Inculturation As Dialogue Igbo Culture and The Mes

Inculturation as Dialogue
Igbo Culture and the Message of Christ

Intercultural Theology
and Study of Religions
2
Series Editors
Prof. Claude Ozankom

Prof. Friedrich Reiterer
Dr. Chibueze Udeani
Prof. Klaus Zapotoczky
In cooperation with the International

Society for Intercultural Theology
and Study of Religions (ISRIT)
Inculturation as Dialogue
Igbo Culture and the Message of Christ
Chibueze Udeani
Amsterdam - New York, NY 2007

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents _____________________________________ i

Acknowledgement ____________________________________ iv
Foreword ____________________________________________v
Introduction________________________________________ xiii
Source Materials................................................................................. xiv
Scope ................................................................................................... xv
Chapter One ................................................................................1
Igbo Traditional Religious Understanding of the World,
Human Beings and God .............................................................1
1.1 Preamble _________________________________________1
1.2 Origin and History of the Igbos _______________________7
1.2.1 The Geographical Location of the Igbos ...................................... 9
1.2.2 The Origin of the Igbos ................................................................ 9
1.2.3 The History of the Igbos............................................................. 10
The Salient Periods of Igbo History ............................................... 14
1.3 Igbo World-View__________________________________17
1.3.1 Igbo Dualistic Vision of the Universe ........................................ 18
1.3.2 Igbo View of the Material World ............................................... 22
1.3.3 Time and Space among the Igbo People..................................... 26
Concept of Time among the Igbos.................................................. 26
Concept of Space among the Igbos................................................. 29
1.4 Igbo Understanding of the Human Being ______________31
1.5 The Igbo Concept of God ___________________________40
1.6 The Igbo View of Death and the Life Thereafter ________62
Chapter Two..............................................................................67
Missionary Activities in Africa with particular Reference to the
Igbos of Nigeria ........................................................................67
2.1 Introduction______________________________________67
ii
2.2 The Church and Mission ___________________________68

2.2.1 Mission and Missionary Activities in the History of the Church 69
The Roman-Hellenistic Era ............................................................ 70
The Germanic-Slavic Era ............................................................... 71
2.2.2 Church’s Traditional Understanding of Mission ........................ 74
The Plantation Theory of Pierre Charles ........................................ 75
2.2.3 The Papacy and Mission............................................................. 78
Vatican II – Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity („Ad
Gentes Divinitus“) .......................................................................... 80
2.3 Africa and the Mission: Missionary Activities in and the
Christianisation of Africa ______________________________81
2.3.1 Africa in the Eyes of the European............................................. 81
2.3.2 Advent of the Missionaries and Christianity in Africa ............... 82
2.3.3 Mission and Colonialism in Africa............................................. 85
Concrete Cases and Situations........................................................ 88
Missionaries and the Indigenous Culture........................................ 91
2.3.4 Mission and Education in Africa ................................................ 92
2.3.5 The Missionary Activities in Igboland ....................................... 98
History ............................................................................................ 98
Influence of Colonialism ................................................................ 99
The Missions and Education in Igboland...................................... 103
2.3.6 Evaluation................................................................................. 108
Chapter Three .........................................................................115
Short Historical Traces and Models of Inculturation...........115
3.1 Introduction_____________________________________115
3.2 Origin/Short Review and Models of Indigenisation of the
Message of Christ ___________________________________116
3.2.1 The Old Testament ................................................................... 116
3.2.2 Jesus Christ in the New Testament........................................... 118
3.2.3 The Early Christians and their Efforts towards “indigenisation” of
the Message of Christ ........................................................................ 119
3.2.4 Second Vatican Council on Indigenisation............................... 121
3.3 Models of „Indigenisation” of the Message of Christ ___124
3.3.1 Adaptation Approach................................................................ 125
Appraisal of the Adaptation Model .............................................. 127
3.3.2 Inculturation Approach............................................................. 130
The Concept of Inculturation........................................................ 134
Models of Inculturation ................................................................ 137
Chapter Four ..........................................................................148
iii
Inculturation as Dialogue with the Message of Christ .........148

4.1 Introduction_____________________________________148
4.2 Africa’s Partners in Inculturation as Dialogue ________153
4.2.1 Africa in Dialogue with itself ................................................... 153
4.2.2 Africa in dialogue with the Official Church ............................. 155
4.2.3 Africa in Dialogue with Christ ................................................. 157
4.3 Justification of Inculturation as Dialogue_____________159
4.3.1 The Factor of Biblical History.................................................. 159
4.3.2 The Factor of Early Church History ......................................... 161
4.3.3 The Vatican II – Inculturation as Dialogue .............................. 162
4.3.4 The Factor of Different Points of Arguments........................... 163
4.4 Problems and Challenges of Inculturation as Dialogue__168
4.4.1 Problems of the Euro-Western Christianity in Inculturation as
Dialogue ............................................................................................ 170
4.4.2 Challenges and Opportunities of Inculturation as Dialogue in
Reference to Euro-Western Christianity............................................ 176
4.4.3 African Problems with Regard to Inculturation as Dialogue.... 182
4.4.4 Challenges of Inculturation in Africa ....................................... 191
4.5 Goal, Guiding Principles, Prerequisites, Spheres and
Methods of Inculturation as Dialogue ___________________196
4.5.1 Goal of Inculturation as Dialogue ............................................ 196
4.5.2 Guiding Principles of Inculturation as Dialogue ...................... 198
4.5.3 Spheres of Inculturation as Dialogue........................................ 203
4.6 Methods of Inculturation as Dialogue ________________208
Chapter Five............................................................................213
Igbo Culture in Dialogue with the Message of Christ...........213
5.1 Igbo Culture and Inculturation _____________________213
5.2 General Conclusion_______________________________218
Selected Bibliography .............................................................221
Journals and Magazines..................................................................... 223
General Bibliography ________________________________224
Journals and Magazines..................................................................... 226
Acknowledgement
Just as tree, it is said, does not make a forest, an effort of this nature is
not, honestly speaking, the fruit of a single person's endeavour.
I am deeply indebted to Professors George T. Vass SJ and Klaus
Zapotoczky for their challengingly stimulating suggestions. My due
gratitude to Doctors Erwin Ebermann and Heinz Holley (RIP), “Afro
Asiatisches Institut”, Vienna, Austria, to all the members of "Progress
Foundation (PROFOUND) Enugu, Nigeria", for demonstrating that
the ultimate worth of knowledge is reached when it is committed to
the service of humanity and to the following people, Dr. Benjie C.
Ezeh and Mag. C. and H. Bohan. My thanks goes also to Mrs
Alexandra Kunstmann-Hirnböck for her patience, understanding and
support in getting this piece ready for publication. I wish to thank in a
special way the “Stiftungs- und Förderungsgesellschaft” of Paris
Lodron University, Salzburg, Austria for their financial support which
helped in making the publication of this work possible.
I will always remain grateful my parents – Late Mr. Clement Udeani
and Late Mrs. Ada-Onyia Alice Udeani, to my wife Dr. Mrs. Onyinye
M. Udeani who bore with me throughout this effort and lastly to my
daughters Miss Chineye H. Udeani and Miss Anenechi S. Udeani,
who since their entrance into my life have remained a source of joy
and inspiration to me.
Human being and being human is not the same thing. The difference it
makes is found, among other things, in dialogue. Being human is a
process, a journey made possible through encounter which is dialogue.
Dialogue is encounter and encounter is dialogue. Both open doors to
something new. Through them the formerly unrelated realities come to
be parts of one another. They give birth to a unity that not only
tolerates but consists essentially of diversity. Such unity is one of the
pillars of peace and progress. Hence I believe that whatever effort to
promote dialogue, no matter how insignificant, is a worthwhile
venture. Such efforts, by their nature, usually are joint efforts.
Foreword
Ever since that day, lost in the shadows of the poorly recorded history
of Christianity in Africa, when concerned Africans first began
honestly and critically to contemplate themselves and their situation as
“Christianised” Africans, many questions have arisen. For instance,
can Africans take themselves as full members of Christendom?
If this question receives an affirmative answer, then another question
calls for serious attention – Why has the Christian faith not taken root
in African culture and among the Africans themselves? Or one could
ask, why has the Christian faith – as it is brought to, and practised by,
Africans – not transformed the Africans and their culture just as it did
cultures?
Though Africa today, with her large number of Christians, is often
seen as the future hope of the Church, a closer examination of
Christianity shows that the Christian faith has not taken root in Africa.
Many Africans today declare themselves Christians, but as before,
they remain followers of the African traditional religions in matters
concerning the inner dimensions of their life. It is evident that in
strictly personal matters relating to such issues as passage and crises
of life, most Africans turn to the African traditional religions. Hence,
one of the central problems of the Church in Africa today is the
divided allegiance of most of the Church members between the
Christian faith enveloped in Western frameworks and practices, on
one hand, and African traditional religion, on the other. Even
practising Christians and non-professional African theologians raise
pertinent questions as regards the relationship between African
traditional religion and Western Christianity. From their personal
experience they pose practical questions which cannot be answered by
ordinary catechism.
Thus the central question of this work is why has Christian faith not
taken root in Africa? Christianity as an incarnational faith, whose
central tenet affirms the incarnation of God in the particular individual
Jesus of Nazareth, has its history part of which is the encounter of the
Christian faith with other cultures. The expression of Christian faith,
for instance, was shaped in a very significant way by European
vi Foreword
culture, while Christian ideals influenced European culture. The

Christian faith, in its capacity to transform cultures seems to have
overcome paganism in Europe, so that it can be maintained that
Christian faith has taken root in European culture. Similarly, many use
its incarnation as model for Christian faith taking root in Africa, but
they do not identify this with the incarnation as reported in the Bible.
In other ways the same question has been considered by different
theologians both Africans and non-Africans. Such efforts date as far
back as the time of the early Christian missionaries. Some of them
tried to translate Christian faith into African concepts. But in this
century, it has become one of the major questions for theologians in
Africa.
Tshishiku Tshibangu – Catholic bishop and the rector of the national
university of Zaire contends that the Christian faith has not taken root
in Africa. Hence, in some of his works ((“Théologie positive et
théologie spéculative. Position traditionelle et nouvelle
problématique" (Paris: Beatrice Nauwelaerts, 1965) and “La thélogie
comme science au Xxéme siècle. ” (Kinshasa: Presses de l’Úniversité
de Zaire, 1980) – he tries to introduce a sociological perspective in
African theology. He uses the history of theological method, in order
to develop a relevant methodology for Africa so that theology can
relate to human beings and their society. This is intended to help the
Africans understand revelation in an African way.
Charles Nyamiti, a Tanzanian professor of theology argues for the use
of African concepts and categories in the explanation of Christian
doctrines. Hence in his works, The Way to Christian Theology for
Africa (Eldoret, Kenya: Gaba Publications, 1978.); African Tradition
and the Christian God (Eldoret: Gaba, 1977.) and Christ the Ancestor.
(Harare: Mamba Press, 1984.) – he employs African philosophy to
generate new insight into the Christian doctrines. This is an approach
of adaptation.
Ngindu Mushete, publisher of African Theology Bulletin and
professor of fundamental theology, represents the view that African
life and thought patterns in their entirety must be confronted with the
Christian message. Hence his work is based not so much on African
philosophical concepts, as on the entirety of African life and thought
pattern. Although he is similar to Nyamiti in his approach, his method
resembles that of Tshibangu. His publications include among others:
Foreword vii
Le probleme de la connaissance religieuse dáprès L. Laberthonnière.

(Kinshasa : Theological Faculty 1977); Courants actuels de la
théologie en Afrique. (Bulletin of African Theology 6 (1984)); and
Die Auffassung von Wahrheit in der afrikanischen Theologie.
(CONCILIUM, 23 (1987/4)).
Bolaji Idowu, – former professor of religious sciences at the
University of Ibadan, Nigeria and the former primate of Nigerian
Methodist Church – holds that an African theology should give
answers to the social, political, mental, spiritual and emotional needs
of the Africans in order for the Christian faith to take root in Africa.
This is developed in his works Towards an Indigenous Church.
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965); African Traditional Religion
– A Definition. (London: SCM Press, 1973) etc.; These broaden the
base of the discussion.
Late Emefie Ikenga Metuh, a Nigerian Catholic priest and professor of
religious sciences at the University of Jos, emphasizes that African
religious thought can be explained only with the help of African rather
than Western conceptual frameworks. His publications include: God
and Man in African Religion. (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1981);
African Religions in Western Conceptual Schemes: The Problem of
Interpretation. (Ibadan: Pastoral Institute Bodija, 1985), etc. His
views, that the African religious thought can only be understood with
the help of African conceptual frameworks, shows he differs from the
other African theologians mentioned above.
Eboussi Boulaga, a Camerounian professor of philosophy unlike those
who take either African cultural values or the biblical text as their
point of departure, begins from a critical assessment of the Christian
missionary activities in Africa. Boulaga’s is a narrative method. His
main work: An African Critique and Recapture of Christianity.
(Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1984), sees the reason for Christianity
failing to take root in Africa not so much in the non adaptation of the
Christian message, but rather in the non participation of Africans in
ecclesiastical “power”.
These examples point to the need for healthy and balanced encounter
between African culture and religion and the Message of Christ. From
the history of Christianity, it is clear that its faith could take root only
in cultures where there was a balanced, two way encounter between
the Message of Christ and such cultures as it took place in the
viii Foreword
encounter between the Message of Christ and the Jewish culture.

Elements of Jewish cultural influence are found today in the Christian
faith, which the Christian faith transformed the Jewish culture. Jesus
himself set up a stiff and strong opposition to incorrect practices
within the Jewish culture.
A balanced encounter in the case of Africa would maintain a proper
balance between the exigencies of African culture and the demands of
the Message of Christ. Even in the views of Boulaga, who could be
seen as having shifted the emphasis, he did not crystallise as answer to
the central question of how Christian faith can take root in Africa, but
concentrated on the sharing of ecclesiastical powers between the local
African churches and the central official church in Rome. Though this
may be part of a healthy and balanced encounter, the encounter is
more than an issue of power. A detailed treatment of some of these
and other lines of thought will be given later in this work.
The proposed solution in this work to the central question – why has
the Christian faith not taken root in Africa tries to take into
consideration some additional aspects inadequately treated thus by the
theologians working on this issue. It would not look at Christianity as
it is preached and practiced today in different parts of the world.
Rather it would concentrate on the encounter between the nucleus of
the Christian message and African culture, both of which need to be
redefined. For Christian message has received many cultural, political
and historical colourings. By the time the message reached Africa
these had mixed so well with the nucleus of the Christian message that
they were most often mistaken for it. However as African culture is
not static, it must be constantly re-examined and continuously
redefined.
The African inculturation movement for the Christian faith to take
deep root in Africa is an effort towards the balanced encounter of the
Message of Christ with African culture. Inculturation should be
understood as the honest, serious and critical attempt to enable the
Message of Christ be understood by peoples of every culture, locality
and age. Stretched further, this means understanding the Message of
Christ within the very world and thought patterns of the many peoples.
It is the continuous endeavour at making the Message of Christ at
home in the cultures of each people.
Foreword ix
If this be understood as inculturation, then one of the main points of

departure should be what is specifically Christian in Christianity, i.e.
the Message as found in Jesus Christ? But one should bear in mind
that many cultural, political and historical influences shaped this
Message before it was brought to the Africans. Hence an effort will be
made here to provide criteria for distinguishing the nucleus from these
historical and cultural influences.
Any inculturation movement should thoroughly analyse the Christian
message with regard to its relevance to the life and predicament of the
people in question. In the African context this will concern itself with
African life questions in all cultural realms. This method, i.e. the
analysis of the Christian message with regard to its relevance to the
life and predicament of the people in question and its encounter with
all realms of culture presupposes, among other things, that the
theologian is at home with the African cultures and their history and
all phases their of their history.
Many authors of theological literature (both Africans and non-
Africans) have tried to tackle these problems of how the Christian
faith could take root in Africa. They do not agree and at times serious
divergences can be traced among them. But no matter how widely
such theologies spread there can be no simple or universal solution to
these problems for the problems themselves are not simple.
In considering possible ways for the Christian faith to take root in
Africa, some borrow from other theologies such as African black
theology; South African Black Theology, e.g. B. Moore; African
liberation theology e.g. Z. Nthamburi, African Theology as a
Theology of Liberation.; and African feminist theology, e.g. Mary
Oduyeye, The Roots of African Christian Feminism. They will be
excluded from this work for such problems are not solved through
borrowing, no matter how old, popular, highly transcendental they
may be. None of these should be the criterion for determining what is
to be done. Where the need does arise for a borrowing these
theologies may not provide the standard for determining which
theology is to be preferred
The above mentioned efforts notwithstanding, the religious world of
the African has remained an ongoing challenge to the Christian
message. How can one experience the Message of Christ as the Good
News in a milieu in which the human search for concrete happiness in
x Foreword
a culture which lives in relationship with the invisible, through such

special forms of mediation as family-customs, marriage-customs and
ancestor worship? In short how can the Message of Christ take deep
root in a milieu filled with questions and aspirations that are so often
misunderstood, not only in the first era of evangelisation, but today?
Despite reforms in the liturgy, e.g. introduction of indigenous
languages, musical instruments and songs composed in native style, a
critical analysis will show that the Message of Christ has not yet taken
root in a practically relevant sense of the word. The question remains:
why and how this can be achieved?
Africa’s success in trying to answer this central question will be more
the natural consequence of an honest and critical approach to African
problems in all their peculiarities. This is one of the factors which
makes it possible for theologies – which are answers to similar
questions asked in various periods and places – to play vital and
relevant roles wherever they rightly and fruitfully operate. This is an
essential aspect of their success – such theologies are theologically
relevant to the problems of life; they are answers to the questions of
human beings in these times and places; they are always characterised
by a constructive discontentment with the situation as it is and a
striving to seek for, and to offer solutions. Constructive
discontentment here means that there is an honest awareness of the
unsatisfying situation of things. But, instead of resigning to passivity
in the face of such a situation, which would be destructive, a step is
made forward toward correction. The discontentment is then
experienced constructively when it pushes those concerned to look for
ways of improving their lot. These theologies, try to help people in
their search for adequate and satisfying answers to their different
questions.
Such theologies seek to understand and explain the relevance of God
to all phases and situations in people’s lives. They do not try to paint
false and unrealistic pictures of the human being in his/her
relationship with God. Rather they try to help and let the human being
be human before God. Through such theologies humans are helped to
become fully human in their relationship with God. The human being
is considered with one’s strengths and weaknesses, not as being so
complete not to need God anymore. On the other hand, the human
being is not considered to be so congenitally and miserably weak that
Foreword xi
he/she cannot do anything towards helping himself/herself in this

relationship with God. Being fully human and fully alive entails
accepting all these aspects of human nature – strength as well as
weakness, independence as well as the need for God. Saint Irenaeus
said that the Glory of God is a human being fully human and fully
alive? In other words such theologies try to help everyone concerned
to become a human being, fully human and fully alive, and thus to
face the Christian message.
One of the peculiarities in the history of Christianity in Africa is that
of all the groups or cultures that have come in contact with
Christianity, Africa occupies an unfortunately unique position, the
African culture was not at its best form at the point in history when it
came into contact with Christianity.
Africa has been systematically humiliated in terms of her culture. She
was still being raped and vandalised for the second time (the first
being through the slave trade) by the Europeans through colonialism
when Christianity was brought to Africa. Just as there were different
political and economic colonialists, there were equally different
religions and missionary groups in Africa. These different groups in
most cases were in enmity with one another before and while they
entered Africa and equally remained so thereafter. Hence, these
partitioned the already pluralistic religious world of the Africans. This
added extra causes of division to those already existing among the
Africans. The missionary groups applied the same principle of divide
and rule as was used by the colonialists.
It is presupposed that it is necessary that the Christian message take
root in Africa because the Message of Christ is the message of
salvation as salvation means healing, it is appropriate to African
situation. The African Christian should be helped to feel that the
Message of Christ is not primarily a set of doctrinal, ritual or moral
laws, but rather the Good News of overcoming the estrangement of
the state of sin through the appearance of Jesus the Christ as the new
healing reality. They should be made to feel that Christian symbols are
not absurdities, unacceptable for the questioning mind of the African,
but point to that which alone is of ultimate concern, the basis and
meaning of their existence and of existence in general.
Africans, on the other hand, must allow themselves to be dominated
by an “inspirational unrest“. This is a creative disposition in which
xii Foreword
those involved allow themselves to be confronted with, and inspired

by, their difficult situation. They do not just fold their hands waiting
for the situation to change of itself. The inspiration which comes from
their perception of the difficult situation as a challenge, moves them
towards improving upon their predicament. This inspirational unrest
should urge Africans to rise above themselves and their present
circumstances by reaching for the Message of Christ. They should
develop and harbour a constructive discontent with the present
situation of Christianity in Africa and strive towards an honest
encounter with the Message of Christ. Africans must stop complaining
and start correcting; stop lamenting and start acting and trying to find
a way to make the Message of Christ take deep roots in Africa, within
African culture and among Africans.
Introduction
The reason for the mission and missionary activities of Christianity is

often traced to the injunction of Jesus to his disciples: “go and make
disciple of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:18-20, Mk 16:15; Lk 24:27;
Acts 1:8). It is easily assumed that obedience to this great command to
go into all the parts of the earth making disciples and baptising was
the greatest motivation for the missionary enterprise. However, in
practice, the motives were more complex and the goals were
enunciated differently.
The history of missions throughout the centuries provokes many
thorny questions. This history, in its different phases, is interwoven
with the other histories of Christians during their respective epochs.
These depended to a great extent on the addressees, on their
understanding of Christ’s injunction in their own human
circumstances (such as their history and culture,) and their
understanding of those to whom they had to bring the Christian
message. This last aspect is especially very important.
In the African circumstance these aspects are essential in trying to
understand Christianity; its introduction, history, development and
future in Africa, which we shall try to present and analyse concretely
with the Igbo people in Nigeria. As an example they will provide a
concrete frame of reference. They are large enough – not less than 40
million people – for this type of examination and majority are
Christians and Igbo traditional religionists.
Chapter one illustrates an example of African culture as represented
by the Igbo people in Nigeria. This is a presentation of an indigenous
African society, prior to its contact with foreign (European) culture.
Chapter two presents the initial contact between the African and the
European worlds. The case study continues to take practical examples
from the Igbos in Nigeria. On the European religious side the principal
example is Christianity with its European background. In general,
attention will be focused more on the Roman Catholic European
Christianity. Particular reference is made to its missionary activities in
Africa, specifically among the Igbo people in Nigeria.
xiv Introduction
Chapters three, four and five deal with the Message of Christ taking
root in Africa. In this light they examine the origin, history and some
models of this within different cultures in the history of Christianity.
Inculturation will be treated as one of these models. Our suggested
model is inculturation as dialogue between the Message of Christ and
African culture. We shall have to justify this model of inculturation as
dialogue and point out the obstacles and problems confronting this
model. Beyond these, however, we shall consider the challenges they
pose to Christianity and to the African world, respectively.
Source Materials
As the title and contents indicate, this work considers both theological
and sociological issues. It is especially a theological examination of
Christian activities in Africa in general and especially among the Igbo
people in Nigeria. The term “sociological” is an umbrella concept
covering what could equally be social, anthropological, ethnological
or even historical features.
It must be noted that there are weaknesses typical of this type of
combination, i.e. sociological insight applied to theological problems.
One of the reasons is that neither the methods nor the demands of
these two areas or disciplines can possibly be fully developed within
the scope of such a work as this. The empirical observation methods
and subsequent theoretical analysis belonging to a sociological study
cannot be easily transferred to theology. Theology attempts to reflect
and describe „revealed” beliefs, values and the embodiments, and the
nature of human-divine relationships.
Both the traditional Igbo society and the Christianity developed here
embrace beliefs and values. They encompass equally social structures
and institutions which condition, or influence one another. In Igbo
society, as in any other African society, there is a very thin membrane
standing between social life and belief and thought patterns. The
religious prohibitions, for example, prescribe the structure or nature of
social interactions and patterns of behaviour.
All this notwithstanding, the approach of this work would seem to be
justified for insofar as the interaction of Christianity and the
traditional Igbo religion (like in any group of religions of any given
society) involves the Igbo community in social or cultural change, the
combination of a theological with a sociological approach seems not
Introduction xv
to be out of place. Furthermore, this work tries to be of some practical

relevance to Igbo society and to the Church, at least in the part of the
Church in Igbo land. A purely theological approach, to a Church in an
area of increasing social transformation, limits the Church. The
Church would loose not only relevance, but also insight into the social
and practical realities of the people’s existence and the influences
upon it from the Igbo community in which it exists.
The facts used in this work were collected from sources that are
principally documentary-scientific books, magazines, published
reports, historical records, etc. A good number of these sources comes
from indigenous authors. References are made in footnotes and in the
text to many of the authors whose works were made use of. Scientific
discussions with different people – Africans as well as non-Africans,
theologians as well as non-theologians, sociologists as well as non-
sociologists – are another of the sources also in this work.
Nevertheless the limitations imposed upon data collected through
these avenues are recognised. As regards the historical part of this
work, cognisance was taken of the problems of historiography. Of
special note are the poorly documented history of the Igbos and the
propagandistic purpose of the documented history of Christianity
which was designed, among other things, to boost morale and material
aid. Some of the early converts and writers imbibed this habit of
uncritically praising and cataloguing the “triumphs” of Western
Christianity over African religion and culture. Hence caution and
control were applied in the application of such materials. The
presentation of history requires not just the naked facts on events that
took place but must examine also, what is going on behind the events.
A historian is not a chronicler or an antiquarian, but also an
interpreter.
Scope
The Scope of this work, as can be seen from the title, concerns the
contact between the Christian faith and Igbo traditional culture and
society. This will be seen against the general background of contact
between religions and cultures. It will be applied in terms of the effect
of Christian religion in its contact with the African traditional religion
and culture extant in Igbo land. It is not within the scope of this work
to treat culture as such in its complex and far-reaching ramifications.
xvi Introduction
It treats culture insofar as it is closely related to religion. Although

religion is one of the basic pillars of culture, there are other basic
institutions like economics, politics, education and family. This
notwithstanding, it could be maintained that it is religion that gives an
all-embracing orientation and direction to culture.
Thus the central concern is the contact between Christianity and Igbo
traditional culture and religious life. It does not include detailed
enquiries into the individual treatment of the various sects or
denominations of Christians with the Igbo people. In general, attention
will be focused on the Roman Catholic Church; while at times
mention is made also of the Protestant Church. An unlimited treatment
of all sects and denominations is beyond the scope of this work. The
same limitations apply to the treatment of Igbo culture and history.
At any rate, it is hoped that more restricted approach will render more
detailed and fruitful treatment of the main question posed in this work.
It is also hoped that this leads to a deeper understanding of the social
and religious changes brought about by contact with Christianity in
this part of Africa. Hence it underscores the need for inculturation
through dialogue between African cultures and the Message of Christ.
Chapter One
Igbo Traditional Religious Understanding of the

World, Human Beings and God
1.1 Preamble
The purpose of this preamble is to present a summary of the

arguments which justify the direction taken in this work. The intention
is to address a number of central questions like, why has the Christian
faith not taken deep root in Africa and how can it then deepen its root
in Africa? This preamble contains also a summary of some salient
elements of African traditional religion. This is considered necessary
in order to help the reader locate Igbo traditional religion, the case
study of this work, within the larger forum of African traditional
religion. Lastly, it should introduce especially those not acquainted
with the African traditional religions to the first chapter of this work –
Igbo traditional religious understanding of the world, human beings
and God. There is the tendency, in view of the many political and
economic problems facing Africa, to question the relevance of efforts
made in the area of the African traditional religion. One can
understand the Westerners who raise such questions because for them
religion is dead or of less interest and is treated with indifference by
many people.
For those people, to whom Africa has become a synonym for poverty
and under-development, it would make sense that Africa channels all
her resources primarily into solving her economic, political and
development problems. This overlooks the fact that politics, economy,
development and religion are but the different interwoven and
interdependent parts of a culture. The working definition of culture as
2 Chapter One
used in this work (except where otherwise stated) conceives culture as

the totality of the answers which human beings give to the questions
of life. It is not only life that poses questions to the human being, but
the human-being, also poses questions to life. There is a sort of
bilateral movement in the posing of questions here; it is not a one-
sided venture. Human beings are confronted with the hard realities or
questions of life. They try to find ways of dealing with these realities
or answers to these questions. On the other hand, the same human
beings search for meaning not only in, but also of life. They at times
succeed in finding meaning in, as well as of, life. All these ways,
answers and meaning are examined, practised and systematically
preserved. They are constantly brought into use, tested, preserved and
passed on to younger generations who, in turn, continue the whole
practice. As part of culture, the religious questions cannot be ignored
even in our working definition of culture.
The questions are of different types, with different contents and
directions. This does not abolish their interdependence and
interwovenness, but some of these questions are religious in nature or
have religious content and orientation. Religion concerns itself with
the basic human questions. These include questions about the origin
and destination of human beings: what or who is the human being; the
search for the meaning and purpose in and of life. These questions are
not restricted to the religious sphere, but religion concretises
themselves in their development. What would it mean, if one were to
try to put the African traditional religion aside; in his/her bid to solve
the problems he/she deems necessary, it would turn out that even if all
the other problems were solved there would still be some pertinent
problems which would remain unsolved; such like that of the meaning
in and of life.
It is a fact that black Africa has never produced a great form of
religion, which could bring an all-encomprising unity to her
widespread areas. The concept “African Traditional Religion” is a sort
of umbrella-concept for all forms of religions which originate from
black Africa. The word “traditional” demarcates these from other
religions in Africa, which today are referred to as African religions
because of some elements of the African traditional religions they
imbibe. There are examples where Islam and Christianity are referred
to as African religions. This results from the fact that these two
(especially Islam) have been perceived so by some of their African
Igbo Traditional Religious Understanding 3
of the Word, Human Beings and God
members in terms of the fundamental underlying concepts of

traditional African religion.
Considering black Africa, it is possible to talk of a religious world-
view and also of different religious world-views or perspectives. In
real life differences abound, which do not, on the other hand, negate
the strong similarities that exist between the basic tenets of these
forms of religion so that one could talk of either “African Traditional
Religions” or of “African Traditional Religion”. Religion in the
grammatical plural points to the plurality of the religious world-views,
while the singular refers to the common or similar underlying tenets of
these forms of religion.
Generally, African traditional religions are characterised by their
pragmatic orientation. This has led many non-members of these
religions to deny them that they have philosophical reflection or
mystical contemplation. It is unfortunate that many people are ill at
ease with other forms of religion and find it difficult to observe these
with an open mind or without prejudice for it is important to see the
logic and depth of such religions.
Many are of the opinion that some standard criteria are indispensable
for religion and its spread. Such criteria include, among others, written
sources, mythologies, well-defined and systematised patterns of
theologies and philosophies. Further demands are made of social and
moral prescriptions, which will bring forth structures that are not time-
bound. But these criteria are not applicable to the African traditional
religions. Even though these criteria did bring benefits, their absence
in the African traditional religions has not diminished the wealth and
depth of the religious world-view of the Africans. Although in the past
they had big municipalities with complex political, economic and
religious structures, there was no need that formalised written laws to
be laid down or ideologies and political institutions legalised. The
political and religious leaders of black Africa were not chosen from an
intellectual elite; their role and position depended, among other things,
on age, experience and common sense.
Furthermore, the depth and wealth of the African religious world-view
is based on the complex and subtle symbolic structures which give
human life practical meaning and relevance. The religious views of
the African world concentrate on life within the community, which
4 Chapter One
encompasses space and time. The living include also the ancestors
who are regarded as the „living dead“. A mystical understanding of
this time- and space-encompassing community is necessary for the
unity of the different African communities with which meaning and
human fulfilment have strong connections. They have no connection
with an existence after death, which has to do with participation in any
transcendental reality. The consciousness of a lively unity with the
community gives the African his inner stability and constitutes his
religious foundation.
The religious world-view of black Africa is characterised in the
different parts of the continent by emphasis on the optimum success of
the relationships within the community. The religious world-view of
black Africa stresses more the importance of the human community,
the family as a community, than the individual person. The
constitutive factor which binds individual persons together is the unity
of the community. This entails that within black Africa the religious
world-view differs from community to community, depending on how
each community is structured. Hence some reason that there is no such
thing as “African Traditional Religion”, but instead “African
Traditional Religions”, due to the plurality of such religions and
communities, and the problems entailed in encompassing all that it is
deemed necessary to proceed by a case study of specific community –
the Igbo community of West Africa, any valid approach to African
traditional religion must begin with a careful study of specific African
communities.
The central position given to the human community in black Africa’s
religious world-view should not be interpreted as indicative of the lack
of other important elements. For the religious elements or symbols
receive their importance as elements of a structured unity, and hence
contextually and in interdependence with the human community
which appears at the centre of a more encompassing world-view. It is
believed to be continuously under the influence of cosmic forces
operating within and around it, examples of which include the gods,
spirits (benevolent as well as evil), the ancestors, etc.
The myths explain the cosmos and the mode of action of the cosmic
forces. They have an aetiological character and help to explain the
phenomena of human experience.
To understand the African as religious, one has to bear in mind that

the African traditional religions are not primarily a collection of
doctrines and rites, but more a way of life and world interpretation.
African traditional religion expresses itself in every aspect of the life
of the African, and can in no way be separated from his/her daily life.
The way the African eats, plants grain in the field, celebrates feasts
and festivals, manages social contact etc., all these are influenced by
the African traditional religion. Every action of the African is
executed principally from this background.
The elements of being human are found in many of the creation-myths
among the different African societies. A short review of some of these
myths shows that the creation of the human being is not first on the
list, but the origin of the community. Examples are found among the
Yorubas and the Igbo people in Nigeria. This primacy of the creation
of the cultural world before that of the human being, points to the fact
that the individual person is defined through his position within the
network of relationships he/she possesses in the community.
Three elements, which are in complementarity, constitute the human
being. These are the human physical body and two other spiritual
elements which give life to the physical body. One is the life-force
which comes from God; the second is a spiritual element which comes
from the ancestors.
The different cultures of black Africa see in the human community a
reality, which does not allow the time-space continuous existence to
perish in chaos. This conviction strengthens the relationship of the
individual to his/her community. It does not pertain only to the
community of the living now or in the space of three to four
generations. This is why the community which occupies a central
position in the religious world-view of the Africans includes equally
the ancestors. They are gone, but continue to sustain and protect the
community of the living. The yet-unborn offspring of the living are
already recognised as present and guarantee the continuous existence
of the community beyond death.
There is a very close relationship between the responsible living elders
of the community and the ancestors who protect the community. Of
course, not every dead member of the community automatically
reaches the status of an ancestor for which one must be an adult with
6 Chapter One
legitimate offspring. The moral aspects of his/her life should be

positively convincing. Some categories of illnesses e.g. madness,
chronic, diseases, death through such natural forces as thunder, etc)
should not be suffered or a cause of death. At death he/she should be
accorded a befitting burial with all the necessary attendant rites and
ceremonies. The dead, who for one reason or the other did not reach
the status of an ancestor, is cut off finally from the community and the
continuity of the forthcoming generations. They are condemned to
roam restlessly as evil spirits.
It might appear surprising that we are just beginning to talk of God.
For the Africans, God is, on the one hand distant and withdrawn, who
directs the universe and with whom the human beings do not strive for
direct contact; but on the other hand, God is so immanent that his
presence is felt everywhere. In the classical Western sense he could be
seen as “deus remotus” a quality which is often described as “deus
otiosus”. This is the supreme God who created the human community
and sustains creation with his life-force. The knowledge of the
mystery of the origin of creation, the life-force in the human beings
and in the universe is attributed to him alone.
The world of the African traditional religions presents vividly the fact
that the human being as a religious being always understands reality
as a whole and with a deep dimension. The world and life receive their
quality/value and content from their finitude, but their meaning is
interpreted and realised from the limitedness and transitoriness of the
universe and human life.
The direct relation between God and the human being is that he/she
has received the breath of life from God. Consequently, the human
being participates in the cosmic forces which manifest themselves in
nature and through other divinities. This goes a long way to explain
the behaviour of the Africans towards nature.
Especially for Westerners, it is difficult to understand, that the sacred,
for the Africans, can manifest itself in such objects as stones, trees,
rivers, seas, mountains, animals etc. The Africans do not worship the
stone or the tree as such; the sacred stones, trees, rivers, seas,
mountains, animals etc. are not worshipped as such but revered
because they manifest something else, namely, the sacred or “wholly
other”. These objects are hierophanies or the manifestation of the
sacred. It cannot be stressed enough that such objects present the
paradox that in manifesting the sacred, they become something else,

without ceasing to be themselves because of their continuous
participation in their cosmic sacrality. The whole cosmos is herewith
the manifestation of the sacred or a hierophany.
A Remark on Orthography
There are two alternative spellings in Igbo studies: “Ibo” and “Igbo”.
This can be traced back to the colonial era. In this work the technically
more correct “Igbo” is chosen for an overwhelming majority of the
Igbos prefer this form, in contradistinction to the inaccurate “Ibo” of
the colonial era. People should be addressed by the name they prefer.
The same path will be followed in the transcription of Igbo phrases
and texts, where the orthography of sources will be respected and
followed. In some other cases the familiar names will be opted for,
concentrating more on intelligibility than pedantic correctness. All
italicisations of Igbo words even in citations are from the author of
this work.
1.2 Origin and History of the Igbos
If one were to ask the question “what does the word ‘Igbo’ mean and
where does it come from?” there are many answers for the origin of
this word is not very clear. According to M. A. Onwuejeogwu, “the
word Igbo means ‘The community of people’”1. He tries to support
this view through several linguistic uses of the word Igbo. Due to the
pejorative use of the word Igbo by European slave dealers in referring
to slaves from the interior, it became a practice among some sections
of the Igbos to speak of the rest as Igbo people. This practice is still to
be found in some parts of Igbo even though it no longer has the same
pejorative connotation. As A. E. Afigbo puts it “Thus the West Niger
Igbo refers to all East Niger Igbo as Igbo; the Onitsha people refer to
all living east of them as Igbo, the Nri refer to others including
1
T.U. Nwala, Igbo Philosophy. (Lagos: Lantern Books, 1985), 19f.
8 Chapter One
Onitsha as Igbo while the Aro refer to others including Nri and
Onitsha as Igbo.”2
The word refers not only to the people, but also to the
language of this group. It falls in the Kwa group of languages found in
west and central Africa with various local dialects. An outstanding
characteristic of this language is that it is tonal; both grammar and
speech tones play an essential role. The tone of a word, whether high,
intermediate or low, determines meaning.3 Hence, though many words
have the same orthography, they do not have the same tone and hence
have different meaning. Typical examples of these words have
identical spelling, but different tones:
Ózò: gorilla
Ózó: title
Òzó: again
Oké: rat
Óké: male
Ókè: boundary
Òkè: share
Ézè: king
Ézé: tooth
Ókwà: warning
Ókwá: small wooden mortar
2
Ibid., 19.
3
E.M.P. Edeh, Towards an Igbo Metaphysics. (Chicago: Loyola University Press,
1985), 45. In this work E.M.P. Edeh presents something of the Igbo metaphysics and
culture. He tries to investigate the fundamental reality of things from an Igbo
perspective. This work provides a clear case of what serious philosophising in Igbo
culture could be. It has the advantage of providing a starting point for further rational
and systematic reflection on the conception of reality etc.
Òkwà: partidge.4
Despite the various dialects found in the Igbo language and the
tendency among some to refer to the rest (apart from themselves) as
Igbo, the name Igbo has become a symbol of unity among the Igbos,
especially when they find themselves among non-Igbos.
1.2.1 The Geographical Location of the Igbos
The Igbos are located principally in south-eastern Nigeria and occupy

