am deeply grateful to my supervisors: Professor Francisca Chimhanda for taking me through the initial stages of the study; and Professor J. M. Wood for her encouragement, inspiration and firefighting mode, even when she was not feeling well. I am also indebted to Professor Olehile Buffel for his counsel, support and guidance in difficult times. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge the financial support I received from UNISA for the duration of the study. vi Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Rationale 1 1.2 Background information 2 1.3 Statement of the problem 8 1.3.1 Preamble to the statement 8 1.3.2 The statement 9 1.4 Aims and objectives 10 1.5 Delineation 11 1.6 Research design and methodology 12 1.7 Axiology 13 1.8 Theoretical framework 16 1.9 Literature review 18 1.10 The way forward 19 Chapter 2 Literature Review in the dialogue between the Shona and Christian religions 2.1 Introduction 23 2.1.1 The purpose of literature review 23 2.1.2 How a literature review is conducted 25 2.2 The review 26 2.2.1 Importance of the study 26 2.2.2 Inculturation theory 27 2.2.3 The Shona religious worldview 29 2.2.4 The inculturation of the Gospel 32 2.2.5 Christian eschatological views 36 2.2.6 Overlapping literature 38 2.3 Principal questions and concluding remarks 45 Chapter 3 Methodology and Methods 3.1 Introduction 48 3.2 Underlying ideologies 50 3.3 Ontology 54 3.4 Epistemology 56 3.5 Theoretical perspectives 58 3.5.1 Symbolic interactionism 58 3.5.2 Hermeneutics 61 3.6 Methodology 67 3.6.1 Research design 68 3.6.2 The anthropological approach 72 3.6.3 The Ethnography approach 73 3.6.4 The phenomenological approach 73 3.6.5 The theological approach 74 vii 3.6.6 The historical approach 78 3.6.7 Case study 80 3.6.8 Grounded theory 83 3.7 Axiology 83 3.8 Sampling 84 3.9 Methods 85 3.9.1 Procedures to ensure rigor and trustworthiness in data collection 85 3.9.2 Data collection 89 3.9.2.1 Interviews 90 3.9.2.2 The verbatim tool 93 3.9.2.3 Focus group discussions 94 3.9.2.4 The observation method 97 3.9.2.5 The study of documents 99 3.9.3 Data analysis 99 3.10 Conclusion 101 Chapter 4 The Shona views on death and afterlife 4.1 Introduction 103 4.2 Death 103 4.3 The Shona nature of humanity 110 4.4 Death, burial and post-burial rituals 112 4.4.1 Death rituals 113 4.4.1.1 Preparing the body 113 4.4.1.2 The two shadows 115 4.4.1.3 Mombe yenheedzo 117 4.4.2 Burial rituals 117 4.4.2.1 Choosing the grave site 118 4.4.2.2 Digging the grave 119 4.4.2.3 Body viewing 119 4.4.2.4 Burial time 120 4.4.2.5 Procession 120 4.4.2.6 The burial 121 4.4.3 Post burial rituals 123 4.4.3.1 Kurova gata 124 4.4.3.2 Washing 125 4.4.3.3 Appeasing a vengeful spirit 126 4.4.3.4 The mourning attire 126 4.4.3.5 Custody of the deceased’s property 126 4.4.3.6 Rumuko 127 4.4.3.7 Cooling the spirit 127 4.4.3.8 The goat of anger (mbudzi yeshungu) 128 4.4.3.9 Doro remasukafoshoro 128 4.4.3.10 Rituals for a person buried away from home 129 4.4.3.11 Kurova guva 129 4.4.3.12 Spirit possession 135 viii 4.4.3.13 The inheritance ceremony (Kugara nhaka) 139 4.4.3.14 Hearthstones (Chimutsamaphihwa) 140 4.5 Other spirits 140 4.5.1 Alien spirits 140 4.5.2 Avenging/Angry spirits (Ngozi) 142 4.6 Interaction between the living and the dead 144 4.6.1 Rituals of honour 145 4.6.2 Rituals at tribal level 147 4.7 The place of the traditional healer in the Shona society 151 4.8 Witchcraft among the Shona 157 4.9 Satanism among the Shona 166 4.10 Relationship between n’anga and witches/ sorcerers 171 Chapter 5 The Christian eschatological perspective on death, resurrection and afterlife 5.1 Introduction 174 5.2 Death 176 5.2.1 The Christian traditional view 178 5.2.2 The monistic anthropology versus the dualistic anthropology 182 5.2.3 The soul sleep 193 5.2.4 Analysis of the interpretation of selected biblical texts in support of, or against monistic anthropology 196 5.3 Resurrection 199 5.3.1 The empty tomb 203 5.3.1.1 Was the empty tomb necessary for the proclamation of resurrection? 204 5.3.1.2 Was the tomb empty? 206 5.3.1.3 Did Paul ignore the empty tomb? 207 5.3.1.4 Is the empty tomb relevant for Christian faith in resurrection? 208 5.3.2 Post resurrection appearances 209 5.3.3 The nature of the post resurrection body 215 5.3.4 Bodily or spiritual resurrection? 218 Chapter 6 Inculturation: the theory, and the concrete dialogue between the Shona culture and the Christian faith in the indigenous led Zimbabwean Church. 6.1 Introduction 224 6.2 Interreligious dialogue 224 6.3 Inculturation 232 6.3.1 Culture - the core component of inculturation 232 6.3.2 Dynamics of culture 240 6.3.3 Terms related to inculturation 242 6.3.3.1 Enculturation 242 6.3.3.2 Acculturation 242 6.3.3.3 Contextualisation 243 6.3.4 Definition of the term inculturation 243 6.4 Dialogue in the Zimbabwean Church 247 ix 6.4.1 Intra-faith dialogue - the reality on the ground 247 6.4.1.1 Totemism 247 6.4.1.2 Death and what happens after death 250 6.4.1.3 Communication between the living and the dead 251 6.4.1.4 Resurrection 254 6.4.1.5 Resurrection versus resuscitation 255 6.4.1.6 The nature of the resurrection body 255 6.4.1.7 The use of the mbira instrument in the Zimbabwean Church 256 6.4.1.8 Training of a n’anga 257 6.4.1.9 Can the two religions worship together? 257 6.4.1.10 Chisi 258 6.4.1.11 The appearance of a white shadow