African Proverbs1: Stepping Stones within Oral Cultures by W.

Jay Moon
A Story is told2 of a young man, sitting by the river bank, discouraged since he could
not swim across the river. An elderly man walked up, rolled up his pants, and then
walked across the surface of the water. The young man was in disbelief until
another elderly man arrived, rolled up his pants, and also walked across the surface
of the water. Eventually, a third elderly man arrived and did the same thing! Finally,
the young man decided to try for himself. He rolled up his pants and tried to walk
across the surface of the water only to sink and be carried away by the swift
current. The three elderly men looked back and replied, If only he had asked us
we could have told him where the stones were placed to cross over the river safely!
When approaching oral cultures, proverbs can be regarded as these sturdy, timetested stepping stones placed by the elders to move people from the river bank of
unbelief or young faith to mature faith. While these stones may not be readily
apparent by literate learners at first glance, careful observation reveals that
missionaries catch up on a conversation that God has already started. In this article,
I will survey briefly how African proverbs have been regarded and used to minister
in oral cultures. Then, a few examples will be provided, along with other possible
opportunities. Instead of regarding proverbs as simply a tool to be used, they should
be regarded as a deep symbol within culture that reveals the worldview of the
people. An understanding of local proverbs then provides a key to the thinking,
reasoning, and valuing patterns of many oral people. By tapping into the soul of the
culture, this benefits missionaries and the national church.
Proverbs Reveal the Soul of the culture
Proverbs are time-tested stepping stones that reveal the soul of oral cultures.
When describing how culture is learned, Samovar et al state, We learn our culture
through proverbs.3 Hughes,4 in describing oral cultures, states, Beliefs they hold
about the universe and how to live in it are often found in their folk tales and their
proverbs.5
Proverbs are a critical genre to help understand primal religion. Van
Rheenen discusses how oral cultures, which are prevalent in Third World societies,
are proverb-oriented . . . proverbs and myths are significantly helpful in deciphering

This summary focuses on African proverbs. While I acknowledge that significant work has been done by
others in other contexts, the focus of my research and study is limited to Africa.
2
I adapted this story from Jack Maguire, The Power of Personal Storytelling: Spinning Tales to Connect
with Others (New York: Tarcher/Putnam, 1998), 137-38.
3
Larry A. Samovar, Richard E. Porter, and Lisa A. Stefani, Communication between Cultures, ed. Randall
Adams, Third ed., Wadsworth Series in Communication Studies (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing,
1998), 39.
4
Phillip Hughes, "The Use of Actual Beliefs in Contextualizing Theology," East Asian Journal of
Theology 2, no. 2 (1984).
5
Ibid.: 251-52.

animistic worldviews.6 He then adds, To learn as much of the new culture as

possible, a new cross-cultural worker must learn the oral forms of his adopted
people, in particular proverbs and myths.7 Seidensticker adds, Proverbs are a
compact treatise on the values of culture.8 John Pobee explained that proverbs are
a vital and important mode of communicating and key to penetrating the worldview
of Africans.9 Pobee10 goes a step further by illustrating the natural revelation of God
in Akan culture with various proverbs. Kudadjie affirms that The collective thought,
beliefs, and values of an African people can be discerned from their proverbs,11 and
he gives examples of the use of proverbs in preaching.
While Africans have placed great value on their proverbs, unfortunately, this
was not widely shared by missionaries in the past. For example, Nussbaum
observed, In some extreme cases such as Liberia and Swaziland, missionaries took
such a negative view that to this day there is a virtual taboo on the use of any
proverb in Christian preaching.12 A notable exception is Johannes Christaller13 who
compiled 3600 Twi proverbs in Ghana that were later translated by Lange.14 The
significance of this work is noted by the following praise given by Sanneh ,
One missionary linguist who left a permanent mark on the African vernacular
scene was Johannes Christaller, a Basel missionary of German origin who
arrived in Ghana in the 1840s . . . One of the fruits of his labour was an
impressive compilation in 1870 of some 3600 Twi proverbs and idioms that
provides an invaluable and unique insight into the Akan worldview. 15
Only recently, missionaries have begun to appreciate the value of proverbs in
Africa. Two five-day international conferences were held in 1995 to discuss African
proverbs. In Mozambique, the Proverbs and African Christianity conference was
held (March, 1995), while the consultation entitled, Embracing the Baobob: The
African Proverb in the 21st Century was held in South Africa (October, 1995). The
proceedings from both are recorded on a CD ROM.16 Both conferences raised the
6