a continuous geographical delineation of areas known as Igbo land.
This territory “lies between 5° and 7° north of the Equator and
between the 6° and 8° east of the Greenwich meridian, spanning the
river Niger approximately midway between the Niger-Benue
confluence to the North and the Atlantic to the south. It embraces an
area of some 15,800 square miles.”5
The Igbos constitute about 27% of the total population of Nigeria
which is estimated to be 140 Million. Igbo land is one of the areas in
Nigeria with a high population density, even though the Igbo
population is unevenly distributed.
Igbo land is low lying with the exception of some areas.
Vegetationally surveyed the land could be categorised into four major
belts, viz. the mangrove forest in the delta area, barely touching the
southern Igbo land: the fresh water swamp forest; the rain forest
region and the derived savannah covering most of the rest of the land
running from the north-west to the north-east.6
1.2.2 The Origin of the Igbos
The issue of origin of the Igbos is similar to the history of the other
groups in Nigeria. It presents several problems – a picture of which is
presented by A. E. Afigbo as follows:
4
M.N. Okonkwo, A Complete Course in Igbo Grammar. (Nigeria: Macmillan, 1977),
101.
5
C.O. Obiego. African Image of the Ultimate Reality Analysis of Igbo Ideas of Life
and Death in Relation to Chukwu. (Bern/Berlin: Peter Lang, 1984), 32.
6
E.M.P. Edeh, Towards an Igbo Metaphysics, 9.
10 Chapter One
The writing of Igbo history is still at a very

rudimentary stage. Not only are we still to work
out the main stages in the evolution of Igbo culture
and society, but what is more the raw materials –
archaeological, ethnographic, linguistic etc. – from
which the historian can distil Igbo history are yet
to be adequately uncovered, collected, collated and
interpreted.7
Many and varied opinions are advanced by Igbo ethnologists and
historians. These opinions could be categorised into two main
hypotheses – migration (outside or eastern origin) and creation
(ancient origin) hypothesis.
These hypotheses are rational guesses regarding the place of origin of
the Igbos. One cannot be categorical as to their accuracy and
interpretation, but they are useful in two ways: on the one hand, they
tend to show the similarity of the cosmological views and historical
experience of the Igbo with those of their Nigerian neighbours. On the
other hand, the primitive form of these legends tends to suggest that
the Igbo, like their Nigerian neighbours, have been settled in what is
now known as Nigeria for a very long time.8
1.2.3 The History of the Igbos
Ethnologically the Igbos are seen as an ancient race. Many accounts

attest to the fact that the Igbo had settled in what is today known as
Nigeria by the third millennium BC (3000 BC).9 The early history of
the Igbos shows some similarities to those of their Nigerian
neighbours including that of their dispersal:
Just as the Yoruba have Ife as their spiritual and
ideological metropolis, the centre from which
7
A.E. Afigbo, An Outline of Igbo History. (Owerri, Nigeria: RADA, 1986), 1.
Prof. A.E. Afigbo, Professor of History in some Nigerian universities including the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka is a prominent Nigerian historian. His various works
concentrate on the history of the eastern part of Nigeria, especially Igbo history. He is
among those who do the onerous task of collecting, ordering, analysing and
documenting systematically the different pieces of oral Igbo History and tradition.
8
Ibid.
9
Ibid.
various branches of them spread out to occupy

their present positions, so do the Igbo have in Nri-
Awka and Amaigbo in Orlu their own spiritual and
ideological metropolis, the centres from which
different branches of them moved out to their
present locations.10
Reports on the Igbo heartland suggest a number of problems. The
view that Nri-Awka is the spiritual and ideological dispersal centre of
the Igbo is primarily based on the claims of the clans in this area.
They maintain “that founding ancestors at first resided in the Nri-
Awka area but subsequently moved out with their followers and
families either in search of unoccupied land or to escape uncongenial
obligations or even punishments. For most of this area the ritual
primacy of Nri is attested to by the fact that it was believed by the
Western and Northern Igbo that the souls of their dead invariably
walked the streets of Nri on their way to the realm populated by the
revered ancestors.”11
For Igbo groups, such as the Ohuhu, Ngwa, Mbaise or even the Cross
River Igbo people, the role of Nri is occupied by Amaigbo in Orlu.
The name Amaigbo means the street or meeting centre (ama) of the
Igbo. In the oral history of the Igbo groups mentioned it was from
Amaigbo that their founding ancestors dispersed.12
Relying partially on such legend as cited above and oral tradition and
partly on numerous other ethnographic and ecological evidence some
scholars, like A. E. Afigbo, have come to the conclusion that the Nri-
Awka-Orlu axis probably represents the earliest zone of Igbo
settlement from which other parts of Igbo land came to be populated
over the centuries.13
However, considering the existence of other
dispersal-accounts from some scholars one cannot
but proceed on basis of probability. According to
E. Isichei, the first cradles of human habitation in
10
Ibid., 3.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid.
12 Chapter One
the Igbo area were probably the Cross River and

the Anambra Valley-Nsukka escarpment. In each
of these areas, later Stone Age sites have been
excavated. A rock shelter at Afikpo was first
inhabited about five thousand years ago, by people
who made rough red pottery and a variety of stone
tools. ... Excavations at the University of (Nigeria)
Nsukka (Nigeria) uncovered the pottery, 4500
years old, i.e. above mentioned, and Ibagwa, a
town in the Nsukka area, has a rock shelter which
yielded both ancient pottery and tools of stone.14
A. E. Afigbo tries to present the sequence of events in brief as
follows: On leaving the general area of the Niger-Benue confluence
the early Igbo people would appear to have spread along the Nsukka-
Okigwe highlands which at the time constituted the most habitable
parts of what later became Eastern Nigeria. The southward movement
of this early Igbo people along this cuesta continued for centuries as
more and more people came in from the north and as the first migrants
multiplied. This led to the vanguard of the movement being pushed
beyond the southern tip of the Nsukka-Udi cuesta into the rolling
plains to the south where they multiplied. These groups became the
Uratta, Ikwere, Etche, Asa and Ndoki Igbo of present times.15
Parallel to the afore-mentioned incidents “important developments
were taking place on the Awka-Orlu upland section of the Nsukka-
Okigwe cuesta leading to some increase in population and the search
for more land for settlement.
The result was first that from the Nri-Awka area
some Igbo started moving westwards across the
14
E. Isichei, A History of the Igbo People. (London: Macmillan Press 1976), 3f.
Prof. E. Isichei is Professor of History at the University of Jos, Nigeria. She wrote her
early books on the social and intellectual history of the Christian religion, turned to
African history in 1967 and has taught in African universities since 1969. She has
published a number of books and numerous articles in a wide variety of learned
journals on African history and religion. A History of the Igbo People, is a work of
great breadth which begins from the Stone Ages to the 1970s. It covers a wide variety
of themes in the social, economic, political, religious and military history of the Igbo
people. It is based on wide range of printed sources, and archival sources in several
languages and fieldwork.
15
A.E. Afigbo, An Outline of Igbo History, 3.
relatively narrow low-lying Anambra-Niger flood

plains to the uplands on the right bank of the Niger
... This counter migration which led to the
settlement of the southern Ika area and the
southern riverine areas survives most vividly in
the traditions of the Umu Eze Chima group of
villages (prominent among which is Onitsha) in
the form of an original migration from the
domains of the Oba of Benin.16
In any case it is evident that the primary areas of Igbo settlement and
their ecological environment could not cope with the increasing
population pressure. The natural result of this became the frequent
migrations to other parts of Igbo land, or what then became Igbo land.
This also could be seen as a plausible reason for the migration towards
the eastern direction, for the same impulses which had culminated in
the westward migration from Nri-Awka area had brought similar
results in the Orlu area, only that in this case those Igbo, who felt
compelled to move, moved eastwards.17
The Journal of the African Society, X (1919-11) views the whole
development thus; the antiquity of these movements is mirrored in the
high population densities obtaining throughout Igbo land, and the
remarkable extent to which the original vegetation has been modified
by the human presence. Igbo land is in the rain forest belt of Nigeria
where it is difficult to find any rain forest. The whole countryside is
covered with farms or secondary vegetation where farms lie fallow.18
The historian of Igbo land or those who would like to present a lineal,
continuous history of the Igbos are confronted with some problems.
One of the problems is that while some sources are the oral traditions
of the Igbos themselves, the other source is the evidence of European
colonial masters and missionaries who never visited the interior parts
of Igbo land. This means that the pieces of information they present
are not very reliable and much of the data is ambiguous. Attention will
not be focused in tracing the process through which the Igbos came to
be what they were at about 1900. Rather the factors that are believed
16
Ibid., 4.
17
Ibid.
18
E. Isichei, A History of the Igbo People, 7.
14 Chapter One
to have shaped the Igbo culture and world-view will be examined. The
sources here (as in other cases) will be primarily legends, myths;
archaeological, linguistic and ecological data. The main factors that
played a dominant role in the social evolution of the Igbo include
among others, agricultural, economic and technological factors.
Judging from this perspective, “the Igbo would appear to periodise
their culture history into three great eras – the pre-agricultural, the
agricultural and the agricultural-cum-commercial periods (sic).”19
One important point is that myths and legends played a very important
role in the Igbo cultural history and still play the same role in the
present traditional Igbo society. The importance of myths and legends
generally, but more especially among the Igbo people, could be seen
also from the fact that the myths proclaim the appearance of a new
cosmic “situation” or that of a primordial occurrence. It is, in short, a
report of a “creation”: one narrates how something was carried out or
came to be, that is how it began to be. From this point, myth stands in
close relationship with ontology. Myths in general explain the cosmos
and the mode of action of the cosmic forces. These myths have
aetiological character and help to explain the phenomena of human
experience. The main function of the myths consists in fixing the
exemplary models for all rituals and all essential activities of the
human beings.20
The Salient Periods of Igbo History
The First Period

Coming back to the three great areas of Igbo history, one notices that
the first period – the pre-agricultural period – is the most obscure of
all these areas. In this period existence was as precarious as that of
wild animals and that, coming by food, was regarded as signifying
divine intervention. For the Igbos ..., this was the age of innocence,
that golden age in the history of man’s relationship with his maker
when the two could communicate directly.21
19
A.E. Afigbo, 4f.
20
M. Eliade, Das Heilige und das Profane: Vom Wesen des Religiösen. (Frankfurt am
Main: Insel, 1990), 88ff.
21
A.E. Afigbo, 5.
The Second Period

This is an important period of Igbo history – the agricultural era. The
development here shows that the wanderer has come to settle and
know rest. Myth, archaeology, linguistics, ethnography, etc. play an
important role here as in the other preceding and subsequent periods.
The advent of agriculture led to the growth of the Igbo society in
complexity. Not only did the population of the Igbo expand, but as the
hitherto little communities among them started pressing on one
another, some started coalescing to form larger social units while
those that could not reach such a solution warred with one another,
with the weak being expelled or forcibly absorbed.
The role of agriculture in bringing about social and political cohesion
in Igbo history is probably underlined by the fact that the village-
group, the largest political grouping known to the Igbo, is first and
foremost a union of those villages which had reconciled their land-
using rights among other things and thus usually occupied the same
stretch of territory and co-operated in defence of such territory. These
villages worshipped at the same Ala (earth goddess) shrine and
accepted the right of the same Okpara (village-group head) to regulate
land use and enforce the observance of the same taboos dictated by the
earth goddess.22
The relevant point here is that the Igbo people associate the coming of
agriculture with the elaboration of a number of the social institutions
and cosmological ideas. Agriculture played a role not only in the
social and political aspects of the life of the Igbos of this era; it also
touched the religious dimensions of Igbo cultural society. This
important religious role of agriculture could be seen in the fact that it
has become so important in Igbo life that the worship of Ala (on
whose benevolence agriculture directly depended) came to over-
shadow the worship of Chukwu who, to some extent, was displaced
22
Ibid., 5f.
16 Chapter One
into an otiose existence, as Igbo society grew in complexity under the

impact of cultivation.23
The Third Period

The final and last of the three great periods of Igbo history is the
period of agriculture and commerce. The creative act of Chukwu is
mentioned here: the institution of markets and marketing counts as the
last creative act of Chukwu. His final withdrawal was after this act;
there is no more mention of his dealing with the origin and evolution
of the Igbo world and society.
The Igbo society booked further developments more especially in and
through regional trade under the impact of commerce.
It is in fact most likely that Igbo cosmological
ideas could have evolved only in such a state of
society in which the Igbo had come to achieve a
comfortable (sic) level of economic, social and
political stability to engage in speculation on the
nature and origin of the world and of their
society.24
Besides the attribution of the institution of marketing and regional
trade to the supreme God, it could be seen that such developments
arise due to the increasing ecological differentiation between the
several parts of Igbo land. At this point an important point is the role
of external factors in the development of the Igbo society of this time.
This is important because the Igbos had their neighbours and did not
live in isolation.
The aim of this short review of the origin of the pre-colonial history of
the Igbos has been among other things, that of helping the reader to
situate this group of Africans within the history of Africa and to
demonstrate that Igbo traditional religion is as old as the Igbo society
and underwent the same transformations as that of the traditional
society. This is also a positive indication for Christian faith taking
deep root in Igbo cultural world. The many local differences in Igbo
23
Ibid., 6.
24
Ibid.
culture make it quite difficult to describe them in detail. Each

statement would have to be qualified so as to avoid the mistake “of
describing the average of all Igbo societies which does not correspond
with any actual Igbo society.… One’s description of Igbo land should
be rooted in a particular moment in time, because the society was
constantly changing.”25 The later part of the history of the Igbos will
be continued in the later section where the Igbo contact with the
missionaries – a period which historians call Igbo land under colonial
rule.
1.3 Igbo World-View
In this section it is necessary to mention a problem with which one is

often confronted with namely that of terminology. “This is the
problem of trying to convey ... The exact meaning of religious words
or actions as understood with the structure of that religion.”26 We may
ask what has this problem to do with the Igbo world-view; for it is a
problem pertaining to religion. But there is a “close relation between
Igbo social and religious life. In Igbo traditional communities, (as in
other African communities), social and religious units are hardly
distinguishable.”27 This Igbo social set-up, which is characterised by
the interconnectedness of religious and social units, is closely linked
with the political and economic units so that any of these units is best
understood in its relationship with other units. Although these units
are distinct in principle, they are very closely interwoven. There exists
an interdependence within them indicative of the fact that the
respective traditional Igbo societies have a unified picture of the
universe with ideas about its origin, its structure and the nature of the
various forces that occupy and operate within it.28 Hence it will
involve efforts to convey the worldview in a language that has neither
the cultural background nor linguistic categories of the Igbo world-
25
E. Isichei, 20.
26
A.N.O. Ekwunife, Consecration in Igbo Traditional Religion. (Nigeria: JET, 1990),
17.
27
E.M.P. Edeh, 61.
28
T.U. Nwala, 27.
18 Chapter One
view. There is danger of distorting the original meanings of the world-

view. Many Igbo scholars have consciously or unconsciously tried to
express in Western categories, patterns and concepts for which there
are no equivalents. In some cases they ended up either giving these
concepts western colours or dropping those which they could not
squeeze in. Bearing this in mind effort will be made in trying to
involve the technique of presentation, description, interpretation and
evaluation of the facts.
Effort will be made to use world-view here as
referring to the complex of beliefs, habits, laws,
customs and tradition of a people. It includes the
overall picture they have about reality, the
universe, life and existence; their attitude to life
and to things in general; what they do and think of
what life is, what things are worth striving to
attain; what man’s place is in the scheme of
things; whether or not life has a meaning and
purpose, etc.29
For the Igbos, this world-view is in the practical life of the people;
particularly in the political, social, artistic, economic and religious
life. Generally speaking, traditional Igbo people hold a unified picture
of the universe. This also pertains to the ideas of the origin of the
universe, its structure and the nature of the various forces that inhabit
it. Though these ideas are speculative, their original impetus is quite
empirical. In the question of the origin of the universe like other
peoples of Africa the Igbos do not consider it a serious problem, for
though they believe that the universe was created just like it is they
have their different versions of the creation account. By thinking of
the universe as created, the Igbos see this universe from a religious
perspective.
1.3.1 Igbo Dualistic Vision of the Universe
“In many African societies it is believed that the universe is divisible

into two. These are the visible and the invisible parts, of the heavens
... and the earth. Some peoples, however, hold that the universe is in
the form of a three-tier creation, namely: the heavens, the earth and
29
Ibid., 26.
the underworld, which lies below it. African peoples do not think of
these divisions as separate but see them as linked together.”30
This applies also to the Igbo people. An example of the Igbo three-tier
creation concept of the universe is found among the Ezza people of
Abakaliki. As late as 1905 when the British had smashed almost every
resistance to their colonial penetration, the Ezza of Abakaliki were
reported to have told the emissary of the colonial government that
they “recognized no superior authority except the heavens above and
the earth beneath, and that between these two awe-inspiring supper
(sic) human potentates they constituted a third force.”31 One of the
implications of such a three-tier creation concept – is that instead of
thinking of the universe in the sense of material and immaterial, one
may have to think of it in such categories like the physical,
metaphysical and the abstract. This could be related to the conception
of the human being as consisting of the body (physical) and soul
(spiritual).
The Igbo people, as will be seen later, conceive the human being not
only as consisting of body and soul, for there is also a third element.
The three elements which complementarily constitute the human
being are: the human physical body and two other spiritual elements
which give life to the physical body. One is the life-force which
comes from God; the other is a spiritual element which comes from
the ancestors. For the proponents of the dualistic vision of the universe
in Igbo land, the universe is basically structured in two main inter-
related parts – visible and the invisible.
For the Africans (Igbos included) the world is dual
in nature. Beyond and over above the visible,
tactile, physical world, there is a non-visible, non-
tactile world, which envelopes the former. It
permeates the former through and through; it is
30
J.S. Mbiti, Introduction to African Religion. (London: Heinemann, 1975), 32. Prof.
J.S. Mbiti was formerly Professor of Religious Studies, Makerere University Uganda.
He has published many books and articles in the area of religion and theology. He
opposes Temple’s concept of “Life force” and proposes a phenomenological approach
to the development of African theology.
31
J.O. Ukaegbu, Igbo Identity and Personality vis-à-vis Igbo Cultural Symbols,
(Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, 1991), 70.
20 Chapter One
simultaneously within and outside of the earth and

the seas.32
For the Igbo traditional cosmology this division of this universe into
visible and invisible is an approximate description because the two are
intertwined and what is invisible to the lay person may not be so to the
initiated. This is the reason why the Igbos distinguish between these
two realms of the universe and hold to their reality in religion. Most
religions talk of the existence of another world; as the Igbos are
understood as a deeply religious group, whose religious sentiments
and beliefs are part and parcel of their daily life it can be assumed that
this view originates from their religious view of life and reality.
Moreover, like many Africans the Igbos have a world view of
extraordinary harmony and coherence of fact and belief that do not
contradict one another. “This means a system of philosophy in which
theology, politics, social theory, land-law, medicine, psychology, birth
and burial rites were all logically concatenated in a system of beliefs
so that to subtract (sic) one item from the whole is to paralyse the
structure of the whole.”33
The Igbo people seek the point from which creation flows with hope
of finding a simple formula for human beings, animals, and the
elements of life all at once. For the Igbos there is interconnectedness
between these different elements of reality. The distinction between
two worlds could be seen from two standpoints, viz.: the idea of
reincarnation and the Igbo concept of death.
If human beings after passing away from this
visible world can come back after a certain period
has elapsed and be born again, there must have
been a place where they remained within that
period. That place could not have been this visible
world; otherwise they would still be continuously
visible to the living and not have passed away. It
must be a place completely different from this
32
E.M.P. Edeh, 75.
33
M. Okoye, Embattled Men: Profiles in Social Adjustment. (Enugu, Nigeria: Fourth
Dimension, 1977), 9.
material world in terms of imperceptibility to the

senses and, as such ...”34
There are some weaknesses in this argument: one is that the reality of
reincarnation is not a proven fact. This notwithstanding, should it be
assumed that reincarnation is real, how would one react to the view
which holds that there is one world, only that the dead who are yet to
reincarnate inhabit this one world as bodiless entities, like spirits.
The second argument supporting Igbo distinction between two worlds
is based on the Igbo ancestor belief. A central point here is the Igbo
understanding of death as transition into another life. Proponents of
this argument hold that, “this new life cannot be without a place in
which it is being lived. There must, therefore, be a world other than
this visible world where the ancestors are dwelling and from where
they exercise some influence on the goings and comings of the
living.”35 One could maintain that the same argument posed against
the first standpoint could also be valid here. Again it could be argued
that both realms of the universe in the Igbo world-view are merely
convenient ways of grouping events.
For T.U. Nwala, who argues for the duality theory, “this (the visible
order) is the realm with which ordinarily we are in physical contact.
..., it is not spatially different from the spiritual realm. The main
difference between them lies mainly in the mode of apprehending or
knowing them.... Much of what the Igbo know about the natural world
can be proved scientifically, but much of what they believe about it
cannot (as yet) be proved.”36
This is a possible way of justifying the duality theory, but as for the
existence of the spiritual world which is based on belief it is difficult
to obtain an objective basis for verification. The difficulty here points
to the problem of translation of thought-patterns into foreign
categories. Language is a vehicle of thought, and the Igbos have terms
and categories that bring out the two realities clearly:
Uwa (world) is the Igbo term for the visible world.
The term used for the invisible world is Ani Muo
34
E.M.P. Edeh, 74f.
35
Ibid., 75.
36
T.U. Nwala, 33f.
22 Chapter One
(land of the unseen). ... an Igbo term that is

equivalent to the English idea of universe, that is
the totality of what is, we have to combine the two
terms uwa and ani muo.37
The theory of duality would appear widespread among the Igbos with
a functional unity between these realms. Due to the fact that they are
inclined to be more practical than speculative, there is the tendency to
make the two realms equally real, as if both were material. This could
then be an explanation of why the Igbos express the spiritual concepts
linked with the invisible realm in a material mode.
1.3.2 Igbo View of the Material World
This view manifests itself in the Igbo attitude to reality and their
pattern of life. “In the mind of the Igbos the invisible element in any
material object is equally as real as the visible aspect of the same
object. ... Because they consider both the visible and the invisible
aspects of a thing as real, the Igbos usually tend to give some degree
of respect to material objects, especially those in daily use ..., for the
Igbo the invisible nature as well as the visible are metaphysically real,
a fact evidenced in their language.”38 The metaphysical reality of these
realms comes more to light when we consider the Igbo understanding
of the human being.
Another important point is the purpose of matter for the Igbos. Matter
is grouped as the fourth element of the four elements that constitute a
thing or cause it to be. For the traditional Igbo people, the purpose of a
thing determines its being. This means that whatever has no
immediate, specific purpose here is regarded as worthless and it’s
being questionable and purpose here being understood by these
traditional Igbo people as the use for which a thing is made.39
The Igbos, it could be said, reason pragmatically when they bring the
being of a thing together with its use. They reason back from the use
for which a thing is made to the validity of its being. That which is of
any use is worth being. It means that in their consideration objects are
37
E.M.P. Edeh, 73.
38
Ibid., 78f.
39
Ibid., 87.
very pragmatic. This utilitarian outlook on things may be seen in the

fact that “... the (Igbo) traditional world-view ... implies a mystical
utilitarian outlook on nature instead of an externalised appreciation of
it in forms like fine landscapes, beautiful flowers, cascading waters or
the colours of the rainbow.”40
In consideration of the Igbo idea of purpose as the justification of the
existence of material objects, it will be helpful to highlight the Igbo
understanding of the nature (essence) of an object. In Igbo language
and thought the word, as meaning the essence of a thing, is rendered
in a general or wider scope with the term “údí”.
Uodi (sic) is universal in scope in the sense that it
is usually prefixed to a noun, for example: Udi
mmadu (sic): man’s nature ...to mean the essence
of, the genus and the specific difference of,
something. In this sense everything comes within
the meaning of udi (sic) because everything: ... has
its own genus and specific difference. Here there
is no difficulty in seeing how the concept of nature
can be fundamental to the Igbo notion of purpose
as the justification of the material things. If the
nature of a material thing means its essence, its
existence can only be justified by it’s fulfilling the
purpose of its existence, which is being true to its
essence.41
From all these it is evident that the Igbos have a value-oriented idea of
nature. Their understanding of the concept of nature (essence) could
be traced back to the fact that the traditional Igbo people make their
daily living and carry on their daily activities in a natural environment.
Like all traditional peoples of Africa, they are ‘akin’ to nature.42
The Igbo world-view reveals a belief in the unity of all things and an
ordered relationship among all beings in the universe. Though they
have an utilitarian disposition to things they interpret and explain
things in personalising terms: they ascribe purpose to both animate
40
Ibid., 89.
41
Ibid.
42
Ibid., 90f.
24 Chapter One
and inanimate objects as well as to elements and ordinary events in

nature.
“Since the traditional Igbo, like all traditional people, have a personal
approach towards things, these natural qualities are personal and
spiritual. They are addressed in personal terms ..., some are regarded
as the abode of certain spirits and gods and so held in awe and
sacredness; others are either pets or agents of the spirits. Certain
elements ... are deified and their spirits worshipped.”43
This relation to objects is what is often misunderstood by non-
members not only of Igbo traditional religion but also of African
traditional religions in general. It is a point which M. Eliade expresses
when he maintains that for the religious person, nature is never only
natural; but is filled with religious meaning. The cosmos is a divine
creation. The world is created in such a way, that the religious person
finds various forms of the sacred and of being in it. The order,
harmony, stability and fertility manifest themselves in cosmic
rhythms. The cosmos as a whole is a real, lively and holy organism at
the same time. In his view, ontophany and hierophany meet one
another because the cosmos reveals the modalities of being and
sacredness as the supernatural for the religious person is indissolubly
connected with the natural, nature is always an expression of that
which transcends it.44
This entails that for the Igbos as for other Africans a sacred object is
worshipped because it is sacred, not just because it is an object. The
in-the-objectness of this object’s self-revealing holiness reveals its real
being or essence. This is an indication of the mistake made by those
who think and talk of naturalism and natural religion with regard to
African traditional religions because the Africans in general, and the
Igbos in particular, as religious people comprehend the supernatural
through the natural aspects of the cosmos.
As it was mentioned in the preamble, the sacred, for the African can
manifests itself in objects. The Africans do not worship them. The
Africans do not worship the stone or the tree as such; the sacred
stones, trees, rivers, seas, mountains, forests, animals, etc. They are
revered because they manifest “something” which is no longer an
43
T.U. Nwala, 49.
44
M. Eliade, 103.
object, but the sacred, the “wholly other”. These objects are
hierophanies. This presents a paradox. In the sense that they manifest
the sacred, they become something else, but do not cease being
themselves due to their cosmic sacredness. “Their activities, their
‘coming into being’ and ‘passing away’ bear some stamp of mystery
and so are thought to possess some mysterious or occult attributes.”45
In the Igbo ontological hierarchy objects stand below the spirits and
human beings. They are subdivided into animals, plants and inanimate
objects and elements.
Generally, the relationship that exists between human beings and the
animals or the position of the animals in the whole scheme of events
has always been one of deep interest. Legends attesting to this abound
in different epochs and parts of the world. The difference lies most
often in the form and depth of such relationship. For the Igbos, these
creatures do not serve only material utilitarian purposes.
Animals occupy an important place in Igbo
traditional thought. Traditional Igbo myth and
folklore abound with belief that animals have
souls and spirits like men, although theirs may be
somewhat lower ontologically. But with regard to
certain things, animals are accorded a special
respect, for it is believed that they may know
things that human beings do not know and they
see things that are not seen with ordinary human
eyes.46
Put in another form, this shows the strategic position of animals in the
Igbo world-view. It is a role that extends to their religion and socio-
cultural life. These animals play an important role in maintaining a
cosmic balance and in explaining some mysterious and unusual
occurrences.
Plants receive similar attention from the Igbos. Some are sacred as
abode of spirit and deities. Besides their religious importance, some of
their parts – roots, herbs and leaves – have vital medicinal importance.
45
T.U. Nwala, 49.
46
Ibid., 51.
26 Chapter One
Most inanimate objects and elements serve as residence of deities and

spirits. Mountains, hills, valleys, caves, rivers and streams are usual
scenes for sacrifices and the accomplishment of religious rites and
rituals. Equally some of these objects and elements are sacred.
What has already been discussed portrays the Igbo belief in the
existence of order and interaction among the different spheres of
existence as this could be destroyed through the improper actions on
the part of the human beings. Thus the survival and continual
existence of human beings depend on the proper maintenance of this
order.
1.3.3 Time and Space among the Igbo People
Concept of Time among the Igbos

Another important aspect of the Igbo world is to Igbo concepts of time
and space which among others, are the Igbo symbolic machinery for
conceptualising the universe. In the same minor way as space for the
Igbos, as for other religious people, time is homogeneous and
constant.
For M. Eliade, in considering the concept of time among religious
people in general, especially the early religious groups, there are
intervals of holy time in which feasts are celebrated and, on the other
hand, the profane time which is the usual temporal duration of events
of no religious significance. He sees a breach of continuity between
these two forms of time, which religious people (as in the case of the
traditional Igbo communities) bridge through religious rites and
rituals.47
Opinions are divided as to the Igbo idea of time. On one side it is
argued to be cyclic, while on the other it is held to be linear. The
former base their argument on the fact that the idea of recurrence is
fundamental in Igbo thought patterns. They buttress their argument
with the idea of reincarnation and the cyclical agricultural seasons.
For them, not only do Igbos have a cyclical view of time, but other
indigenous African groups as well.
47
M. Eliade, 63.
The group that holds that the Igbos have a linear view of time, base
their argument on some Igbo traditions such as the “Age Grade
System”48 which they see as an indirect way of immortalising the
linear notion of time. They also call upon the idea of sequence and
order, which is present at base of Igbo thought patterns.
We need not think here in terms of either or because there are
elements in the Igbo world-view that support both the cyclical and the
linear view. Clarity can be found in M. Eliade’s presentation of the
understanding of holy time as in its essence reversible: mythical
ancient time, which is made present again.
Every religious feast, every liturgical time is the re-actualisation of a
sacred incident, which took place “in the beginning” in a mythical
past. All participations in such a feast imply an exit from the “usual”
time and reintegration in mythical time, which is re-actualised in this
feast. This means that the holy time is often endlessly repeatable. It
neither expires nor is of irreversible duration, but is an ontological
time which remains itself the same, never changing and is never being
exhausted.
Religious people live in two forms of time, sacred and profane; of
which the more important form is sacred time. This entails the
paradoxical aspects of a circular, reversible time which could be re-
enacted or re-lived. It presents a mythical form of the eternal now, in
which the religious people immerse themselves through periodic rites.
As regards profane time, the religious person sees a connection
between this and sacred time. The profane time, in which the human
existence and historical events take place, is made possible through
the sacred time, the eternal now of mythical events. It is holy,
mythical time which justifies as an exemplary model existential
48
“Age Grade System” is a system among the Igbos by which people are grouped
into age brackets i.e. people between particular ages are taken as a group. This
comprises of men and women who are of about the same age. Each grade is a separate
entity. Its members discuss issues and act in conformity together. The different age
grades have a recognised status in the social and political economy of their
community. The influence of an age grade is determined by its seniority, hence the
purpose of the interpretation age-grade.
28 Chapter One
historical time. For religious people profane time is sustained through

turning to holy, non-historical time by means of rites.49
The Igbo cyclic view of time could be understood as sacred time,
profane refers to Igbo linear time. The Igbos do not see the world as
coming to an end because as a totality the world (cosmos) falls in the
group of objects that exist in the sacred endless reversible time.
Through feasts or rites and rituals there is a re-actualisation of events
as was mentioned, through a re-actualisation of that time, a reality
equally manifested itself, this is implicit in all sacred calendars. A
feast is not the commemoration of a mythical or equally religious
event, but re-actualisation of the event.50
The Igbos have a calendar consisting of a week or
izu made up of four days; a lunar month or onwa,
of 28 days comprising seven native weeks or izu;
... a year or afo(sic) made up of 91 weeks or izus,
or 13 lunar month. ... The priests of each
community are time keepers ... The lunar months
dictate major feasts and celebrations in Igbo land
as it is in most African ethnic groups.51
In considering the origin of the Igbo calendar we have to rely on
legends and theories, in all of which legends and theories God is seen
as the author of time and the calendar. In the section where the history
and origin of the Igbos were considered, there is a legend which
narrates how God sent down four heavenly fishmongers whose names
were subsequently found to be Eke, Orie, Afo and Nkwo. They
travelled through Igbo land selling fish and establishing markets and
also gave their names to the four days of the Igbo week.
The number four is very sacred in Igbo rituals. Not only 4 but also 7 is
specially symbolic because of its position and relation in Igbo
calendar 13-lunar-month year calendar. This is a religious-cultural
calendar which regulates their traditional life, activities and feasts.
The Igbo days, weeks or months play different roles in the different
parts of Igbo land. Some days are observed as holy days e.g. Eke and
49
Ibid., 63ff.
50
Ibid., 73.
51
J.O. Ukaegbu, 57.
Afo in some parts of Igbo land. On such days many religious activities
are executed and in some parts there is abstinence from work.
There are days in which certain activities, more especially religious
ones, are not undertaken. Such is applicable to the Igbo-weeks and
months. Igbos have a personal relationship to these periods so that in
some parts of Igbo land, a child receives a name which points to the
day of Igbo-week in which he/she was born as for example Nweke,
(Eke-child), Nworie (Orie-child), Nwankwo (Nkwo-child), Nwafo
(Afo-child).
Concept of Space among the Igbos

