ZABLON NTHAMBURl

AFRICAN THEOLOGY AS A THEOLOGY OF LIBERATION In this paper it is my intention to explicate how African Theology is a theology of liberation and how it takes its point of departure from the existential situation of the African peoples. To do this, I shall endeavour to show what African Theology is, its origin, its point of departure and its criteria of adequacy. I shall also discuss relationship or kinship between African Theology and other theologies of liberation, especially Black theology in the United States and Southern Africa. What is African Theology? African Theology is born out of the African experience, African vision of the world and metaphysics, and takes seriously the cultures of the peoples of Africa. The ultimate purpose of this theology is to make Gospel and Christianity incarnate in the life and thought of Africa, hence African Theology is christian theology, moulded and expressed through African thought-forms and milieu. This is the recognition that theology must articulate and reflect on the concrete situations in which religious experience is perpetuated. It is the recognition of the people. The situation in Africa today is that of confusion. The majority of African peoples have entered a period of independent nationhood only since 1960. They are, therefore, struggling to make sense of this new era. In most of these countries, christians have been in the fore-front in the fighting for independence, at times, through violent struggle. It is clear, then, that their chief concerns are liberation and emancipation. Against foreign domination, Africans are searching for personality and authenticity. They want to determine their own destiny. Most of the countries in Africa are poor. Many people live under inhuman conditions. Because of this, ethnicism, nepotism, corruption, racism, exploitation are among the many evils that beset the society. What is the relevance of theology in such situations? It is against this background that African Theology has emerged as a theology of liberation making an attempt to address itself to this concrete and existential situation.
Rev. Zablon Nthamburi is a Methodist Minister from Kenya. His present address : P.O. Box 47635, Nairobi.

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With other third world liberation theologies, particularly Latin America liberation theology, African theology uses the exploited condition of the third world as a point of departure, and seriously enters the search for 'Logos' in the myths that surround the world of the poor, the oppressed, the underprivileged in their historical situation. In such a context, theology ceases to be a theory or a set of rules. It becomes a source of liberating power that addresses itself to the oppressed in their state of despair. Theology in this sense is a critical reflection on the conditions that have been imposed upon the oppressed by the oppressor: in our case, the western imperialistic systems that exploit and maim the poor. As Gutierrezrightlyobserves, "Theology as critical reflection fulfils a liberating function for man." The struggle of the developing nations of Africa to escape the economic, political, social, cultural and technological exploitation of the great powers are seen as an attempt by the oppressed to build a new, just and humane society, a brotherhood among men. This kind of theology takes praxis as its point of departure. Gutierrez makes this point clear when he says:"It is for all these reasons that the theology of liberation offers us a new way to do theology. Theology as critical reflection on historical praxis is a liberating theology, a theology of the liberating transformation of the history of mankind... which openly confesses Christ.... It is a theology which is open in the struggle against the plunder of the vast majority of people, in liberating love, and in the building of a new, just, and fraternal society to the gift of the Kingdom of God" (2). African Theology, furthermore, seeks liberation from the domination and imperialism of western .theology. For a long time western theology has been imposed on the Africans whose situation-in-life is so different from that of the western person. Although African theology, like western theology, is based on the biblical faith, the former speaks to the African soul in the way that the latter cannot. African Theology is expressed in categories of thought which arise out of the philosophy of African peoples. Not only is there a sociological difference between the two, there also exists cultural and philosophical differences as well. By ignoring the African existential reality and impudently claiming universalisai, western theology, as presently applied in Africa, becomes not only irrelevant but anachronistic at best. African scholars have expressed a desire to get behind the speculative character of western theology because of its inevitable dependence (rightly so for the west) on western culture and civilization. Caught in such a dilemma, Dr. Setiloane exclaims :233