Gailyn Van Rheenen, Communicating Christ in Animistic Contexts (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book
House, 1991), 39.
7
Ibid., 44.
8
E.G. Seidensticker, Even Monkeys Fall from Trees, and Other Japanese Proverbs, ed. David Galef
(Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle, 1987), 8.
9
Stan Nussbaum, ed., The Wisdom of African Proverbs Cd Rom, Version 1.03 (Colorado Springs, CO:
Global Mapping International, 1996-98).
10
John S. Pobee, Towards an African Theology (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1979), 75-77.
11
Joshua N. Kudadjie, Ga and Dangme Proverbs for Preaching and Teaching (Accra, Ghana: Asempa,
1996), 14.
12
Nussbaum, ed., The Wisdom of African Proverbs Cd Rom, Version 1.03, Introduction.
13
J.G. Christaller, A Collection of 3,600 Tshi (Twi) Proverbs (Basel, Switzerland: Evangelical Missionary
Society, 1879).
14
J.G. Christaller, Three Thousand Six Hundred Ghanaian Proverbs (from the Asante and Fante
Language), trans. Kofi Ron Lange, vol. Two, Studies in African Literature (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen
Press, 2000[1879]).
15
Lamin Sanneh, Encountering the West: Christianity and the Global Cultural Process (London, England:
Marshall Printing, 1993), 82-83.
16
Nussbaum, ed., The Wisdom of African Proverbs Cd Rom, Version 1.03, Record 14/78.

profile of the African proverb,17 and they increased the networking of historians,
theologians, philosophers, and cultural researchers in African proverbs research.
The African Proverbs Project CD was a major step forward in proverbs
research. It contains over 25,000 proverbs from at least 27 different languages,
along with bibliographies, and research studies. For example, in the CD, Joyce
Penfield notes, African proverbs are the sacred texts of African Traditional Religion
and thus are a paradigm for understanding sacred tradition.18 This claim indicates
how the study of proverbs can be critical to understanding primal religion.
Following the African proverbs project, regional centers were initiated in South
African, Ghana, Kenya, and Cote d Ivoire for data collection and research promotion.
A web site (www.afriprov.org) now is also devoted to African proverbs,
stories, and sayings that includes daily proverbs along with a Proverb of the
month that provides an explanation of the meaning and biblical application.
Missionaries and nationals maintain the site. The Sukuma Research Committee in
Tanzania also met to collect and reflect on proverbs and other oral literature. This
has resulted in the articulation of an African narrative theology.19 This is helpful to
demonstrate an example of how theology can be shaped in a narrative format that is
more engaging and understandable than just systematic theology alone, using
African proverbs and other oral literature. This is critical if contextual theology is to
be done in various cultures. More will be said on this later.
Proverbs are Symbols to construct reality in Culture
Berger and Luckman20 posited that humans construct society and then
society constructs humans. As the society constructs reality, proverbs help form the
sum total of what everybody knows about a social world . . . [via] an assemblage of
maxims, morals, proverbial nuggets of wisdom, values and beliefs, myths, etc. This
view of reality becomes the framework within which anything not yet known will
come to be known in the future.21 This helps to shape what reality is and what it
should look like. Any deviation from this is a departure from reality.
Proverbs then are an important symbol system to help construct and
maintain the cultures view of reality. The fact that they originate within culture and
employ the mother tongue language and idioms is crucial for their use in developing
contextual theology since the language a person internalizes affects the way he
perceives the world around him.22 Thiongo23 applied this hypothesis to the African
17

Ibid., Record 18/78.

Joyce Penfield, "The African Proverb: Sacred Text in Praxis," in The Wisdom of African Proverbs Cd
Rom, ed. Stan Nussbaum (Colorado Springs, CO: Global Mapping International, 1996), 1024.
19
Joseph Healey and Donald Sybertz, Towards an African Narrative Theology (Nairobi, Kenya and
Maryknoll, NY: Pauline Publications Africa and Orbis Books, 2000[1996]; reprint, Third).
20
Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckman, The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of
Knowledge (New York: Anchor Books, 1966).
21
Ibid., 66.
22
L.L. Langness, The Study of Culture, Second ed. (Novato, CA: Chandler & Sharp, 1987 [1974]; reprint,
Sixth (2001)), 106.
23
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature, Studies in
African Literature (Oxford, UK: James Curry, 1986).
18

context when describing how the African mind was colonized. He noted that, during
colonialization, Language was the means of the spiritual subjugation;24 therefore
he stresses that Africans still need to decolonize their minds and regain their African
identity by recapturing their own languages. He forcefully states that language
is an image-forming agent in the mind of a child. Our whole conception of
ourselves as a people, individually and collectively, is based on those pictures
and images which may or may not correctly correspond to the actual reality
of the struggles with nature and nurture which produced them in the first
place.25
reality,