“Space in traditional Igbo language and culture is an ambivalent
concept. In one sense, it connotes the entire Igbo cosmos translated by
the Igbo generic word ‘Uwa’.... In another sense, space denotes a
location which in the physical spheres of the Igbo world could be
quantified and measured. ... Here space for the Igbo could be
conceived as a three dimensional sphere – the upper plane inhabited
by God and some created divinities, the visible sphere shared by men
with the earth-spirit force, nature spirits, patrons spirits of human
activities and ecology; and the world beneath the earth, the habitat of
the ancestors and the guardian spirits of human beings.”52 The Igbo
people clarify the contexts in which this term is used mainly through
specification. These dual meanings of space will be borne in mind in
subsequent efforts to understand the Igbo view of space.
As to space in the Igbo worldview, one can coincidently share the
views of J. Mbiti on religious places in the African world view this is
because his view on religious places with regards to Africans in
general applies to the Igbos. The Igbo people like every African
people, have their own religious places. These places are not for
common or careless use, because they are considered sacred or holy.
Some are taken over in their natural form others are man-made and
others have been constructed or adapted for the purpose of religious
usage or for inspiring specific religious feelings.
Natural places are set apart as religious place by common belief,
practice and consent in the area concerned. In both cases these places
52
J.S. Mbiti, 144.
30 Chapter One
are used for such religious activities as praying, making offerings and
sacrifices. Major ceremonies and rituals also are carried out here.53
The observation above goes in the direction of M. Eliade who
maintains that for the religious people space is not homogeneous, but
has breaches and cracks. It contains parts which are qualitatively
different from the others. There is also a holy space, that is, strong,
meaningful space and there are other spaces or parts of space which
are not holy and consequently formless and without firmness.
Religious people experience this lack of homogeneity as a contrast
between the holy that exclusively real and the rest. This is not a matter
of speculation, but primarily of religious experience which precedes
every reflection about the universe. This religious experience of the
lack of homogeneity of space presents an ancient experience which
may be compared with the foundation of the world. Through the
manifestation of the holy the world is founded ontologically.
The hierophany reveals an absolute “fixed point”, a centre, in a
hitherto boundless homogeneous space which was without a mark and
orientation. For the religious people this revelation of the holy
(religious) space has existential value. It gives them an orientation and
every orientation presupposes a fixed point. The revelation of the holy
(sacred) space gives these people a fixed point and consequently the
possibility of self orientation. In this sense they have the possibility of
founding the world.
Every sacred place (space) is connected with a hierophany, an
invasion in a positive sense of the holy, through which a particular
area is taken out of the cosmic environment and transformed
qualitatively. The theophany sanctifies a place in that it “opens”
upwards and connects it with heaven as a paradoxical point of
transition from one state of being to another. In many cases, this needs
not be a theophany or hierophany in the real sense: a sign is enough,
in order to prove the sacredness of this place.54
The foregoing reveals the logic behind the Igbo religious and non-
religious views of space in general and places in particular. One
understands how and why some places are considered religious and
the others not, and the purpose of space, especially of religious places.
53
A.N.O. Ekwunife, 117.
54
M. Eliade, 23ff.
Following the division of the religious place into natural and man-
made categories, the latter include such places as temples, altars,
shrines and graves. Shrines count as the commonest of these religious
places. Some are private and family shrines; others are public and
communal. Like other religious places, these symbolise the meeting-
point between the visible and the invisible world, the sacred and the
profane.
Natural places include rivers, lakes, waterfalls, rocks, hills, mountains,
groves, forests and trees. These are symbolically the meeting points
between the heavens and the earth; the spiritual and non-spiritual; the
visible and invisible worlds. Most of these natural places are public
religious places: they are the focus of communal faith, values and
religious sentiments. These serve as avenues leading to what may be
called the world of the spirits or invisible beings.
Man-made religious places and even some natural places must fulfil
certain conditions as noted by Eliade. Some must be consecrated and
such rituals are performed on rare occasions these days. This is so
because “most of the sacred places were consecrated from antiquity
and have out-lived many generations.”55 It is interesting to note that
the ritual for consecrating space among the Igbos is one of central
ways through which the traditional Igbos express, communicate and
unify the basic realities of the Igbo worldview – the visible and the
invisible realms. Through this they are drawn towards the centre of the
sacred world and the basic traditional ideas and values are
expressionally communicated to those present.56
1.4 Igbo Understanding of the Human Being
I.E. Metuh, generally, has highlighted some salient points for this
section. Until recently Western Scholars did not appreciate the extent
to which African religions are founded upon a systematic
anthropology and ethics. Now many Western writers are becoming
increasingly aware that African religions are in fact anthropocentric:
55
A.N.O. Ekwunife, 119.
56
Ibid., 132.
32 Chapter One
the human being is at the very centre of existence. African peoples see
everything else in relation to this central position of the human being
as if God exists for the sake of human being. African religion is
centred more in man than in God or in nature.’ Everything else in the
African world-view therefore seems to get its bearing and significance
from the position, meaning and end of man in African thought.57
In the above view I.E. Metuh has presented the views of different
authors – Benjamin Ray, Mbiti and Booth. Though the Igbo
understanding of human being is being considered reference will be
made from time to time to the African understanding of human being
in order to make some necessary comparisons between Igbo
anthropology in particular and African anthropology in general. The
points raised by these authors about African anthropology apply
equally to the Igbos and have led some to the opinion that the Igbo
ontology is basically centred on anthropology. For this group, the Igbo
notion of being could be derived from the Igbo concept of human
being.
The Igbo word for man (the human) is ‘madu’.
Etymologically ‘madu’ is a short form of mmadi
(mma-di) ‘mma’ is the Igbo word for ‘good’, ‘a
good’ or ‘the good’. ‘Di’ is from ‘idi’, which ... is
the Igbo verb ‘to be’ ..., a combination of ‘mma’
and ‘di’ that is, ‘mma-di’ means ‘good that is’.58
Here we see that the Igbos are able to conceive the idea of “good that
is”. This must be understood in the context of creation, for the Igbo
people derive the notion of “good” from divine creation. To conceive
the human being as the “good that is” is not to say that man is “good
in se” for no one according to their belief is “good in se” except God.
Hence the Igbo expression “onye di ka chi” means: who is like God in
the sense of God’s godness.
57
E.I. Metuh, African Religions in Western Conceptual Schemes: The Problem of
Interpretation. (Onitsha, Nigeria: IMICO, 1991), 109.
E.I. Metuh was Professor of Religious Studies in the University of Jos, Nigeria. He
emphasises in most of his numerous works that the African religious thinking must be
interpreted and explained with the help of African conceptual frameworks instead of
Western ones which are foreign, and unhelpful conceptual tools.
58
E.M.P. Edeh, 100.
The Igbos share the religious idea common to many peoples that
man’s goodness is participated. Man is “good that is” in the sense that,
having been created by God, he is a product of his maker whose being
and goodness, the highest good he shares.59 So far effort has been
made to see the ontological aspect of the Igbo concept of human
being. As with other African people, for Igbos ontologically the
human being is a living force in active interaction and communion
with other living forces in the world. Every human being is a network
of interacting elements of his/her self and the surrounding world
which determines and is determined by these actions or behaviours.60
Seen from the standpoint of his origin and final destiny, man is best
understood in relationship to Chukwu, God, and his creator. Man
comes from God. He has a definite mission to fulfil in God’s plan.
Ontologically; man is a force in the universe full of forces. There are
also some other views of the human being, e.g. the social, religious
and purely anthropological perspectives etc.
Socially, the Igbo doctrine of man strikes a balance between his
personal identity as a unique individual person and his collective
identity as a member of his society.61 This point may be the reason
why some authors share the view that for the Igbos the human being is
a synthesis, as sum total, the climax and culmination of all that
Chukwu (God) created. Some Igbo names like Mmadubuife (Mmadu is
valuable), Mmaduka-aku (Mmadu is more valuable than all wealth),
Mmadukife (Mmadu is more valuable than anything), point to the
valuable and enviable position of the human being in the hierarchy of
beings. They understand human beings primarily as creatures of God.
God created not the human race as a whole, but each individual
person. There is a special intervention of God with each individual
person, the effect of which varies from person to person. God shows
personal concern for each.
The African doctrine of man does not admit the
dualism which is characteristic of the graeco-
59
Ibid., 100f.
60
E.I. Metuh, Comparative Studies of African Traditional Religions. (Onitsha,
Nigeria: IMICO, 1987), 182.
61
Interpretation, 109.
34 Chapter One
roman culture. Man is not split into two

conflicting principles the body and the soul....
Rather, African anthropologies generally conceive
man as one unit. Each principle links man to a
different category of beings in the ontological
order.62
There is no common way in which the different African communities
conceive these principles. The understanding of the relationship of
these principles to one another and their respective roles in helping the
human being in life is equally divergent. Only the conception of man
as a unit and a life-force in vital interaction with other life forces in
the universe is a common characteristic here.
“The Igbo believe that man is endowed with three different principles
or selves. Man can operate in one or more of these selves in different
contexts.”63 The mention of “selves” may give the impression that the
Igbos in contrast to other Africans do not conceive the human being as
a unit. This is not the case. There is a paradox here – for the Igbos the
human being is a unit, but the self is multiple. While not subject to the
body and soul dichotomy, the same human being exists in his/her
physical body and is believed to be capable of existing out of it
without being split from it. When out of this his/her physical body, the
Igbo people refer to one as a spiritual (i.e. immaterial) body. Hence
the dead are usually visualised in a bodily form, as a sort of
unquantified entity.64 I.E. Metuh gives the impression that he takes
principles and self here as synonym. But before settling our minds on
this, it is important that one sees what these constitutive principles in
the Igbo understanding of the human being are. Some groups maintain
there are four while others hold they are three principles. All agree on
three principles, it is the existence of the fourth that is strongly
doubted, for the pieces of evidence and arguments of the proponents
of the fourth principles are not strong and convincing enough, for
what is held to be the fourth principle is implied in one of the other
three principles.
62
E.I. Metuh, Comparative Studies of African Traditional Religions, 183
63
64
Ibid.
The Igbo believe that man is endowed with three

different principles or selves. Man can operate in
one or more of these selves in different contexts.
These three principles are: Obi, Heart or (Ume)
Breath, Chi, Destiny and Eke or Agu, Ancestral
Guardian. Obi, Heart, is a man’s life-force, the
animating principle which links man with other
life-forces in the universe. Chi, is the Destiny
Spirit believed to be an emanation of the Creator
which is in man, and the ‘Eke’ is the ancestral
guardian which links man with his family and
clan.65
One can see how it is possible for the human being, in the
understanding of the Igbos, to be in interaction with the different
spheres of his/her environment in the universe.
The Heart, Obi is the principle of animation in the human being; it is
the seat of affection and volition. Biologically, Obi – Breath resides in
the biological heart which is also called Obi. Though located here, this
does not mean that breath is material. Breath is an immaterial spiritual
substance which is believed to leave the body at times. This life
principle may be attacked, weakened or die, but equally can be
strengthened. It is believed that at death, this life-force leaves the
body, but does not survive it. This principle is not identical with the
Christian soul, despite translations.66
The second principle is Chi, the spirit in charge of destiny, as an
emanation of the creator in the human being, is seen by scholars like
C.K. Meek as one of the most striking Igbo doctrines. Every human
being is associated with a genius “spirit-double” – Chi. This life
principle is comparable to the notion of “Ka” among the ancient
Egyptians, which was conceived as the double or genius of a human
being. It was an emanation of the ancestors which apparently guided
and protected the human being during his lifetime and to which he
returned after death.67 For the Igbos it is believed that
65
Ibid., 110f.
66
Ibid., 111.
67
Ibid.
36 Chapter One
at conception (i.e. at the moment of conception of

the human being), God assigns a Chi to each
person, and places before the Chis several parcels
of fortunes. Whichever the Chi chooses becomes
the destiny of the child entrusted to his care. This
parcel of destiny which is also referred to as Chi,
contains the total luck or misfortunes the child will
have. Chi has, therefore, two ambivalent
conceptions – the parcel of destiny and the
guardian spirit who chooses the destiny parcel.68
Numerous examples among the Igbos buttress this belief: a lucky
fellow is called, ‘onye Chi oma’, someone who has a good chi, and on
the other hand the unfortunate person is called, ‘onye chi ojoo’,
someone who has a bad Chi. The role of Chi as a guardian spirit is
brought out by the Igbo proverb, ‘Nwata námu iri enu, chi ya achiri
uche náka’, when a child is learning how to climb a tree, his chi is
breathless with anxiety.69 One has the dual meaning of chi as
expressed above. This life principle goes back to God at the death of
the individual and is believed to give an account of its work on earth.
When a person reincarnates (as is believed by the Igbos), one receives
another Chi. Generally a person’s abilities, faults or misfortunes are at
times ascribed to this Chi.
The idea of Chi as has been seen so far recalls to mind the issue of
destiny and responsibility. Destiny as found in Igbo life and thought is
assumed to be an ancient and basic concept which they situate in the
Igbo religious system. Generally speaking, “African beliefs about the
Destiny spirits (Chi for the Igbos) thus shed some light on their
notions about predestination and human responsibility. In African
thought, predestination and human responsibility are conflicting but
they are not diametrically opposed concepts.”70 For the Africans what
one may hope to get out of life is only what has been predestined by
God. But, on the other hand, what one actually gets is his/her
responsibility. He/she only gets what he/she has worked for ...; where
a person is not resourceful and particular fortune in his destiny
68
Ibid.
69
Ibid.
70
E.I. Metuh, Comparative Studies of African Traditional Religions, 191.
package may be lost. Since no one knows the contents of his/her

destiny, he/she must keep trying as if what he/she wants is there.
The Igbos, whose views are equally represented above, believe, as it is
in one of their thoughts, that whoever says yes, his/her chi (destiny)
will equally say yes. A kind of dialectic is expressed here. It is not that
they believe that the human being has absolute freedom. They
acknowledge the fact that resourcefulness may not always be
rewarded. In one of the Igbo proverbs, it is said, “Omelu ma chi
ekweghi, onye-uta atakwana ya” – One who has tried, but Chi
(destiny) did not consent should not be blamed. The Igbo people try to
emphasise the fact that human beings have chances of self-
actualisation within the realms of the human finite freedom. The
human being must do something in order to receive the favours of the
gods. But on the other hand, it dare not be understood as meaning that
the gods are obliged to reciprocate. In such a case where the gods do
not reciprocate favourably, one is asked not to blame the person who
has done his/her possible best.
The Igbo people see it as the goal of the human being to achieve
his/her destiny.
Their concept of predestination does not imply
that what is predestined by God must come to pass
irrespective of whatever the individual does.
Rather, it is like an award by God to the individual
and held in trust for him by the guardian Destiny-
spirit. The responsibility of obtaining the ...
benefits of the award rests on him. He can get all
the award or may loose a good part of it. But try as
he would, he cannot get anything that is not
included in the award.71
Igbos understand the lines on the human palm as symbolic of this
individual destiny. In some parts of Igbo land there is a saying: you
can wash your palms with soap and sponge till the end of time but the
lines remain as they are. This is the pre-destinative aspect. As every
person’s destiny is already given from the birth that is why some call
it “m´bulu bia uwa” – “that which I took along with me into the
71
Ibid.
38 Chapter One
world”. Igbos leave nobody in doubt that each person has his/her own
respective distinct destiny, even the identical twins. Hence the thought
– “Otu nne námu, ma otu chi adighi eke” – “The same mother gives
birth, but not the same God creates” should not be seen as indicative
of polytheism among the Igbos. Rather it implies that God gives
individuals their respective destinies. Not that one should think more
of the meaning than of the literal translation.
Africans in general and Igbos in particular hold that the human being
is both subject to fate and yet free. He/she is at the same time a victim
of restriction imposed by destiny and the architect of his own future.
He/she is both innocent and responsible. In other words, human
destiny in African – Igbo thought is both unalterable and alterable.
Perceived as a package sealed by God and given to human beings, it is
unalterable and it is a resource which is alterable and to be exploited.72
It may be important to highlight briefly the relationship which exists
between an Igbo person and his or her Chi.
Although the Chi comes into association with a
person immediately on conception, the person
does not usually establish a formal Chi cult until
he or she becomes a parent. Before this time, his
Chi shares in the sacrifices which his father or
uncle offers to his own Chi.... A woman also sets
up her Chi shrine at her husband’s house after the
birth of first child. The shrine is set up with some
relics ..., taken from her mother’s shrine ...
Sacrifices are usually made at planting and harvest
seasons. Outsides (sic) these periods, offerings are
made whenever the owner feels inclined.73
In a way this shows that this relationship between a person and his/her
Chi entails some responsibilities. But because it is not expected that
these responsibilities should be assumed before maturity, a next of kin
(father or uncle) represents the person. The particular Chi in question
shares in the sacrifices offered to the Chi of the next of kin whom he
is representing.
72
Ibid., 191f.
73
Interpretation, 112
The third among the three principles that constitute a human being for
the Igbos has much to do with Igbo concept of reincarnation. This
principle (Eke or Aka) and is believed to be “an ancestral shade
incarnate in each newly born baby.”74 This principle links the
individual with the life-force of one’s clans. The Igbo people believe
that this principle – Eke (the ancestral guardian) – makes it possible
for the dead to reincarnate in the living from generation to
generation.75 For them the dead-ancestors reincarnate while the deities
incarnate. This is conceived in terms of the third life-principle/force
which is understood to be “an ancestral shade incarnate.”
From the foregoing there emerges the Igbo view of the human being
in the universe. They see the human being as a life-force in interaction
with other life forces. One is endowed with the different principles
which enable one to interact at a level in three forms. Chi – the
Destiny-spirit – puts the human being to be in contact with God; Eke
(Aka) – the Ancestral guardian – links one with the ancestors: Obi
(Breath) connects one with the entire universe of life-forces.76
In the Igbo hierarchy of being,
man is at the centre of this universe of forces.
Above all beings or forces is Chukwu, God ...
Creator ... After him come the deities, and then the
founding ancestors of the different clans.... After
them come the ancestors and other living-dead of
the family and tribe. Then come the living in the
order of primogeniture. Under man and
subordinate to him are the physical forces in the
universe – animals, plants, minerals.77
For the Igbos the universe is a unit, in which all beings are linked
together through a network of interaction. This harmony brings a
strengthening of beings. All life-forces can have either positive or
negative influence on one another. Through rituals Igbos try to
maintain this harmony and, where it is lost, to restore it.
74
Ibid.
75
Ibid.
76
Ibid.
77
Ibid., 113.
40 Chapter One
African thought (and equally Igbo thought) tends to define the person
in terms of the group to which he belongs; i.e. in terms of the
community. A person is thought of first of all as a constituent of a
particular community to which he/she belongs. The community which
defines who one is and who can become. In traditional African and
Igbo societies a person experiences life through his/her family,
lineage, clan and tribe. Even today, in a village, one is not asked “who
are you”. But “whose child are you?” and “what lineage or clan do
you belong to?” Thus from birth an African learns to believe that “I
am, because I belong”. It is the family that makes the being human;
the family in turn is made up of not only the living, but also of the
dead and those yet to be born. There is an ontological element in the
human being linking him/her to his/her family, and through the family
to the clan. This is not only a physical and biological, but a spiritual
element.78
In the above statement, which refers also to Africans in general, the
human being is seen as the Igbos understand him/her as a part of a
social network consisting of the individual, the family and the
community. It is a network which is not only a socio-biological band,
but some call it “ontologico-spiritual” network and others call it a
“socio-religious” band. The latter base their view on the fact that both
the social and religious units are intertwined with one another or
rolled into one unit. In summary, the African individual is not an
individual purely and exclusively in contrast to the others but is
principally relational: one is in an individual-
communal/interdependent relationship with the rest in an ontological
as well as in a spiritual sense of the word.
1.5 The Igbo Concept of God
Speaking generally on the issue of the African Supreme Being, the

following questions could be posed:
is He a personal God, or rather an all-pervading
abstract force or cosmic mana? What is his
relationship with other beings in the African
78
world-views especially the deities and ancestors?

... Questions have also been raised about the
nature of African Theism. Is it a monotheism,
pantheism or polytheism? The relationship
between the Supreme Being and man has also
received a considerable attention. Is God involved
in human affairs, or is He rather a ‘withdrawn
God’, ‘a deus otiosus’ ..., how far is God
immanent in human affairs? Conversely, how
much worship of God is there in African
Religion?79
This list of questions applies equally and totally to the Igbos. But what
answers the different African groups give to these questions. One can
talk “of a divergent concept of God in Africa. That is because in each
locality, the concept of God usually takes its importance and
complexion from the sociological structure and climate. It is therefore
necessary to understand the variations in these sociological patterns in
order to see clearly the reason for certain emphasis and tendencies.80
We shall now in concentrate on the Igbo concept of God.
1.5.1. God in Himself:

The issue of God’s existence is so obvious that there is not much
concern among the Igbos about proving formally his existence.
Preference is given to views asserting the obviousness of God’s
79
Ibid., 85.
80
B.E. Idowu, African Traditional Religion: A Definition. (London: SCM Press,
1973), 148.
B.E. Idowu is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Like J.S. Mbiti he Rejects Temple’s concept of „Life force” and argues for a
phenomenological approach to an African theology. He proposes an African theology
to answer the social, political, mental, spiritual and emotional needs of the Africans.
In this book, which is one of his various publications, he writes that some African
scholars and faithful find the prefabricated theology imported into Africa inadequate
for their spiritual and academic needs. There are now strong advocates of a theology
which bears the stamp of the original thinking and meditation of Africans. Only if
there is understanding of the way in which African spiritual values are apprehended
by the African mind is discussion and communication with other religious beliefs
possible.
42 Chapter One
existence, rather than to those which occupy themselves with whether

or not God exists.81 G.T. Basden noted the fact that among the Igbos
there is “a distinct recognition of a Supreme Being – beneficent in
character – who is above every other spirit good or evil.”82 It is
obvious for the Igbos that God exists and there is a distinct recognition
of this Supreme Being.
The question might then be why is it obvious to the Igbos that there is
such a Supreme Being?
Two reasons might explain this: the Igbo religious
background, and man’s sense of dependence.
These are interconnected. An Igbo feels insecure
when on his own, that is without reference to
higher powers. This sense of insecurity naturally
arouses in him a tendency to seek shelter from
superhuman powers who, in his judgement, are
strong enough to assure him maximum protection
in every sphere of insufficiency.83
We have seen why it is obvious for the Igbos that there is God.
Though the Igbos are not much concerned formally about proving or
demonstrating God’s existence, it is not just an arbitrary assumption.
They have ways of arriving at the existence of God. Firstly, Igbos
arrive at this point through the existence of things of nature. The fact
that things/beings are, proves that God exists, because if there were no
God - the fountain of existence and beings – there could be no being.
Through their perception and experience of their environment it is
obvious that there are beings, that is to say, there are things.
Secondly, the Igbos come to this conclusion through their concept of
Chi (destiny spirit) as emanation of the creator in the human being. As
seen in the previous section, this is a participation of the human being
in God. They participate in Chi as the life of God; in his/her everyday
life the Igbo experiences this participation. Hence they argue that if
the parts exist, the whole must of necessity exist.84
81
E.M.P. Edeh, 118.
82
G.T. Basden, Among the Ibos of Nigeria. (Lagos: University Publishing Co, 1983),
215.
83
E.M.P. Edeh, 118.
84
Ibid., 120.
The third way Igbos come to the existence of God is through the Igbo
nomenclature. Generally in Africa, names are very significant. Among
the Igbos, names express the reality of what is. The importance of a
name among the Igbos is further expressed in the fact that,
the Igbo names are not mere tags to distinguish
one thing or person from another; but are
expressions of the nature of that which they stand
for; they contain memories of a human experience,
every shade of human sentiments and emotions in
the struggle for existence ... an everlasting and
imperishable record of their life and death
struggles and their attempts to live in harmony
with other men...85
On this basis then the existence of “theophanic” names among the
Igbos is indicative of their belief in God’s existence.
Some may argue that it is superficial to argue just from the mere fact
of such names among a group of people to their belief in God’s
existence. But, one must not forget the emphasis on names among the
Igbos. Some, if not most, of these names are fruits of Igbo people’s
experience of the divine. Nothing is asserted of God among the Igbo
people which is not first felt or experienced. These assertions came
about by means of God’s interventions, not in their history as a people
chosen by him, but in individual and analogous situational experiences
shared with other members of their group, and embedded in the Igbo
common religious culture.86
Some of the names
... express the reality of the existence of Chukwu
(an Igbo name for God, whose analysis and
meaning we shall be coming to later). In
Chukwudi (a typical Igbo name), the operative
word is ‘di’ which comes form the word ‘odi’ (sic)
the third person singular of the verb ‘idi’ which ...
85
C.O. Obiego, 78.
86
Ibid., 77.
44 Chapter One
means to exist. The name Chukwudi therefore

states unequivocally that Chukwu exists.87
Some other names are the emphatic forms of “Chukwudi” and some
demonstrate the fact that God is present. For the Igbos, objects or
persons have to be or exist in order to be present.
The fourth avenue through which the Igbos arrive at the existence of
God is their concept of life and death. Here Igbos reason that nothing
happens without a cause. This implies if things are coming to be and
ceasing to be there must be a cause. It is not that they do not observe
that there are immediate causes; there are things whose cause is
simply there for the common mind. This notwithstanding, there are
phenomena that are above material and human power. This means that
their causes stand beyond this level and be ultimate. One arrives at
this hierarchy of causes through the experience of different facets of
reality. It is not only naked experience, but also contemplation of
these phenomena and it is this that leads to the idea of the hierarchy of
being among the Igbo people. An example in this matter is the fact of
“coming to be” of the human being. The Igbos go about it by
accepting the assumption that the human being is created. Going
further, they ask the question who creates? “Onyeneke”. Seeing the act
of creation, as something beyond the power of the human being, they
assert explicitly that the human being does not create “Madueke”. The
implicit assertion that the divinities or gods do not create and that only
God creates is evident in the statement “Chineke” (God creates) which
is also one of God’s names among the Igbos. Even when such names
or expressions like “mmo néke” (the spirit creates) are found, it
should be understood that spirit here refers to the supreme/absolute
spirit – God.
Considering the ways the Igbos view God in Himself it must be
acknowledged that there are anthropomorphisms in Igbo
conceptualisation of God. We could understand this from the fact that
“the Igbo see man in some ways as the centre of the universe, a
common denominator, an in-between. This ... (view) makes them
interpret the world both anthropocentrically as well as
anthropomorphically. They look at God and nature then from the point
of man’s relationship with them. Many expressions, therefore,
87
E.M.P. Edeh, 120.
attribute human nature to God: their conception of the nature of

Chukwu is laden with anthropomorphisms.”88
One has already seen that for the Igbo (just as for other Africans) God
is real. In considering how the Igbos come to God’s existence through
the avenue of their nomenclature, it was clear that the names mean the
real; or in other words, they try to see that names agree with reality.
This is stressed by B.E. Idowu where he maintains that in Africa the
name by which God is called, are descriptive of his character. They
are emphatic that He is a reality and not an abstract concept. D.
Westermann stresses the same point that He is a reality to the Africans
and the names convey “the purest expression of” their “religious
thinking” and “experience”.89
Moving from the fact that names are descriptive of God’s character,
we shall at some salient Igbo names for God. The Supreme Being
(which is God for the Igbo people)
is the only Being which does not seem to come
under the term ‘nature god’ ... This is a result of
the fact that the Supreme Being is a
personification of the absolute in human life and
thought. The Supreme Being is conceived under
two major principles – the principle of creation –
okike (Chineke); the principle of Absoluteness –
ukwu (Chiukwu).90
1.5.1.1. God as creator:

This theme has been mentioned in considering the ways through
which the Igbos arrived at the existence of God. Bearing the principle
of creation in mind, the Igbos name God – “Chineke” or “Onye-
Okike” (a Being who creates). This principle is more deeply expressed
in the name Chineke – which grammatically could be written as “Chi-
na-eke” (Chi who creates). “Okike” and „eke” come from the verb
“ike” which means “to create” or “to apportion”. Analysing the word
88
C.O. Obiego, 93f.
89
cf. D. Westermann, Africa and Christianity. Quoted in: B.E. Idowu, 149.
90
T.U. Nwala, 115.
46 Chapter One
Chineke, the basic thought is the idea of “creation”. Here God is

portrayed as the one “who apportions” something to creatures. He
“apportions” life to or puts it into creature, Hence becomes ‘God-
within’ (Chi).91 Going further, an analysis shows that
the word, ‘Chineke’ ... is made up of three
syllables namely ‘chi’, ‘na’ and ‘eke’ – (Chi na
eke). This has two possible translations: First, if
we take ‘na’ as a conjunction, we have ‘chi’ and
‘eke’ ...; and we would have two beings, perhaps
two authors of creation, namely ‘chi’ and ‘eke’! ...,
but the implication that there are two creative
powers is yet to be proved; secondly if, however,
we take ‘na’ to signify the copulative ‘is’, then our
sentence would be ‘Chi is creating’ or ‘Chi who
creates’ – i. e. the creating chi (Deus creans). This
is the popular and normal way of understanding
the word in Igbo society.92
The first possible translation of the word chi-na-eke suggests two
creative powers at play. This is not what the Igbos mean with the
word. In their thought about creation Igbos raise the question of who
creates (Onye-na-eke). They made it explicit that the human being
does not create (mmadu-eke), and implicitly through “Chi-na-eke” that
deities do not create. This implies that they recognise only one
creative power – God. Without having to reject this translation one
can interpret it according to this Being embodying two life principles
– “chi” and “eke”-, “chi” – the destiny principle seen in reference to
the human being this entails an emanation of the creator and “eke” –
the ancestral guardian principle. Because these principles are seen also
as life forces this translation of “chi-na-eke” points to the unity of
these two life principles in a Being which is for the Igbos God.
Should one be led to think that these principles are also present in the
human being? Yes, by way of his or her participation in the creative
principle – God. But in God exist not just in a unity but in a union and
constitutory among others the essence of the Being-God. This union
91
C.O. Obiego, 95.
92
Ibid., 95f.
could be seen as one of the attributes that constitute the uniqueness of

God, for in no other being are these principles in such a union.
Coming to the first part of the second translation of the word Chi-na-
eke as meaning “Chi-is-creating”, some authors like C.O. Obiego
reason that this
underlines the idea that creation is a continuous
activity. Hence they (the Igbos) call the ‘Creating
Chi’, Osebuluwa (he-who-is-carrying or
supporting-the-world ...) and were the creating-chi
to relax his hold, the world would relapse into
‘nothingness’ ... Chi is continually creating – i. e.
his creative activity is believed to be constantly at
work ... because for the Igbo every manifestation
of the forces of nature proves to human experience
that these forces are not static nor are they
mechanical and they need continual and
continuing activity of the creating-chi, a re-
enactment of the drama of creation.93
One can see that the Igbos have a profound conviction of sustained
divine providence. This also goes, in a way, to refute views which
consider the God of the Igbos as a withdrawn God, a deus otiosus.
More of this will be seen later when God’s relationship to the universe
and the human being is dealt with.
1.5.1.2. God as Supreme or Absolute:

This attribute of God is expressed among the Igbos through one of the
basic and most commonly used names for God – ‘Chukwu’.
“Ethymologically, Chukwu is made up of two words: ‘chi’ and
‘ukwu’. The meaning of the latter word is ‘great’, ‘big’ or ‘supreme’.
But regarding the original meaning of the first term, ‘chi’, our written
sources are confusing.”94 This would then mean we have to give some
attention to the meaning of the word “Chi”. In retrospect one can see
that one of the meanings of this word has already been presented in
93
Ibid., 96.
94
Ibid., 87.
48 Chapter One
discussing the Igbo understanding of the human being. Chi was used
in presenting the Igbo concept of God as creator.
Many authors in treating the Igbo world-view, anthropology and
traditional religion have considered this concept differently. These
range “from those who take Chi to be a ‘spirit’ or ‘monad’ to those
who say that it is a ‘kind of group-self or multiplex-ego able to
manifest itself in several individualities at the same moment’. Some
have even taken this to be the individual’s guardian angel.”95
Should one then ask how Chi in this context is to be understood; there
is no simple answer,
to pinpoint the exact meaning or connotation of
the Igbo concept of chi is not easy. This is due to
the particularity and the universality of its
dimensions. Chi in its particular connotation is
reserved to the Supreme Being. But considered in
its universality, it is found in all beings ... we are
confronted with the question: If chi, which is
reserved to the highest Being, is also found in all
beings, does it mean that the Igbos have a
pantheistic notion of God?96
The issue of pantheism and Igbo traditional religion will be addressed
at a later stage. While the meaning of other words is clear that of the
word (chi) is obscure. In a non-religious context it can mean ‘day
light’. But in religious context, it evokes three related concepts,
namely, the ‘Supreme Being Himself’, the personal deity and the idea
of fate or destiny. These concepts are closely connected in the belief
of the Igbo. They believe that each individual’s personal destiny ‘chi’
is allotted to him by the Supreme Being also called Chi, and is
entrusted to a personal deity also called chi. Hence the name Chukwu
suggests the idea of the chief source and controller of destinies, and
can be simply translated as the “Great Providence”.97
Other views consider “Chukwu” as the head-source-life par
excellence, the supreme chi. In such views it is found that
95
E.M.P. Edeh, 125.
96
Ibid., 126.
97
E.I. Metuh, 88.
Chi (as the emanation of God) is equivalent to ‘the

apportioned-life-principle’ ‘a small-Big-life-in-
everything’; a Chukwu-within everything; that
position in everything which is derived from the
‘Big-life’, ‘Chi-ukwu’ ... ‘Chukwu’, or ‘Chi-ukwu’
is the ‘Big-life’, the ‘abundant life’ the supreme-
life or supreme chi ... Chiukwu is the superlative,
most perfect life, the pure life par excellence, the
great-head-source of life from which every other
life is derived.98
The principle of absoluteness as we have tried to present here implies
for the Igbos absoluteness in all good qualities, especially knowledge,
strength, purity or goodness. No evil is attributed to him.99
1.5.1.3. God as the Omnipotent

For the traditional Igbo people, Chukwu is the omnipotent God. This
concept is the fruit of existential experience, not so much of abstract
speculation. It is articulated in the Igbo traditional names, proverbs
and sayings; and in their understanding of Chukwu’s exercise of
power over nature.100 This attribute of God could be read from one of
the Igbo basic names for God – Osebuluwa. Term originates from
three words, Olisa (or ose), bu and Uwa. Ose is used among the
Abuchi people to represent a deity carrying and supporting the world
on its back. Igbos use Olisa for the Great God. Bu or bulu is a verb
indicating a carrying, supporting hand. ‘Uwa’ means the visible world.
Hence ‘Ose (Olisa)-buuwa’ indicates the great God carrying,
supporting and hence providing for, the world. Osebuluwa as a name
for God indicates that the Igbos recognize that God has a plan for the
world, supports and directs his creatures towards the realization of his
plan.101
Another Igbo name which brings the Igbo concept of God as
omnipotent or his absolute power light is Ifeanyichukwu (Nothing is
98
C.O. Obiego, 93.
99
T.U. Nwala. 117
100
C.O. Obiego, 97.
101
E.M.P. Edeh, 130.
50 Chapter One
beyond God’s power). This name negatively confirms the Igbo

affirmation of God’s universal omnipotence. For the Igbos, God alone
in Himself is the one who set the machinery of the universe in motion.
In part, or as a whole he can bring the universe to a stand still and get
it going again. Summarily God’s supremacy is absolute.102
The Igbos are not alone here in conceiving God as omnipotent. This
concept of God is found generally in African thought.
The absolute control of the universe and all beings
is due, in African thought, basically to the fact that
all other beings exist in consequence of him; and
that whatever power or authority there may be
exists in consequence of him; because it derives
from him and because he permits it. God is the
ultimate fountain-head of all power and authority,
of all sanctions for orderly relations between men.
103
1.5.1.4. God as Unique

Among Africans this is a widespread belief and explains why there are
no images – graven or in drawing or painted – of him on the continent.
There are copious symbols, but no images. The fact of God’s
uniqueness implies his transcendence. Views which conceive him as
King with absolute supremacy emphasise God’s uniqueness.104 The
Igbos do not pre-occupy themselves with the assertion that there is
only one God. Primarily they assert that there is no other being or
thing like God. “Onyedikachukwu” (who is like God?) is one of the
Igbo proper names expressing their understanding of God as unique.
Among the Igbos God’s status as unique is supreme; his supremacy is
unique and absolute.105 It is important to remark that for the Africans
in general and the Igbos in particular, God is one, the only God of the
102
C.O. Obiego, 100.
103
B.E. Idowu, 156.
104
Ibid., 152.
105
C.O. Obiego, 103f.
whole universe. For the Igbo he is God of the whole world or

universe, conceived of in unrestricted universality.106
1.5.1.5. God as Transcendent

Generally for the Africans God is seen as all-powerful and
transcendent. As creator and is omnipotent he surpasses all other
beings, belonging to an entirely different realm or order of being. This
transcendence is evident in his supreme power and authority over the
entire creation and is experienced in his inscrutability. He is known
but impossible to comprehend. Some call him “the unknown”, “the
mysterious one”.107
“Ontologically viewed”, the Igbos also conceive God as „the origin
and sustenance of all things. He transcends all boundaries ... he is the
chigbo, the aged, but not ageing chi... He is sublime in status, beyond
all spiritual and non-spiritual beings. ... God’s ways are inscrutable;
his thoughts are impenetrable. He is ‘Ama-ama-amacha-amacha’ ... –
one you can know but never ‘finish’ comprehending ...“108 One of the
Igbo names for God indicating his transcendence is “eze-bi n’elu-
ogodo-ya-akpu-na ala” (the king who lives above whose loin-cloth
touches and rolls on the ground). This and other names summarise
God’s transcendence, sublimity and immensity.
1.5.1.6. God as Omnipresent and Omniscient

Among the Igbos, just as in other African societies, wisdom
commands great respect. The Igbo saying “Onwero ihe gbalu chukwu
ghari” (nothing puzzles God) expresses their belief in God’s
omnipresence and omniscience. His omniscience is absolute,
unlimited and an intrinsic part of his nature and being. God is the
discerner of hearts, no matter how much a person may try to conceal
his deeds, being, hence such names like Chukwuma (God knows),
Chima-Obi (God knows the hearts) etc.109 This omniscience of God
106
B.E. Idowu, 161ff.
107
E.I. Metuh, 111f.
108
C.O. Obiego, 104f.
109
Ibid., 100.
52 Chapter One
comes most often together with the inscrutability of God’s ways. Even
in a situation where an unfavourable thing, believed by the Igbo
people to have come from God, happens, it is regretted but then
accepted. They accept it with the understanding that the ways of God
elude imperfect man. An Igbo in the face of a crisis situation, would
indeed wonder why God has permitted it, but would say “God’s will
must happen, we cannot question it.”110
1.5.1.7. God’s Moral Attributes

“The moral attributes of God are corollaries of the belief about him as
a personal creator ... As a creator ..., he is all-knowing. As the divine
providence which directs everything to its ultimate goal, he can only
will what is good, otherwise he will be going against his own plan.
Goodness is believed to be an essential attribute of God.”111
Among the Igbos, the justice of God is felt invoked in judicial
situations – swearing and pronouncing formal curses. God is the
ultimate judge, who executes judgement with justice and without
partiality. For the Igbos God’s judgement begins for every human
being here on earth according to his/her character: both fortune and
misfortune are indicative of God’s judgement on a person’s character.
In short God is an impartial judge.112 The impartiality of God’s
judgement is believed in strongly even when they observe human
beings who suffer misfortunes or who enjoy fortunes when from all
observable facts it should have been the reverse. They justify such
belief by holding that God’s standards of judgement are different and
who is the human being to put it into question.
1.5.2. The Paradox of God’s Transcendence and Immanence in the

Igbo Concept of God
From the above it is expected that the presence of such concept of
God among the Igbos should lead to a personal relationship between
God and human beings. One talks of „should” because the Igbos are
110
E.I. Metuh, 115.
111
Ibid.
112
C.O. Obiego, 101f
aware of an estrangement between God and the human beings. Chinua

Achebe presents in his book, Things Fall Apart, some aspects of the
Igbo concept of God. He mentions God’s relationship to the world, the
deities and the human being. In this relationship it is easy to see the
paradox of a personal relationship and estrangement between God and
the human beings. Achebe went into details in a dialogue between
Akunna – the Igbo man whom the English missionary Mr. Brown
wanted to get converted to the Anglican Church. This passage
illustrates the transcendent nature of God as understood by the
Igbos.113
This dialogue and related issues lead to the Deus-otiosus-view of God
in African traditional religion. Westermann argues that,
the high-god is a rule, not the object of religious
cult and is of small or almost no significance in
practical religion. Igbo people acknowledge him,
but neither fear nor love nor serve him, the feeling
towards him being at the highest, that of a divine
awe or reverence.... The African’s God is in a
sense a ‘deus incertus’ and a ‘deus remotus’, there
is always an atmosphere of indefiniteness that
surrounds him.114
The terms “deism”, “withdrawn god”, “Deus otiosus” used in
reference to the African religion and God are generalisations that
overlook the variations in beliefs among the different groups in
Africa. It ignores the paradox which is typical of the God-human
relationship in African beliefs. God is, for the Africans far away yet
constantly on their lips and in their consciousness.115 Such paradoxes,
which are not peculiar to African religions, belong to what Evans-
Pritchard calls
the unresolved paradoxes and ambiguities which
are found in different religious systems. It is a
universal experience ... that Divinity to man is
113
C. Achebe, The African Trilogy: Things Fall Apart; No longer at Ease; Arrow of
God. (London: Pan Books, 1988), 147f.
114
E.I. Metuh, 125.
115
Ibid., 140.
54 Chapter One
both friend and foe, whom one summons for aid

and asks to turn away seeking at the same time
union and separation from him.116
One can trace the origin of this paradox in the Igbo religious view to
the fact that the transcendence and immanence of God like other
religious apprehensions and responses occur in history. Hence factors
which determine them must be sought in the cultural histories of the
societies in which they occur.117 An example of this situation abounds
in Igbo cultural history. Some of its aspects suggest that religious
changes, affecting the belief in and cult of the supreme, are linked
with major innovations in the socio-cultural and economic life of the
Igbo people.
Contrary to the view that considers the Igbo God only as the
“withdrawn God” it must be mentioned that God is present among the
Igbo people, and his presence means life for them. This provides to
correct the doctrine which maintains that the god of the Igbos is a
“high God” a sky God that is often withdrawn, a deus otiosus.118 God
is for the Igbo people transcendent as well as immanent.
Scholars like A. Shelton, B.E. Idowu, E.M.P. Edeh, etc refute this idea
of the “withdrawn God” as the African view in general and that of the
Igbos in particular. This results from expressing only God’s
transcendence at the cost of his immanence.
1.5.3. God and the Deities

Thus far it could be presumed that the Igbos believe in the divinities.
Professor Idowu explains “West Africa may be said to be the home of
divinities; but even here, we have variations from a very crowded
pantheon to a very thinly populated one, and even to a situation where
they appear to be scarcely in existence.”119 The issue of “a pantheon
implies pluralism and this brings up the question as to whether or not
polytheism applies as an appropriate, descriptive term for African
116
Interpretation, 59.
117
Ibid., 63.
118
E.M.P. Edeh, 129.
119
B.E. Idowu, 165.
traditional religion in consequence of the incidence of the divinities;

and ... of the nature of the divinities and relationship to Deity.”120
In addressing polytheism and the relationship between God and the
Deities – as pertains to the Igbo religious world-view it must not go
unmentioned that,
the Igbos recognise some relationship between
Chukwu and Deities. But their conception of this
relationship is not very clear.... The Deities are
sometimes referred to as the sons of Chukwu, or
his messengers, and sometimes as his
manifestations. Sacrifices visibly offered to the
Deities are said by the Igbo to be ultimately
received by Chineke, the former being only
mediators.121
Though not general, certain Igbo religious beliefs and practices
indicate a closer and more logical relationship between God and the
deities.
Divergent opinions abound as to the exact nature of the relationship
between God and deities. Contrary to the views that God created the
deities, some maintain that, “from the point of view of the theology of
African traditional religion, it will not be correct to say that the
divinities were created. It will be correct to say that they were brought
into being, or that they came into being in the nature of things with
regard to the divine ordering of the universe.”122
Maintaining that the deities were not created points to the fact in the
Igbo hierarchy of beings, being a creature is attributed to all other
beings (human beings included) but not to deities and God Himself.
The Igbo people do not believe that the deities can create: they could
not have created themselves. But since they stand above the other
beings (except God) in the hierarchy of being, one cannot speak of
them as being created. Hence to the question of how they came about
the Igbo people answer that they were “brought into being.” They
120
Ibid.
121
E.I. Metuh, 40.
122
B.E. Idowu, 169.
56 Chapter One
believe that God being almighty is capable of calling these deities into
being without their having to be created.
All agree that these deities did not create themselves. The view of
Professor Idowu could be an effort not to place the deities on the same
scale as lower beings in the hierarchy of being. On the other hand, it
should not be understood as meaning that Igbos believe that the deities
are created, and are on the same level with lower beings in the
hierarchy of being. For the Igbos the central point in conceiving the
deities as being brought into being, is that God alone is not created
and is the origin of all the rest of being. Their point of departure is the
relationship between God and the deities and that between the deities
and the rest of being (with the exception of God).
Coming back to the question whether this belief and worship of
numerous deities means the Igbos are polytheistic? One can simply
say that the answer could be found in the interpretation of the
relationship between God and the deities. In this case, one can say that
the Igbo concept of God and his relationship to the deities cannot be
rightly seen as a polytheistic concept of God. These deities for E. I.
Metuh “are created by God and are subordinate to Him. They are his
messengers. Their intimate but subordinate relationship with God is
conceptualised in terms of Father/son, Chief/messenger or
Lord/servant relationships.”123
1.5.4. Igbo Explanation of Evil