"The Greek-Roman thought-forms and modes of expression of western theology are the "swaddling clothes" that we need to tear open in order to get to Christ. We are smothered to death by western theologies which to us are human fabrications, changing fashon daily.... So if we find that we cannot use the tools of western theology, we have consciously to seek others" (3). What African theology attempts to do is not to reject the theological heritage which has accumulated in western Christianity, but seeks for freedom to search for new meanings which are relevant to our new concerns. African theology must be freed from the inhibitions handed down from past generations. For "the African theologian who has experienced the agonies of having a burning appetite but nothing to eat will surely theologize differently on the theme of food from the American theologian who knows the discomforts of having a plate full of steak but no appetite" (4). We would not be far from the truth to claim that the development of theological reflection in the west had something to do with the colonial expansion of the west. Since values and concepts are assumed or re-interpreted to ft in with the ideology of the powerful class, this gives them an added power of domination. This is certainly, a fair assessment of the Southern Africa situation where the Dutch Reformed Church theologically justifies and condones apartheid as legitimate and as God-ordained. In short, we can claim that Theology cannot be faithful to the Word of God in Jesus Christ unless it participates in the existential context of the community in which it is born, seeking its norm in the acts of God in history. Speaking on this context Jose Miguez Bonino asserts that:"In the Western tradition to which I belong, theology begets theology, theology engenders theology. It is a process aimed at determining, explicating and possibly vindicating the correct doctrine, on the basis of a study of the scriptures and the Tradition, and sometimes with the use of philosophical categories. We go through this process in order to derive from it correct christian action in all realms of the life of the christian community. Now if we see theology in this way, and if we follow this procedure, a fact that should make us pause is that in the Scriptures we find very few instances, if any, of such a process of theologizing.... If I may put it in a simplistic way, the Bible is the collection of such visitations of God to his people in different conditions. Such a collection is the theological norm that we have, and we should pay attention to the character of this norm" (5).
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What is here stated precisely is that theology must be contextualized in order to have meaning. This contextualization takes the concrete locaTsituation seriously. In this sense, then, African Theology is rooted in a concrete, particular situation. It does this because it realises that, "Theology is the community's continued attempt to define in every generation its reason for being in the world" (6). Rosemary Ruether discovers the impotence of Western Christianity as imported to other countries when she notes that the integration of Christianity with imperial ideology and society made non-European peoples identify Christianity with Greco-Roman and European imperialism (7). For her, this is the basic apostacy of this type of Christianity which she calls "Constantinianism" and which she interprets as the "suppression of the messianic symbols of the Gospel to baptize the empire. Because of this, the "third world" countries accurately perceived the true character of this Christianity as a wolf in sheep's clothing and as the ideology of European colonialism" (8). (Italics mine). African theology must protest against the prevalent ideologization of faith by the western theology. By obstinately persisting in reflecting on the African cultures and histories from the vantage point of their own history and culture (or from western Christendom) they lose its intrinsic meaning. This is explicitly stated by professor John Mbiti when he describes African Christianity as "developed in the context of a false cultural inferiority" (9). The liberating of theology in the African context presupposes the liberation of the Gospel from cultural and historical impotence which in effect means the liberation pf the church from its captivity. African theology maintains that theology can have no real impact on the lives of people unless, in faithfulness to God, through Jesus Christ, it is liberated from all that has manipulated and dominated it through the ages. Gustavo Gutierrez says that the church's activity should be "addressed effectively and primarily to those who are oppressed in the nations and not as is presently the case to the beneficiaries of a system designed for their own benefit. Or still better, the oppressed themselves should be the agents of their own pastoral activity. The marginated and the dispossessed still do not have their own voice in the church of him who came to the world especially for them" (10). Relationship with the Black Theology in U.S.A. The question which is being asked today is whether Black theology and African Theology are related. There are similarities as well as differences between the two liberation theologies. Let me here make it