Thiongo then ties the communication process to the social construction of

Language as communication and as culture are then products of each other.
Communication creates culture: culture is a means of communication.
Language carries culture, and culture carries, particularly through orature
[oral literature] and literature, the entire body of values by which we come to
perceive ourselves and our place in the world.26

Other Africans are also rediscovering the critical role of language and how
this relates to identity. Quarshie affirms, When people abandon their languages,
they give up on more than simply words; they deny to a certain degree their very
identity . . . Africans will have to draw inspiration from their mother tongue and
therefore from their cultural consciousness.27
The role of the vernacular language in constructing the inner view of reality
has also been noted by African theologians. Pobee emphasizes, Ideally, African
theologies should be in the vernacular. Language is more than syntax and
morphology; it is the vehicle for assuming the weight of a culture. Therefore, this
attempt to construct an African theology in the English language is the second
best.28 Sanneh has long stressed how vernacular Scriptures and Christian materials
have strengthened the church in Africa. He points out the relation between the
vernacular language and the releasing of inner creativity,
It is instructive that cultural creativity in much of Africa and elsewhere
coincides almost exactly with developed interest in the vernacular and with a
willingness to do things differently from the way they have been done. As a

24

Ibid., 9.
Ibid., 15.
26
Ibid., 15-16.
27
B.Y. Quarshie, "Doing Biblical Studies in the African Context - the Challenge of Mother-Tongue
Scriptures," Journal of African Christian Thought 5, no. 1 (2002): 11.
28
Pobee, Towards an African Theology, 23.
25

force, translatability endows persons and societies with the reason for
change and the language with which to affect it. 29
Indigenous proverbs are creative expressions, using the local language and
reasoning processes. As such, the appropriate use of proverbs promotes additional
creativity and opens further worlds of discovery. When tapped into, this creative
force can encourage contextualization.
Siran30 applied symbolic theory to proverbs. He identified three aspects of
proverbs: literal text that can be translated (signification), literal meaning in light of
social and historical context (value), and symbolic or connotative meaning
(meaning). By regarding proverbs as symbols, fresh areas of cultural discovery
emerge. For example, Awedoba used this approach with 266 Kasena proverbs from
Ghana with slight modifications, since he felt that Kasena proverbs are mostly
symbols.31 Howell,32 an anthropologist who has studied and written about the
language and culture of the Kasena for over 20 years, commented that her reading
of Awedobas work (who himself is a Kasena) on proverbs revealed deep insights
into Kasena culture and religion that she had never known before.33
Proverbs Provide Memory Hooks for Oral Learners
Proverbs, functioning as symbols, are especially important in oral cultures
where discussions must be remembered in order to be useful. Ong34 emphasizes
that oral cultures rely upon formulaic expressions and mnemonic patterns in order
for people to remember what was said. Proverbs are particularly useful in oral
cultures since they are often short, pithy statements that are easy to remember.
McLuhan35 emphasizes that the primary channel or medium of communication
changes the way people perceive themselves. His catch phrase was The medium is
the message, and he emphasized the changes in thinking from oral to written to
electronic media (especially television). These distinctives have often been
overlooked by missionaries from highly literate cultures.
Kennedy36 discusses how the cross cultural study of rhetoric allows
comparisons between cultures that helps identify features in one culture that may
29

Lamin Sanneh, Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Books, 1989; reprint, Twelth Printing, 2001), 207.
30
Jean-Louis Siran, "Rhetoric, Tradition and Communication: The Dialectics of Meaning in Proverb Use,"
MAN 28, no. 2 (1993).
31
A.K. Awedoba, An Introduction to Kasena Society and Culture through Their Proverbs (Lanham, MD:
University Press of America, 2000), 68. The Kasena people are neighbors of the Builsa. The Kasena and
Builsa have intermarried from their early origins until the present time (see Howell, The Religious Itinerary
of a Ghanaian People, 22-23), and there are many similarities between the two cultures.
32
Allison Howell, The Religious Itinerary of a Ghanaian People (Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang, 1997).
33
This was a personal conversation with Allison Howell in Northern Ghana during my field research in
March, 2004
34
Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy (London, UK: Routledge, 1982; reprint, 1989).
35
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964).
36
George A. Kennedy, "Comparitive Rhetoric," in Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, ed. Thomas O. Sloane
(Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001).