“Even though the Igbos regard being as the ‘good that is’, they are not
so naive as to believe that there are no evils in the world. ... Hence the
Igbos are also concerned with the perennial problem of moral and
physical evil. The Igbo ontological position that all things are good
because of creation presupposes ... first, that God is the absolute good
who causes the good in all beings; second, that God’s very act of
creating is synonymous with his act of causing good in what he
creates.”124 The question then follows – how do the Igbos understand
evil, especially in relation to God whom they also believe to be all
powerful, the supreme goodness, the cause of all things. How do they
123
124
E.M.P. Edeh, 102.
reconcile this with their belief that beings are basically good because
of their participation in the divine goodness?
“In general, evils can be grouped under three categories, namely,
physical evil in the universe, physical evil in man, and moral evil in
man or any personal being.”125 In contrast to E.M.P. Edeh who talks of
three categories of evil, T.U. Nwala has two main categories –
metaphysical and moral. Under metaphysical evil are those attributed
to the human being by inference and directly committed by the
individuals in contravention of a known prohibition. He (Nwala)
maintains that the distinction between the metaphysical and moral
evils is artificial to the Igbos.126
The question is then where do the Igbos locate the cause of evil,
regardless of the category. It could be said that, the Igbos locate evil’s
proximate cause or causes within the realm of evil spirits. Evil spirits
were not originally created and designated as evil and were originally
created by God as good, like other creatures. But during the course of
their existence they turned evil.127 Taking it that the proximate cause is
known, the next question would be, who or what is then the remote
cause or causes of evil?
In searching for the answer to this question, it will be necessary to
bear in mind that
the Igbos think of evil as something that is not
what it should be, something that makes the
whole, the unity of life in community, less that
what it should be. ... for them evil as evil cannot
be caused on its own, but can be caused only as
part of the effort to preserve the unity of the
whole. The Igbos express this in a widely used
proverb: Mmadu amaro uma eme (njo). This is a
way of saying that one does not go out of one´s
way to cause an evil on its own. The implication is
125
Ibid., 107.
126
T.U. Nwala, 147.
127
E.M.P. Edeh, 107ff.
58 Chapter One
that the evil occurs as part of the struggle to

preserve the whole.128
Be that as it may, this cannot be an overall explanation, for it cannot
apply to all evils known in Igbo culture. Not only the evil spirits are
the proximate cause of evil, but implied in the above quotation, human
beings as well. Some authors count certain deities among the
proximate causes of evil.
As to the issue of the proximate cause of evil, E.M.P. Edeh argues
that,
God, for the Igbo people, cannot be said to be
responsible since he is not an evil spirit, an
element god or a human being. But God could be
seen as the remote cause of evil because he as God
is for the Igbo people Chi-na-eke, the one-who-is-
creating. Therefore as Chi-na-eke he is the cause
of all beings. ... Since he is the cause of all beings,
he must be the cause of the proximate causes of
evil, namely, element gods, evil spirits and so on.
Hence God can be said to be the remote cause of
evil.129
This is logical, but in terms of the Igbo idea of the proximate causes of
evil, one cannot conclude either that God remotely causes evil as evil
or the contrary. The ambiguity here arises from the fact that in
creating the remote causes of evil, God did create them not as evil but
as good, then what of the evil spirits?
One needs to recall, that for the Igbos these evil spirits were not
essentially created and designated as evil. They were originally
created as good, but during the course of their existence they turned
evil. It is a belief among the Igbos that if a person who in his/her life
had pursued evil ways dies; he/she would join the company of the evil
spirits. These spirits are, in the Igbo world-view, among the causes of
evil on earth.130
128
Ibid., 109.
129
Ibid., 110.
130
Ibid.
E.M.P. Edeh suggests how the above ambiguity can be resolved in

that, “God created all things as good, including the evil spirits. So if
he is seen as remotely causing evil because He created the proximate
causes of evil, it must not be in the sense that He causes evil as such
but in the sense that out of the good (the whole) He causes, evil comes
as a part of it.”131 This is not to hold that in this way God “causes evil”
because Igbos, though emphasising strongly the dependence of the
creatures on their creator (God), still leave room for freedom and
freewill among created realities. Acts of freedom or freewill that turn
out to be evil, may not even remotely be attributed to God. This could
be a possible way of reconciling the presence of evil on earth with
God’s goodness.
One thing that is now clear is that in their search for the cause of evil
Igbos remained at the level of creatures. Even when the origin of evil
is not clearly thought out, “it is necessary to point out at once that
dualism (the possibility of two sources of creation, one good and the
other evil) does not exist in Igbo religion.”132 It is not only Metuh who
maintains this view. For Ilogu E., “the idea of evil spirit having a
separate existence and operating in conflict against the benevolent
creator God never existed in Ibo religious thought.”133
1.5.5. Divine-Human Relationship:

Some aspects of this divine-human relationship have been treated in
consideration of the Igbo understanding of the human being. The
human being can be viewed from different standpoints.
Viewed from the standpoint of his origin and final
destiny, man is best understood in relationship to
God, his creator. Man comes from God; he has a
definite mission to fulfil in God’s plan, and he will
eventually go back to God. ... Man in African
Religion is seen primarily as a creature of God ...
The creation of man is the central theme of
131
Ibid.
132
E.I. Metuh, God and Man in African Religion: A Case Study of the Igbo of Nigeria.
(London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1981), 76.
133
E. Ilogu, 38f.
60 Chapter One
African cosmogonic myths. These myths variously

emphasise that man is created directly by God and
holds a central position in the creative order.134
A handful of authors like Metuh, Mbiti etc, share this view. For them
the human being is at the very centre of existence and African peoples
see everything else in relation to this central position of the human
being. It is as if God exists for the sake of the human being.135 Further
on this view N.S. Booth holds that African religions are centred more
in man than in God or in nature. All other beings in the African world-
view therefore seem to get their bearing and importance from the
position, meaning and end of human being in African thought.136
The view of these authors about the human being in Africa in general
applies equally to the Igbo view of human being in particular. For
traditional Igbo people human beings are the centre of creation and are
the main actors in the drama of existence and life. Their actions evoke
reactions from the gods and have deep implications for the lower
beings and forces. These gods may have to be manipulated to satisfy
the needs of the human beings. In the drama of life human being is the
actor while the pure spirits are the moderators and the lower forces
and beings are the agents and hence victims as well.137
For Igbos, life is a communion not only with its created order, but
with the creator himself, Chukwu. The human being is really bound to
God by ties of creation and by God’s divine providence over the
universe of which the human being is a part. The human being is
ontologically linked to God through the Chi ‘the spark or emanation
of God in each person’.138
On the relationship between God and the Igbos and the issue of divine
transcendence and immanence opinions vary. For some authors like
I.E. Metuh, “God looms very large in Igbo life and psychology even
though there is an ever-present fear of the spirits. God is the ultimate
source and end of morality but the spirits, especially Ala (earth-deity)
134
E. I. Metuh, Comparative Studies of African Traditional Religions, 181.
135
136
Ibid.
137
T.U. Nwala, 41.
138
E.I. Metuh, 114.
and the ancestors are its immediate administrators. There are direct
acts of worship of God including prayers and sacrifices.”139 Unlike
Achebe and others who maintain that God is approached directly only
in the last resource of extremity, when all other intermediaries have
failed, W. Romaine (a CMS Missionary) wrote as far back as 1869,
“this you always find among the Ibos. They never speak of futurity
without admitting ‘Ahonze Tschukwu’ i. e. if it pleases God.”140 Not
only with reference to the future, the Igbo daily life is also equally
filled with the sense of divine presence and the need of God’s care and
protection. According to Shelton, “among the Northern Igbo the daily
prayers and regular sacrifices are offered to Chukwu by the family
head (usually male) at the family shrines and by the Onyisi (the eldest)
of the clan at the communal altars.”141
Igbos approach God both directly and indirectly. Prayers addressed to
God are mainly in the form of invocations. There are direct sacrifices
to God but are not as rare as often suggested. It is very difficult to
determine from the sources available how many types of direct
sacrifice exist in Igbo traditional religion. Further, among the Igbos,
God (Chukwu) has no priests like Ala/Ani (earth-deity) or other
deities.142
One of the direct sacrifices to God among the Igbos is “Aja Eze Enu”
(Sacrifice to King of Heaven – God). This sacrifice could be described
summarily so,
the objects required include a white chicken, eggs,
yams, an eagle’s feather and a long pole (ofolo
ngwo). The minister, usually a dibia (medicine
man), ties the chicken, the yams and the feather to
the end of the pole with a white cloth, which he
then plants in the ground, with the fowl (alive) and
the objects suspended in the air. He then offers
another chicken and an egg at the foot of the pole
while saying the ... (appropriate) prayer...143
139
E.I. Metuh, 114.
140
Ibid., 48.
141
Ibid., 51.
142
Ibid., 49ff.
143
Ibid. 52.
62 Chapter One
God as immanent looms large in the daily life of the Igbos and their
psychology while the Igbos direct their prayers and sacrifices
frequently to God as the transcendent absolute God. The relationship
between God and the human being spreads over the human after-life.
For the Igbos, “God plays a very important role in the after-life of
every human being, just as he is involved in the process by which man
comes into being and the various vicissitudes he passes through during
his earthly sojourn.”144
1.6 The Igbo View of Death and the Life Thereafter
For the Igbos life is a continuing cyclic process. Death is not the end
station of human life. They believe in the survival of the human
person after death, in ancestors as the “living dead”, and in
reincarnation. This points to their strong belief in the life after life.145
Generally, the after-life is viewed from the point of view of continuing
relationship of the dead with the living, and not as the final end of
man or of the world. There is very little speculation about ‘the last
things’. Eschatology either in the sense of the culmination of
individual lives, or of human history in general, is of marginal interest
in traditional religion.146
Not only for the Igbos, but also for the Africans more especially, life
is a cyclic process of birth, death and rebirth. “The after-life is
conceived in terms of the present life. The environment and social
structure of each society are each projected into the invisible world
and form the framework of its conception of the after-life.”147 With
regard to environmental and social differences every religion has to
face the question of man’s relationship to the power that rules the
universe. Wherever (sic) we find man and religion ‘What is man?’ and
‘to what end was he made?’ are questions that demand ... answers.
Such answers depend upon man’s conception of the ruler of the
universe, while upon the answers themselves depends man’s attitude
144
Ibid., 118.
145
Ibid., 116.
146
Ibid.
147
C.O. Obiego, 158.
to life; and even the pattern of life within any given society is an
expression of a particular view of man held by that society.148
One needs to recall that society for the Igbos as well as other Africans
comprises both the living and the dead. The Igbos like any other group
seek in their religion answers to the religious questions of the human
being. They believe that both the good and the bad continue to effect
in the next life, where there is retribution the next life based on one’s
conduct in this life. Hence purificatory rites are seen as necessary so
as to obtain forgiveness of sins and remission of punishment in the
next life. However, there is an essential disagreement on what
constitutes a reward or punishment when it comes to eschatology.
Traditional religious belief emphasises integration or exclusion from
one’s community as constituting adequate reward or punishment.149
Coming closer to death Igbos believe that, “Onwu, death is the
‘withdrawal’ of the life-giving-principle, which is given to each being
from above by the Big-life-principle ... In other words Onwu occurs
when Chukwu takes back the Chi-ukwu – within-everything, ...”150 As
life is precious, death awakens a sense of loss among the Igbos. They
do not go that far to ask why God withdraws this principle from
human beings but rather invent explanations. They talk of a good
death as belonging to those who lived a good life. They see it as
natural death in ripe old age. These groups of people are accorded
funeral rites appropriate to their status to enable them to reach the
“Spirit-land”, “Ala Mmuo”, where it is believed they continue a life
similar to their earthly life and eventually are allowed to reincarnate.
But not every death is a good death. The deaths of those who lived
bad lives are termed “onwu ojoo” – bad death. Such include among
others violent death or deaths by horrible diseases. The bodies of these
people are in most cases unceremoniously dumped in the evil forests –
Ajo Ohia. This symbolises total rejection and excommunication by
both the living and the dead.151 For the Igbos those who lived good
lives and died good deaths and are accorded appropriate burial rites
148
E.I. Metuh, 118.
149
C.O. Obiego, 158f.
150
E.I. Metuh, 116f.
151
C.O. Obiego, 161.
64 Chapter One
and ceremonies are regarded as having gone home. The Igbos here
speak of death as a “going home”.
The Igbos believe in the universality of death. Empirically
“Onwuzuluigbo (onwu), i. e. death extends the whole length and
breath of Igbo land. This is Igbo concrete and picturesque way of
expressing that death is universal to humanity. ‘Igbo’ here stands for
the human race. ... This experience is both an abstract, conceptual as
well as existential knowledge ...”152 In a sense death is seen as a
necessity, or experience which awaits everybody at an absolutely
unknown moment.
Furthermore, “Death” for the Igbos,
knows no king (onwuamaeze), respects no warrior,
all become weak before onwu (Onwuamadike,
Onwuasoanya, Onyekaonwu, Onwuegbufor). In
the grave all men become equal even the rich and
powerful will die (Amadiaso-onwu), because onwu
is afraid of none (Onwuatuegwu or Egwuakaonwu,
Onwuasoanya). In fact come what may, onwu
must nevertheless be, it will never be lacking
(Onwuako).153
Igbos think about these attributes of death. They have several myths
through which they try to explain such phenomena as the mortality of
human beings, the “impartiality of death”, the uncertainty about the
when, where and how of death etc.
As it has been seen, the Igbos believe in life-after death. Earlier we
saw that Igbo world-view which purports a belief in the existence of
two worlds is partly based on this belief. Authors like E.M.P. Edeh
argue that,
even though the Igbos mourn their dead with grief
and extend sympathy, as do other people, they are
well aware that death is not an end but a transition.
If a person dies, he is born into another life
completely different from the one he had. This is
the case with the ancestors. This new life cannot
152
Ibid., 161f.
153
E.M.P. Edeh, 75.
be without a place in which it is being lived ... a

world other than this visible world where the
ancestors are dwelling... 154
But to maintain life after death is completely different from the
present life, Edeh points out, entails problems in the understanding of
Igbo view of life-after death. Others maintain that it is a copy of the
life here in the visible world.
In trying to present this second world and life, there are Igbo views
that,
the abode of the good spirits of the dead, ala
mmuo, is a carbon copy of the abode of the living.
The two differ only in that one is visible and the
other invisible. A geographical map of the land of
the living would represent the spirit-land in every
particular: ... However, the land of the spirit is
imagined to be underneath the land of the living,
probably because the bodies of the dead are buried
in the ground.155
As to the social life which is an important aspect of Igbo world-view,
it is believed that, the social life of the spirit-land is patterned on Igbo
social life. The social organization of the spirit-land is also patterned
on the Igbo social organisational pattern. The population is organized
in lineages, clans and families and the community retains its class
structure. Life is led as in this world.156 One sees that Igbos conceive
of the spirit-land in materialistic terms. Fulfilment in the next life is
achieved when one reaches to occupy one’s proper place among one’s
own in the next life. Damnation is viewed as an excommunication and
a perpetual exclusion from one’s clan life and from the cycle of life,
and reincarnation.157
The Igbos believe in God as a just judge. This helps us to understand
the role God plays in this after-life of human beings. God plays a very
important role in the after-life of every human being, just as he is
154
E.I. Metuh, 116.
155
Ibid., 117.
156
Ibid., 118.
157
Ibid., 118f.
66 Chapter One
involved in the process by which man comes into being and the
various vicissitudes he passed through during his earthly sojourn. ...
Death alone does not make a person an ancestor (even when a ‘good
death’). ... God determines who may or may not become an
ancestor.158 This means that God will judge and suitably reward or
punish every deed. This is not only in this life or in the afterlife, but
extends also to one’s subsequent terms of life after reincarnation. God
may even extend such a punishment or reward to one’s family.
This summary of the Igbo view of death and the life thereafter can
help to understand why „the final end of and the aspiration of every
Igbo is to reach the spirit-land of his ancestors, to be venerated by his
descendants as an ancestor, and eventually to reincarnate.”159 This is
not only to be venerated but is the primary motive is the wish to
belong as a member of the community, whose membership constitutes
the identity of the individual. This sense of belonging and the fear of
loosing one’s membership is the underlying principle.
158
Ibid., 119.
159
Ibid., 120.
Chapter Two
Missionary Activities in Africa with particular

Reference to the Igbos of Nigeria
2.1 Introduction
The previous chapter provided an example of African culture that of

the Igbos of Nigeria, prior to its contact with foreign (European)
culture. The present chapter concerns the initial contact between the
African and the European worlds continuing with examples from the
Igbos of Nigeria. On the European religious side the principal
example is Christianity; its European background and, especially the
Roman Catholic European Christianity. Particular reference is made to
its missionary activities in Africa, specifically among the Igbos.
The reason for the mission and missionary activities of Christianity is
often traced to the injunction of Jesus to his disciples: “go and make
disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:18-20, Mk. 16:15; Lk 24:47;
Acts 1:8). This means that Christianity from the outset saw itself as a
religion with a universal self understanding. Mission is the activity by
which the Christian faith sought and still seeks to render itself
universal. Mission and missionary activities are bound up with human
nature; aspirations and circumstances for the injunction to
universalism are not meant to be abstract or to remain a mere dream.
68 Chapter Two
Its actualisation is meant to be within time and space not only as a

milieu but characteristics of the agents themselves.
The immediate recipients of this injunction were the disciples of
Jesus, who went out to fulfil this mandate. Understanding herself in
her apostolic tradition as the legitimate successor of the disciples, the
Church has understood herself as the addressee of this injunction.
Hence, down through the centuries she has sought to release the
universal potential of the gospel as contained in this mandate.
The history of the missions throughout the centuries is interwoven
with the Church history during the respective epochs and provokes
many thorny questions. It is easily assumed that obedience to the great
command to go into all the parts of the earth making disciples and
baptising was the greatest motivation for the enterprise. In practice,
however, the motives were more complex and the goals were
enunciated differently.1 Developments depended to a great extent on
the people who understood themselves as the addressees. Secondly,
this peoples’ understanding of this injunction is another important
factor. A vital role is played by the human predicaments of these
addressees their history, culture, world-view, their own experience of
the Christian faith and of course their view of those people they
perceive as the would-be recipients of this injunction. This influence
of the human predicaments in the African circumstance is essential in
trying to understand Christianity, its introduction, history,
development and, equally important, its future in Africa especially
among the Igbos of Nigeria. For those involved with the history,
development and spread of Christianity, this is essential.
2.2 The Church and Mission
From the beginning, the Church understood herself as being obliged

by the mandate of Christ to be missionary. Officially she argues that,
the Church has an obligation to proclaim the faith
and salvation which comes from Christ, both by
1
O.U. Kalu, (Ed.) The History of Christianity in West Africa. (London: Longman,
1980), 11.
Missionary Activities in Africa 69
reason of the express command which the order of

bishops inherited with the successor of St. Peter ...
and also by reason of the life which Christ infuses
into his members ...2
This vocation to mission was demanded by her own essential
universality. The expression “essential universality” implies that the
Church is by her very nature missionary.
The global missionary activity of the Church after Christ could be said
to have started on Pentecost Day when the spread of the gospel, the
first step towards the accomplishment of the universal command, was
begun. From this point the mission continued in the course of history.
The task was seen as one and the same everywhere and in all
circumstances, but it was not always exercised in the same way due to
variations in the circumstances. Differences were present which do not
flow from the inner or essential nature of the mission per se. These
circumstances depend either on the Church herself in her different
phases or on the peoples to whom this mission is directed. In each
situation and circumstance “proper” lines of action and “adequate”
means were adopted.3 This will call for further attention. The
following section addresses how the Church understood and tried to
go about this missionary command in some salient phases of her
history.
2.2.1 Mission and Missionary Activities in the History of the

Church
The New Testament reports that the disciples started their missionary
activity gradually after Pentecost. Philip baptised the Ethiopian
eunuch while Peter converted Cornelius. The Council of Jerusalem
took it upon itself to set aside things like the dietary prescriptions or
circumcision (prescribed by the Jewish tradition) as prerequisites for
admission into the Christian faith. Generally the apostles went out to
the then-known world to preach directly to the people.
2
Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity – Ad Gentes Divinitus – 7. December,
1965. Vatican II, ch.1.2, 817f.
3
Ibid.
70 Chapter Two
The history of how the Church followed and executed its injunction
can be divided into three central epochs: the Roman-Hellenistic era,
the Germanic-Slavic (or European) epoch, and the era of the universal
Church, though these epochs are not distinctly demarcated one from
one another.4 Like any religious-ideological movement which strives
to expand, the Christian mission carries the burden of the history of
these different epochs. This point is noteworthy because it enables one
to understand the missionary activities of the Church throughout the
different eras. In addition it helps one understand the context in which
Christianity is considered in this work, i.e. in relation to the African
cultures.
The Roman-Hellenistic Era

The foundation of this epoch was laid through the missionary
activities of the apostles which started in Jerusalem. The post-
apostolic missionary activities of the Church point to some
sympathetic features or characteristics. According to the Didache,
there were itinerant preachers of the gospel through the pre-
Constantine era.
Geographically, the Mediterranean region was encompassed in this
pre-Constantine era. The region consisted ethnographically of the
Graeco-Roman world of mixed races. The principal instruments of
evangelisation were the word and script, catechism and baptism,
school and social charitable works.5 In the course of the second
century the Christian mission had already reached the people in the
whole of the Mediterranean region.
An important trend at this time is the transition of the Christian faith
from its Jewish, Old Testament environment into a new Graeco-
Roman cultural world. This departure or extension of Christianity into
the Greek world meant a second cultural encounter between the gospel
and another culture. This was a transplantation of the gospel and
Jewish cultural elements into Greek ideological world and thought
pattern. This played a very important role in the subsequent history
and development of the Christian faith. Later converts to Christianity,
who were not conversant with the religious traditions of Judaism and
4
K. Müller, Die Weltmission der Kirche. (Aschaffenburg: Paul Pattloch Verlag, 2.
Auflage, 1963), 15.
5
Ibid., 16.
Hebrew thought, were confronted principally with the result of this

process of hellenisation of the Christian faith. This process strongly
influenced Western Christianity6 that at times the view abounds that
Christian dogma could be seen as the product of Greek thought,
against the background of the gospel. Catholic doctrines of faith and
the Church’s sacraments are partially results of this Greek thought. In
a sense the history of the different dogmas could be seen as the
encounter between the gospel and the Greek culture.
The next decisive phase in this epoch begins from 313 AD, the year of
the “Tolerance-document” from Emperor Constantine. Christianity
then experienced a decisive change in its trend toward expansion as
the document played a decisive role in the spread and consolidation of
Christianity in the Graeco-Roman empire. The proclamation of the
gospel leads to the foundation of numerous Christian communities not
only within, but also outside, the outer boundaries of the Roman
empire.
While the Christianisation in the empires of Constantine and his
successors was carried out with the assistance of the political powers,
the missionary activities in the non-Roman region at this time took
place mainly through the influence of monks and hermits on the
neighbouring nomads. The next sources of Christianisation were the
scattered Christian refugees and prisoners along the commercial routes
between east and west.7 Unlike earlier the Christian faith then
received, and made use of, political power in its spread.
The Germanic-Slavic Era

The migration movements of the Germanic, Slavic and Arabian tribes
at the very end of the Graeco-Roman era led to a deep change in the
political and social constellations. This situation presented the Church
with a strong challenge. Having been imbedded up to this moment in
the structures of the Roman empire, the Church now faced the danger
of linking the future of Christianity with the sustained continued
existence of the empire. Hence she was forced to distance herself from
these continuous transformations in society.8 The strong relationship
6
J. Lenzenweger, P. Stockmeier et al (Ed.), Geschichte der Katholischen Kirche: Ein
Grundkurs. (Graz: Styria Verlag, 1986), 33.
7
K. Müller, 17.
8
J. Lenzenweger, P. Stockmeier et al, 142.
72 Chapter Two
that had developed between the Church and the empire during the
reign of Constantine brought advantages to the spread of Christianity.
However, the price of this relationship showed itself in the danger
which the Church confronted in the fall of this empire. Even in the
later phases of evangelisation the relationship between the Church and
the respective political powers was and will always remain a mixed
blessing bringing advantages as well as disadvantages.
The Christianisation of the Germanic tribes began with their
acceptance in large numbers into the Constantine empire. With the
great mass migration the Germanic mission extended itself to Slavs.
In contrast to the tribes of the pre-Christian era, these tribes being
confronted with Christianisation were of a lower level of culture in the
eyes of the agents of Christianisation. These agents of Christianisation
did not represent all of Christianity. They were partly Roman and
partly Byzantine. Primarily they were professional missionaries;
mainly members of different orders who were supported partly by the
Church hierarchy, but who also received some essential assistance
from the state.
The goal of this undertaking was the conversion not so much of
individuals as of tribes. Not only the agents and the methods of
Christianisation contributed to the success or extent of the mission, the
addressees played a vital role. Here, it was more the obedience to, or
compliance with, the feudal authority (sometime through coercion and
use of force) that played a vital role. The emphasis here was not so
much on the internalisation of the Christian faith as on annexation to,
or admission into, the ecclesiastical organism.
The era could be subdivided into four periods or subdivisions.
However, since history flows in an organic stream, without breaks
attempts at a real division are questionable. As the phases reflect the
historical development of the Western world in the Middle Ages,
Church history shifts from the Mediterranean region to the north.
The first phase (500 – 700) witnessed a superficial contact in
missionary activities. There were mass baptisms which were in no
way a guarantee or sign of inner conversion. The lack of preparation
before, and of guidance after, such baptisms gave people the
impression that the acceptance of Christianity in no way meant a
breach with their old forms of life.
Penetration came in the second phase (700 – 1050) after the Anglo-
Saxon monks laid the foundation for the second missionary wave.9
The systematic Saxon mission began with Charles the Great who with
Pope Boniface developed a bond between the universal Roman
Church and Franconian empires. This was a prerequisite for the origin
of the Christian West. According to Schmidlin, it was in the kingdom
of Charles the Great that the medieval missionary method found its
typical expression.10 Christianisation through Charles the Great
balanced the Roman and Germanic elements in the Franconian
empire.
The third phase (1050 – 1300) is marked by the stronger advance of
the Church. The rivalries between the papacy and the empire which
had arisen earlier now continued. The western Christian community
was united under the leadership of the Church. Intellectual life
reached admirable heights; Universities were founded; Scholastic
canonical practices, mysticism and piety flourished. In this phase the
European knighthood went off on the Crusades to fight for the Holy
Land.
The fourth phase (1300 – 1500) was marked by the division of
western society. Many forces contributed to this process, including
among others the emergence of the nation states, increasing
individualism in many areas of life, tension between papal primacy
and the Episcopal College, Ockhamist philosophy and theology; the
Renaissance and Humanism; and finally the Reformation. With the
division in the Church in 16th century, things fell apart for the western
Christian world. The cord that was holding the society together was
severed.11
This section has addressed how Christianity developed up to this
stage; the type of relationship it had with politics, and how the
conversion of other people of perceived lower cultural level took
place. Until now Christianity had restricted itself essentially to
Europe. The next section focuses on the subsequent phase in the
history of Christianity, where the Church moved to non-European
parts of the world. In this case particular attention is directed towards
9
A. Franzen, Kleine Kirchengeschichte. (Freiburg: Herder Taschenbuch, 2. Auflage
1991), 116.
10
K. Müller, 20.
11
A. Franzen, 118f
74 Chapter Two
Africa. First, attention is given to the traditional Church’s

understanding of mission, and to the specific goals of mission for the
Church up to the point at which it entered into Africa. The prevalent
mission theories of the time and the accompanying theologies of
mission will be reviewed.
2.2.2 Church’s Traditional Understanding of Mission
In general the Church understood mission to be its vocation in as

much as it is a general sign or symbol of salvation. In the strict sense
of the word this was seen as the proclamation of the gospel and the
foundation of new communities of faith among people who hitherto
had not been members of the Church. The goal of missionary activity
is seen as based on the missionary commission of Christ to his
disciples – the apostolic commissioning – (Mk 16:14-18; Mt 28:16-
20; Lk 24:36-49; Jn 20:19-23; Acts 1:9-11).
It is important to establish how the Church understood herself,
namely, the ecclesiology of the respective periods of the missionary
activities, especially before the mission to Africa. The ultimate goal of
the mission was seen as the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth.
According to G. Evers, this Kingdom of God on earth was identified
by some with the visible organised Catholic Church. Hence the
emphasis was laid on the Church as the sign of salvation, which had
the divine mandate and authority to bring the gospel to the world
through her agents.
It is often thought that the ecclesiology behind the missionary
activities was not much inspired by salvation history, but was bound
with a juridical apologetic understanding of the Church. This is
characteristic of the Church at this phase.12 This identification of the
Kingdom of God with the institutional Catholic Church was typical of
theology at that time. It is not just in an invisible, but rather embodied
in a visible organised and hierarchically articulated Roman Catholic
Church. This territorial conception of the Church explains why
mission and missionary activities were understood in the sense of
territory in which the mass of people were yet to be brought to the
Christian faith.
12
G. Evers, Mission Nicht-Christliche Religionen Westliche Welt. (Münster:
Aschendorff Verlag, 1974), 7.
This juridical ecclesiocentric understanding of the mission throws

more light on how and why the missionary activities of the Church
were carried on among people of other cultures and faiths. Conceived
more in an ecclesiocentric manner conversion, according to G. Evers,
was understood as a radical break with one’s history in every area of
life. The justification of missionary activity was based on the need to
guarantee the salvation of the non-Christians and was hence a matter
of do or die.13 One needs to see this understanding of salvation in the
light of the Church principle of “extra ecclesiam nulla salus”.
The model of the Church understood as the Kingdom of God on earth
which was central in the ecclesiocentric understanding of mission was
the pre-modern (medieval) Western (European) model of Christianity.
This saw the constitution of the Church and the integration of the
people as the goal of the mission in the different areas where
missionary activities were to be carried out. It conceived the Church
as an absolute unit and set the “Christianisation” of the races and
cultures as its goal.14 This understanding of the Church and its
connection with mission points to a theory of mission suited to and
influenced by this view, and which played a very important role in the
understanding of the missionary activities.
The Plantation Theory of Pierre Charles

The strong connection between Church and mission, which affected
the theology and practice of the mission in different ways, manifested
itself strongly in the Plantation Theory of Pierre Charles.
This theory, presented in connection with the Louvain school, was one
the theses meant to justify of the mission. The first proponent of these
theses, R. Lange, was against the view that the justification of the
mission was to be found in guaranteeing the salvation of non-
Christians. He did not share the view of the proponents of the “extra
ecclesia nulla salus” principle. Rather, he argued that since salvation
could be reached outside the Church, that principle was not the one
13
Ibid. 14.
14
L. Rütti, Zur Theologie der Mission: Kritische Analysen und neue Orientierungen.
(München: Kaiser Grünewald, 1972), 28.
76 Chapter Two
and the only reason for the missionary activity among non-Christians
and sought justification for the mission in the nature of the Church.15
Lange was not alone in questioning the Church’s justification of the
mission as based on guaranteeing the salvation of non-Christians. Th.
Ohm argued that mission would have been right and a duty were the
heathens congenitally not in the position to discover and actualise the
relation to God available to them through nature and super nature.
Furthermore this would be the case if Christianity truly has
incomparable, excelling and absolute value which could proclaim
really new and higher truths and bring peoples a nobler and more
divine life force.16
Pierre Charles, the central proponent of the Plantation Thesis, saw the
justification of the mission and missionary activity in the
“implantation of Church” (plantatio Ecclesiae). He took it upon
himself to define missionary activity in such a way that it could be
distinguished from other activities of the Church. This distinction lies
in the fact that mission consists of raising a visible Church among the
races in places where it had been absent. This means the construction
or setting up of the institutional hierarchical Church in places where it
had not existed. Clear his conception is primarily that of an
institutional hierarchical Church.17 The principle of this theory is an
ecclesiocentric vision of mission. The essence and goal of mission is
then the implantation of the institutional Church to which the juridical
institutional aspect is very central.
The historical situation of the Church may explain this theory and its
acceptance within the Church. It was opposed to the Protestant
concept of the Church as an invisible community of souls – a spiritual
concept of the Church. In contrast to this concept, the Roman Catholic
Church’s concept was an earthly comprehensible reality.18
This theory found wide acceptance among many mission theologians.
Irrespective of the nuances, it could be maintained that the majority of
these theologians held the view that the goal of the missionary activity
was the foundation of the Church (i. e. juridical institutional Church)
15
G. Evers, 11f.
16
Ibid., 91f.
17
Ibid., 12.
18
L. Rütti, 26ff.
where she had not been founded. The confirmation of this theory
through Church authority and its recognition in many papal
encyclicals constitutes one of the central themes of mission theology.
Vatican II´s document on missionary activity, irrespective of its
modifications of the goal of the mission, still contains a central
element of this theory. According to this decree (Ad Gentes),
the special end of this missionary activity is the
evangelization and the implanting of the Church
among peoples or groups in which it has not yet
taken root. All over the world indigenous
particular Churches ought to grow from the seed
of the word of God, Churches which would be
adequately organized and would possess their own
proper strength and maturity.19
Criticism of the Plantation Theory

Despite the wide acceptance of the Plantation Theory may have been
enjoying, it placed too much emphasis on the juridical institutional
aspect. The dangers of institutionalism and sacramentalism abounded,
while individual conversion and guidance into a conscious
accomplishment of the faith received too little attention. According to
Rütti L. the whole horizon was filled with the Church under the tenet
that “extra ecclesia nulla vita”. The world in a sense stopped being the
world and becomes only an ecclesial perimeter.
This ecclesiocentrism expressed itself in triumphalism whose essence
lies in the tendency to judge everything from the standpoint of the
Church. Here the institutional views or perspectives and interests of
the Church stand at the forefront; hence its ambivalence in relation to
the world and the lack of realism and effectiveness.
Institutionalism as a consequence of this ecclesiocentric understanding
of the mission carries with it the danger which threatens missionary
practice everywhere, namely the setting-up of indigenous
communities and Churches according to the model of the home
Church of the missionaries. This explains the transfer and imposition
of institutions developed in the Western Christianity on non-western
19
Ad Gentes Ch.1.2., 819.
78 Chapter Two
peoples. It also shows why Christianity presented itself as and was

seen as a foreign religion among many peoples. It also explains some
of the problems encountered in the effort of the Church towards the
actualisation of the principle of accommodation. The same is true to
inculturation today. The non European races came to know
Christianity almost entirely under the authority and in the cultural
form of the Western world. They hardly found in the Christian
message a reference to their own problems, world-view, history or art.
Western Christianity with its fully-developed systems of doctrines and
institutions based on eurocentric historical circumstances was imposed
on these races.20 Though the mandate for mission: “Go make disciples
of all nations ...” came from Christ, injunction was understood to
mean effectively “go make Europeans of all nations.”
But before coming to the advent and spread of Christianity in Africa
through the activities of the mission, it might be instructive to
understand briefly the papal concept of mission. The importance of
this is based on the fact that almost from the beginning, or at least
before Christianity left the Western world, all missionary activity had
been put under the control of the papacy. Even where this was not
completely the case, the papacy played a very vital role, for example
in the era of Spanish-Portuguese conquerors and through the work of
Vatican propaganda fide.
2.2.3 The Papacy and Mission
The theology of the primacy of the papacy attributed to it the highest

right and responsibility over all Church affairs (including mission).
Consequently, the expansion of the Church (i.e. mission) comes under
the auspices of the papacy and since, dogmatically there is only one
Church, it then follows that mission is juridically under the leadership
of the papacy.
Along with differences in the views of the popes, the influence of the
papacy on the mission has varied over time. In the early periods as the
organisation and leadership of the mission was less developed, it can
be imagined that the papacy had little or no influence on the
missionary movements of the time. The situation in the Middle Ages
was different. The Church grew and the papacy made strong claims to
20
L. Rütti, 32ff.
Church’s leadership. In the circumstances it became clear to the

different Church organs that it would be more fruitful to work together
in a centralised way with the papacy as the head. This centralisation
affected the mission as an organ of the Church. At the beginning of
the modern age (when mission learnt reaching out the European
cultural context, the Pope, according to K. Müller, ordered the kings
of Portugal and Spain, “in sacred obedience”, not only to colonise, but
primarily to Christianise. They received privileges from the papacy
and could despatch their own missionaries to their colonies. This
would later redound to the Church’s disadvantage when the papacy
had to fight to win back its delegated authority.21
The succession of popes had different views of the mission, which are
reflected in their respective encyclicals. These encyclicals, for
example Sancta Dei Civitas (1880, Leo XIII), Maximum Illud (1919,
Benedict XV), Rerum Ecclesiae (1926, Pius XI), Fidei Donum (1957,
Pius XII), Princepis Pastorum (1959, John XXIII), especially as the
mission left the European cultural world and entered other cultures,
were conceived principally as answers and guideline for practical
missionary activities and the problems being encountered. Some
important aspects were not considered in these documents, including
the social situation of the areas where the missionary activity was
taking place and the political transformation taking place through
colonialism.
Non-Christian religions were seen not as social units meriting
theological consideration; they were just seen as heathen and/or idol
worship.22 Hence, it must be pointed out that most encyclicals were
conceived as answers to the particular practical problems of the
mission at different respective stages. Hence it may not be right to
draw from these documents conclusions regarding the theology of the
mission as practised by the Church principally. To do so would mean
that the little theology of mission that could be found in them would
then be equiparated to the whole theology of mission to be found in
the Church. On the same note, it is a mistake on the part of some
21
L. Rütti, 32ff.
22
G. Evers, 20f.
80 Chapter Two
mission theologians in view of the way they consider these encyclicals

as the definitive opinion of Catholic authority.23
Vatican II – Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity („Ad