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clear that there is Black theology in Southern Africa which has been developed through the influence of Black theology in U.S.A. Black theology has entered southern Africa through the influence of James Cone. The Southern Africa situation is different from that of the rest of the continent. A black South African under the rule of force, police brutality, apartheid and a hundred and one unjust laws, feels that his humanity is thus denied. He has no future hence he tries to find meaning in his existence. He compares his situation to that of a black American under the state of powerlessness and poverty. In such a situation black theology as explicated by James Cone makes a lot of sense, because far from being mere intellectualism or sophistry, it is a theology that is bom out of human experience, and is rooted in a concrete situation, Let me try to draw attention to James Cone's important concepts to which African Theology would easily subsrcibe. Cone lays great emphasis on Exodus and identifies black people with Israel, and as such, God's chosen people. In connection with Israel's liberation from Egypt he writes, "Yahweh is the God of the oppressed and downtrodden and his revelation is made known only through the liberation of the oppressed" (11). He goes on to say, "To know God is to know his activity of liberation, an emancipation from the political, economic and social structures of the society.... His revelation is only for the oppressed of the land" (12). Cone identifies the blacks with the oppressed of the land. In so far as God liberates them and no other, God must be black. This leads to his contention that God is against white. Thus he writes, "Black Theology cannot accept a view of God which does not represent him as being for blacks and thus against the rich, for the weak and against the strong (16). According to Cone sin is attributed to the white community only. To the black community, sin means the desire to be white or behave as white. It is the refusal to be what they are. "To be in sin is to be contented with white solutions for the 'black problem' and not rebelling against every infringement of white being on black being" (17). God's love for white people means wrath, which in effect means the destruction of their whiteness in order to create blackness (18). Since Jesus was on the side of the oppressed over-against the oppressor, for the weak against the strong, "He must be where men are enslaved. To speak of him is to speak of the liberation of the oppressed" (19). According to Cone, whites are not permitted to participate in the development of Black Theology. This is because they do not share the same experience of suffering as black people do. He castigates two
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whites who had attempted to write on Black Power; "Who do they think they are, pontificating about their brutality against us as if they have a relevant word about black community?" (20). In giving my critique to Black theology as explicated by Cone, I am aware that not all black theologians would subscribe to his views. DeOtis Roberts, Major James and Joseph Washington are quite moderate in their exposition of Black theology. But since black theology, as presently known in Africa has come mainly through Cone as its major exponent, I would wish to concentrate on his views in this regard. African Theology has the same point of departure with Black Theology in that, both are born out of similar concrete situations. In both the situation is that of suffering, of being dispossessed and essentially denied the very livelihood that human beings strive for. They are both theologies that are born out of frustration and both try to make christian truths comprehensible to the oppressed. As Dr. Gabriel Setiloane puts it:The difference between American Black Theology enthusiasts and the Africans is that the Americans do their theologising in the dust and heat of political warfare, hence their militancy and impatience; whereas we can claim to work in an atmosphere of physical freedom and comparative calm. We feel the encroachment of the west or white man more in the cultural, theoretical-philosophical or ideological area of life than in the socio-political. Therefore, the Africans appear to come at it in a more relaxed way. It is the contention of African Theology that it sheds lights on God's truth, and is, therefore, a universal truth which would be applicable to all people who are willing to share the African experience. Unlike Cone, African Theology is not meant exclusively, for the African peoples. Its uniqueness only lies in the fact that it is born out of a concrete situation of the black man in Africa, taking into account African philosophy and culture. African Theology tries to discover the selfhood of the African person as he participates in the task of reconciling the World of God. My criticism of the American Black Theology is that it dwells too much on the sufferings of the past under which black man has emerged.