not exist in another. In societies without writing, he notes, there is much repetition
in most traditional speeches and little explicit logical reasoning, though references
to myth, legend, history, and proverbs may supply examples of what should be done
in support of the speakers proposition.37 He adds,
A complex chain of logical argument is not a feature of persuasion in
nonliterate societies. Argument from examples mythological, historical,
experiential, or analogical has probably been the most common form of
reasoning all over the world, and proverbs are a basis of demonstration in
many cultures, though often universal propositions are not articulated.38
This indicates one reason that those from a literate background may
overlook the value that oral cultures place upon proverbs. The logic and repetition
of proverbs is highly valued in oral cultures but it is not generally appreciated in
literate cultures.
The place of proverbs then is not a peripheral one in oral cultures; rather,
proverbs function as a powerful symbol set in oral cultures to facilitate the
connection of inner reality to external reality by providing formulaic or mnemonic
expressions to aid recall.
Proverbs are Windows to See Deeper in Culture
Several paremiologists have done extensive studies by only looking at
proverbs. Taylors classic text, The Proverb39 looked at proverbs to discover their
origin, content, style, etc. Meider40 also looked at proverbs to examine the changes,
the practice of borrowing across cultures, the flavor of regional oral literature, etc.
In addition to looking at proverbs, one can also look through proverbs. Shea
comments, Images are not so much what we see as what we see through.41 The
focus is on seeing behind the proverbs to understand what they reveal of the culture
and people.
Mbiti lamented the lack of study concerning proverbs and observed,
Proverbs are common ways of expressing religious ideas and feelings . . . It is in
proverbs that we find the remains of the oldest forms of African religious and
philosophical wisdom.42 Nkansah-Obrempong affirmed this view as he noted, In
these [Akan] proverbs, therefore, one can see the wisdom and soul of the Akan

37

Ibid., 138.
Ibid., 142.
39
Archer Taylor, The Proverb and an Index to the Proverb (Hatboro, PA: Folklore Associates, 1962
[1931]).
40
Wolfgang Meider, Proverbs Are Never out of Season (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993).
41
John Shea, "Theological Assumptions and Ministerial Style," in Alternative Futures for Worship,
Leadership Ministry in Community (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1987), 107.
42
John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1969; reprint, 1970),
86.
38

people.43 These authors affirm that proverbs can be religious symbols to be looked
through instead of just looked at.
Ghanaian philosopher and author, Kwame Gyekye,44 exemplifies how Akan
proverbs can be analyzed in order to highlight the meaning and extract the African
values embedded within. He grouped the proverbs and analyzed their content in
order to give a broad understanding of the African worldview. Gyekye45 also utilized
proverbs in order to construct a moral philosophy of the Akan people. In doing so,
he attempted to describe a general African worldview and philosophy. While this is
helpful, there is no engagement with Scripture to help interpret this worldview and
philosophy.
Several studies focus largely on the didactic and normative value of
proverbs,46 and a few on the aesthetic value of proverbs.47 Only a few focus on
both.48 Both poles are significant in forming deep symbols.49 Since proverbs
combine both ideology and aesthetics, they are powerful windows to look through
and experience in order to understand the local culture and religion. Proverbs,
functioning as religious symbols, serve as open windows, giving invaluable
perspectives into worldviews.
Proverbs Root Theology in African Soil to Promote Contextualization
Yankah50 found that Africans trained in the West tended not to use proverbs
frequently, which then put them at a disadvantage when returning home where
proverbial wisdom is held in high esteem.
For example, in the 1910 Edinburgh World Missionary Conference,51 it was
felt that African traditional religion contained no preparation for Christianity. As a
result, the attitude was that the missionaries must start over with a clean slate
(tabula rasa) and start to teach universal Christianity. It was not realized at the time
43