Gentes Divinitus“)
Missionary activity received considerable attention in Vatican II
which therefore is often described as the first missionary Council of
the Church. Missionary activities were considered also in other
documents of the Council including, among others, the Constitution
on the Sacred Liturgy (“Sacrosanctum Concilium”) Nr. 37, 38, 40, 65,
67, and 119; the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (“Lumen
Gentium”) Nr. 16; 17, 23, 24, 25, and 27; the Pastoral Constitution of
the Church in the Modern World (“Gaudium et Spes”) Nr. 11; the
Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People (“Apostolicam
Actuositatem”) Nr. 11 and 22; Declaration on the Relation of the
Church to non-christian Religions (“Nostra Aetate”) and the
Declaration on Religious Liberty (“Dignitatis Humanae”). One finds
in these documents the Church’s guidelines for missionary activities
in modern time.
In these statements the Church stresses the importance of the renewal
of mission within and outside the Church itself. Effort was made to
present a comprehensive theology of mission. The Church’s
understanding of mission and the concrete steps towards its
actualisation is presented in the document – Ad Gentes Divinitus – in
the following way: the mission is the “special undertaking in which
preachers of the Gospel, sent by Church, and going into the whole
world, carry out the work of preaching the Gospel and implanting the
Church among the people who do not yet believe in Christ, ...”24 The
Church understands herself as participating in the Missio Dei. For her
the continuation of the mission of Christ is a mandate and returns to
her very essence, for it is only one and the same mission. “This task
(mission) ... is one and the same everywhere and in all situations,
although, because of circumstances, it may not always be exercised in
the same way .... In each situation and circumstance a proper line of
action and effective means should be adopted.”25 Clearly despite the
23
Ibid. 21.
24
Ad Gentes Nr. 6.
25
Ibid.
strong emphasis on the unity of mission, the document recognises the

diversities of the human predicament. This is a new accent on the
issue of missionary activities, which can be understood as unity in
diversity. Hence the Church stands ready to work towards dialogue
with non-Christian religions and promotes efforts towards the
inculturation of the Message of Christ in different cultures.
The agent of missionary activities, according to this document, is the
whole Church, understood as consisting of different parts, the local
churches and all communities. The mission constitutes a permanent
assignment for every local Church, irrespective of which group of
people and in which culture it finds herself.26
2.3 Africa and the Mission: Missionary Activities in and

the Christianisation of Africa
2.3.1 Africa in the Eyes of the European
Along with Church’s theory of the mission before the advent of the
missionaries in Africa we shall briefly examine the European vision of
Africa mainly from the religious point of view, for Africa must have
been seen as an area where missionary activity was called for.
Africa, as noted by H. Rücker, was just another name for non-Europe.
African traditional religions were consequently non-Christian and a
priori anti-Christendom. Consequently, European culture was taken to
be identical with Christianity and what was not European was seen as
not Christian. African religiosity and cultural standards were judged
then by Western theological standards. As a result Africans were seen
as godless heathens. The Africans, in this sense, represented the
antithesis of true humanity, for the standard of participation in
humanity was determined by how near they stood to the European
culture. Adjectives for Africans were mainly negative; the African life
was seen as primitive and the Africans themselves, as H. Rücker
continued, were seen as cannibals. Their religion was considered to be
a superstition, idolatry, devil’s mischief, magic, fetishism, animism,
26
Ibid.
82 Chapter Two
polytheism, ancestor worship, offspring/product of unenlightenment

and blooming imagination. Their thought pattern was seen as “pre
logical”.27
Given this view of the African, the stage was set not only for the
missionary onslaught, but also the justification for colonial
imperialism. The fatal equation of Western Christianity with
civilisation meant that Africans were uncivilised. However, efforts
were made since the 18th century to find a biblical support for the
inequality of the races in order to justify the oppression unleashed on
the Africans. An anchor for this view was found in the book of
Genesis, chapters 9 and 10 where Africans were depicted as the
accursed progeny of Ham.
According to H. Rücker Africa was seen as characterised by the
absence of all values. Hence the disposition of some of the
missionaries (as will be seen later) to African cultures and religions
was simply negative. This explains why very little effort was made
towards understanding the African world so as to give dialogue a
chance during the era of Christianisation. It is no exaggeration to
maintain that the principal missionary attitude towards African
cultures and religions has been one of negation. All in all, many
missionaries acted on the “tabula rasa” principle, demolishing
everything that appeared as, magic according to Western
understanding, an obstacle to Christianity. This they saw as defending
the biblical monotheism against idolatry.28
2.3.2 Advent of the Missionaries and Christianity in Africa
In addressing the history of the advent of Christianity in Africa the

introduction of Christianity in North Africa is usually considered first.
During the time between the second and fifth century, Christianity
was at its peak and produced such great church fathers and thinkers as
Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine, etc. The evangelisation of North
Africa was as result of colonial action of imperial Rome in the Africa
of the Mediterranean region. The churches of North Africa were that
of a poor imitation of the roman canon, which was valued as the
27
H. Rücker, Afrikanische Theologie: Darstellung und Dialog. (Innsbruck: Tirolia
Verlag, 1985), 25.
28
Ibid., 25f.
model of the Christian colonial power.29 This first missionary epoch in

Africa lasted between the first and seventh century. This first attempt
was not able to show great missionary success because the Church
was occupied more with internal problems, and could not gain proper
access into the people of North Africa.
The second missionary attempt was made in the 15th and 16th
centuries by Portuguese on the west and east coasts of Africa. This
was mixture of colonialism and missionary activity which never
implanted in African culture. This attempt failed as well. In Africa and
Europe, the influence of Calvinistic expansion against the Catholic
reform movement played a very central role.30 Even the later efforts in
the Congo and other areas in Central and West Africa between the
16th and 18th centuries were not successful.
The third wave of missionary activity in Africa began around 150
years ago. If Ethiopia, where there is evidence of the presence of the
Church for more than fifteen centuries, is not to be counted, it could
be said that Christianity has but recently been introduced to Africa.
This began in the middle of 19th century
must be seen against the background of the
relationship between Europe and the peoples of
Africa. The missionary endeavour was imbedded
in a complex phenomenon of expansion, whose
prime causes were economic, political and cultural
... The relationship of the missions with this
expansion were complex and of indubitable
importance for the expansion of the churches.31
29
S. Semporé, ”Die Kirchen Afrikas zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft.” in:
Concilium 13 (1977), 346.
30
H. Frohnes, ”Die Mission in kritischer historischer Analyse.” in: Concilium 14.
(1978), 218.
31
J.M. Ela, African Cry (Translated from French by R.R. Bar). (New York: Orbis
Books, 1986), 16.
J.M Ela is a Camerounian theologian Working among the Kidis in north Cameroun.
He believes that theologising in Africa must rise from the grassroots in the African
society. He occupies himself with political and economic oppression as well as the
oppressive structures within the church. In his view African church must be liberated
from structures of dependence through which it has been reduced to a mere puppet of
Western Christianity. He criticises the political dictatorship in Africa and prescribes in
this context a prophetic role for the church in Africa.
84 Chapter Two
Economic expansion, strongly aided by scientific and technological

innovations, revitalised missionary activities. The development of
seaports, and new marine and navigational technology helped
Europeans in their quest of a spice route to circumnavigate other parts
of the world, including Africa. This era was a crucial moment in the
history of the Christian mission.
The relationship between Europe and Africa inherited the twofold
weaknesses of their societies and churches. The society was involved
in colonialism. Whether the missionaries liked it or not, being seen
with colonial soldiers and merchants, falsified the meaning of their
presence and the message they were trying to bring across to the
Africans. Being captives of their times and citizens of their countries,
they were often victims of the related prejudices. In a sense they were
victims of their circumstances. ”European exploration of Africa in the
nineteenth century was indeed carried on only for the purpose of
dividing up and colonizing the continent. The socioeconomic basis of
the expansion of the churches during this era, then, is to be sought in
the vast movement beginning with Europe’s burgeoning trade with
Africa and culminating with the formation of the great colonial
empires in the nineteenth century.”32
Another weakness was theology, especially at the beginning of the
20th century which was concerned with a renewal of scholasticism.
Despite the endless goodwill, the theology was not best for its
effective expression. Equipped with the absolute certainty that there is
no salvation outside the Church, the missionary saw baptism as the
saving ritual which catapults the individual from the state of
damnation to that of possible salvation. This magical attitude towards
the sacraments remains one of the problems of the Church today in
Africa. Many African Christians – the lay people as well as the clergy
– have a magical attitude and understanding of most of the central
doctrines of the faith of the Church.
On the other hand, the non-christians were seen by the majority of the
missionaries and believers not only as idolaters deceived about God,
but also as possessed by the devil. Evangelisation then appeared as a
crusade against the devil, the inspirer of heathen religions and
32
Ibid., 15.
institutions.33 The compromises, prejudices and simplifications of

theology learning from the minor catechism were quite dominant at
this stage and still constitute problems for the Church in Africa. Hence
real theological discussions are not central in this treatment of the
advent and activities of the missionaries in Africa.
2.3.3 Mission and Colonialism in Africa
The relationship between mission and colonialism in Africa has

always occupied those who have busied themselves with the mission
in Africa. Irrespective of the differences in the evaluation of this
relationship, it did exist and it brought both advantages and
disadvantages for the mission in Africa in general. Christianity in
Africa today has not only profited, but also suffered and, in some way,
still suffers under the influence of such a relationship. Questions such
as how such a relationship came into existence; was it unavoidable,
was it the same at all times and places, was it something that could
have been avoided, etc., are very important.
Obviously many European missionaries, being part and parcel of their
society, shared the reigning European view of Africa. The plantation
theory of the mission (Pierre Charles) which was central in the
mission-theology of the time could be seen as the religious form of
general European expansionism and imperialism. The common
denominator for the different forces of the 19th century, be it in
politics or religion (Protestant and Catholic alike), was expansionism.
It was not only in the 19th century that this relationship between
religion and politics existed.
Christianity in its different confessions served, according to H.
Gründer, the purposes of the ruling classes – princes, kings and
emperors – up to the legitimisation of the “monarchia universalis” and
even to the justification of expansionism and colonialism.34 In a way
the Christian mission, through the presence of the colonial mentality
in Europe and the oppression of the peripheral states outside Europe,
undertook some tasks which made it appear as an integral part of
European political expansionism. St. Augustine’s definition of
33
S. Semporé, 347f.
34
H. Gründer, Welteroberung und Christentum:Ein Handbuch zur Geschichte der
Neuzeit. (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlag, 1992), 14ff.
86 Chapter Two
“bellum iustum” appears to have served in this context as a

justification for the belligerent activities of the Church. The war for
the spread of the faith against the heathens was, in the opinion of H.
Gründer, covered and sanctioned under this formula and since Pope
Gregory 1. (590 – 604) has been one means of spreading the Christian
faith.35 This could explain why Christianity – a religion of love, peace
and reconciliation – became and was seen as a religion whose
characteristics equally include aggressive fanaticism and bloody
oppression. The helping God of the apostolic mission became the
angry God of the “mission of the sword”. Faith was at times forced
upon the people and mission became an instrument of expansion for
christianised Europe. “Be converted or be destroyed”,36 became a
must, a principle. In most cases force was the last resort when the
indigenous population did not voluntarily succumb to the
missionaries’ claim of authority. With no differences existing between
Protestants and Catholics in denying the choice for free conversion to,
or rejection of, the faith, the Church further suppressed the human
identity of Africans.
Before colonialism Africa, among other areas, attracted the interest of
Europe solely as source of slaves. The slave trade, which lasted for at
least three centuries and costed Africa not less than 11 million lives,
experienced only minimal opposition from the Church. The opinion of
the Christian West towards the slave trade and slavery is not one of its
glorious chapters. Only later did the Christian churches reverse their
view towards slavery. From the Catholic side, slavery was
theologically and socially justified up till the second half of the
nineteenth century. The teachings of the Church and the apostolic
constitutions, including the papal brief of Gregory XVI (3.12.1893)
was against the execution and favouring of slave trade, did in not
directly strive for the abolition of slavery itself. According to these
documents slavery was not something that was generally against
natural and divine law. For a long time the Church saw slavery as a
part of divine order, the Church itself owned large numbers of slaves.
The churches and monasteries could manage their large lands only
with the forced labours of a great number of male and female slaves.
35
Ibid., 23.
36
Ibid.
The Church had her own slaves not only in the new world, but also in
Africa and Asia.37
The situation of most of the missionaries found themselves in Africa
contributed to their alliance with the colonialists. In many remote
parts of Africa they were isolated far away from home and had little
choice but to collaborate with their fellow foreign citizens. Such
contacts were needed in order to obtain aid from the colonialists
whom they often repaid with information about the areas in which
they were active. In turn they used imperial colonial politics to enter
the interior of Africa where they could not hitherto reach.
It must be mentioned that Europe did not colonise Africa in a unified
way. The colonial policies and systems were as varied as the European
colonial powers. Each European nation had its own colonial policies
and systems. These differences in the colonial systems were key
influences in the history and development of African Christianity
because the missionary activities and methods reflected in many cases,
the colonial policies of their respective nations: the assimilation policy
of France and Portugal which aimed at making out of the indigenous
African population French and Portuguese men and women; the
association policy of the English imperialists whose practical form
was “indirect rule”; and the patriarchal socio-conservative policy of
the Germans which had the tendency of retaining and maintaining the
existing traditional orders within the African societies for their
(German) easy administration. All these had effects on African
Christianity were intensified in situations where the exclusive rights of
respective versions of Christianity were transferred through the
schools or even enforced with the help of colonial laws. These effects
are evident in the intolerance they all had towards African culture.
This created difficulties of different sorts, social tensions destroyed
the indigenous order of the society, and weakened family ties among
the members of the inner as well as extended families.38
In some situations there were cases of antagonism between Africans
instigated on the basis of religion. Such antagonisms still exist in parts
of Africa. An example can be seen in the relationship between African
Protestants and Catholics. Almost all the missionaries groups, even of
37
Ibid., 503ff.
38
H. Frohnes, 218.
88 Chapter Two
the same denomination, were involved in a scramble for African souls.

One result was to make the Africans a divided people of God. This
does not suggest that Africa was unified before this time; there were
different groups in Africa and also different traditional religions. But
these were to a great extent based on the natural phenomena of the
African world. The new political and religious boundaries did not take
these natural phenomena into consideration, but were drawn from the
perspective of the intruders and hence were devastating to the cultural
life and traditions of Africa.
Coupled with this exogenous transformation is the fact that the
principle of substitution rather than of complementarity was in
practice. There was no substantial communication between the
African world and Christianity (not even European Christianity); there
was only monologue. Even where some of the missionaries made
efforts to understand the indigenous or native spirituality and the
religion and culture of the people in question, no effort was made to
establish a dialogue. According to J. Schmidlin this was done simply
to wipe out the non-Christian religion. The second reason according to
J. P. Steffes was to enable the missionaries to prove the superiority of
Christianity over the non-Christian religions and to demonstrate this to
their followers.39 Little or no effort was made to reflect on the
doctrines or the respective aspects of African traditional religion. A
new concept of God which had no connection with the past experience
and life of the African people was introduced. No proper foundation
was laid for the Message of Christ in the hearts and lives of the
African people. No bridge was built to link the past and present of the
African people and their cultures.40
Concrete Cases and Situations

Co-operation between some of the missionaries and the colonialists
did not stop at the forerunner function of the missionaries, but was
incorporated into a kind of personal union in which the missionary
acted not only as an agent of the Christian faith but simultaneously as
agent of the colonial administration. To a great extent the presence of
the missionary simplified the colonial occupation of these areas. They
paved the way, even when they did not intend it, for the colonial
39
G. Evers, 86f.
40
Idowu, B. E., quoted in H. Rücker, 25f.
administration by usurping the right of rulership and through the

spread of European influence in more subtle ways. It was easier for
the colonialists to consolidate their authority more firmly than in areas
where the missionaries had not been present. It is evident that the
missionaries in Africa did not have any conquistador proclamation (as
existed in South America). Their consistent encouragement of
peaceful submission to and recognition of white domination and of
absolute obedience towards these new authorities contributed
immensely to the success of the colonial occupation of Africa. During
military conquests some supplied information, became guides, served
as negotiators, gave accommodation and placed their stations at the
disposal of the colonial army as military bases. Irrespective of their
often proclaimed political neutrality (mainly theoretically in writings
about mission) some of the missionaries supported the colonialists
either secretly or at times openly.
One mode of support was not organising, or supporting or tolerating
any opposition against the colonialists. Such opposition was seen as
an opposition against an authority ordained from God. Fear of
opposition against their own leadership can be suggested as a reason
why missionaries supported absolute obedience to authority. There
were however disagreements between the colonials and the
missionaries in some areas, especially where their priorities and
interests clashed with one another. Co-operation was not uniform in
its application.
Every intrusion of white occupants in Africa, every victorious war
was welcomed by some missionaries as a success that would bring
advantages to missionary activity. There are some cases where
missionaries sometimes requested military assistance to remove
obstacles to their advance. Often they interfered to achieve their own
ends or their own benefits. In the face of African opposition stringent
measures were often demanded against the opposing group, and in
cases where such measures were not meted out they reprimanded the
lax colonial authorities.41 One point of which the missionaries almost
unanimously criticised the colonial government was on its tolerance of
Islam.
41
H. Gründer, 570ff.
90 Chapter Two
There existed a cultural imperialism based on the unshakeable

conviction of both an internal and external connection between the
Western culture and Western Christianity. The absolute superiority of
Western culture was for most missionaries certain. “Christian culture”
as they tried to establish it among the completely „uncivilised”
peoples is the direct descendant of the missionaries’ biblical, historic
and teleologically founded unilinear view of cultural development.
“Christian culture” was seen as the destination of cultural
development. Most of the missionaries took it upon themselves to
work in a culture-founding (“Kulturbegründend”) way. Hence the
often repeated formula that they must first of all change the
indigenous peoples into “human beings” before they could preach the
gospel to them. There was no questioning about the validity and
correctness of the substitution of indigenous norms and values
systems by Western Christian culture.
Many missionaries experienced and testified to the African sense of
hospitality, justice, team spirit, sense of community and even of their
(African) intelligence. Negative judgements about Africa must be seen
in light of African political and religious opposition. The hasty and
one-sided attitude of most of the missionaries towards the indigenous
African cultures led to their judgements on such issues as
circumcision and other initiation rites. Even the strict and
uncompromising stand of the Church on the issue of polygamy in
Africa today is based, to some extent, on such unconsidered attitudes
towards African culture. In Western Europe, polygamy was and is
often associated only with sexual debauchery without consideration of
it as a product of economic, social and political circumstances in
African society.42
This is not to take a stand in favour of polygamy, but to illustrate the
fact that little or no effort was made by most of the missionaries to
understand the African culture per se. Such an understanding would
have helped in treating such issues adequately. A problem is not
solved by tracing it to an incorrect origin and then condemning it; a
correct and adequate solution presupposes an understanding of the
problem the consequences of introducing a proposed solution must be
weighed. Although the introduction of monogamy and its spread is not
the only cause, the springing up of prostitution, hitherto not known in
42
Ibid., 574.
African society, is a social problem confronting African society.

Without being a defect in monogamy per se, even Christians (and not
only in Africa) who were officially monogamously married had extra
marital affairs: officially monogamous and unofficially anti-
monogamous. This may not even be termed polygamy since such
extra-marital relationships do not fulfil some of its essential
requirements.
Missionaries and the Indigenous Culture

At the peak of the European imperialism in Africa generally, most of
the missionaries practised an intolerant cultural imperialism. Their
deterministically-structured view of the world and culture, allowed for
little or no restraint when it came to attacking old norms and practices,
traditionalised forms of faith and rituals, as well as, traditional
authorities. The total destruction of the indigenous culture would
hinder once and for all falling back of the indigenous population on
their old religions. This could explain the concession of some of the
missionaries to the brutal ways of the colonialists and the defence of
the stringent punishments dished out on the rebellious indigenes. Even
the indigenous Weltanschauung and cults are lost in such a situation.43
The central issue can be ascribed to the fact that most of these
Europeans intended, consciously or unconsciously, to destroy what
was given in the African cultural world so as to implant that which is
considered, in their view, human, civilised, worthy, and valuable. The
same African culture which was belittled by the European had
produced many objects and artefacts which both the colonialists and
missionaries plundered and shipped to Europe. To date, these
treasures remain in many museums and mission houses throughout
Europe.
The missionary could not experience Africa per se. The mechanism
kept the self-consciousness of the missionaries from being threatened
both prospectively and prophylactically by new experiences that were
not system bound. In a sense this could be seen as meaning a loss of a
sense of relativity. It also led to the reduction of mission to a
monologue contrary to the practice of Jesus who interacted with
Jewish culture through dialogue. His teachings contain numerous
43
Ibid., 575.
92 Chapter Two
examples in support of this principle of dialogue. In contrast the

missionary activity reduced itself in many cases to a system for
casting human beings (here Africans) into a particular image which
could not be accounted for. Most tragic was that the missionary
activity, which should have been an expression of God’s will and love
to humanity (Africans included), lost the appeal of such an important
goal or meaning due to its use of compulsion in lieu of offering the
conviction of example.
Since the majority of the missionaries stuck to the European
perspective (e.g. in the criterion for being Christian as an individual
confession and made it an exclusive doctrine, they succeeded not only
in disregarding the cultural tradition of Africa, but also preached a
‘sedentary’ God i.e. one that is supposed to have his seat in the
ideological civil world of Europe.
In this false emphasis on individualism as regards christianisation,
they failed to realise that basic to the African understanding of oneself
was, and remains participation in the community of life, which further
incorporates the continuity and solidarity with the ancestors and the
yet-unborn members of the African society.44 This incorrect emphasis
led to a strong dissonance in African social life.
2.3.4 Mission and Education in Africa
If there is an area outside evangelisation where missionaries were

active in Africa, it was in the school system. Here is also a point
where both the proponents of the missionary activities in Africa as
well as the critics find substance for their respective constructs. The
fact that schools played a very important role for the missionaries is
indubitable. The questions which remain are: was education a means
or an end in itself for the missionaries; what type of education; what
contents has education got for this missionaries; how did education or
schools come to play such a vital role in the missionary activities in
Africa?
44
W. Ustorf, “Christliche Mission im West Afrika des 19. Jahrhunderts: Vom Zwang
der Identität zur Identität in Pluralität.” in: Neue Zeitschrift für Missions-
wissenschaft. 47 (1991), 184f.
“It is easily assumed that obedience to the great command to go into

all the earth making disciples and baptising was the greatest
motivation for the enterprise. In practice, motives were more complex
and goals were enunciated differently.”45 This assumption led to the
tendency by some historians to focus only on activities in the mission
field to the utter neglect of the home base. However, the motives and
goals
are interwoven (so) with the histories of the
metropolitan countries from which they came that
the pattern of missionary enterprise in the field can
only be explained by reference to where from,
how and why the missionary came. Admittedly,
the exigencies of the mission field sometimes
forced changes on policies and strategies of
missionaries.46
Education is one of the methods or strategies among the different
missionary groups. It must also be said that it had different values for
the different missionary bodies. “It has been argued ... that
missionaries founded schools as a means of competition. In the race
the number of adherents counted for more than the number of true
converts. ... Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries fiercely
competed with one another.”47
One of the effects of the aims of both the colonial regimes and
missionaries was the setting aside or the destruction of the traditional
African society and the creation of a society of their own making or
design. Following the destruction of their old traditional society,
Africans were left without a cultural base and had to accept the new
structure. Hence missionary and colonial “education” became the key
to this new society. The goal was for Christianity to create the
“rationalism” which would make it possible for the Africans to
consume the material products of the Western civilisation rather than
to form the African society into the image of industrialised Europe.
More important was the ethical content which had priority over the
economic incentive of the whole programme.
45
O. U. Kalu, 11.
46
Ibid., 3.
47
Ibid., 6.
94 Chapter Two
The centrepiece was not “civilisation”, but dissonance in physical and

moral socio-individual life. For the different groups of missionaries,
most of whom were the children of the Age of Enlightenment, the
native who had been seen as a raw primitive was now seen as indigent
and needy.48 They aimed not only at a spiritual conquest of the
colonies but simultaneously at changing these “indigent and needy”
Africans into useful members of the colonial and Euro-christian
society. Hence the missionaries took it as their central assignment to
train Africans for work. The biblical theologically-founded Christian
work ethos, which found its most pregnant formulation in the
monastic motto ora et labora formed the basis of the pedagogical
programmes.49
Regardless of how the different missionaries viewed themselves and
whether or not it can be argued that a given colony was first
established by the missionaries or the colonialist, the missionaries –
mostly without being aware of it were agents of colonialism in
practical terms. In the contents of the missionary education one
discovers that both within and outside the churches and schools, the
personnel of the churches were instrumental in establishing a new and
foreign value system during the colonial era.
They taught an ethic of human relations that in
itself could appeal to the finer instincts of Africans
... Whatever the church taught in any capacity may
be considered as a contribution to formal and
informal education in colonial Africa, and its
teachings must be placed within a social context.
The church’s role was primarily to preserve the
social relations of colonialism, as an extension of
the role it played in preserving the social relations
of capitalism in Europe. Therefore, the Christian
church stressed humility, docility, and
50
acceptance.
48
H. Frohnes, 219.
49
H. Gründer, 572f
50
W. Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. (Washington D.C.: Howard
University Press, 1992), 252, f.
As indicated in the above discussion, the different missionary often

assumed the position of arbiter of what was not only morally, but
culturally right. The negative side of this development was that the
African traditional beliefs were equated with evil. Some positive
effects showed themselves in this situation. “However, in its hostility
towards African cultural and religious manifestations, the Christian
church did perform certain progressive tasks. Practices such as killing
of twins and trials by ordeal were frowned upon by the European
missionaries as reflections of superstitious ideas rooted in an early
stage of African development ...”51 They fought vehemently against
such practices.
For many people, education has been one of the main contributions of
the missionaries to the development of Africa. However, questions
remain as to the benefits of missionary education. Education is meant
to support a prop to a given group or society. The educated in the
younger generation automatically carry over their values when their
turn came to bear responsibilities and take decisions in their society.
But is this what missionary education did in Africa?
In case of education in the pre-colonial Africa
the most crucial aspect of pre-colonial African
education was its relevance to Africans, in sharp
contrast with what was later introduced.... There
was no separation of education and productive
activity or any division between manual and
intellectual education. Altogether, through mainly
informal means, pre-colonial African education
matched the realities of pre-colonial African
society and produced well-rounded personalities to
fit into that society.52
In the light of this fact, the contribution of the various missions in
education could be seen from the fact that they tried to create
functioning units for the Euro-christian and colonial society in whose
formation they (consciously or unconsciously) played a vital role.
51
Ibid., 253.
52
Ibid., 239.
96 Chapter Two
Examining the contents of the missionary education, the differences

become clear between what had obtained in the pre-colonial Africa
and what the missions could give by way of education.
Naturally to all the missions, the main object of all
education was religious instruction, especially of
the young children who could be weaned easily
from the ‘pagan’ ideas and prejudices of their
unyielding parents. ... All the knowledge that was
considered really essential to impart was the three
R´s (reading, writing and arithmetic) with
particular emphasis on the Bible and religious
tracts translated into the vernacular. Great
emphasis was placed on character training and
spiritual development, rather than on the raising of
the status and material standing of the pupils and
converts spiritual and moral automatons, to live
literally ... according to the tenets of the new
faith.53
In a sense the education policy of the different missions reflected
mainly a fanatical concept of schools, and education was looked at
from a strictly evangelisation viewpoint.
Those who point to education as the achievement of the missions tend
to forget that with the exception of only a few of them, there was no
question of a wholehearted patronage of an educational policy or
system that would emphasise the social and material needs of their
53
E. A. Ayandele, The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria 1842 - 1914: A
Political and Social Analysis.m (London: Longman Ltd., 1966), 285.
Professor A. E. Ayandele is an eminent Nigerian historian. His book – The
Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria – studies the effects of the Christian missions.
In this book, he concentrates on the political and social history of Nigeria from 1842
to 1914, through the mirror of missionary propaganda, as seen by the peoples
themselves. This is why it analyses the key events in Nigeria’s evolution in this
period, and not the missionary enterprise in itself. It concentrates, among other things,
on the resistance of the then Nigerian potentates to the political as well as social
results of missionary activity, the inevitable conflict and mixture of indigenous and
European cultures, the hopes of the unprivileged in traditional Nigerian society that
missionary enterprise would usher in the millennium and the response of the Nigerian
peoples to the moral and social programmes of missionaries. In other words, Professor
Ayandele penetrates deeply into the social, psychological and political implications of
intensely evangelical missionary activity.
African followers and equip them for the various walks of life. Those
who point out the contribution of the missions in the introduction of
formal education should bear in mind that pre-colonial Africa already
had formal education.
Some aspects of (pre-colonial) African education
were formal ... there was a specific program and a
conscious division between teachers and pupils.
Formal education in pre-colonial Africa was also
directly connected with the purposes of society,
just like informal education. The programs of
teaching were restricted to certain periods in the
life of every individual, notably the period of
initiation or ‘coming of age’ ... formal education
was also available at later stages in life, such as on
the occasion of passing from one age-grade to
another or of joining a new brotherhood.
Specialized functions such as hunting, organizing
religious ritual, and the practice of medicine
definitely involved formal education within the
family or clan.54
It must be said for the sake of fairness that the missions made some
efforts at providing Africans with industrial education. This education
could not flourish with significant success given the remote location
and circumstances of Africa. Indigenous products had very little or no
chance in the face of superior imported foreign articles.
Some Africans regarded education as the greatest social blessing of
missionary activity to Africa. They maintained this view despite the
great deficiencies of the missionary educational system. In spite of its
one-sidedness, they see its justification in their belief that secular
education alone was a dangerous thing that would have destroyed the
traditional morality without replacing it with any other kind of
purposeful morality. They fail to see the abiding dangers of such
fanatical religious education as was served by the mission. Even on
the issue of morality, the missions did not preserve the traditional
morality. What was introduced as an alternative was too foreign to be
54
W. Rodney, 239.
98 Chapter Two
efficiently acceptable to serve as an adequate substitute which could

fulfil the moral demands of African society.
2.3.5 The Missionary Activities in Igboland
History
In much literature dealing with the history of the missionary activities
among the Igbos of Nigeria, the 1850s are often cited as the
beginning. It should be pointed out that “even though it might not
have germinated, the seed of Christianity was sown in Iboland on the
occasion of the Niger expedition of 1841 when a treaty was signed
between the representatives of Queen Victoria and an Ibo chief, Obi
Ossai of Aboh.”55 There are versions of how the first contact between
Christianity and Igboland took place in that same year. One version
maintains that “the history of the Christianisation of Igboland begins
in 1841, when Simon Jonas, an Igbo who had been sold into slavery
and rescued and resettled in Sierra Leone, spent three weeks at Aboh,
and preached to the children who flocked around him.”56
After the initial attempt which was not able to take off for different
reasons, „the definitive date was 27th July, 1857 when an agreement
was finally executed between a missionary group led by Samuel
Crowther and Obi Akazua of Onitsha and his councillors to establish a
Christian mission station at Onitsha, an Ibo town on the eastern bank
of the river Niger.”57 Before this, however, missionary activities had
been going on in the other parts of Nigeria as there were many
55
S. N. Nwabara, Iboland: A Century of Contact with Britain, 1860 – 1960. (London:
Hodder and Stoughton, 1977), 47.
56
E. A. Isichei, A History of the Igbo People. (London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1976),
160.
57
E. Ilogu, Christianity and Igbo culture: A study of the Interaction of Christianity
and Igbo Culture. (New York: NOK Publishers Ltd., 1974), 56.
E. Ilogu is a well-known author. He has travelled extensively and lectured in many
places throughout the world, including many American universities as a Fullbright-
Hays fellow. In this book he is principally concerned with showing how the
traditional life of the Igbo people has, over the past hundred years, been disorganised
by Western commerce, by the impact of Christianity, and by the increasing
secularising of life in the technological revolution that has been taking place in the
Igbo society. He tries to consider the proper role of the Christian Church in this phase
of Igbo history. His suggestions are based on a wide range of study, historical,
sociological and equally theological.
missionary groups in Nigeria at that time, one of which the Church

Missionary Society (CMS) was the first.
The second missionary effort towards the evangelisation of Igboland
came from Roman Catholic missionaries. The first group started in
1885 under the leadership of Joseph Lutz – a French priest who had
previously been involved in missionary activity in Sierra Leone. His
group like those of the CMS was well received by the King and Chiefs
of Onitsha. Though the Roman Catholic missionaries started later than
the CMS group, they succeeded in penetrating into the interior parts of
Igboland and establishing strong footholds. The Society of African
Missions, headquartered at Lyon, France, was mainly involved in this
work. The society worked through the Holy Ghost Fathers from
Ireland whom they were directing. A third missionary effort
undertaken began with the early Methodist society in 1892, altogether
there were some six European-based missionary groups involved in
the evangelisation of Igboland.58
The history of missionary activities in Igboland can be subdivided into
three main periods. The first period was a fifty-seven year period from
1857 to 1914. This period witnessed the planting of and the contact of
Christianity with the Igbo people, world, religion and culture. The
second period, from 1914 was marked by competition among the
various missions in their scramble for membership (African souls) and
for areas of influence. The third period, from 1939 to 1964, witnessed
the taking off and accelerated growth of national or indigenous
churches.59
Influence of Colonialism
Throughout these periods, various factors played decisive (either
negative or positive) roles in the evangelisation of Igboland. In the
first period the new religion appealed to the Igbos for reasons to be
discussed in later sections. Christianity’s expansion was supported by
the British colonial effort in Igboland. The primary factors were trade
and political control. With regard to the situation of the Igbo society at
this period, E.A. Ayandele maintains that the missionary groups had
phenomenal success within the Igbo society. Igbo society was
58
Ibid., 57f.
59
Ibid., 62.
100 Chapter Two
much less open than Yorubaland (an ethnic group

in Nigeria) to direct outside influences like Islam
and Christianity until the beginning of this
century, when a series of military expeditions
threw open their village communities ... The
administrator and missionary intruded into the
community about the same time. There was no
question of the people accepting the one and
rejecting the other.60
As to why the new religion appealed to this group irrespective of the
situation presented above, it can be seen that “in their (Igbos)
patronage of the Christian Church the Ibo manifested a characteristic
that they have not lost ever since – that of zealous patronage of any
institution that possessed the magic of success, in this case the magic
wand of education in the hands of the Christian Church.”61
The central factor influencing the second period of missionary activity
in Igboland was the competition among the various missions. The
situation must have made these missionaries intensify their efforts to
achieve more success. On the other hand, this presented not just a
divided picture of Christianity, but it also led to antagonism between
the respective mission groups. This situation is still present in the
Christianity of today among the Igbos of Nigeria. The line of
demarcation was not only on religious confessional bases, but also on
the nationality of the different groups. Some favoured groups were
strongly attached to the colonial government, while others lacked the
support of colonialism. Those who could not fit into any of these
categories reckoned with and were even attacked by the colonial
administration.
Although the Igbos were inclined to patronise institutions that bring
success, they were selective; it was not always a question of success at
all costs. Such questions as: what is at stake, whose interest is it going
to serve, what does it demand and is it worth it, played a decisive role
in their reactions to these institutions both as separate entities and
again where they were seen to be working together. The institutions of
Christianity appealed to them. But they were opposed to colonialism.
60
E.A. Ayandele, 157
61
Ibid.
Colonialism, throughout the world, has always

been an essentially violent phenomenon. It was
imposed by violence, and maintained by its
potential capacity for violence. No Nigerian
people resisted colonialism more tenaciously than
the Igbo ... The conquest of Igboland took over
twenty years of constant military action.62
The relationship between the colonial government and mission in
Nigeria was characterised by strains and stresses, which in Igbo land
were reduced to a minimum. Several factors led to this situation.
Firstly, as the different missionary groups came into the interior after
the colonialists, there was no pre-colonial relationship between these
missionaries and traditional rulers, as had been the case in
Yorubaland. Consequently, a demarcation line was drawn between the
roles of the two groups in the community. The missionaries conceded
law-making and the exercise of authority over the traditional rulers to
the colonialists.
Another important factor was the structure of Igbo traditional political
administration which was not centralised as it had been in
Yorubaland. The head of the Igbo village could not override majority
opinion in the village. The Igbos were democratic by tradition and the
majority opinion favoured inviting missionaries as a means to gain the
advantages of Western education. As previously discussed, education
was the central instrument of evangelisation used by the missionary
groups.
Inter-village rivalry played a significant role. Many village authorities
sought to consolidate their own power and to gain the upper hand in
existing inter-village disputes. These authorities therefore took the
initiative to invite Christian teachers (mainly missionaries) into their
villages and towns.63
This relationship was not always full of strains and stresses; there
were cordial aspects. Each group had its own interests as well as
strategies to realise them. However, regardless of these agreements or
disagreements, central concern was not the best interests and self-
definition of the Igbos, but the missionaries’ respective interests.
62
Ibid., 158.
63
E. A. Ayandele, 170f.
102 Chapter Two
The political and social changes which were

brought about by the government and heartily
welcomed by the Roman Catholics created the
climate and opportunities for missionaries to
embark on a policy of evangelisation through
schools. The relations of the Holy Ghost Society
with the government seemed to have been very
cordial. The missionaries regarded it as one of
their tasks to furnish the government with loyal
subjects who would assist in the destruction of
idolatry, superstition and slavery.64
The Igbos identified the missionaries with the colonial government
and with the standards and values which this colonial government
intended to inculcate. This identification was a result of their
observation of the cordiality between the two groups. This
understanding or perspective of the Igbos led to their movement
towards Christianity based on the belief that the acceptance of
Christianity would mean immunity from the colonial government’s
oppressive measures.
One of the points where the various groups of missionaries criticised
the colonial government was on the latter’s tolerance of Islam. It is
clear that Islam was a rival or a threat to the missionary ideals. The
missionaries saw the colonial policy as a material instrument of
civilisation. This instrument was seen as necessary for it would open
up the interior parts of Igboland for their missionary activities. There
is much evidence of the close alliance between the Catholic
missionaries and the colonial government in Igboland.
The missionaries did not question the
government’s methods nor did they see any value
in pagan and native customs. The customs and
practices of the local people were regarded as
being positively anti-Christian and the measures
taken by the missionaries themselves to stamp out
these habits are evidence of this ... This method of
Christianising is indicative of the fact that the
missionaries ... believed they had to ‘root up and
64
O. U. Kalu, 54.
pull down’ in order to build. It was not a question

of perfecting something in itself of value but of
imposing values where they were non-existing.65
The above explains why there was no criticism over the use of forced
labour by the colonial administration. Not even the “rape of the
indigenous political constitution of the people, the Popular Assembly”
by the colonial government through the introduction and institution of
the Warrant Chief system merited the critical attention of the
missionaries.
The missionaries, of course, would have argued
that their role was purely spiritual, and that they
were incompetent to make judgements on political
matters. The facts suggest, however, that they did
comment on and made judgements about political
matters when it was in their own interests to do so,
as was instanced in their attacks on the Royal
Niger Company’s economic and fiscal policies,
and the British Government’s tolerance of Islam.66
The Missions and Education in Igboland