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Although this is a good starting point for a theology of liberation, suffering is not the whole of black experience. African Theology does not romanticise the African peoples today. It appeals to the African people to overcome their servant mentality. It recognizes that the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. The African is enslaved by his own thinking and mental attitudes more than any outside power. African theology recognizes that in seeking liberation from oppression and degradation, it must also show a concern for the oppressor. The oppressor also needs to be liberated from his role of being an oppressor to a life of reconciliation in love. Just as Cone rejects 'white God', 'white Church', 'White Jesus', Africans for the same reason reject a colonial mentality which is coupled with economic and political structures that are designed and intended to impoverish developing nations and create conditions of conflict and unrest. This is the reason why many Africans see western Christianity as a collaborator with colonial and neo-colonial power structures that have enslaved them in their own world. African Theology is in this respect, akin to liberation theology of Latin America in that it takes the class struggle seriously. It is not only racism we need to be liberated from: our focus of attention, in point of fact, should be liberation from classism, elitism, dualism between haves and have-nots, master/servant, powerful and powerless. The emergence of such new terminology as "Ujamaa" (pragmatic socialism), "Harambee" (team work), and "Ngritude" indicate that the yearning of the people is to go back to the kind of socialism that characterized unity in diversity. The emphasis here is on communal development which takes into account the extension of family life. African communities are closely knit together by a web of relationships and other social structures. This type of structure emphasizes corporateness as against individualism. The community makes and produces the individual. The individual has no existence of his own apart from the community's. The individual, therefore, can only say, "I am because we are; and since we are, therefore lam." It is necessary to understand this African doctrine of man before we talk about sin. Sin in the African Theology, is losing sight of this corporate nature of life. It is the temptation to assert one's individualism to the detriment of the community. It is self-centredness over against other-centredness. It is the attempt to split reality into religious and secular, sacred and profane, this-worldly and other-worldly. Sin is the "absence of brotherhood and love in relationships among men, the breach of friendship 238

with God and with other men, and, therefore, an interior, personal fracture" (23). Sin crdites hostility, suspicion and alienation. Sin is evident in oppressive structures, in the exploitation of man by man, in the domination and slavery of peoples, races and social classes. It is evident, therefore, that sin is not a peculiarity or domain of one type of people. It affects all mankind, black, white or yellow oppressor and oppressed alike. It is, nevertheless,, easily identifiable with the dominant people, the oppressors, the masters and exploiters, While recognising that all people are sinners, African theology characterises the root cause of sin as the usurpation of power, the desire to dominate others. This is the same as the desire to be like God, to judge and rule over the world like God. (To be continued in next issue)
FOOTNOTES (I) Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation, (Maryknoll, New York, 1973) p.12. (2)Ibid.,p.l3. (3) Quoted by David J. Bosch in Currents and Crosscurrents in South African Black Theology, (Journal of Religion in Africa, vol vi fase, i) p.9. (4) John Mbt, "Theological Impotence", Mission Trends No. 3: Third World Theologies, ed. Anderson & Stransky (New York, Ramsey, Toronto: Paulist Press, 1976) p.15. (5) Jose Miguez Bonino, The Struggle of the Poor and the Church, in "The Ecumenical Review** (Geneva; W.C.C, Jan. 1975 Vol. xvii No. 1, p.38), (6) James Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation, Philadelphia & New York: J. Lippincott Company, 1970) p.30-31. Asman contents that, "True critical reflec tion does not exist without reference to a given situation or praxis'* hence a theology which does not take praxis seriously is theology in the sense of reflection from within, " i t is theology of preambles of faith, theology of the Thought-out* faith." (RISK Vol. 9, No. 2,1973, p.26). (7) Rosemary Ruether, Liberation Theology, (New York, Paramus, Toronto, Paulist Press, 1972), p. 176. (8) Ibid., p. 10. (9) The Gospel and Frontier Peoples, Ed. R. Pierce Beaver, (S. Pasadena, Calif. Wm. Carey Library, 1973), p. 81. (10) Gutierrez, 0p. cit. p. 271. (II) James Cone. Black Tbeolony on Revolution, Violence and Reconciliation^ (Dialog, 12, Spring 1973), p. 130. (12) Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation, 91. (13) Ibid, p. 131, (14) Ibid,p. 136.(15) Ibid,p. 132. (16) lbid,p.214 (17),p 196 (18) Ibid, p.138 (19) Ibid, p. 215. (20) Ibid, p. 195. (21) Gabriel Setiloane, About Black Theology, in "A New Look at Christianity in Africa**, WSCF Books, vol.11, no. 2,1972, p. 69. (22) John Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, Heinemann 1969, p. 108. (23) G. Gutierrez, op. cit., p. 175.

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