James Nkansah-Obrempong, "Visual Theology -the Significance of Cultural Symbols, Metaphors, and
Proverbs for Theological Creativity in the African Context: A Case Study of the Akan of Ghana," Journal
of African Christian Thought 5, no. 1 (2002): 38.
44
Kwame Gyekye, African Cultural Values, an Introduction (Accra, Ghana: Sankofa Publishing Company,
1996).
45
Kwame Gyekye, An Essay on African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme, Revised ed.
(Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1995).
46
James Boyd Christensen, "The Role of Proverbs in Fante Culture," Africa 28 (1958), Austin J. Shelton,
"Proverbs and Education in West Africa," Overseas Education 34 (1963).
47
Kwesi Yankah, "Toward a Performance-Centered Theory of the Proverb," Critical Arts 1 (1983),
Lawrence Boadi, "The Language of the Proverb in Akan," in African Folklore, ed. Richard M. Dorson
(Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1972).
48
J.O.J. Nwachukwu-Agbada, "The Proverb in the Igbo Milieu," Anthropos 89 (1994), Eira Patnaik,
"Proverbs as Cosmic Truths and Chinua Achebe's No Longer at Ease," Africana Journal 13, no. 1 (1982).
49
Edward Farley, Deep Symbols: Their Postmodern Effacement and Reclamation (Valley Forge, PA:
Trinity Press International, 1996).
50
Kwesi Yankah, "The Proverb and the Western-Educated African: Use or Neglect?," Folklore Forum 15
(1982).
51
Missionary Conference World, "The Missionary Message in Relation to Non-Christian Religions - the
World Missionary Conference 1910 - Report of Commission Iv" (Edinburgh, Scotland and London, UK,
1910).

that the universal Christianity was actually a Western contextualized expression of

Christianity.
Proverbs can aid in the development of African expressions of Christianity in
culture. John Pobee is a good example. His approach involves the collection,
analysis, and elucidation of oral literature myths, prayers, proverbs, and so on. The
raw materials of African theology thus are biblical-theological on the one hand, and
the oral traditions of African religion on the other.52 Proverbs then are valuable
indigenous resources for African theologians to work with in developing contextual
theologies. Parratt comments on Pobee,
One outstanding feature of his book is his adroit use of Akan proverbs and
sayings, by which he attempts to bring out the folk wisdom of Akan religion . .
. few have so painstakingly delved in religion and moral oral traditions as
Pobee does here. In this he has opened up new possibilities for exploring
common ground between African religions and the Christian faith.53
Nkansah-Abrenpong has also advocated the use of cultural symbols,
proverbs, and metaphors for developing African contextual theology. He notes, The
use of cultural symbols, proverbs and metaphors for theology not only involves the
attempt to relate theology to culture, but also requires a critical reflection on the
appropriate means of expression used in theology itself.54 Proverbs and other
indigenous means of expressing theology are being explored, but this is still in the
early stages of development.
Other African theologians who are actively expressing African theologies that
are distinct from Western theology include: Kwesi Dickson,55 Kwame Bediako,56
John Mbiti,57 J.N.K. Mugambi,58 and Mercy Amba Oduyoye,59 to name a few. African
women are also beginning to contribute their perspectives.60
Schreiter notes how the forms used to communicate theology are largely
dependent upon cultural patterns. He observes,

52

John Parratt, Reinventing Christianity: African Theology Today (Grand Rapids, MI and Trenton, NJ:
William B. Eerdmans and African World Press, 1995), 49.
53
Ibid., 50.
54
Nkansah-Obrempong, "Visual Theology -the Significance of Cultural Symbols, Metaphors, and
Proverbs for Theological Creativity in the African Context: A Case Study of the Akan of Ghana," 38.
55
Kwesi A. Dickson, Theology in Africa (London and Maryknoll, NY: Dartmon, Longman and Todd/Orbis
Books, 1984).
56
Kwame Bediako, Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion (Edinburgh, Scotland
and Maryknoll, NY: Edinburgh University Press and Orbis Books, 1995; reprint, Second (1997)).
57
Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy.
58
J.N.K Mugambi, African Christian Theology: An Introduction (Nairobi, Kenya: Heinemann Kenya,
1989).
59
Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Hearing and Knowing: Theological Reflections on Christianity in Africa
(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1986; reprint, 1990).
60
Virginia Fabella and Mercy Amba Oduyoye, With Passion and Compassion: Third World Women Doing
Theology (Mayknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988), Anne Nasimiyu-Wasike, "Christology and an African
Woman's Experience," in Faces of Jesus in Africa, ed. Robert J. Schreiter (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books,
1991).