The role of the schools in the evangelisation activities of the
missionaries is very central. The respective groups had different
approaches to evangelisation even when each group made use of the
school as an organ of evangelisation. “The Roman Catholic Church’s
approach to evangelisation was sacramental, it was the administration
of the sacraments, a ministerial function, which was all important. The
Protestant approach ... was fundamentally scriptural: the preaching
and understanding of the ‘word’ was all important.”67
In coming closer to the methods of evangelisation, the concept and
practice of the Christian village as were used by the Holy Ghost
Roman Catholic missionaries in Igboland were the forerunner of the
schools as a method of evangelisation. The prototype of this Christian
Village was the “village de liberté” system used by the French in
Western Sudan to “mop up the flotsam and jetsam uprooted” by the
65
Ibid., 55f.
66
Ibid., 56.
67
Ibid., 49.
104 Chapter Two
jihads and also those displaced by the French conquest. In the Igbo
context the Christian village just like the “village de liberté” served
the purposes of a temporary compromise between European social
institutions and Africa; the Christian Villagers served as pools of
cheap labour and as a means used by the colonial government and the
missionaries to become established without much expense. The
Christian Village was indirectly a mock liberty. The major problem
encountered by the missionaries in implementing this method of
evangelisation was the problem of finance.68 The reason was that one
of the central aspects of this system was the buying of slaves in order
to free them. Through this means the missionaries believed that
besides providing them useful pools of cheap labour, they could
fashion the African evangelists of Africa.
The ex-slaves at the mission, however, were not
used simply as a labour force or as household
instruments ... Some of the ex-slaves did receive a
rudimentary grounding in the three Rs (reading,
writing and arithmetic) and became, in their
capacity as interpreters, clerks in government
service and teacher, pioneers of Roman Catholic
education and influence in Eastern Nigeria.69
This was indeed the beginning of the missionary education from the
Roman Catholic missions in Igboland. Though this method was still
considered ideologically adequate for evangelisation it was discarded
by these missionaries mainly for practical reasons.
The missionaries in general realised the obvious need for
communication in the work of evangelisation. This was one of the
reasons why they embarked on mission schools. “It was in Iboland
that an insatiable desire for education rose to fever pitch ..., the
traditional intervillage and interclan warfare that had been the main
feature of these ... people was transformed into rivalry for the white
man’s education ... The desire of the Ibo for education compelled the
society of the Holy Ghost Fathers to revolutionise its evangelistic
68
Ibid., 36.
69
Ibid., 39.
strategy ... The society thus took the Christian faith to the Ibo people
through the village school,....”70
The missions had moral and spiritual expectations
from the school system, which unfortunately it
could not meet. Their converts could not accept
the Bible in the simple manner the Christian
missions expected. The examples of European
officers, traders and educated Africans were a
greater lesson that the precepts the missionaries
were importing. The material wealth and social
advantages of the new world in which the masses
found themselves were of greater appeal than
abstract Christian morality ..., Christian missions
destroyed the high morality of indigenous religion
without succeeding in replacing it with Christian
morality.71
The above-mentioned problem of the people not showing interests in
moral Christian principles might have been avoided had the missions
strived for “a whole-hearted patronage of an educational system that
would emphasize the social and material needs of their converts and
prepare them adequately for various walks of life.“72 With the
exception of the Presbyterian mission and the society of the Holy
Ghost Fathers – who were restricted by the Igbo situation, – the other
different missionary groups saw education a strictly evangelisation
viewpoint. Hence their institutions of training principally served the
purpose of producing schoolmasters who graduated as catechists,
deacons and then priests. For the female converts the schools were
there for the wives and fiancées of their male workers. All in all,
„great emphasis was placed on character training and spiritual
development, rather than on raising of the status and material standing
of the pupils and converts in society ... To this end the children were
overdosed with religious instruction and all their behaviour watched
and frequently corrected.”73
70
71
Ibid., 291.
72
Ibid., 286.
73
Ibid., 285.
106 Chapter Two
It is clear that “secular” and technical education found no room in the

whole education programme of the various mission groups. Having
realised what goals their converts sought – primarily to improve
themselves socially and materially – the missions were forced to
review the need and role of schools in their work of evangelisation.
This may explain why the missions themselves considered higher
education as detrimental to the spread of Christianity.
The whole process of school as a means of evangelisation has to be
seen against the background of inter-denominational rivalry among
the various missionary groups. This is because even as problems were
being discovered – although they were in a way clear from the
beginning – the missions continued with the system. The rivalry and
fear were not only inter-denominational and international, but they
existed in the face of the colonial administration which had different
goals for all.
This rivalry in part occasioned and accelerated the
growth of the school system of evangelisation
used by the Holy Ghost Society in its work in the
east. The missionaries themselves were French
and often showed grave concern and fear at the
possible intervention of a non Roman Catholic
government in Roman Catholic schools. Things
could go the same way as they did in France ...,
and one could be faced with the horrible problem
of the école laicque.74
This fear could be understood especially in the face of the fact that it
was a foreign – British – colonial government with whom they had to
work and the Anglican and not the Roman Catholic Church was the
state/national Church of this colonial government.
The scramble between these different missionary groups produced an
atmosphere of war. The situation of the Roman Catholic mission
forced them to comply with the colonial government.
It is, however, difficult to assess the reasons for
the relatively successful bid made by the Roman
Catholic missionaries to become the dominant
74
O. U. Kalu, 51.
influence in Igboland. It is clear, however, from

evidence available that one factor did contribute a
great deal to their success and that was their
willingness to comply wholeheartedly with
government schemes and policies ... It was,
therefore, through the school system of
evangelisation that the Roman Catholics
succeeded in challenging the predominant
influence of the Protestants in Igboland, though
the latter had preceded them by thirty years.75
Before concluding this section on the missions and schools, it is
necessary to note how the mission handled the vernacular language of
the Igbos. The way the missionary activities interacted with
indigenous languages in Nigeria – the Igbo language included –
presents another side of the missionaries. From this standpoint it could
be argued that they did not simply destroy but built and to some extent
preserved some elements of the culture.
Upon the Christian missions devolved the task of
preserving the vernacular against the wishes of
their converts and the indifference of the
administrators who preferred the English
language. By their efforts the main languages of
Nigeria have been preserved as a lasting legacy to
the Ibo, Yoruba, Efik, Nupe and Hausa. For the
reduction of these languages into writing has
resulted in a linguistic homogeneity that never
existed in these tribes.76
“Union Ibo”, for instance, which is the language into which the Bible
was translated, is a synthesis of three almost indistinguishable
dialects. It has become in a way the Esperanto of the Igbo people. It
stands as a common vehicle of expression and the language of
literature. Furthermore, it plays a role of a bond unifying the third
largest tribe in West Africa.
The opposition of the colonial government towards giving an
important role to vernacular in the school system can be understood in
75
Ibid., 52f.
76
E. A. Ayandele, 283.
108 Chapter Two
the light of the aims of colonialism. Leaving to vernacular such an

important role would have meant an end to colonialism. The language
of a people is after all, the expression of its soul, by which alone a key
to their thoughts can be found. Colonialism was geared, among other
things, towards destroying the vernacular as was emphasised by the
missionaries in the school system. The vernacular as a language is no
longer an expression of their soul. They reached a phase where all that
mattered was to get away from anything that linked them with their
old identity. What is vernacular worth if it will not bring them what
they earnestly desired, namely, their social and material improvement?
Why were the missionaries so much interested in language? Was their
interest prompted out of love for this language or the people speaking
it? The British in India played a similar role in preserving language
and dialects (British Orientalism). Some or most of the motivation
was pure intellectual curiosity and the love of study for its own sake.
This may not be the case in Igbo land, but rather for their missionary
purpose. One missionary wrote pertaining to the vernacular, “what I
want is a man or rather men who can read the scriptures in his own
tongue and preach the gospel among the heathen as a brother; I don’t
want a youth confined by intellectual culture till he becomes an
individual of superior caste and must carry with him wherever he goes
the comforts and show of civilised life.”77
2.3.6 Evaluation
In this evaluation it must be made clear that most of the information

available today on the activities of the missionaries come from
different sources, whose variation in the sources plays an important
role.
The history of Christianity (in Africa) was
formerly written mostly by missionaries. The goal
was to tell how God assisted them to bring light to
benighted souls in far-away countries ... The
histories written from this ... perspective were
bound to be propagandist. They were designed to
boost morale and material aid. Some of the earlier
converts absorbed this habit of praising and
77
Ibid., 286.
cataloguing the triumphs of Christianity over

paganism.78
The presumption here is that Africa has no history of its own outside
the history of the European activity in Africa.
This chapter does not provide the reader with a concrete theological
discussion based on the activities of the missionaries. The reasons for
this absence of theological content are many. The activities of these
missionaries result from their home background. A neglect of the
European base of the different missionaries will make it all the more
difficult to understand the situation of the missionaries in the field.
The “stories of the various missions are so interwoven with the
histories of the metropolitan countries from which they came that the
pattern of missionary enterprises in the field can only be explained by
reference to where from, how and why the missionaries came.
Admittedly, the exigencies of the mission field sometimes forced
changes on the policies and strategies of missionaries. But, the
organisation, funding, recruitment and training methods of missionary
bodies explain ... the dominant theology and attitude to indigenous
cultures exhibited by missionaries in the field.”79 The general view of
Europe on Africa did not allow the missionaries to occupy themselves
with the African traditional religions. This would have been a point of
departure for a theological discussion. In a sense, judgement had
already been passed on African culture in general as primitive. Hence
there was no justification for such a confrontation. The Africans were
generally seen as primitive and were not ripe for theological
discussion in the eyes of most these missionaries. They needed only to
be taught the simple catechisms of Christianity.
In addition, it should be recalled that the central mission theology was
the “plantation theory” of Pierre Charles. This meant that “in spite of a
degree of autonomy” which the missionaries enjoyed away from
home, such groups like “the Roman Catholic Orders were bound to
the doctrine and hierarchy of the Holy See. Missionary bodies of this
nature tended to aim to reproduce themselves in the mission field.”80
The central orientation of their policy, following the plantation theory,
78
O. U. Kalu, 1f.
79
Ibid., 3.
80
Ibid., 11.
110 Chapter Two
was structural growth. This emphasis on structural growth gave birth

to paternalism.
It was not easy to recruit men and women who were willing to go on a
mission to Africa. Among other reasons, this was due to the fact that
much of West Africa was still unknown to Europeans. This was the
time when Africa, because of the high mortality rate among the first
religious adventurers, won the image of the “white man’s grave”.
Missionaries before the First World War were
mostly from the artisan class ... Men such as these
were selected for their spiritual qualities, not for
their theological expertise, and this had a
detrimental influence upon the quality of theology
in the younger Churches (in Africa in general).81
Other reasons include the fact that the social class which was the
supplier of the educated clergymen was not ready for the type of
adventure called for by the missions. As a result it was not only that
the different missions turned to local artisans and continental
Europeans, Europeans in some areas were reluctant in forming
missionary bodies. This shortage of manpower compelled the
missions to turn to West Indians and indigenous agents.
Further important factor was the competition and rivalry that existed
among the respective missionary groups. These employed different
tricks and at times deceptive strategies in their undignified scrambling
for spheres of influence. They were all involved in a race where the
number of “adherents” was more important than the number of true
“converts”. This rivalry showed itself in the fierce competition
between the Roman Catholic and Protestant missionary groups. This
situation was not favourable for the quality of theology.
Another central point in this evaluation is the relationship between the
missions and the colonial government. It might be asked whether the
missionaries could have afforded to dispense with this relationship to
the colonial government. This is an important question because this
relationship has proved to be one of the heavy burdens the history of
missionary activities that Christianity in Africa has to carry.
81
Ibid., 4.
In general, most of the missionaries depended, to a reasonable extent,

on the merchants for transportation, supplies and gun-boat protection.
The colonial government, on their own part needed these missionaries
as civilising agents. Hence they offered them grants-in-aid and
protection. But the two allies differed over attitudes towards ‘pagan’
cultures, the goals of education and the future of the colonies. The
government aimed to use the traditional order as a basis for
administrative restructuring, while missionaries, on the other hand,
wanted to pull down everything.82 This can be understood from the
missionaries’ viewpoint that all the traditional practices were
automatically branded heathen and the work of the devil.
Majority of the missions knew how to draw advantages from the
colonials, which got both them and Christianity a loss of credit. This
relationship presented itself as very ambivalent. “The Roman Catholic
missionaries consequently played a dual role as champions of
government policies and protectors of the local population, who
suffered as a consequence of some of these policies.”83
Christianisation brought along with itself a dialectic. Here reference is
made to the dialectic inherent in the missionary expansionism. A
dialectic between cultural imperialism, on one hand – including
destructive consequences for the cultural historical identity of the
oppressed people – and then the revolutionary, modernising and
emancipating effects of the Christian culture, on the other. While the
missionaries, in consideration of the colonial situation, acted and
reacted in a clearly conservative way, they did the opposite towards
the indigenous political constellations and social structures as
instruments of political and social changes. In Africa, where religion
forms the fundament of the society and the basis of the indigenous
authority, the actions of the missionaries against the traditional
religious beliefs and views constituted an offensive against the
political and social ties which held the respective African societies and
cultures together.84
This dialectic, which caused social disruption, resulted from the fact
that
82
Ibid., 7.
83
Ibid., 56.
84
H. Gründer, 577f.
112 Chapter Two
missionary activity was a disruptive force rocking

traditional society to its very foundation ...,
producing disrespectful, presumptuous and
detribalised children through the mission schools,
destroying the high moral principles and
orderliness of indigenous society through
denunciation of traditional religion, without an
adequate substitute, and transforming the mental
outlook ... in a way that made them imitate
European values slavishly, whilst holding in
irrational contempt valuable features of traditional
culture.85
This can be understood in the light of the fact that one of the
prerequisites of Christianisation as presented by the missionaries was
a radical break by the Africans with their own history and historical
cultural identity. The missionaries ignored, misconceived or
misconstrued the salutary roles of some customs and institutions in
traditional African society.
The sociological aspects of the missionary activities, was
revolutionary on a large scale. “No society could be Christianized
without its being upset to a considerable extent. Ideologically, in point
of time and to a certain degree in actuality missionaries began the
process of disintegration of ... society. In a ‘pagan’ society it was the
missionary’s task to overturn and, given a suitable environment, the
missionary knew how to do it.”86
The issue of every society getting upset in the process of
Christianisation must be considered in the light of the question of
pattern and rubric. ‘Which standard’ and ‘according to what principle’
are important questions. In Africa this transformation was not on the
basis of the standards and principles of the “Message of Christ”87, but
85
E. A. Ayandele, 329.
86
Ibid. 330.
87
The Christian message as we can see, received so many cultural, political and
historical colourings or layerings that by the time it reached Africa these
circumstantial colourings had mixed so well that they were often and are still
mistakenly seen as the nucleus or centre piece of Christianity. The phrase „message of
Christ” is an effort to make it clear that Christianity is more than these accidents of
history. It should call attention to that which is “specifically Christian” in Christianity,
rather of a eurocentric Christianity. It was so presented that to be

Christian meant to be European. As the Christian missions wanted to
make Africa a veritable ‘Christian’ continent, they endeavoured to
europeanise their converts. Even if the mandate for mission came
from Jesus himself, some missionaries may not have reflected
adequately on how Jesus himself propagated his message. Many
indications, suggest that they propagated more or less a European
cultural imperialism. Instead of striving towards making disciples of
all nations, they consciously or unconsciously aimed at making
Europeans of all nations. This was evident in conversion.
More fundamental was the fact that the missions’
basis of conversion emphasized and exalted the
individual. For the missionary it was the
relationship of the individual to God that mattered.
But indigenous ... (African) society was communal
... When a missionary converted individuals in a
community he removed units from an organic
whole and thereby undermined the monolithic
structure of the community. The converts not only
imbibed a new set of religious beliefs but began to
nurse alien ideas ... detrimental to the welfare and
solidarity of the community.88
The doctrine of the missionaries was revolutionary as well as
subversive. Even when it might be argued that the missionaries were
occupied with the religious life of the people, one must not forget that
in a society like traditional African society where “religion was the
cement of the society, the guarantor of moral principles and the basis
of secular authority, renunciation of the traditional religion implied
renunciation of the moral, civil and political obligations to the
community as well.”89 For Africans being Christian was seen as a
complete disassociation of oneself from one’s world, which
consequently meant a loss of one’s socio-cultural privileges and
identity. This was an undesirable and unnecessary estrangement. It
– hence the “message of Christ” – as has been revealed in, through and by Jesus
Christ himself – who is the nucleus of the Christian faith.
88
89
Ibid., 331.
114 Chapter Two
would seem that there is a link between this point and the confusion
and the lack of orientation that is strongly present today in Africa.
Finally, the question pertaining to the success of missionary activities
in Africa in general, and in Igbo land in particular, could be answered
with a yes and a no. “Yes” will be the answer when the goal of the
mission – structural growth on the basis of the plantation theory of
Pierre Charles is considered. They did succeed in setting up
ecclesiastical structures with a meaningful number of adherents. On
the other hand, the answer will be “no”, judging from the great
command “... to go and make disciples of all nations ...” Can the
situation of the Christian churches in Africa today not stand as
testimony to this paradox of “yes” and “no” as the answer to the same
question – why the Christian faith has not taken deep roots in Africa.
Hence the call on all concerned to see to it that the “Message of
Christ” takes deep root in the African culture. If it is true that Africa
has been “Christianised” then it is time to Africanise the Message of
Christ, in order for the Christian faith to take deep roots in Africa.
Chapter Three
Short Historical Traces and Models of

Inculturation
3.1 Introduction
So far we have presented an example of an African society before its

contact with European culture and Christianity. We have also seen
how the contact took place between this African culture (taking Igbo
Culture as an example) and the European one. This point of contact
was at the same time the point of contact between African traditional
religions and the Euro-Christian practice of Christianity. Though this
contact took place years ago its results are still of consequence in
African society and is noticeable not only in the benefits for both
sides, but equally in the side effects, problems or challenges posed by
it. Noble ideals were set up, but from much that was accomplished and
the methods applied it becomes clear that practice and theory were
worlds apart.
Surveying the activities of the missionaries in Africa, one cannot but
notice one missing, but important, element. There was no effort
towards establishing dialogue between Euro-Christianity and the
African’s society, their culture and religion. What actually occurred
was a monologue led by the different agents of Euro-Christianity to
the utter neglect of healthy contact between the two sides. It was as a
confrontation resulting in the devaluation, and almost an annihilation,
of a non-European culture. The way in which this was done was
nothing to be proud of and has been attracting criticism of different
sorts for a long time. One such criticism is based on the fact that the
116 Chapter Three
purported evangelisation of Africa was just a forceful and violently

coerced transplantation of institutions, symbols, concepts and moral
values of European Christian culture. It can be maintained that there
was no real encounter between the Message of Christ and the
indigenous African reality and culture. Coupled with the collaboration
of the missionaries with the colonialists, this explains the reaction of
some Africans towards the missionaries beginning in the period when
some critical Africans started fighting colonialism. At the same time a
movement began towards a better understanding of the Message of
Christ in the African culture. Today more than ever before, this
movement has reached a stage where it can no longer be ignored.
This work in general and this chapter in particular are occupied with
this issue. Attention will be given to origin, history and some models
of this effort towards a better understanding of the Message of Christ
in Africa – Inculturation, which is one of the models, will be treated as
well.
The particular model proposed in this work lays emphasis on dialogue
and understands inculturation as a process. Hence there is the need for
mapping out its guiding principles, goal and subject matter, spheres,
prerequisites, and methods. In the conclusion, some thematic
examples of this kind of inculturation shall be presented. These will
include examples of outstanding contributions both of Christianity
with its European background and of the African traditional religions
and cultures.
3.2 Origin/Short Review and Models of Indigenisation

of the Message of Christ
3.2.1 The Old Testament
From biblical history it can be maintained that „indigenisation” in

terms of the relationship between God and his people has been present
starting with the Old Testament. Examples found in the Old
Testament are instances where the message of God tries to take root in
the culture of the Israelites. This indigenisation occurred in the
encounters between God and the people of Israel where God’s loving
care and the message of salvation found expression in indigenous
Historical Traces and Models of Inculturation 117
forms of people’s lives irrespective of the circumstances in which they

found themselves.
An example of this type of encounter is found in the history of
Abraham in which God showed understanding for the situation of this
ageing man. Hence the promise of offspring – a son made to Abraham
– which meant changing a childless man to the father of a nation.
When the promise was fulfilled in the birth of the nation Israel and
was the God of the people of Israel. Without loss of his identity as the
God who encounters individuals, He presented Himself as the God of
Abraham. He identified himself with the situation of the people of
Israel when oppressed he was the liberator; throughout the period of
wandering in the desert towards the Promised Land, He was their
protector; on reaching the Promised Land His presence was not only
in the mind but also in the life of the people who believed.
In all these stages, it could be said of Him that God was “indigenised”
in the people and their life circumstances. God was always present not
only as their guide but also as correcting them whenever they deviated
from the course of righteousness.
At such moments of deviation the people encountered Him through
judges, leaders and prophets, thus distancing Himself from such acts
which do not conform to His will and plan. These various forms of
encounter are found in the whole of Old Testament; in a sense the Old
Testament may be seen as the history of the “indigenisation” of God
among His people. This “indigenisation” of God did not stop with the
Old Testament, but continued in the New. According to the letter to
the Hebrews (Heb 1:1-4), this “indigenisation” then began in the
person of Jesus Christ.
The event of incarnation is a unique example of the “indigenisation”
of God among not only the people of Israel, but all of humanity.
Though this was prepared in different encounters with the fathers,
judges, leaders and prophets, from then onwards, God Himself would
be encountered as a human being, no longer through a human being.
He became human, by taking flesh; He “indigenised” in one human
culture, namely the Jewish one. Here, as in the Old Testament, He
could be identified in this culture without being identified with the
culture. But more than in the Old Testament, He no longer
“indigenised” through but in a human being – Jesus Christ.
118 Chapter Three
3.2.2 Jesus Christ in the New Testament
The life of Jesus Christ among the Jews and the way he treated Jewish
culture is a standard example of the encounter between God in Jesus
Christ and a culture – the Jewish culture. Here God “indigenised” in a
more concrete way in the person of Jesus Christ so that he was
identified in this culture but not with it. As a human being Jesus
belongs to the Jewish cultural world. But as God incarnate he
transcends it.
This was vivid during controversial encounters with some elements of
the Jewish culture. He sanctioned, explained and lived those aspects of
the culture that are in accordance with the will of God, but rejected
and modified those which were not. He did not reject everything but
confirmed many things and helped to preserve them by giving them
deeper meaning, through a new and correct interpretation. Nor were
those who could not follow simply rejected without explanation; he
always tried to explain from the knowledge of the life-circumstances
of the people why these were against the will of God. With the dawn
of the messianic era, he went further to explain the new situation of
the life of the people. Hence, He was either for the total rejection of
old practice that had always been against God’s will or for its
modification, as the case may be.
An appropriate example can be found in the Sermon on the Mount
(Matt. 4:23-7:29). A detailed interpretation of the whole episode will
not be undertaken. Some aspects represent a fusion of several Old
Testament genres and cover the main areas of ethical and religious life
as understood in Israel. Jesus’ teaching is neither purely arbitrary as
regards Jewish cultural practices nor exhaustive, but a series of
indicators illustrated by some “focal instances”. Understood against its
Jewish background the Sermon on the Mount presents a possible, but
still high standard of ethical wisdom.1 This provides an example of the
way “indigenisation” of his message for the kingdom of God can take
place in different cultures. In his teaching about morality and law, a
clear radicalisation of the law is very evident.2
1
R.E. Brown, I.A. Fitzmyer and R. E. Murphy, The New Jerome Biblical
Commentary. (London: Student Edition, Geoffrey Chapmann, 1993), 640.
2
Ibid. 1321 “…, Jesus specified how those who experienced conversion should live.
Jesus the Jew basically affirmed the mosaic law as God’s will, but he rejected any
Not only here but generally, Jesus showed a profound knowledge in

his encounter with Jewish culture. This buttresses the fact that a deep
knowledge of culture is very essential for any effort towards the
indigenisation of the Message of Christ. Etymologically, theology, as
the human reflection on God, consists of two aspects – the human and
the divine – God’s word (revelation) and human reflection thereupon.
This human reflection always comes from a cultural background. Now
the human being having been culturally formed is both the creator and
as well as the creature of culture. If whatever is received is received
according to the cultural mind of the receiver, this includes divine
truths. As human reflection on divine truths comes from a certain
cultural standpoint, culture must be conceived as an inseparable part
of any theological system.3
3.2.3 The Early Christians and their Efforts towards

“indigenisation” of the Message of Christ
The inseparable link between any theological system and culture was
not unknown to the early Christians. The Jerusalem Council and the
subsequent decision (Acts 15:1-35) recognized of the importance of
culture. Here the apostles displayed their deep knowledge of the
Jewish culture, which is evident in their being able to demonstrate that
what was at stake was more a cultural issue than a central point in the
Message of Christ. As Jews they showed their respect for other
cultures.
It is evident that from the Acts of the Apostles
through the Apostolic times (Didache) through the
first great missions of the church into the outer
reaches of the Roman Empire (Gregory to
Augustine), from the Church Fathers of both East
and West there is unanimity on the legitimacy of
inculturation, there is continuity in its practice.
casuistic fragmentation of God’s will into countless petty commandments and ritual
observances …, Jesus sought to radicalize the law by reaching back to God’s will in
creation and his original purpose in giving the law. At the same time, Jesus sought to
internalize the law by reaching into the human to purify the font of all action.”
3
J. Ukpong, “Current Theology: The Emergence of African Theologies”, in:
Theological Studies 45 (1984), 511.
120 Chapter Three
There is therefore no doubt that the church regards

it as her traditional method of fulfilling her
missionary vocation to the peoples and cultures of
the world.4
The early church continued with “indigenisation” as a method of
spreading the Good News. After the Council of Jerusalem, St. Paul –
the great missionary – used this principle to a great extent in his
extensive missionary activities as his epistles bear testimony. For the
Romans, the issue of law dominated his apostolic activities among
them. For the Greeks, Paul was confronted with and busied himself
with philosophy of the passage on the unknown God (Acts 17:22-31)
is a clear example. Here we see that “...two-Pronged kerygma to
pagans in which the summons to monotheism, nourished by
Hellenistic Jewish apologetics, formed the necessary premise of the
proclamation of Christ.”5 Paul used the natural theology of the
Athenians as a positive and useful key to the Gospel, in contrast with
his use of natural theology to convict sinful humanity (Rom 1:18-32).
It is important to say that this differentiated use of natural theology
indicates that the early Christians did not just generalise in their
efforts towards “indigenisation” of the gospel. As seen above, natural
theology was used by Paul in the case of the Athenians to explain the
gospel. But on the other hand, Paul in his letter to the Romans (1:18-
23) denies the possibility of a real, affective knowledge of God
through natural theology. This is a sort of knowledge that includes
love and reverence. The knowledge of the pagans about God,
according to him, implies only an inceptive and speculative kind of
information about God which could not help them. This
inconsequential type of knowledge is hence the source of the sins of
the pagans. Through such knowledge, in Paul’s view, the pagans
could not properly acknowledge God.
One can see, judging from this example of Paul and other similar ones
that the early Christians did not shy away from making use of what is
available in a culture in order to bring across the Message of Christ to
their audience. This practice was present among the early Christian
4
O.A. Onwubiko, Theory and Practice of Inculturation. An African Perspective.
Christian Mission and Culture in Africa. Vol. II. (Enugu, Nigeria: SNAAP Press Ltd.
,1992), No Page indicated.
5
R. E. Brown, J.A. Fitzmyer and R. E. Murphy, 755.
missionaries and church fathers. As we have seen, “indigenisation”

occurred in the Hebrew, Greek, Roman, German and other cultures.
The obstacle grew up in the period when Christian faith was to be
disseminated by European Christian missionaries who seemed to
forget the principle of their own evangelisation despite the missionary
Magna Carta of Propaganda Fidei in 1659, forbidding a
transplantation of Europe into non-European areas. The basic reasons,
as was noted in the previous chapter, were “racism, Eurocentrism, the
European appropriation of Christianity as their own Kulturgut and the
colonial mentality of exporting Christianity to other peoples as ‘made
in Europe’.”6
As partly in the last chapter African culture suffered disdain at the
hand of the colonialists during the colonial era. There was no
substantial effort towards “indigenisation” of the Message of Christ in
African culture, for the missionaries worked together with or in a way
similar to colonialists as both treated African culture with disdain. The
post-independence cultural revival did not leave Christian practice
untouched. This socio-political factor contributed positively towards a
new awareness among Africans coupled with a felt need for the
realisation of independence in every aspect of African life. This also
led to the opening of avenues for the birth and expression of
revolutionary ideas and sentiments, including religions. A sense of
value for whatever was African began to emerge.7
3.2.4 Second Vatican Council on Indigenisation
It is not only in the socio-political situation of Africa that the winds of

change were blowing; other developments contributed in no small
measure to supporting the quest of the Africans, especially Christians
for the “indigenisation” of the Message of Christ in Africa.
The first of these developments is the theological
renaissance that had started to brew on the
international theological scene early in the present
century, coming to the fore in the post-Vatican II
period. The main thrust of this movement ..., was
that dogmatic theology was no longer being
6
O.A. Onwubiko, No page indicated.
7
J. Ukpong, 505.
122 Chapter Three
looked upon as a mere explanation of dogmas but

as the actualization of the meaning of divine
revelation in relation to the present situation of
man and woman.8
This shifting or extension of emphasis is very important and helpful to
the Church because one of the central challenges facing the Church is
that of coming to terms with divergent world-views and the
construction of interreligious relationships. Such relationships should
be coupled with the achievement of credibility for the doctrinal truths
in reference to the uniqueness of the divergent cultures.
In consideration of this fact, the major theological developments were
efforts towards this goal.
... theology began to be understood more and more
in terms of proclamation. It was now acquiring a
hermeneutic orientation, and its task was being
seen more in terms of answering the question
posed by the hearer rather than being content with
offering explanations following on a
predetermined a priori.9
This may be understood as meaning that hearers are now seen as
subjects with the chance to express themselves within their
environment. There is an effort towards specifying the answers given
to the questions of the hearers of the word, the principle that faith
comes from hearing being the underlying one. Generalisation is not
the main point, but hearers and implicitly their questions receive more
attention.
The quest for the “indigenisation” of the Message of Christ has been
strongly influenced by the theology of the Second Vatican Council.
Central in the orientation of this Council is the theology of
aggiornamento. This implies the renewal of the Christian life in all its
ramifications. It also implies a „radical reappraisal of the whole
bearing of the Church in the world of the twentieth century.”10
8
Ibid., 507.
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid., 508.
In reference to the “indigenisation” process some points are still

worthy of mention. The role of the laity in the Church has been
redefined as they have moved from the periphery to an important
position in the Church. There is not only a theology of the laity now,
but the liturgy has also received a theological facelift. Active
participation of the faithful and a celebration that can be understood
and has meaning for the faithful has been set as goal. Hence liturgy
has come to be seen as an avenue through which the faithful
demonstrate in their lives the nature of the Church.
An important ecclesiology was proposed by the Council which opened
the way towards the “indigenisation“ of the Message of Christ within
the Church by numerous Christians from their different cultural
backgrounds. “By presenting the Church in the model of people of
God (Lumen Gentium 9-14), the council has de-emphasized the
hierarchical in favour of the pastoral image of the Church.”11
In these and other relevant documents it is evident that the Council
took steps towards a universal „indigenised“ church. Here the Church
shows she understands her mission in a new light. From the point of
cultural orientation the previous integralist evangelisation approach
has been replaced by an orientation towards the “indigenisation” of
the Message of Christ. It is an orientation that has recognised the fact
that the good news is to be preached to the different people in their
respective cultural circumstances. This movement of the Church can
be seen as a movement from the Tower of Babel to the day of
Pentecost – “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how
is it that we hear each of us, in our own native language?” (Acts 2:7-
8).
For the Church, it is no longer a question of „an Xenolalia, or
intelligible speech in a foreign language, rather an issue of glossalalis.
It is not an issue of hearing the Message of Christ in a ‘foreign
language’, but the local churches have received the chance of hearing
it in their respective languages.”12 Through these steps the universal
Church is now present in the particular Church. In the particular there
should be room for the development of autochthonous forms of
expression of Christian faith.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
124 Chapter Three
As for the African Christians, these documents, coupled with the

Council’s declaration on non-Christian religions, has contributed
towards a positive re-evangelisation of the African traditional religion
and culture (Nostra Aetate 2). These developments are beneficial to
the “indigenisation” of the Message of Christ in Africa. The Council
was clear on this as it stated that for the faithful the Church „is not tied
exclusively or indissolubly to any race or nation, to any one particular
way of life, or to any customary practices, ancient or modern.”13 The
Message of Christ and the substance of the doctrine of faith are one
thing, while the way of presenting them is another.
Principally, the ongoing quest and movement for the “indigenisation”
of the Christian faith in Africa can be seen as a theological descendant
of the post-conciliar movements. These movements were understood
as “frontline” theology and “indigenisation”-pastoral.14
Mention has often been made of the “indigenisation” of the Message
of Christ in Africa, and there have been several approaches. After this
general initial overview of the origin and development of the
“indigenisation” movement, attention will now be focused on a more
concrete treatment of the different concepts or models of the
movement.
3.3 Models of „Indigenisation” of the Message of Christ
Up to this point the concept of „indigenisation” has been general.

Basically “indigenisation“ has been used as the encounter between the
respective cultures which have come in contact with Christian faith
and the Christian faith itself, through which the Message of Christ
have succeeded in taking root in such cultures. Some examples are
found in the Old Testament.
13
Gaudium et Spes No. 58.
14
M. Mńteba, “Die Inculturation in den ‘Dritten Kirchen’. Pfingsten Gottes oder
Rache der Kulturen”.(Aus dem Französischen übersetzt A. Himmelsbach), in:
Concilium 28 (1992), 94.
The approaches towards “indigenisation” of the Message of Christ in

Africa can be classified into two major groups: Adaptation and
Inculturation.
3.3.1 Adaptation Approach
This model is often described with such expressions as

“accommodation”, „christianisation” etc.
This approach is characterised by processes
involving adjustment introduced in a given
dominant pattern, structure, or format, the
structure itself not being touched. ... These themes
chosen for discussion and the way they are
organised and presented follow the pattern of
Western theology and reflect, with modifications
the way traditional Western theological manuals
are organized.15
As regards African theology, the theologians who choose this
approach seem to feel obliged to use the format and procedure of
Western theology more or less strictly. This can be seen in their
general approach, the way they organise their themes, and their
methodology. Examples of this adaptation approach are found in
liturgy, where texts are translated into the vernaculars of the different
African groups similarly the introduction of indigenous symbols into
sacramental rites which retain their original format. Another example
is the effort of some African theologians to use African philosophical
principles to present Christian doctrine.
The position of the missionaries can be explained as follows.
Adaptation consists of taking over the “nonessential” (the African
cultural elements), while the “essential” (the Euro-Christian format) is
not to be adapted, but simply imported and imposed. It is only an issue
of tactics. The transmission of what is really essential – the Message
of Christ – is rarely thought about. When a theme is not adaptable, it
does not count among the essential truths. Should any of them prove
15
J. Ukpong. 515.
126 Chapter Three
to be essential in the judgement of the adaptation theologians, it

cannot then be adapted, but only be imported.
For the Second Vatican Council
the Church learned early in its history to express
the Christian message in the concepts and
language of different peoples and tried to clarify it
in the light of the wisdom of their philosophies: it
was an attempt to adapt the Gospel to the
understanding of all men and the requirement of
the learned, insofar as this could be done.16
By doing so it became possible to create in every culture the
possibility of expressing the Message of Christ in suitable terms and
to foster vital contact and exchange between the Church and different
cultures.
Adaptation as referred to by the Vatican II shows little difference from
the general adaptation approach though it is more positive in reference
to African culture. Adaptation as generally used is rather “static”
leaving the structure which is to be adapted unchanged. In most cases
it applies the adoption of new habits without affecting the people
concerned and in this sense, is superficial.
The Second Vatican Council talks of a „dynamic” form of adaptation.
Preaching the Christian message takes into account the needs of the
situation to which the people adapt themselves. In its “dynamic”
adaptation they are changed. For it brings a kind of new way of life.
This is not superficial but leads to an inner transformation in the
people’s way of life.
Looking at the history of the missionary activities in Africa and the
practices of adaptation in Africa, the following facts emerge: what
was spread was the European understanding of the Message of Christ;
there was a destructive contact with African culture; with no exchange
between the two sides involved. Where there were signs of exchange,
one notices a peripheral or superficial approach. In most cases it was
“static” adaptation which encoded Western cultural imperialism.
16
Indigenisation “cannot just simply be a matter of a few African

patches (as it is done in “static” adaptation) – drums instead of organs,
native cloths and designs in the vestments – sewn onto otherwise
Roman or Western tunic.”17 Both African and non-African theologians
take the position of arbiter over the African culture. Their premise is
that conceptual models with which the Christian message can be
presented could be found within the African culture. They take it upon
themselves to identify such models through a “rigorous criticism” of
African culture. They are occupied with identification of themes in
African culture which they consider appropriate for transmitting the
Christian message. The very important point which causes problems
here is that this group assumes that the Christian message as we have
it today, already imbedded in Western cultural expression, constitutes
no problem. Hence no explicit effort is made to identify the nucleus of
the Christian message as imbedded in Western cultural expression.
This nucleus is the Message of Christ. They see their job principally
as that of “translation” the Christian message not only from but with
its Western cultural form into the African cultural setting.18
Appraisal of the Adaptation Model

The adaptation approach may be regarded as an effort towards
instrumentalisation of a whole culture. African culture is
instrumentalised as a didactic medium for the teaching/transmission of
an alleged transcultural content. In this functionalisation, African
culture is valued only as long as it fulfils the expectations of these
adaptation-theologians. It has no value in itself. It does not attract
attention because of its pattern of thought, because of its religiosity, its
liveliness, or its ability to master the future. Cultural value is only
accorded to it to the extent it appears to be compatible with Western
theology and culture. It has value only as a “praeparatio evangelii”.19
The other problem of the adaptation approach is that Africa is seen as
static. This approach attempts to treat the Christian message so as to
make it compatible with the Africa these theologians have in mind – a
17
L. N. Mbefo, Towards a Mature African Christianity. (Enugu, Nigeria: Spiritian
(sic) Publications, 1989), 21.
18
J. Ukpong, 515.
19
H. Rücker, Afrikanische Theologie. Darstellung und Dialog. (Innsbruck: Tyrolia
Verlag ,1985), 65.
128 Chapter Three
static Africa. None of them, judging from their adaptation approach,

sees a dynamic Africa which could actively develop an African
Christianity of its own. The logic of the adaptation approach can be
recognised in the fact that a static Africa offers a better possibility for
overview rather than a dynamic, active, evolutionary or revolutionary
Africa.
The “static” adaptation approach to problems can often lead to
slumber because it is easier for Christians to avoid problems from
which human beings preferably withdraw through religious opiate into
the longed-for or accustomed traditional security.
Theologians of this adaptation theology are characterised by a certain
fossilisation in the religious sphere, a blissful conservatism, which
enjoys and is satisfied with what is given. The problem here is not
with their valuing of that which is given, but their insensibility to any
prospect of change. Instead of encouraging such changes as are in
accordance with the surroundings/circumstances, they prefer to stick
adamantly to the old establishment even when such is no longer
adequate. To solve new problems, they prescribe antiquated methods.
In a sense, they try to put new wine into old wine skins. Such
temporary solutions do not often reach or resolve the burning
problems of African Christians but methods block new initiatives.
Even in such areas as liturgy, the adaptation already made in the cultic
sphere shows a lack of understanding on the part of Western theology
when it comes to African religiosity. As A. Shorter puts it, we could
... legitimately doubt whether the European
missionary ... has any conception of the profundity
of the difference between the Western and the
African philosophies, and whether, if they realized
it, they could accept the validity of the African
system. At present no dialogue is possible, not
because the African clergy have not understood
their manuals of classical theology, but the
practitioners of this theology, the missionaries,
have given no sign that they consider thought
patterns and traditional African belief worthy of

serious notice, and capable of systematic study.20
As a result of this method, the categories of judgement and decision
making (for example) in African culture have simply been reduced to
means or avenues of unfounded spiritualism and escapism. A logical
consequence is a disorientation among or alienation of African
Christians from African culture and world. This has led to an identity
crisis. In view of this situation it is often asked whether a human being
can simultaneously be African and Christian. Can the Africans be
Christian only by entirely giving up their culture? Africans, like other
human beings, are the creators as well as products of their culture.
Culture is an inseparable part of human life no matter where or under
what circumstances.
This situation has produced in Africa, among the devout African
Christians who believe they can be christian only through denying
their being Africa, What Appiah Kubi describes as “Euro-semitic ...”21
Africans with a divided personality that is neither one nor the other. A
vast majority of African Christians live at two levels: “Amphibian-
Christians“ as it were. A good number today still hold the beliefs of
their respective African traditional religions. Traditional Africa still
lies very close “beneath the surface of the Church.” Though it is not
vocal, it has a strong influence.
The adaptation approach represents a new pedagogical coating on the
old western or Semitic doctrines. It is a one-way movement which
leads to a Westernisation of the Africans. This goal is a result of the
fact that the adaptation approach simply takes over the European
thought patterns. Any experiment is always judged according to
Western theological standards, which assume consciously or
unconsciously the role of judges of a “universal” hermeneutic. Though
the stand of these theologians presupposes the existence of a
“universal” category, since there is a clear lack of communication
between a good number of them and the African culture this has in
reality led to a syncretism which comes up necessarily when one side
– generally the European considers itself as the absolute standard of
judgement. Here it is often assumed that what applies to this particular
20
Ibid., 71.
21
Ibid., 30.
130 Chapter Three
side is “universalisable”. This proves its inability or lack of readiness

to participate in a dialogue with the other.22
The adaptation theory/approach is not completely devoid of positive
aspects for it is a step towards finding a way in which the Message of
Christ can take root in African culture. Adaptation in the sense of
“dynamic” adaptation (as was explained earlier) is an essential part of
the Message of Christ taking root in any culture, including African
culture. Judging from the deficiencies of this approach, it has become
clear that it cannot offer adequate answers to the theological questions
of the Africans. This is all the more clear today since Africans have
been developing a new self-consciousness with no room for
movements that are not ready to cherish and support the development
of this new African self-consciousness and identity.
In sum the adaptation approach is confronted with many problems as
sort of neo-missionary paternalism, which tries to use the growing
African consciousness to its own advantage, trying to coat Euro-
Christendom with an “African” colour.
3.3.2 Inculturation Approach
This second type of approach towards the indigenisation of the

Christian faith in Africa appears under several other names describe
its central point: “acculturation”, “incarnation” , “Africanisation”,
“inculturation”, “enculturation”, “transculturation“. It seems
reasonable to give each of these concepts a detailed treatment, but all
reflect the observation and thematisation of the problem of faith and
culture since the 1970s. The concept of inculturation indicates a new
construction in contrast to the socio-psychological concept of
enculturation and the ethnological concept of acculturation.
“Inculturation” was first introduced into the church-theological
vocabulary at the 32nd. General Conference of the Jesuits in Rome and
the subsequent petition to the Synod of Bishops in 1977. In all its
usages the concept “inculturation” stands for the penetration and
taking root of the Christian message and the springing up of a
Christian life in a way that accepts the uniqueness of the particular
culture. The Christian message helps this culture to continue
22
Ibid., 69ff.
developing and hence also helps the people, who as Christians are
living this particular culture. The Christian message should make it
possible for them to live in the particular culture without developing
cultural schizophrenia and to express their faith in forms familiar and
indigenous to them.23
The term “inculturation” is in a way new. Opinions vary as to what is
meant to be understood as “inculturation“. H. de Lubac posed the
question thus: does inculturation mean an ecclesial Copernican
revolution or is it a rediscovery and renewal of what St. Augustine
termed “Christian solecisms”?24 There are principally two main
tendencies.
For the first of these two main tendencies, inculturation has nothing to
do with ecclesial “Copernican revolution.” The concept only
represents what is already known and has been practised in the
Church. That which may be considered new is the keen interest in and
affirmation of the cultural idiosyncrasies and the ever increasing
attention of the pastoral ministers and theologians to anything that
concerns the incarnation of the Church in various cultures.
The above view notwithstanding, it is maintained that inculturation
points to a revolution in the Church. The novelty of this revolution
may be seen in the fact that the “new Christianity” has made its own
those activities and traditions, which were there at the beginning of
Christianity but were not adequately considered by Christians. In such
a way these have become the church’s true work and authentic
expression of evangelisation and its own existence as a church. Hence
inculturation stands for a complex procedure which is very far away
from a superficial “indigenisation” and equally far from just a naked
imitative acceptance of forms of Christianity that have already existed
somewhere. Inculturation implies a “re-entrance” of Christianity
through the young churches and also a change of the present point of
reference.25
23
K. Hilpert, „Inkulturation. Anspruch und Legimitation einer theologischen
Kategorie.” in: Der eine Gott in vielen Kulturen. Inkulturation und christliche
Gottesvorstellung. Hg. K Hilpert and K. H. Ohlig, (Zürich: Benzinger, 1993), 16ff.
24
Quoted in M. Mńteba, 93.
25
M. Mńteba, 93.
132 Chapter Three
Inculturation is ancient as well as modern. These two aspects of

inculturation are explained with examples in the following pages. It is
evident that this practice of inculturation is not completely new to the
Church, though some of its elements are new. Hence the views above
which maintain that inculturation is both ancient and modern do not
contradict one another. For both indicate that inculturation is a move
towards encounter between faith and culture. Is also entails the
assimilation of the Christian faith in the various cultures. The views
presented agree with one another in seeing inculturation as a
dialectical process of taking root of Christianity in the different human
cultures and the internal transformation of these cultures through their
integration in the Christian faith. In a way they present a picture of
Jesus’ parable of the kingdom of God as a yeast that a woman takes
and mixes in with measures of flour until all of it is leavened (Matt.
13:33).
Inculturation differs from adaptation as regards its goals and
methods.26 This point of difference is very important because it is here
that they diverge and constitute models of inculturation.
Inculturation is not, as was already mentioned, in principle new to
Christianity. “With regard to inculturation theology, the history of
Christianity is full of milestones of inculturation ... The Council of
Jerusalem affords us the first example of such milestones ... At Athens
Paul carried the cause (sic) of inculturation much further than what
was achieved in Jerusalem; ... (Acts 17:16-34).”27
Inculturation in the early church continued even as the Christian faith
extended into Europe from the Mediterranean region and burgeoned in
Europe which in turn mixed with the Christian faith and shaped its
expression. On the other hand the Christian message and ideals
equally influenced the European culture.
Inculturation as an element of the Christian faith dates as far back as
the time of Jesus himself before it left the Jewish culture. At this time
the method was more one of challenge and confrontation. Jesus’
disposition towards the Jewish messianism, which laid emphasis on an
earthly kingdom, is a case in point. He made no compromise with the
Pharisees in their external observances and on their attitude of
26
Ibid.
27
J. Ukpong, 504.
segregation and discrimination against the “sinners” and the

publicans.28 The history of Christianity shows that the inculturation
current ran through a recognisable or consistent practice of the church
till its interruption in post-Reformation missionary activity as christian
faith became European and reached other parts of the world through
the Europeans.
Inculturation is also new. The new aspect of inculturation comes from
its methods and goals, and the new dynamic definitions of culture. It is
clear that the exigencies of culture and the demands of the gospel are
always two sides of the scale. Changes on any side always call for a
corresponding adjustment on the other. As regards culture, it must be
realised that culture is dynamic and “every culture possesses sets of
values and ideals’, intangible elements, all which are specific to it and
make one culture different from another.”29 This is then a point that
contributes something new to inculturation. Such a set of values and
ideals found in the various epochs and cultures forms new
constellations in inculturation when it comes in contact with christian
message.
Still on the subject of culture, the last century witnessed the
introduction of a pluralistic concept of culture in contrast to the
classicist monolithic concept. Culture then was defined more in terms
of the differences in lieu of presenting one society as a paradigm. In
other words, there has been a move from an “idealistic-inductive”
definition to an “enumerative-deductive” definition of culture. The
social sciences now look upon societies as “autonomous entities in the
process of change.” This is in contrast to the early view in which
societies were seen as dependent entities that were expected to
develop themselves according to a set pattern.30
The theological developments must be given attention as a
contributing factor in the novelty of inculturation. “The first of these
developments is the theological renaissance that had started a brew on
the international theological scene early in the present century. … (it
came) to the fore in the post-Vatican II period ... Another aspect of
this movement is theological pluralism”31 which is a logical
28
Ibid.
29
Ibid., 511.
30
Ibid.
31
Ibid., 507f.
134 Chapter Three
consequence of modern theology with different human situations. This

pluralism is obvious by virtue of the plurality of human life
experience.
Another development is the theology of the second Vatican Council
that there was something really new in inculturation. So, in a sense, it
may not be correct to hold that “inculturation ... is a new vision of an
old problem ... or a new approach to a solution of an old problem or
still a new interpretation of an old solution of the Church and culture
encounter.”32 The modern aspect of inculturation can also be seen in
the fact that it is a result of the awareness of the need for the modern
world and the Church to meet each other in dialogue. It is a movement
towards a creative and dynamic relationship between the Christian
message and the different cultures of the world. This is a relationship
in which the Christian message not only comes to express itself within
a particular culture, but is equally expected to be the normative,
animating and unifying principle which transforms and re-creates such
a culture. Though it is not proposed that inculturation is so new as to
be called an ecclesial Copernican revolution, it may not be fair to
present inculturation as just a carbon copy of already formulated
answers the only difference being only in how it is newly labelled.
The Concept of Inculturation

One of the central differences between inculturation and adaptation is
that where the former was “static” the latter strives for structural
changes. Inculturation, among other things reviews and rearranges the
„newly received structure” to make it suitable for the structure of the
respective indigenous mode of cultural expression. Inculturation
shows more dynamism in its way of dealing with cultures.
Inculturation maintains that the word of God, the gospel or the
revealed message of God, must adapt itself to different cultures,
naturalising among them in the image of the Prologue of St. John’s
Gospel – “and the Word took flesh and dwelt amongst us” (Joh 1:14)
This incarnation approach presupposes the ability of the word of God
to be at home in every culture.33
32
O. A. Onwubiko, 1.
33
M. Mńteba, 94.
A closer look at what or how the concept of inculturation is to be

understood shows that it depends primarily on whether inculturation is
seen as an “analytical” category for the description of cultural contacts
or as a “normative” idea, meaning a leading idea or a principle for the
action of culturally foreign agents. Seen as an “analytic” category for
the description of contacts between cultures, inculturation would then
occupy itself more with abstract and non-personal aspects of such
encounters. It would emphasise the process and result of the
continuous encounter between the features of the interacting cultures.
This may be viewed as acculturation and has much to do with “static”
adaptation.
As a normative idea for the actions of those involved, inculturation is
in a position to animate, direct and innovate the particular cultures in
questions. It transforms these cultures, entailing more than a simple
“static” external or superficial adaptation. This is an intimate
“dynamic” transformation of these cultures through their encounter
with the Christian message. A close look shows that theological
thematisation of inculturation is primarily normative and questions or
examines the fundamental orientation of the activities of the Church in
relation to the situation whereby there is a growing together to one
world with the goal of avoiding cultural colonialism.34 Inculturation
entails, among other things, a creative and lively encounter between
the Message of Christ and the respective cultures of the world.
In terms of African inculturation theology, the movement “is
characterized by its (anticipated) ability to be creative and pose new
questions, and by its (anticipated) general departure from the format
of Western theology,”35 entailing a return to the original sources of
Christian expression, i.e. the Bible and tradition. Again it involves a
wholesome encounter of African traditional religion and culture with
the Christian message as opposed to a mere selection of themes
therefrom. This avoids the functionalisation and instrumentalisation of
the African culture. African culture is treated as a whole in itself. The
encounter is between the African culture and the original sources of
Christian faith. African traditional religion is even looked at for
insights of orientation and pattern in theologising. African traditional
religion, being a way of life rather than a collection of doctrines,
34
K. Hilpert. 17.
35
J. Ukpong, 516.
136 Chapter Three
makes it easier for the African inculturation theology to be more

practical-life-oriented in contrast to the cognitive-knowledge-oriented
Western theology.
Inculturation can then be understood as a process in which a culture –
in this case African culture – standing on its own basic cultural
patterns tries to make the gospel its own. That means that this culture
has an unprejudiced encounter with the gospel. This approach makes
it easier to achieve a real evangelisation, which is an encounter
between a particular culture and the gospel.36 The central task of
theologians consists in rethinking and re-expressing the Christian
message in terms of the African cultural milieu (and heritage). The
task basically involves creating a confrontation between the Christian
faith and African culture in such a way that faith enlightens culture
and in the process there results the interpretation and integration of
both.37 This means that the basis of revelation as found in scripture
and tradition will be critically reflected upon for the purpose of giving
the contents of this revelation an African cultural expression. A new
theological reflection that is African and Christian will result.
The concept of inculturation as seen above corrects some of the
deficiencies of the adaptation approach. The inculturation approach
has no element of missionary paternalism. African culture is
recognised fully, not only when it has something which, according to
the judgement of Western theology, can be fixed into the Western
Christianity. It is recognised for its own sake, on its own worth, for its
thought patterns, religiosity, liveliness and ability to master the future.
It is no longer an issue of ascribing a didactic value to African culture
depending on its usefulness as a container of Western theology. The
situation is not that of taking over of „nonessential” i.e. African
culture while an “essential” Western theology is not adapted but
simply imported.
Unlike the adaptation approach which is a one-way theology, the
inculturation approach shows much of bilateral orientation in its
proposals and leaves much room for exchange between the two sides,
hence presupposing transformation on both sides. This approach does
36
L. Boff, Gott kommt früher als der Missionar: Neuevangelisierung für eine Kultur
des Lebens und der Freiheit. (Aus dem Portugiesisch übersetzt von H. Goldstein.)
(Düsseldorf: Patmos Verlag, 1992) , 27.
37
Ukpong, 516.
not engender the passivity of the inhabitants of a particular culture.

This can be understood from the point of view that inculturation,
according to Roest Crollius
is the integration of the christian experience... into
the culture ..., in such a way that … this
experience not only expresses itself in elements of
this culture, but becomes a force that animates,
orients and innovates this culture so as to create a
new unity and communion, not only with the
culture in question but also as an enrichment of the
church universal.38
In Crollius’ view, some specific elements that make inculturation
necessary are highlighted. Inculturation is conceived as an animating,
guiding and innovative force or movement within a culture. It is not a
one-sided affair, for it is a positive advantage or enrichment of the
universal Church. The role of the Message of Christ as “yeast” or
catalyst is central here.
Models of Inculturation
Etymologically, the central concept in the word inculturation is –
culture. There is a diversity of cultures. This means that general
statements about inculturation are usually made only with the
application of the abstract notion of culture. At the practical level
differences abound between various cultures. Inculturation in our
context is a theological enterprise. Theology as the human reflection
on God presupposes two aspects – the divine and the human. As for
our human reflection on God, we do this from a cultural point of view.
Since there is a diversity of cultures, it follows then that there should
be diversity of forms of reflection on God.
Inculturation as representing the encounter between a culture and the
gospel has of necessity the disposition for a variety of models. This
can be traced to the diversity of cultures. Each culture with all its
unique characters is bound to have its peculiar encounter with the
gospel. Even the same culture can have various encounters with the
gospel. This is because culture is a dynamic entity. Hence changes
38
R. Crollius quoted in O. A. Onwubiko, 5.
138 Chapter Three
abound in a culture and these changes make it then imperative for a

culture to be in a dynamic process of encounter with the gospel.
Another point that shows the obvious presence of models of
inculturation is that divine revelation has not been understood fully
and finally by human beings. There is an on-going process of
understanding the divine revelation. This means the nature of the
encounter between the various cultures and the divine revelation as it
is contained in the gospel depends also on the degree of the
understanding of this divine revelation.
Another reason for the existence of models of inculturation is that the
general consensus which characterises the description of inculturation
disappears once it comes to the issue of the aims and the methods of
inculturation. There is agreement as regards the wish to inculturate the
Christian message. This evaporates immediately when discussions
arise on the corresponding reflections on and consideration of the
different paradigms.
These differences can be explained from the fact that the point of
departure on one side (Christianity with all its traditions) and on the
other side (the commitment of the individuals in their respective
cultural environment to their cultures and life circumstances,
especially the commitment to cultural identity) should as a matter of
necessity allow for different accents or emphases. These models are
testimonies to how strong and persistent such emphases can be. This is
even more evident in different cultural groups from almost the same
cultural area (e.g. the difference in the African cultures) where
Christianity is still relatively new as well as in such cultures where it
has been for years.39 The models of inculturation to be treated here
include inculturation as incarnation; conversion; reassimilation;
transmission; interaction; process and then as dialogue. In all these
models it is obvious that inculturation incorporates various and
diverse spheres.
The differences shown by these models point to the fact that these
must be differentiated, while the similarities between the models
confirm that these spheres treated by inculturation are to some point
interrelated. “Nevertheless, in the multiplicity of the approaches ...,
the fundamental and always valid principle is that inculturation is the
39
K. Hilpert, 17.
incarnation of the Christian Message and life in a concrete cultural

area, in such a manner that experience not only comes to express itself
with the proper elements of the culture in question ..., but that it is
converted into the animating, normative and unifying principle which
transforms and recreates that culture. Here mention is already made of
inculturation as “the incarnation of the Christian Message”.40 Hence
this will be the first model of inculturation to be treated.
Inculturation as Incarnation
For the proponents of this model, inculturation is based on the
principle of incarnation. The “Word of God” or the gospel or the
message of the divine revelation must adapt to the different cultures. It
must naturalise in these cultures. St. John’s presentation of the
incarnation in the prologue of his gospel – “the word took flesh and
dwelt amongst us” – is a central picture of this model. “Jesus was born
into a culture. He lived that culture and used it to announce His
message of salvation ... His mission to culture and through culture is
summed up by the fact that He came not to abolish the law and the
prophets but to perfect them (Mt 5:17)”.41
In the Jewish culture the Law and the Prophets are the central pillars.
Jesus’ actions towards the perfection of these pillars of the Jewish
culture and their application are a picture for this model of
inculturation expresses the intent of this model. Culture makes it
possible for the gospel to incarnate in basic cultural patterns available
in the culture. It is a process of acquisition, with all the limitations
which incarnation brings along with it.
The proponents of this model believe that it is only within the frame
of culture, irrespective of the accompanying limitations, that the
gospel will become concrete. The limitations of culture come from its
nature as a product of human beings within time and space. As regards
its temporal nature, a culture cannot offer everything that is required
for the total understanding of the Message of Christ. This message
transcends all cultures. It is not one culture alone within a particular
space and time that can meet all the demands and challenges of the
40
O. A. Onwubiko, 4.
41
Ibid., 72.
140 Chapter Three
Message of Christ. One should think of the whole of human culture.

But not even the totality of human culture will be adequate. It is after
all, a product of finite human beings. This product, even if it is argued
that it encompasses all the facets of human existence, does not suffice.
This is because it is then time- and space-bound.
Though God’s plan of salvation which is the central content of the
Message of Christ is to be lived within time and space, it is still
beyond time and space. This plan is “already present” here on earth,
still it is “yet to be fully present” i.e. it is yet to be fully actualised in
the lives of the human beings. Some parts of this plan extend beyond
the present human earthly existence. It is unfolding itself in an on-
going process.
In the view of proponents of this model every culture is in a way self-
contained or a concrete universal. Each has its own complete system
of values and meaning.42 It must be pointed out the “incarnational
terminology” and the analogy being suggested is especially that exact.
The notion here is not totally and sufficiently spelt out.
Inculturation as Conversion
This model holds that it is the “christian faith which should be
‘inculturated’ so that the particular culture in question is transformed
through the yeast of the gospel. This culture will be newly given birth
to through the Christian faith and tradition. This implies that
inculturation presupposes conversion to Christianity.
With reference to Africa, the main statements of Christianity must be
transferred into the African milieu and given an African face. The
second phase in this process is that of explanation. It foresees a mental
and internal purification of the African cultures in the light of
revelation. Here is presupposed that Christianity does not destroy
cultures. It rather brings the light of revelation to a culture and
uncovers the ambiguities and deviations within it.
There are certain assumptions of this model which must be critically
examined. Is there the certainty that the implantation of the Christian
world of symbols will bring about the synthesis between Christianity
42
L. Boff, 59.
and the culture concerned and the expected results? Can it be taken as
guaranteed that the light of revelation in these cultures (example
Western culture) will actually enlighten the cultures in which efforts
“to christianise“ have been and are still being made? This question is
important, for it can be seen that after so many years of encounter with
the Christian faith one cannot claim that these already “christianised”
can reflect wholesomely and impeccably this light of the revelation.
Some of the practices within these cultures often even contradict the
Christian law of love. What will it then bring to other cultures like the
African ones when they are exposed to such external cultural
influences, according to this model, without the strong will to
conversion? Which form of Christianity should then be seen by the
Africans as the right one, which will receive indigenous expression?43
This model raises the impression that divine revelation is only found
in a particular form of faith – Christian faith. Without denying the
uniqueness of Christian faith, it must be mentioned that talking of the
purification of African culture implies a great deal. One of the
implications is that African cultures have never had experience of the
divine. In considering how the Africans came about their deities and
their experience of the divine, it is likely that any explanation will be
correct as long as no reference is made to revelation. By talking of
“purification” in reference to African culture, one could be implying
that African culture is contaminated through and through. But what of
an already enlightened and purified culture? This will help us to see
what difference there is between such already enlightened and purified
cultures and the not-yet-enlightened and still contaminated cultures –
in this case, African cultures.
Furthermore, the definition of revelation in this model is something
that deserves explanation, because the way it is used here raises many
questions. Moreover this way of using the concept of divine revelation
creates the impression that there is only one form of divine revelation.
The model presents divine revelation as if to say it is only its own
understanding of divine revelation that is valid.
Inculturation as Reassimilation
43
M. Mńteba, 94f.
142 Chapter Three
This model advocates a “creative acceptance” or a “critical

reassimilation” of the basics and the works of the founder – Jesus
Christ, which Christianity has brought forward. This is in order that
the subsequent expression of Christian faith is the result of the
synthesis of the existential predicament of the citizens of a culture –
Africans – with the power of the gospel and risen Christ.44
An eminent African proponent of this model is Eboussi Boulaga. In
his view, as long as Christianity is not reassimilated by the Africans
from their own concrete situation, it will never be credible and will
remain unadapted. He understands this concept of “reassimilation” as
the memory of Jesus Christ, and the basics – the institutionalising
activities of Christianity. This happens through the construction of a
system in Africa’s own contexts and languages. He explained the
terms “basics” and “original” as that which has always been aided by
the Christian experience, that to which it has been making reference –
that is, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ here is referred to as the “figure or
frame of fulfilled/actualised/accomplished humanness or human
nature” which is open to all and valid for every existential
predicament. The inculturation effort should, according to E. Boulaga,
consist of this continuous striving towards a reassimilation of the
event of Jesus Christ by the Christians against the background of the
socio-cultural environment.
To be Christian, for E. Boulaga, does not mean principally consent to
a credo or a tradition that is presented as a life style. Being Christian
means to live the “Christic model” consistently and authentically. This
means the power of the resurrection is experienced in one’s own being
(Sein) and existence (Dasein): one asks oneself how Christianity
makes possible the expression of being human in one’s own
existential predicament. This includes the situation whereby selfish
forces and arbitrary tendencies are kept under control and the law of
love reigns.45
In this “guideline to conversion” which E. Boulaga presented – the
transition from the contemplation of Christ’s example to its full
actualisation – he leaves little or no room for spontaneous enthusiasm
for the faith and unconditional yes to the dogmatic statements. His
44
Ibid., 94.
45
Ibid. 97.
christology in this “christic model” raises many questions. These

include among others: is the Christ of his “christic model” the same as
the incarnate word or Jesus Christ of the Christian tradition?46 For in
his christic model, E. Boulaga maintains that Jesus’ being first the son
of the mother and hence the son of a human being comes before his
being son of the father or son of God. Could this not be seen, at least
to some extent, as a strong shift of emphasis away from the Godhead
or divinity of Jesus? Can it still be maintained that this Jesus of his
christic model is the same as the word incarnate and Lord Jesus
Christ? Though his christic model has taken into consideration the
human existential predicaments, the christology remains a problem.
Inculturation as Transmission
This model presupposes the existence of a piece of genuine Christian
faith which remains free or “uncontaminated” by the elements of the
cultures with which the Christian message has come in contact since
the beginning of the history of the Christian faith. Inculturation means
then that this nucleus of the Christian faith, which has grown into the
cultures with which the Christian message came into contact, should
be filtered out and be brought into the new culture that is encountering
the Christian message. The central point is the transmission of the
“essential” elements of the Christian message which should have been
distilled out through a process of reduction (Reduktionsprozeß).
In this model the “inculturising transfer” should be promoted and
actualised by leaving mission and proclamation of the gospel in the
hands of the indigenous agents, including indigenous clerics as well as
laity. One can also think of other important cultural and traditional
personalities – especially corporate ones – in the particular culture.
Even when such personalities may not taken active part in the mission,
their repertoire of knowledge of the particular culture can be of
immense advantage. Regional customs are to be tolerated, but not in
lieu of collective ecclesiastically – introduced rites or as substitutes for
laid-down defined texts. The respective cultures are reflected in the
cathechetics where inculturation is seen as a programme for
proclamation, teaching and pastoral ministry. The decisive
transforming forces or agents between Christianity and the respective
46
Ibid.
144 Chapter Three
cultural patterns of life or society are the organised communities of

the faithful, their agents, religious message and social practices.47
It could be argued that the Christian message has mixed with cultures
right from the onset and that a view that still speaks of a
“supracultural nucleus” of the Christian message is unrealistic,
because the Christian message has undergone several cultural
transformation processes. But this should not lead to our ignoring the
fact that the “Message of Christ”, though found in cultures that have
encountered this Message is beyond all cultures. In its encounter with
cultures it remains always identifiable in these cultures without being
identified with these cultures. This means that the “Message of Christ”
can still be extracted from these cultures in which it is identifiable
without having to take up these cultures as essential elements of the
Christian message.
The concept of transfer as presented by this model neglects the
possibility of reception. Proponents of inculturation cannot afford to
deny the fact that the Christian message should serve some elements
of human culture and varied cultures. The gospel (like salt or yeast)
and evangelisation are capable of permeating cultures without having
to submit themselves to these cultures. The cultures will be
transformed internally through their encounter with the “Message of
Christ“. Any form of coercion or simple “translation” of the christian
message into foreign cultural cloak will be counterproductive.
The identity of the indigenous agents (in case of Africa – Africans)
who should promote and actualise this inculturation, as suggested by
this model, deserves closer attention. Firstly, it need not be indigenous
agents, many of whom are alienated from their own cultures and are
even more foreign than foreigners. Some lack adequate knowledge
and experience of their very own culture. So being a native of a
culture is not everything; some “foreigners” have done really
marvellous work in the era of inculturation. The Pentecost incident
where the audience asked “Are not all these who are speaking
Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native
language?” (Acts 2:7-8) can be an example of how effectively
“foreigner” can get across the “Message of Christ”, and not even in
the sense of translation. It must equally be said that knowledge and
47
K. Hilpert, 18.
experience of the culture in question is very important. St. Paul in his

missionary activities showed how important this point was and how
fruitful it could be when used effectively. Paul rightly at Athens
identified the unknown God of the Athenians with the true God whom
he preached? Additionally Paul preached to the Athenians in
philosophical terms they understood (Acts 17:16-34).
Another important point is the question of what theory or theology of
mission is in play. As is evident, the theology of this model is very
close to that of the adaptation model. Other cultures are just
instrumentalised, functionalised and their cultural values are
recognised as only “praeparatio evangelii”. The suggestion of the
active role of indigenous agents seems to have a central function, but
it appears that they have only to continue the old practices of the
foreign agents, who were confronted with opposition from the
indigenous population. How else could the picture presented by the
concept of “transfer” or “transmission” be understood? All is but a
one way movement with little or no room for a real encounter between
the various cultures and the “nucleus” of the Christian message. The
indigenous elements would then serve only as conduit for the contents
of the one-directional movement.
Inculturation as Interaction
In as much as this model tries to avoid the mistakes of the
„inculturation as transmission”- model, the two are very close to one
another. It contrasts with the immediately previous one which
emphasized the transcription of traditional content by stressing
primarily the mode of operation. The process of inculturation should
take place in such a way that the identity of the culture in which
Christianity is being implanted is not adversely affected. This
demands a great amount of openness and readiness to endure or
tolerate not only ambiguities but also contrasts. Equally important is
the ability to carry out the necessary and meaningful reformations.
The responsibility of the local or central church authorities to preserve
unity and their readiness to intervene where it is felt that this unity is
threatened has to be exercised now with due and adequate
consideration of the needs of the indigenous peoples. Emphasis is now
shifted from the idea of transfer of symbols, rites and texts, as
represented by the immediately previous model, to the guiding
146 Chapter Three
principle of interaction between the Christian message and the new

culture which it is encountering. It is foreseen that something new will
emerge through the dynamic interaction.
The locus of this interaction is an indigenous theology. It is
indispensable for its authenticity to see that it is neither cut off from
its cultural context nor forfeit the traditional theology of Christianity
in this institutional regulation and in its nearness to the majority of the
population. In a sense this model has to strive for balance between the
needs of the local church existing in a particular culture and the
traditional theology of the Christian faith as approved and taught by
the official Church. The goals of inculturation as interaction can be
seen in the different versions of liberation theology. The salvation
aspects of the Christian message are interpreted from the background
of the collective experience of injustice, oppression, discrimination
and the necessity for structural reforms even in the church.
A weak point of this model is the reliance on a theoretical instrument
for its analysis of the society. This makes it susceptible to attacks.
This theoretical instrument can be found neither in the traditional
theology nor in the indigenous culture. Furthermore, the openness for
new cultural contexts can hardly withstand an adulteration by or
mobilisation through ideologies, fundamentalist movements or
regressive interests.48 Irrespective of its efforts to avoid some of the
deficits of the transmission model, this model still has deficits due to
their similarities.
Inculturation as Process
This model does not consider inculturation as a fixed or rigid method
or a goal or aim to be striven for. Inculturation is seen rather as a
process that takes place on many different levels. Different degrees of
intensity can exist simultaneously. Basically, this processual model
includes the other models as stages, while the others have some
aspects of this model.
The first stage in this processual model is giving the life and faith of
the Christian community expression in the language and usual forms
of the culture of the community. This is characterised by self-
48
Ibid., 19f.
consciousness and a reflection of one’s own cultural tradition removed

from European elements. It continues until the doctrines taught and its
experience begins to develop its own dynamisms in form of conflicts,
regeneration, or innovation in the culture. The teachings and
experiences begin to put impressive emphasis on the culture or to
receive impulses from it so that something new originates.
The third stage comes when the church or ecclesial practical and
theological thought and reflection covered with the socio-cultural and
political reality in such a way that a new form of christian life and
thought succeeds in understanding and asserting itself as an extension
and enrichment of the whole church. At this stage a bilateral
penetration or interpenetration occurs.
From this it is clear that inculturation is neither a step by step
occurrence nor an isolated procedure, but presupposing it is not be
hindered or disturbed it is a process that continues indefinitely,
everywhere that the church meets a new cultural development.
Through the introduction of stages, one can examine the extent of the
development, which helps to avoid frustration and hopelessness
should the anticipated success not come as quickly as expected.
All these notwithstanding, one of the problems of this model lies in
the fact that it is not clearly demonstrated whether the process of
qualitative intensification continues automatically or needs some
direction and if so how far can this extrinsic force go and should it
come – from outside i.e. universal church, or from the self developing
local church? The question of whether the past inculturation practices
of the church can serve as a model has to be answered. In some of the
cultures where this model could be realised as in Asia and Africa, a
christian is confronted with cultures intrinsically interwoven with the
religion of the people, unlike the Western thought system where the
separation between culture and religion is clearer and easily made.49
This means that the agents in this process are very important to direct
and articulate the process. Whether they should be external foreign
agents or indigenous ones has to be defined.
49
Ibid., 20f.
Chapter Four
Inculturation as Dialogue with the Message of

Christ
4.1 Introduction
In almost all the models of inculturation presented above an element

of dialogue can be found, in some more evident than in the others. In
some it is presupposed, but ends up in anything but dialogue. In this
work, inculturation as dialogue is chosen as the appropriate model of
inculturation. This model addresses itself to the issue of inculturation
like any other. Its main point of emphasis is to show that the active
and fully-fledged participation of those who are concerned is the way
through which the noble objectives of the inculturation movement can
be achieved.
The concept of inculturation indicates the following: that which is to
be inculturated, that into which it is to be inculturated, and in the case
of Africa in relation to the official church that into which has been and
is still being inculturated. That which is to be inculturated is the
„Message of Christ”, that into which it is to be inculturate is the
African culture, while that which has been and still is being
inculturated is the official church.
In explanation of the later concept, in referring to the official Church
we mean the history and tradition of the Church, both of which testify
to the fact that inculturation is not new to the Church. Hence we refer
to the expression “Christian message” as being the result of the
several inculturations between the gospel and the various cultures it
Inculturation as Dialogue with the Message of Christ 149
encountered before it came to Africa in the package of these cultural

elements. We need to recall such central points as the encounter with
Jewish culture, Roman, Greek and later European cultures. In the
encounter with the gospel all these together constitute the bulk of what
is referred to as the Christian message or tradition.
A conscious demarcation is made between the use of the two terms:
“Message of Christ” and “Christian message”. The former refers to
the message of salvation as brought personally by Jesus Christ and
revealed by, through and in his person, life, works and actions, death
and resurrection. The later concept is used to mean the result of the
encounter between the “Message of Christ” and the respective cultures
it met before being introduced into Africa. This is found in the body of
what we know today as the church’s tradition.
There are three main parties in the dialogue as foreseen by this model
the Message of Christ, the Africans and their cultures, and the official
church. Africa has a special assignment in this dialogue. Firstly, her
position is that of the party who has to talk with the two other parties,
but no matter with which partner, the dialogue must have a “di-
logical” essence.
The “di-logical essence of the dialogue is constituted differently
depending on which partner Africa is talking with. As regards the
official church – “that into which has been and is still being
inculturated” two kinds of logic are involved one is the “logic of
tradition” that is of the official church based on her age-long
experience. The other is the logic of the African culture as a culture
that has had experience of the divine in its own way. Thus it can be
described as the logic of culture with its own experience of the
inculturation of the divine message or revelation. Between the two –
the Church and Africa – there exists the opportunity for encounter in
the form of “a di-logical dialogue” at the horizontal level. Both are
human parties with their respective experiences of the divine.
This facet of the dialogue between Africa and the “Message of Christ”
also has its „di-logical” characteristics. These are founded in the fact
that here we have a difference between “that into which is to be
inculturated” and “that which is to be inculturated.” The “Christo-
divine“ logic which is to come in contact or encounter with the “Afro-
divine” logic consists of the divine logic as manifested in Christ as
one aspect of the uniqueness of the event of Christ. It is the divine
150 Chapter Four
logic which from the beginning has always posed problems for all the
people or races who had the privilege of engaging it. The Old
Testament history starting from Abraham, who could not understand
the divine logic behind God promising an elderly childless man that
he is going to be the father of a nation is full of examples. The same
logic revealed to Mary a virgin; that she would conceive without
knowing a man and bear the child, Emmanuel.
The Christo-divine logic is the logic which the letter to the Hebrews
presented in Chapter 1 Verse 1-5. It is the logic of the Incarnation –
the divine becoming human. This is the logic that formed the basis of
the life and actions of Jesus Christ. It can be seen as that which Jesus
often referred to as the “will of the Father.” This logic could not easily
be understood by the people around Jesus, even his very own
disciples. It still runs through the life of the Christians and Christian
community.
This logic has always been and will remain a challenge to all
confronted with it. Of this logic St. Paul said “the message about the
cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are
being saved it is the power of God. ... Has not God made foolish the
wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the World did
not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness
or our proclamation, to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-
21). After this general presentation of divine logic, St. Paul
approached the “Christo-divine” logic thus; “For Jews demand sings
and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a
stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who
are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the
wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom,
and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” (1 Corinthians
1:22-25). It is this logic that can explain many things about the truth of
the Message of Christ.
In this di-logical facet, Africa is not bereft of experience of the divine
logic. Its experience of divine logic and its encounter with “Christo-
divine” logic could aptly be presented by the passage from the letter to
the Hebrews; “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many ways by
the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by the son ...”
(Heb. 1:1-2). The Afro-divine logic is the result of the Africa’s
encounter with the divine. Here the missionary activities can be seen
as one of the means through which God has tried to speak to Africa. In
inculturation one can see the chance for Africa to be spoken to by the
Son himself as part of its “di-logical” nature. This involvement of
Africans and the Message of Christ has a horizontal-vertical
dimension i. e. human as horizontal and the divine as vertical.
The emphasis on the “Message of Christ” is raising the impression
that this message exists outside a culture in the form of a cultureless
abstraction which can easily be inculturated and generates other
problems. Emphasis on the “Message of Christ” is often criticised
because it stresses the separation of the gospel from its cultural
backgrounds. Critics ask if it is possible to separate or distil out the
Message of Christ from the Mediterranean and Western cultural
influences that have affected it. Is it still possible to stand outside the
dogmas and doctrine, after almost two thousand years and get at the
“Semitic original” version of the message? To some critics this is like
peeling an onion and never finding the core.1
As interesting as this idea may appear, one has to ask if it is at all right
to compare the Christian faith with an onion that has no core. A
pertinent question here is, what role do these critics assign Jesus
Christ in this onion-metaphor? This question is posed because it is
clear that Jesus Christ is the nucleus or in the language of botany, the
core. The incident of incarnation demonstrates vividly that Jesus is a
concrete person: His being, His activities and everything about Him is
the nucleus or the seed of Christian faith. He Himself is the Good
News – the Message. Hence the “Message of Christ” of which we talk
is identical with Jesus himself.
Paradoxically, the onion-metaphor does not reflect the fact that not
every fruit is like an onion and Jesus` own comparisons of himself
have many botanical symbolic references such as the vine or the
sower i.e. referring to the “seeds”. His comparison with mustard seed
is equally vivid.
The difference between the onion-metaphor and the history of
Christianity in its doctrinal development is like the (ontological)
difference between the growth of a plant and the body or Church,
which understands itself as “Corpus mysticum”. Hence the onion-
metaphor reflects aptly the way in which Christianity built itself up,
1
M. Mńteba, 100.
152 Chapter Four
through the deposition and superimposition of successive layers of