Not only is it a matter of how meaning is organized in a culture, but also how
it is to be communicated. We cannot presume written texts - with all they in
turn assume about organization - as the sole form for communicating cultural
meaning, and therefore theology. Perhaps more African theology will be done
via proverbs, which are important in communication in sub-Saharan
cultures.61
When searching for local communication forms, Schreiter turns to proverbs
as a possible way forward. In a similar way, Kraft emphasizes that communication
must be receptor-oriented, whereby the communicator uses local communication
forms (devices). When searching for appropriate African communication forms, he
notes,
To relate the message to the real life of one's hearers, the communicator
must learn to employ the communicational devices familiar to the receptor in
ways to which the receptor is responsive. Credible messages start from
where the receptor is. In many cultures this involves the knowledge and use
of a variety of proverbs, aphorisms, and tales of various kinds. Such literary
devices form important vehicles within their communicational system.62
Again, proverbs emerge as a communication form that is receptor-oriented in
many cultures. An appropriate form gives credibility to the seriousness of the
message.
Taber also recognizes the importance of using local communication forms,
Indigenous theology must use literary forms and genres that are culturally
appropriate to the formulation of the most serious religious discourse. This may be
poetry, or mythology, or some other narrative form, or a wisdom type of text; or it
may find appropriate philosophical forms within the culture.63 Proverbs are a type
of wisdom literature that oral cultures often appreciate and recognize as serious
discourse, as previously noted. When used to communicate theology, proverbs are a
valuable form of communication.
When discussing the form that theology should take, Bevans adds, When we
begin to take culture and culture change seriously, theological content is not the
only thing affected. The form of theology comes under the influence of such loci, as
well. In an African culture, for example, the best form of theologizing might be
collecting, creating, or reflecting on proverbs.64 Again, proverbs are recognized as a
form of theologizing that may be the most appropriate for the African context. If
many authors recognize the importance of using proverbs for an appropriate
communication form in Africa, why is there so little usage of proverbs in
contextualization?
61

Robert J. Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1985; reprint, Ninth),
31.
62
Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1979; reprint, 2000), 161.
63
Charles Taber, "The Limits of Indigenization in Theology," Missiology 6, no. 1 (1978): 67.
64
Stephen B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, Revised and Expanded Edition, ed. Robert J.
Schreiter, Faith and Culture Series (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002), 17.

To answer this question, Nussbaum65 analyzes the wisdom paradigms of

Western cultures against African cultures and concluded that proverbs, as a form of
ancient wisdom, are highly regarded in African cultures, but this is often overlooked
by Western cultures who favor a wisdom paradigm of propositional knowledge.
When relating this to theology, Schreiter66 adds that some cultures look upon
theology as wisdom (sapientia), whereas others look upon theology as sure
knowledge (scientia). He then concludes , Perhaps theology in African villages could
best be expressed in proverbs rather than in Bantu philosophy.67 In short, proverbs
may be used more in theologizing if the African wisdom paradigm is appreciated
and encouraged.
Sedmark discusses working with proverbs to develop little theologies
(theologies made for a particular situation, taking particular circumstances into
account, using local questions and concerns, local stories and examples as their
starting points).68 He notes, proverbs help us access the situation of a local
culture; the wisdom contained in the proverbs is then useful as the local
hermeneutical community will reflect on this wisdom in the light of gospel
values.69 While this acknowledgement of the validity of proverbs in theologizing is
helpful, it appears to undervalue the potential for proverbs and other oral literature
in the process of developing contextual theology. While it is a step in the right
direction, it does not go far enough.
Another interesting experiment with proverbs is Nkansah-Obrempongs use
of proverbs, cultural symbols, and metaphors to develop what he calls visual
theology. He explains,
The Akan religio-cultural heritage - especially the beliefs, values, views about
reality, humans and the world, that are embedded and expressed in cultural
symbols, proverbs and metaphors - provides important and critical materials
for theology. . . These materials are visual in the sense that they have the
ability to create mental pictures through which we conceptualize reality.70
He uses these visual images from the Akan culture to interact with Scripture
in order to develop a fresh understanding into the nature and character of Nyame
(God), using Akan idioms and affirm biblical faith from within [the] Akan religious
experience.71 This provides new possibilities for theologizing but it is still just
emerging. Like the other models, there are few details that describe a process that
can be used to facilitate contextualization.
65

Stan Nussbaum, "Profundity with Panache: The Unappreciated Proverbial Wisdom of Sub-Saharan
Africa," in Understanding Wisdom: Sources, Science and Society, ed. Warren S. Brown (Philadelphia, PA:
Templeton Foundation Press, 2000).
66
Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies, 80.
67
Ibid., 77.
68
Clemens Sedmak, Doing Local Theology: A Guide for Artisans of a New Humanity, ed. Robert Schreiter,
Faith and Culture Series (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002), 119.
69
Ibid., 150-51.
70
Nkansah-Obrempong, "Visual Theology -the Significance of Cultural Symbols, Metaphors, and
Proverbs for Theological Creativity in the African Context: A Case Study of the Akan of Ghana," 38.
71
Ibid.: 46.

By applying Heiberts critical contextualization to oral literature (with an

emphasis on proverbs), the Sukuma Research Committee72 developed a seven step
process to collect and interpret African oral literature in Tanzania. This resulted in
an African narrative theology. These steps are: 1) Collect the original Sukuma
proverb, 2) Record the context including the history, meaning, and use of the
proverb, 3) Choose a theme of the proverb, 4) Record similar proverbs to form
proverb clusters, 5) Explore biblical parallels and connections, 6) Choose a Christian
teaching based on the theme of the proverb, and 7) Make suggestions for use in
religious education. This is a helpful application of critical contextualization using
oral literature. While the end result provides a good example of how oral literature
like proverbs can facilitate contextualization, there are few details provided as to
the process that was used and can be reproduced in other locations. In particular, it
is not clear how the hermeneutical community was formed, how it functioned, and
what encouraged or discouraged the ongoing operation. In addition, few details
were provided concerning step two: Record the context including the history,
meaning, and use of the proverb. This aspect has the potential to dig below the
surface of the proverb and arrive at the cultural values, attitudes, and feelings;
however, we are not told how this was discovered and how the discussions
proceeded. In addition, some of the multiple meanings and uses of the proverbs are
not discussed. Additional details are needed to flesh out the process.
Tarr73 demonstrates that the use of West African proverbs and parables can
help increase ones understanding of Scripture. While Westerners engage their
culture with their own mother tongue Scripture, they will understand some
Christian truth claims, but not all. Some Christian truth is obscured from Western
eyes since contemporary Western culture is far removed from the cultures during
the times of the biblical authors. When outsiders, such as Western missionaries,
view African culture through the window of African proverbs, then a greater
understanding of African culture and religion is obtained. This can then be engaged
with Scripture providing increased depth, and understanding of Christian truth.
Tarr calls this a double image since both Western and African cultures provide
double insight into Scripture through the lenses of both cultures.
Nkansah-Obrempong noted how proverbs serve as mirrors of culture, Akan
proverbs are encapsulations of the accumulated wisdom and experiences of past
generations of the Akan and constitute an authentic mirror [emphasis mine] of the
mind and philosophy of the Akan People.74 This emic view gained via proverbs
provides a valuable perspective for authentic contextualization.
While proverbs often contain valuable wisdom that the Bible affirms, there
are aspects of proverbs that the Bible will modify or reject. As a case in point,
Schipper75 shows that proverbs and other literary genre such as myths are used by
72

Healey and Sybertz, Towards an African Narrative Theology.

Del Tarr, Double Vision: Biblical Insights from African Parables (New York and Mahwah, NJ: Paulist
Press, 1994).
74
Nkansah-Obrempong, "Visual Theology -the Significance of Cultural Symbols, Metaphors, and
Proverbs for Theological Creativity in the African Context: A Case Study of the Akan of Ghana," 38.
75
Mineke Schipper, ed., Unheard Words: Women and Literature in Africa, the Arab World, Asia, the
Caribbean and Latin America (London, UK: Allison & Busby, 1985), 23-27.
73

the dominant power group to maintain the status quo. She observes that most
proverbs are attributed to men and are used by men to maintain power over
women. This is an important critique and shows how the proverbs must be critically
evaluated instead of passively accepted.
While the process of critical contextualization was not originally designed for
the analysis of proverbs, it can be adapted to do so. As the cultural perspective
gained by proverbs is critically engaged with Scripture, new avenues for
contextualization may be realized. While some are starting to do this, these efforts
are still very young and lacking in detail. Moons research and forthcoming book76
provide a narrative description of the contextualization process using proverbs
among the Builsa people of Ghana, West Africa to fill in some of these details in a
particular context. By combining both the emic and etic perspectives in a
hermeneutical community via the process of critical contextualization, a greater
understanding and appreciation of both the Scripture and culture can result.
Proverbs then become a catalyst to initiate and sustain contextualization. In this
upcoming book, applications are given for pastoral ministry, evangelism, youth
ministry, missionary training, and theological training.
Examples of Proverbs in Ministry
A radio broadcast, The Way of Righteousness77, was developed for Muslims in the Wolof
language in Senegal, West Africa. This chronological Bible story approach incorporates
Wolof proverbs to help explain Biblical concepts. The following is an excerpt from
lesson one,
Yes, sometimes we hear those who fight against Gods Book, saying, No one can
trust it! It is full of errors. It has been changed! However, the one who fights
with the Word of Truth is fighting with God Himself. An egg should not
wrestle with a rock! {Wolof Proverb}. The Word of God is the Rock, and man is
the egg! Man cannot change the true Word of God-but the true Word of God can
change man! God is great, and is able to protect His Eternal Word. That is what
the Lord Himself said in the book known as the Injil {The Gospel record is called
the Injil in the Quran, Arabic for the Good News or the Gospel.}: Heaven
and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away! (Matt. 24:35).
Another example of using proverbs among Muslim people is provided in a condensed
excerpt from Moons forthcoming book. This shows how proverbs can open ears that
may otherwise be closed so that they can hear and grasp the Gospel.
After being away for awhile, one day I returned to Ghana to visit a Muslim friend who
was an oral learner . Knowing my interest in proverbs, with a smile he shared with me,
76

W.Jay Moon, African Proverbs Reveal Christianity in Culture: A Narrative Portrayal of Builsa Proverbs
Contextualizing Christianity in Culture, ed. Mike Rynkiewich, American Society of Missiology Scholarly
Monograph Series (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2009).
77
This chronological study of the Bible was originally produced by Paul Bramsen in the Wolof language
for Muslims in Senegal. The English translations are available at www.twor.com

I knew that you would return to see me. We have a proverb in Hausa that says, What
the heart loves, there the legs will go. He shared how he knew that I would return to see
him. Since my heart was there, my legs would find a way to follow.
As I pondered further the meaning of this proverb, I responded, Do you think Gods
heart is close to us? A discussion ensued whereby he considered how Gods heart is
with us since he created humans; therefore, God must find a way for his feet to follow.
Eventually, I explained, Gods heart pulled so strongly that his feet had to come to earth
and live among us. That is why Jesus came. Jesus was the feet of God!
He seriously pondered the meaning and implications of what was discussed. As a
Muslim, he agreed that Jesus was a good person but he did not understand why Jesus
was necessary. Why would God want to come to earth anyway? He understood God as
the creator and ultimate judge but he had not considered before how Gods heart may be
drawn to live among the people God created. It was a new thought to him but it made
perfect sense using the logic and time tested wisdom of the Hausa proverb.
He was beginning to see God in terms and concepts that he could understand. This
explanation of Jesus connected with aspects of his own worldview. It described the
meaning of Jesus in terms and metaphors that were uniquely Hausa and also fully
Christian. Previously, Christianity was presented to him in ways that were foreign, using
literate points, analysis, comparisons, etc. By using Hausa metaphors and concepts
contained in his own proverbs, Jesus coming to earth started to make sense and was
congruent with some of the deeply held core values of my friends culture.
There is a God whose heart pulls so strong that his feet must come to be with us, he
concluded, That is good news. I would like to know more about this.
Could this proverb then be a stepping stone to help my Muslim friend understand and
appreciate the Gospel?
Conclusion: Proverbs are the Horses of Speech78
Many oral learners rely upon proverbs to do the difficult job of communicating deeply
and effectively. Once proverbs are understood as providing a window into the soul of the
local culture instead of just a tool to add to a missionary toolbox, many opportunities
open up for the missionary as well as the national church. Proverbs can facilitate
development projects by providing an understanding of African organizational
development79 and using indigenous logic to explain projects.80 Proverbs are also helpful
78

Bernth Lindfors, "Wole Soyinka and the Horses of Speech," in Essays on African Literature, ed. W.L.
Ballard (Atlanta, GA: Georgia State University, 1973).
79
Chiku Malunga and Charles Banda, Understanding Organizational Sustainability through African
Proverbs: Insights for Leaders and Facilitators (Washington, DC: Pact Publications, 2004).
80
W. Jay Moon, "Sweet Talk in Africa: Using Proverbs in Ministry," Evangelical Missions Quarterly 40,
no. 2 (2004): 164.

in understanding preoccupations for pastoral care/counseling,81 and for the training of

missionaries,82 to name a few. In order to help get started in using local proverbs in
ministry, I suggested a process to use83. As the horse of communication, proverbs can
carry us far and long in mission. While this takes time and effort, it is well worth it. Like
stepping stones in a river, local proverbs provide steady, time-tested anchors to aid us in
cross-cultural ministry.
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