traditions, which means through continuous “inculturation”.2
This metaphor may not have been an objection here. Jesus Christ and
the Message of Christ have always been identified in cultures with
which they have come in contact, but they have never identified with
such cultures in relation to which they have always remained as
correctives. The “... to you it was said, but I say to you” statements of
the Sermon on the Mount serve as an example. The truth of
incarnation is a clear example of how this relationship is to be
understood: Christ is truly human and equally truly divine; his divine
and human natures are not separated, yet not mixed. Hence the onion
metaphor cannot hold for Christ as the core of the Christian faith
which is based on the Message of Christ as embeded in and by Christ
himself.
The fact is that although the Message of Christ cannot be lived outside
a cultural form of expression, it still does not identify itself with
cultures, but rather identifies itself in cultures. This is the case be it the
Semitic cultural world of Jesus, that of Hellenism or the first century
of Christianity, the Graeco-Roman and the Germanic epochs.3
In Christianity, it is evident that historical currents were distinguished
by the role of Message of Christ as that which did not identify itself
with, but only in, a culture. It stood often as a challenge to the
elements of the several cultural milieus. “Jesus challenged Jewish
messianism (for example), which laid emphasis on an earthly
kingdom; would he make any compromise with the Pharisees on an
earthly kingdom. He made no compromise with the Pharisees in their
external observances and on their attitude of segregation and
discrimination against the sinners and the publicans.”4
Furthermore, the same trend continued long after the time of Christ.
The disciples who were direct witnesses continued it. But it did not
stop with them, for
as Christianity moved from the Mediterranean
region to Europe and flourished there for so many
2
Ibid.
3
L. Boff, 52.
4
J. Ukpong, 504.
centuries, European culture in no small measure

shaped Christian expression and Christian ideals
and in turn influenced European mentality outlook
and culture. ... When Christianity reached Europe,
it set up a stiff opposition to paganism. This was a
testimony to and an expression of its capacity to
challenge the cultural milieu.5
All these incidents show how wrong it is to describe the image with
the onion-metaphor, whereby the Message of Christ is seen as having
identified itself with the earlier culture which it encountered, leaving
the impression that the only possibility left for inculturation is to take
up everything – the content and container. It cannot be, for the
Message of Christ is beyond every culture and epoch and could be
inculturated without one necessarily taking the earlier cultures. It is
not culture and time bound; it identifies itself in cultures and epochs,
but not with any of them.
4.2 Africa’s Partners in Inculturation as Dialogue
4.2.1 Africa in Dialogue with itself
It is only a human being who can say “I” to him/herself, that can say
“You” to the other. Dialogue with oneself is an important prerequisite
for dialogue with others. In a sense, dialogue presupposes self-
knowledge. This self-knowledge is necessary for it leads to a self-
image, which dare not be conceited, inflated or deflated.
Africa needs to know herself in order to engage in a meaningful
dialogue with partners in the process of inculturation. This is an
honest self appraisal that will help Africans know who they really are
not who they think they are or wish to be, or who they are told that
they are. This knowledge should be coupled with an acceptance of
who they are. Africans must then develop the courage to be who they
are. This courage implies the courage both to be a part of the larger
Christian and world community and to stand alone as Africans. In a
sense, it is the courage to be which is rooted in the true African self,
5
Ibid., 504f.
154 Chapter Four
which will appear when the false African self has disappeared as a
result of an honest and critical self-appraisal.
The above step is imperative. “When we talk about ‘We Africans’ we
must be clear about who the subjects are. Contemporary Africans are
in many ways different from their pre-colonial ancestors. Our
experience of slavery, colonialism and missionary activity both
Christian and Moslem in many ways have made us Africans in a
different key. Those influences have affected such transformations in
our self-understanding and life-style ... Our exposure to other
influences have (sic) made of us cultural hybrids.”6 The Africans of
today are the result of different cultural heritages. An effective
dialogue will be easier if Africans can handle these heritages with
openness, objectivity, maturity and creativity.
The African Christians have not yet succeeded in being critical
enough of themselves. The idea of inculturation shows, among other
things, that a part of the movement is the culture into which the
Message of Christ is to inculturate; this ground must be thoroughly
examined. There are questions calling for answers which can be
provided only through Africa’s honest and critical self-appraisal.7
Another aspect of this need of self knowledge is that it will help
Africa know what she really needs and wants. The episode of the
blind man in Jericho (Luke 18:31-43) is a good example for Africa.
The blind man knew himself and also knew what he was lacking. That
is why he reacted as he heard that it was Jesus Christ who was passing
by. In relation to his predicament he knew that Jesus was the only
person who could give him what he needed; he could distinguish
between his needs and wants. Ordinary people took care of his wants
through almsgiving. As he saw the chance of fulfilling his need for
sight, he showed courage in accepting being blind. Hence, when
others sternly ordered him to be quiet, he shouted even more loudly.
Through his self-knowledge, this blind man was courageous to be a
part of a larger whole. But based on this knowledge, he showed also
the courage to stand alone – as blind. When Jesus asked him, “what do
6
L. N. Mbefo, 24f.
7
K.J.K. Tossou, „Chance und Schwierigkeiten der Inkulturation in Afrika.“ in:
Theologisch-Praktische Quartalschrift 139 (1991), 51ff.
you want me to do for you” (Luke 18:41) he was able to give a

suitable answer.
It is then only through self-knowledge and the courage to be African,
that Africa can encounter the Message of Christ. Without this self-
knowledge Africa will end up behaving like the cripple in John 5:2-9,
who, when asked by Jesus, in their encounter, if he wanted to be well,
missed the point. The cripple just started complaining of what others
did to him saying, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the
water is stirred up, and while I am making my way, someone else
steps down ahead of me.”8
4.2.2 Africa in dialogue with the Official Church
This is a second important partner for Africa in its efforts towards

inculturation. Opinions are usually divided as to the role the
“Western” church should play in Africa’s move towards inculturation.
For most of those who see inculturation as the “Africanisation” of the
Christian message the church has little or on role to play. This is
because the group argues for an independent African Christianity.
Some of the arguments against the church include the co-operation of
the missionaries with the colonialists.
On the other hand, those who support the onion-metaphor and similar
views believe the church is the only partner with whom Africa has to
engage in the dialogue – inculturation. They do not see a difference
between the Christian message as presented by the church and the
Message of Christ.
Africa should get into dialogue with the church. The church is a
partner on the basis of her role as “That into which has been and is
still being inculturated.” This dialogue should run on the horizontal
level. The importance of this encounter is that it will help to correct
the mistakes of the past where no chance was given to Africa to
present itself. Monologue was then the order of the day. It should
become dialogue, for this is the only possibility for a real encounter
between Africa and the church.
The church as “that into which has been inculturated” has experience
with inculturation. One can talk of „experience with inculturation”
8
John’s Gospel 5:7.
156 Chapter Four
because the long history and tradition of the church are products of the
encounter between the Message of Christ and different cultures. This
notwithstanding, dialogue is the encounter with the Message of Christ.
The Church can help Africa in this encounter. But the mere possession
of a long tradition dare not stand as justification for trying to subject
Africa to the perpetual tutelage of the Western church.
Other groups have had their own experience of the encounter with the
Message of Christ. Europe and the rest of the Western world had and
are still making their own experiences without having to be subjected
to the perpetual cultural domination of the earlier Mediterranean
cultures.
Africa cannot afford to do without this dialogue. What presently is
being practised and defended as the true Christian faith is strongly (if
not totally) coloured by Western cultures. The history of the perennial
experience of the church with the Message of Christ is a valuable
treasure. Only in an atmosphere of dialogue can the church profit
fully, not only from the richness of African culture, but also from
Africa’s own experience of the encounter with the Message of Christ
in a process of inculturation.
In order to be understood as the people of God, the Church has got to
enter into real dialogue, not only with Africa, but with other cultures.
She has to come to dialogue as to equal partner. The equality here is
principally distributive. It is a chance for the Church to prove that she
is the church not only of power hierarchies, but of the people of God.
Tradition is a valuable treasure, but the church should not forget that
her tradition and history also have negative sides. The victims of her
tradition and history, e.g. Africans, may be forced to go on the
defensive as some have done and are doing if there is no sign of a
humble and honest dialogue between the Church and Africa. This is
all the more necessary at this moment when Africa is moving towards
inculturation of the Message of Christ. In such a situation, tradition
might turn out to be the dead faith of the living, instead of being the
living faith of the dead.
4.2.3 Africa in Dialogue with Christ
The centrepiece of inculturation in Africa is the Message of Christ as

found in Jesus it is this “which is to be inculturated.” Christ is the
speaker in this dialogue; in a sense He is the content of what is being
addressed because His message is Himself; He addresses this message
through different possible organs at times He Himself constituting an
avenue to different peoples at different times.
This aspect of dialogue has the vertical-horizontal characteristic as a

dialogue between God and human begins. It is between unequal
partners. In our attempt to analyse this dialogue, it becomes evident
that “the Word” is the essence of this venture in dialogue; in this case
Jesus Christ is “the Word”.
The word is not just a tool which makes dialogue possible; more is
entailed. Within the word – Jesus Christ – there are many dimensions
including message, reflection and action. As true words are not
simultaneously praxis, dialogue with Christ transforms the addressee.
Africa must enter into dialogue with Jesus Christ and encounter his
Message. Dialogue of this nature is an existential necessity.
The question to be posed here is how can Africa come to the Message
of Christ? The answer lies in the New Testament. “In all respects the
New Testament is the document wherein there appears the picture of
Jesus as the Christ in its original and basic form. All other documents,
from the Apostolic Fathers to the writings of the present-day
theologians are dependent upon this original document.”9 However as
many and different books and epochs make up the New Testament,
the answer can still be found here and the various authors have
different approaches while treating the same theme, the New
Testament may not be the first place where Africa should try to
encounter the Message of Christ.
It dare not be forgotten that “in itself the New Testament is an integral
part of the event which it documents, it presents the receptive side of
that event and provides, as such, a witness to its factual side ..., one
9
P. Tillich, Systematic Theology: Existence and the Christ. Vol. 2. (Chicago: SCM
Press Ltd., 1978), 117.
158 Chapter Four
can say the New Testament as a whole is the basic document of the
event upon which the Christian faith rests.”10 The many differences
evident in the New Testament testify to the different forms of
encounter which these respective groups had with the Message of
Christ. This bears witness to the possibility of unity without
uniformity as regards the inculturation of the Message of Christ. In the
diversity of the encounter with, and the experience of the Message of
Christ, the New Testament indicates unity in the agreement of its
books with the assertion that Jesus is the Christ.
In a sense, African history, tradition, culture and religion can be taken
as the “African Old Testament.” Inculturation as dialogue, if
successfully actualised, will lead to what we call the “African New
Testament.” The other experiences of Africa could be seen as God
speaking to the Africans through their ancestors and in many ways
through the “prophets” (i.e. missionaries, the official Church).
Inculturation as dialogue with Christ can then be seen as the coming
of time in which God –will now speak to Africans through his son
Jesus Christ.
Through inculturation as dialogue one can anticipate the coming of the
“African New Testament”. Human existence in general has never been
silent, but has always been nourished by true words exchanged in real
dialogue. Human beings transform their world through dialogue, for to
exist in a human way, is to name the world and to change it.11
In the life of Christians Christ is the true Word which is not the
privileged possession of some few people or particular culture. Every
human being has the chance of transforming his/her world through
dialogue in which an encounter with this true word – Jesus Christ,
which dialogue is an existential necessity for every Christian. Because
of this, everybody should be supported in receiving the chance of
having this experience; none should try to have the experience on
behalf of the others. Those who have been deprived of their primordial
right to engage in this dialogue, should work to get it, make
continuous use of it and strive to prevent situations of its deprivation.
10
Ibid.
11
P. Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Translated by M Bergmann Ramos).
(England: Penguin Books, 1972), 60f.
Africans can be assured of Christ as their partner in dialogue. History

has proved the reliability of this partner. God is a God of love and is
love himself and from his essence as love God has already fulfilled a
necessary condition for dialogue. “Dialogue cannot exist ... in the
absence of a profound love for the world and for men. The naming of
the World, which is an act of creation and re-creation, is not possible
if it is not infused with love. Love is at the same time the foundation
of dialogue and dialogue itself ... love is an act of courage ... love is a
commitment --- And this commitment, because it is loving, is
dialogical.”12
We need only recall that the world was created out of love which now
characterises God’s relationship with the world: the whole of the Old
Testament is filled with evidence of God’s love. This same love is
presented by St. John in his first epistle: “God’s love was revealed
among us in this way that God sent his only Son into the world so that
we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9). God is the source of love
which must be seen as God’s initiative.
Africa needs to be humble in her dialogue with Christ. As
inculturation cannot be an act of arrogance. Without humility Africa
cannot be a partner in the encounter with the Message of Christ. The
“Christ-divine” logic which we mentioned earlier as a part of the “di-
logic” of this dialogue presents Africa with challenges.
4.3 Justification of Inculturation as Dialogue
4.3.1 The Factor of Biblical History
All engaged with the issue of inculturation, agree on its need but this
consensus closes once it comes to the issue of the goals and methods
of inculturation. Hence the different models of inculturation.
In Africa the issue of inculturation has developed into a central and
urgent challenge for the local churches in Africa, becoming even a
question of survival for them. It could be maintained that the future of
the church in Africa is at stake.
12
Ibid., 62.
160 Chapter Four
From the previous chapter, it is clear that the activities of the

missionaries in Africa were anything but dialogical: there has been no
dialogue between the Message of Christ and the African culture. This
lack of dialogue is a central cause of the problems of the Christianity
in Africa. Basically, religion is one of the greatest cultural
achievements of the human race. Throughout the ages, human beings
have always found answers, even to the most complex questions of
life. Every culture produces its own religion i.e. produces answers to
the questions of human beings in this culture. Such questions are
questions about meaning in and of human existence, etc.13
Culture is the sum total of the answers given to the questions of life.
Religiously, cultures are the answers which human beings give to the
questions of life based mainly on their community. Religions are
reactions to the “initial-action” of God, ways of receiving the divine
self-revelation on the part of the particular group in question. They are
channels through which God communicates His revelation to
humanity in different times, places and cultural milieu.14
The biblical account of the history of salvation as experienced by the
Jews confirms this. It shows in a very vivid way that dialogue is an
essential form of the divine self-revelation. The whole of the Old
Testament is filled with incidents of a real dialogical encounter
between God and his people. The individuals who were actively
involved in this dialogue – Abraham, Moses, Jacob, the prophets etc.
– were living testimonies of such encounters. They were always aware
of who they were; they could ask their partner to present himself; they
showed all their reactions, even doubts; and they asked questions to
which they got answers.
The same trend continued in the New Testament. Jesus Christ was in
constant dialogue with Jewish culture. His was a personal existential
dialogue with a people, their culture, religion and entire life. He was
identified in the Jewish culture without identifying himself with that
culture. He encountered the people at their respective levels and in
their respective situations. Doubt was not excluded in this version of
dialogue; even among his disciples he tolerated all the facets of
dialogue. They asked and were asked questions; gave and were given
13
L. Boff, 41.
14
Ibid., 41f.
answers. He rebuked and at times (e.g. from Peter) was rebuked, was
asked critical questions. Even to the last moment the principle of
dialogue characterised his life and encounter with the people.
This tradition of dialogue was continued by Christ’s disciples. The
history of Christianity in their time is filled with examples. The early
Church in Jerusalem and the Christian community were all organised
on this basis and practised dialogue not only among themselves, but
also with other peoples. “The council of Jerusalem affords us the
actual regulation arrived at the Council (Acts 15) as the basic attitude
of the apostles in approaching their first problem of inculturation of
Christianity.”15 The attitude of the apostles was that of understanding
and dialogue and accompanied all their activities in spreading the
Gospel.
Paul was always ready to enter into dialogue with the different groups
to whom he preached, be it in Athens where he not only identified
their unknown God with the true God, but also preached to them in
philosophical terms (Acts 17:16-34), or in Antioch in Pisidia, where
he did not hesitate to tell the Jews that by their hard-heartedness they
had forfeited their right to be favoured (Acts 13:46-47).
4.3.2 The Factor of Early Church History
This practice of dialogue with the indigenous culture continued with

the missionary practice in the early Church. It went on from the Acts
of the Apostles through the Didache and even continued through the
first great mission of the church into the outer reaches of the then
Roman Empire. “The adoption of the Koine Greek as a medium of
evangelisation is based on the principles of inculturation.... The
relation between the Church and Gentile culture became an issue
when the church entered the Roman Empire. She embraced the
imperial culture, absorbing its symbols of authority, language,
institutions, legal systems and military terminologies.”16
The tradition of dialogue went on as Christianity entered other
European cultural territories. The church used the same method with
the English, Irish, the German, the Slavs and those barbarians who
15
J. Ukpong, 504.
16
O. A. Onwubiko, 75.
162 Chapter Four
now constitute Christian Europe, though this tradition was no longer

practised in the Post-Reformation missionary era. The European
Christian missionaries who began work in non-European areas either
forgot or discarded the very principle of their own evangelisation.
4.3.3 The Vatican II – Inculturation as Dialogue
Vatican II gave inculturation and its authentic realisation a new

impetus through its strong emphasis in its different documents,
testifying to the old tradition of dialogue as a means of inculturation.
“The church learned early in its history to express the Christian
message in the concepts and language of different peoples and
philosophers.”17 It set dialogue between all peoples as a central goal of
the Church. In its approach to non-Christians, it emphasised
inculturation declaring, “in virtue of its mission to enlighten the whole
world with the message of the Gospel and gather together in one Spirit
all men of very nation, race and culture, the church shows itself
sincere dialogue and strengthens it: ... it is our hope that frank
dialogue will spur us all on to receive the impulses of the Spirit with
fidelity and act upon them with alacrity.”18
In its “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World”
dialogue is central. In this document “On Dialogue with Unbelievers”
it recognises willingness to engage in dialogue (also with unbelievers)
is seen as the measure and the strength of the general renewal being
carried out in the church. The document goes into details treating
dialogue as a method of evangelisation, outlining the essential
conditions of these forms of dialogue and the norms they imply.
Dialogue is seen as an implicit proclamation of the Gospel.19 “The
Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes” discusses dialogue with the
world as such. What is immediately in question here is not the
preaching of the Gospel. But rather the dialogue which Christians
wish to establish with men who do not share their faith, in order either
to search together for the truth in different areas, or to solve the more
urgent problems of our day by social action.20 Here dialogue does not
17
Gaudium et Spes No 44.
18
Ibid., No. 92.
19
20
“On Dialogue with the Unbelievers: Humanae Personae Dignitatem.” in: Vatican
Council II. The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. Ed. A. Flannery. (England:
necessarily have an apostolic purpose, but it entails bearing witness to

one’s own belief as part of the proclamation of the gospel by church.
This does not weaken the document as an example for inculturation as
dialogue, especially African inculturation.
4.3.4 The Factor of Different Points of Arguments
The Church is no longer „European”, but is developing into a global

church. Only one-third of Catholics live in Europe. The former
mission areas have now developed into local churches, of which one
effect is the development of a plurality of forms of the Christian way
of life and thought. The Church shows she has realised that the gospel
cannot be tied to one particular political, economic, social or cultural
system as today efforts are being made officially by the Church to
enter into dialogue with other religions and cultures, missionary
activities should be understood as dialogical ventures.21
Differently, inculturation as dialogue with non-Christians lies in
making understandable something different from what others already
know, namely, the Message of Christ. As they will be making a
“dialogical” experience of the Message of Christ from the beginning
“superficially” converting it is easy and yet not quite easy. It is easy
for they have already an experience of the Christian message. This
experience is valuable even though it may not have been a
“dialogical” experience of the Message of Christ. On the other hand,
the difficulty consists in the fact that these “superficially” converted
Christians must examine their present experience of Christianity in
order to enable them to deepen their Christian faith. Where this entails
taking fundamental decisions they will need support to develop a deep
conviction of, and faith in, the Message of Christ. Effort will be made
not only towards correcting what may prove to be wrong in their
disposition towards the Christian faith but towards enriching their
experience of Christian faith through inculturation as dialogue with
the Message of Christ. The African situation, among other things, the
syncretic religious life of many African Christians, makes
inculturation of the Message of Christ very important and urgent and
Fowler Wright Book Ltd., 1975), 1002.

21
T. Kramm, “Kirche und Inkulturation in der Dritten Welt. ” in: Stimmen der Zeit.
Band 203 (1985), 821f.
164 Chapter Four
in terms of statistics, the total number of Christians in Africa is still on

the increase.
The above situation raises many questions whose answers are
numerous because the causes involved are varied. A close analysis of
this situation, especially when judged from some observed acts of
syncretism among African Christians, shows that the practices are not
so much a sign of lack of commitment to Christian faith from the side
of these Africans but expressions of the fact that Christianity, as
brought to the Africans, has not been in position to respond fully to
the demands of the African predicament.22 Such a situation shows the
need for searching for a new breakthrough in the movement towards
the inculturation of the Message of Christ. From all indications,
inculturation as dialogue between Africans and the Message of Christ
is the only plausible way.
Neither “Africanisation” of Christianity nor the “Christianisation” of
Africa can solve the problem. This is because the expression
“Christianisation of Africa” implies christianisation of Africa
following the adaptation model of inculturation; in reality this means
implanting a certain form of the Christian religion in Africa. But this
is just what the missionaries have already tried. The results are
obvious. On the other hand, “Africanisation of Christianity” implies
that a certain form of Christianity which has already been inculturated
elsewhere can be somehow “blackened” or “tropicalised”. But
inculturation cannot simply be an issue of adding a few African
tokens: vernacular translations instead of foreign languages, drums
and xylophones instead of organs and violins, native cloths with
corresponding native designs sewn in otherwise Western tunic. It is
not enough to translate prayers composed elsewhere and in a non-
African spirit or the foreign Roman rites into indigenous African
languages. The same applies to the replacement of the gothic chasuble
with an indigo loin-cloth.
A reasonable solution could be achieved through an existential
reception of the message of salvation23 which is possible through
dialogue with the Message of Christ. The apostles and other disciples
are living testimonies of this type of encounter. Peter is an example
22
J. Ukpong, 510.
23
M. M`nteba, 100.
who dialogued with Christ himself. In Matt. 19:16-30 there is dialogue

between Christ and the rich young man as well as between Jesus and
Peter. It is not only with his disciples and those who are interested in
his message that Jesus dialogued, but with his opponents. Jesus did
not hesitate to engage himself in dialogue with such opposing groups
as the Pharisees. In most of his works of healing, in his teaching of the
people and even during His trial Jesus practised dialogue. The reason
why dialogue produces such results is, among other things, which it
relies, among other things, on conviction rather than on manipulation
or coercion of partner.
Furthermore, “in order to evangelize black Africa, there is need to
establish a relationship with the ‘Living revelation where God begins
to speak ... using an African style to speak to Africans.”24 For God is
not only to speak to Africans but to begin speaking with Africans
means being in dialogue. This has been the way God has revealed
himself to human beings throughout the history of salvation. “Africa
is a setting where human beings search for communion with God.... In
such a context, it makes more sense to talk of our faith in the good
news of God’s presence in the world through Christ using (among
others) the very techniques of African oral tradition.”25 Speakers here
of the “African oral tradition”, we see this in the context of dialogue
which consists in more than spoken words.
In this tradition where the history and culture (including religion) is
transmitted principally orally, it is not a one-way movement a
monologue. The recipients are not reduced to passive listeners, but
engage in dialogue with those who deliver the message. Questions are
asked and doubts are raised if need be. Such doubts and other critical
dispositions are welcomed and cherished. The recipients participate
actively and effect the necessary changes within the culture. This is
one of the reasons why the culture has survived and could be passed
on from generation to generation.
Another reason why it is urgent that inculturation should be seen and
practised as dialogue in an African context comes from the situation
of things in most African churches where there is a lack of real
24
J. M. Ela, My Faith as an African (Translated from the French by J. P. Brown and
S. Perry). (New York: Orbis Books Maryknoll, 1988), 45.
25
Ibid.
166 Chapter Four
dialogue between the clergy and the laity. An analysis of the priorities
and central issues of church life in Africa reveals that sensitive topics
that raise questions of conscience do not receive adequate attention.
What is talked about is consciously chosen by the clergy who see it as
their responsibility to decide what is to be believed, thought and done.
The questions, predicaments, needs and hopes of the people are
simply set aside. The laity need only receive and execute decisions
from above. “Church discussions (of course the clergy within itself)
rarely refer to what actually happens in the heart of villages and slums
in order to determine the basic outlines of the church’s practices, ...”26
If anything at all is done for the people and their problems, it is most
often a question of severing them with already-made solutions which
have been reached by the church hierarchy. The whole situation is one
in which it seems that the real function of the churches is restricted to
reproducing models which did not originate in, and have never been
re-examined in, a specifically African context. This is the situation
notwithstanding the fact that inculturation has since become the theme
of many declarations, studies, conferences, and speeches. The
concrete circumstances of the people who carry the African culture are
not given the attention they deserve.27
If one raises his/her head and looks at the relationship between the
African churches and their counterparts in the West, he/she will be
confronted with almost the same situation. “No one is ignorant of the
gulf separating the churches of the societies of opulence from those of
the lands attempting development.... To what extent is the situation of
the churches of black Africa not a neo-colonial situation, analogous to
that of stymied societies living in a situation of strict dependency on
the great decision making centres, which are the monopoly of the
countries of the northern hemisphere?”28 This situation does not
favour dialogue between the two sides. This is because the
dependence of the African local churches on those in the West is
already a sign of inequality. In critical matters and moments this
inequality does not facilitate free and independent decision making.
26
Ibid., 120.
27
Ibid., 120f.
28
J. M. Ela, African Cry (Translated from the French by R. R. Barr). (New York:
Orbis Books Maryknoll, 1986), 105f.
This is more the case with reference to the African local churches,
than with their Western counterparts.
Something must be done to improve this situation which already has
had grave consequences for the life and future of not less than 236
million people. Dialogue is the way to address the needs of these
people, for whom Christ also came and who articulate in expressing
their needs. Indeed how could one address these needs without the
people themselves presenting them as they are principally culture-
bound. This entails the great importance of understanding various
cultures in making dialogue possible. “The issue of human cultures,
swept up in the dynamism of Pentecost, gives birth to local churches.
We many speak of local churches (in the real sense of the word), then,
only if we acknowledge each church’s right to be different. Each
church is shaped by a milieu and an ambient culture, by its history, by
the theological reflections it develops under pressure of
circumstances, by the internal conflicts it takes up and resolves.”29
Hence a framework of dialogue can achieve the noble objective of
inculturation in Africa, so that Africans will hear and speak with God
in Jesus Christ who addresses Himself immediately to them in their
own indigenous and respective predicaments.
At this point, it is assumed that we have sufficiently covered the
points speaking for inculturation as dialogue. Any inculturation effort
dare not forget that effectiveness will be achieved only when the
“evangelisers” and as well “those be evangelised” find themselves in a
system of dialogue: a situation in which each allows himself/herself to
be evangelised by the other. There they exchange their religious
experiences with one another, listen to one another, respect and value
their differences, and recognise that the Word and the Spirit can be
encountered in the other. It is a system where critical self-appraisal is
not left out and where there is a consciousness that all are brought
together by, committed to, and directed by, the Message of Christ with
whom they should be in constant dialogue. Theology as human
reflection on divine truths is done from a certain cultural standpoint,
then inculturation as a theological venture which deals in a special
way with culture bearing the imprint of the particular culture in which
it has successfully taken place.
29
Ibid. 111.
168 Chapter Four
4.4 Problems and Challenges of Inculturation as

Dialogue
Everyone today in the church must have heard of or read about the
concept of, and the efforts towards inculturation. It is a noble venture,
but like any such ventures it is confronted with problems and poses
challenges which differ according to the models. Some of these
problems and challenges are found in every model, while others are
specifically restricted to a particular one.
The cause of some of these problems and challenges can be seen in
the fact that “theology ... (etymologically), has to do with human
reflection on truths, make up the divine element... As for human
reflection on God... (t)ruths about God, indeed all religious truths
make up the divine element.... As for the human reflection on these
truths, this can only be done from a cultural point of view... The fruits
of such reflection formulated as theology necessarily bear the imprint
of that culture.”30 The same point we have seen about theology in
general applies to inculturation as a theological venture.
The contact between the cultures of colonialists in Africa and those of
the different African groups cannot be described as having been
dialogical. It was more of a confrontation and annihilation of other
cultures and their “otherness” through the colonialists. The Christian
religion is not innocent of this crime. Its catechism was taught in the
context of a colonial project as introduced the European ecclesiastical
system. Missionaries identified without exception the “orbis
christianus” with the divine global order. The church was understood
as the kingdom of God. The pope and the emperor stood as the only
representatives of God before the human race.
Catechism was taught and practised without considering the
intercultural dialogue. It was simply a transplantation of a ready-made
model of Christianity, which was a European cultural product,
presented as divine revelation.31 An example can be drawn from how
they acted in some parts of Africa. From the beginning their
programme was not just a religious invasion, but was coupled with
30
J. Ukpong, 511.
31
L. Boff, 34.
political invasion. In the background was the secular military arm of

the colonialist. Their objective included the “christianisation” of the
African “pagans” and the evolution of money economy, in sum the
creation in Africa of a society similar to that of contemporary Europe.
In some cases the missionaries accepted war as a means to this end as
opening a door for the gospel to enter a country. The sword of the
spirit was often preceded by a sword of steel. In most cases the
missionaries even consciously encouraged interstate antagonism,
rather than working for unity.
In 1892 the missionaries (with the support of the colonial army) led a
war against the Ijebu people in Nigeria, one of the tribes in Southern
Nigeria. “The European missionaries accepted responsibility for the
war... The missionaries provided the reason why they brought about
the missionary war. They observed that of all the coastal tribes they
knew, the Ijebu were most intelligent, the most industrious and the
shrewdest. If converted, they believed, they (Ijebu) would become the
spearhead of missionary propaganda in the rest of the country.”32 But
can conversion through war be compatible with the missionary
mandate of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20) if there is no dialogue in
war. War may have been seemed rather to be the easiest way to
enforce a ready-made European model of Christianity.
These points, among others, form the foundation of the problems and
challenges of inculturation today in Africa. They are more vivid in the
model of inculturation as dialogue. The central point of the challenge
of inculturation as dialogue is to be seen in the fact that nobody can
evangelise convincingly and effectively without having first engaged
himself/herself with the life of the people to be evangelised and with
the culture-producing forces of this group. There is need to take
account of this people’s way of life. The early missionary activities
gave the people the chance of hearing the gospel in its Western
cultural form, but failed to take into consideration “something as real
as the people’s view of the world: a view which explicitly and
implicitly contains their concerns, their perceptions of themselves and
of the oppressors, their religious beliefs ..., their fatalism… None of
32
E.A. Ayandele, 66f.
170 Chapter Four
these elements can be seen separately, for in interaction all of them

compose a totality.”33
The evangeliser is challenged to be open to the culture of the people to
be evangelised. But this certain amount of solidarity though necessary,
does not exclude a critical appraisal of the culture in question.
Solidarity here should be understood as meaning finding a way into
the culture and helping the culture to realize its potential. This mode
of action testifies to the evangelist’s awareness of the reality of God’s
presence in this culture no matter what form it may assume.34
4.4.1 Problems of the Euro-Western Christianity in Inculturation

as Dialogue
The present Western form of Christianity has some problems with

inculturation. Yet the official church is one of Africa’s partners in
dialogue, and the African churches do not see inculturation principally
as a venture towards secession.
The bold new steps taken by the church as indicated by the Vatican II
in its documents are noble objectives but the actualisation of the goals
set including inculturation and interreligious dialogue is confronted
with many problems. Though the initiatives came from the church, the
fact that they were to some point reactions to the changes in the
surrounding world is very important. Rapid developments in the world
presented and still present the Church with problems and challenges.
Unlike before, when the Church was an indispensable partner in every
aspect of the world, things are no longer the same and steps taken by
the church are often responses to question posed from outside.
Western Christianity still carries the burden of history in its activities
in non-European territories, for example Africa. Its collaboration with
colonialism cannot just be left untreated for the trauma of this
historical epoch is still fresh among the victims. Anthropologically
psychological damage was done to these victims instead of receiving
the Good News they were forcefully Europeanised.
It seems that Western Christianity is not wholly ready to make the
basic reparations. Today the Western concept of God is still presented
33
P. Freire, 149.
34
L. Boff, 45f.
as if it were the only valid concept. But this is one of the central
mistakes of the missionaries in non-European territories. As they
entered these territories none of them was conscious of the fact that
the concept of God they were preaching was culture-bound, a concept
which was a syncretic product consisting of Jewish-biblical, Graeco-
Roman and Germanic element.35 This is a point already made in the
presentation of the adaptation approach – one of the models of
“indigenisation” of the Christian message. This model proposes taking
over the “non-essential” in the African cultural elements, and adapting
them to the “essential”, i.e. the European format of Christian faith.
This format with its concept of God remained untouched in the whole
process for it was seen as the paradigm and hence in no need of
change. In this adaptation process the themes selected for
consideration and the method of organising and actualising them
rigidly followed the pattern of Western theology.
Another aspect of the problem of Western Christianity’s historical
burden is that church history is full of its own problems with which
the church was confronted and which it survived: schisms, heresies,
divisions and reformations. Also, the journey of the church from the
community of common people and outcasts to the palaces and empires
left imprints on the church. The experience of the church in this phase
of her history explains the church authority’s attitude of scepticism
towards novelties. It was no longer sufficiently flexible and was not at
ease in listening to a new logic which did not suit its own.
This leads to a problem of “self-misunderstanding”. At some decisive
moments the church seemed to miss the goal of her own existence and
act like mundane institutions. She seemed to forget that she had
another standard of judgement with which she had judged others and
that she would be judged by these standards. An example can be seen
in her role during slavery and colonialism. The new image she has
given herself since the Vatican II as “the people of God” is yet to be
experienced by all Christians everywhere. There are still indications
that the old mistake of confusing of herself with the kingdom of God
still abounds. Official objection may be made, but some of her actions
testify to this point.
35
Ibid., 38.
172 Chapter Four
The Church emphasises tradition, but made the mistake in her

encounter with other cultures. Her stand on and her treatment of such
issues like slavery and colonialism are examples. For instance she has
not yet convinced herself of the need to apologise to the victims of her
stand on and treatment of slavery, the slave trade, and colonialism.
Should it be argued that these happened long ago, it will then be asked
how to reconcile this with her claim to a long tradition. The sincerity
of the claim on tradition will be more convincing when whole-
heartedly, officially and with the readiness to help agrees to alleviate
effectively the subsequent sufferings of the victims of the negative
sides of this her rightly cherished history. Apology is an essential part
of dialogue for it shows respect for the partners as equals.
Theologically, the Church gives the impression that she is ready to
recognise the inculturation of the gospel. But as soon as a local church
takes steps to become, not just geographically and topologically, but
theologically and ontologically a real local church the official church
authority restricts and at times obstructs such a move. The usual
argument is in the name of unity. Examples can be seen in the
restrictions posed on the Zairian liturgy or in the ban on the Indian
liturgy; church authority is not yet at ease with the idea of unity
without uniformity. It is between a rock and a hard place, between
“Babel” and “Pentecost”. Laws and guidelines are very necessary, but
should not suffocate or block creativity and initiative, particularly not
in the church.36
To the church authority’s fear of inculturation, should be added to
what could be defined as a fear of modern times. This fear is in a
sense justified for the nature of the development of things in the
present. It is obvious that most modern trends are revolutionary, laic,
secularised and exotic. But the position of the church does not help. It
is not the task of the church to complain for situations should be seen
not only as challenges, but as opportunities. Otherwise the danger is
36
W. Bühlmann, “ Die Entwicklung der Evangelisation seit dem II Vatikanum.
Schwerpunkte – Problemfelder – Perspektiven.” in: Evangelisation in der Dritten
Welt. Anstoß für Europa. Hg. L. Bertsch u. F. Schlösser. (Freiburg: Herder, 1981),
22f.
that the church will hold tight to tradition, while missing opportunity
after opportunity.37
The church has not succeeded in penetrating the life of the African
people. Christian faith is not yet a part of their daily life, but still is
experienced as a book religion, a sort of “Sunday to Sunday”
medicine. In daily life people still fly to the protection of their
respective traditional religions which have answers to the needs of
their daily life. This is a problem for the official church, which is a
product of the plantation theory with which Africa was
“Christianised”, and the new theology of mission has not yet been put
into effective practice. The local church institutions which receive the
blessings of the officials of the church operate in such a way as to
make these problems obvious.38
Another basic problem is that of racism in all its variations. This is
coupled with the problem of Eurocentrism, the European
appropriation of Christianity as their own “Kulturgut”, and the
superiority complex coupled with arrogance which leads to
considering everything European or Western as the standard of
judgement. This attitude led to the exportation of Christianity to other
peoples as “made in Europe”.39 And today in the church these
problems remain. Paternalism in the church (which is reflected in such
tendencies as “we know better than you what you need” or the “roma
locuta, causa finita” mentality also belongs in this category of
problems.
Theoretically, one may consider some of these problems to be non-
existent. Especially taking into consideration the declarations and
documents of the church, but theory and practice are two different
worlds. Hence another problem area is canon law. The minute
prescriptions of canon law make it difficult, for example, for the local
African churches to enrich the celebration of the liturgy and the
sacraments by using elements of African cultural background.
Customs of initiation and rites of traditional marriage in Africa have
many meaningful cultural elements which should be fairly integrated
into local African church practice. To attain a maturity which will be
37
Ibid., 25.
38
H. Hochegger, „Kirche in Zaire. Sprachliche Inkulturation und Begegnung mit der
tradierten Religion“. in: Theologisch-Praktische Quartalschrift 132 (1984), 246.
39
O. A. Onwubiko, Page not indicated.
174 Chapter Four
one of the positive results of inculturation as dialogue with the

Message of Christ they need a self-concept entailing more than the
judicious application of the letters of canon law. Most of these laws
reflect European backgrounds and are easily practicable within the
European context, yet have simply been baptised for the universal
church.
The apparent claim of the church, which presents Western Christianity
as the only universal, true and absolute religion is a very great
problem. Often the church talks of dialogue, recognition of other
religions, freedom of religion, etc. A closer look shows that most of
these concepts have peculiar meaning within the context of the
Western Christianity. The much-orchestrated dialogue is meant to be
out of a situation where the church “dictates” the terms, having
already fixed the goal as well as the position and role of the partners.
Even concerning the freedom of religion, which is related to freedom
of conscience, one may ask how free the Christians can be with their
consciences, which have already been modelled after a particular
pattern determined by the official church. Often non-Christian
consciences are seen as erring or are deficient or found wanting; or at
best only implicitly or anonymously Christian?40
Though the church is trying to follow Vatican II, in some essential
matters one still experiences the Church of “extra ecclesia nulla
salus”. In her claim to be the only true, absolute, universal religion,
the Church seems to forget that her history puts this claim in question
and raises serious doubts. How can a religion with such a history as
that of Western Christianity consciously make such a claim? How
does one reconcile this claim with her declared willingness to
recognise and respect religious pluralism?
Another problematic point is the church’s definition and
understanding of divine revelation. This is presented as if it were a
doctrine, a closed incident that took place and can only have occurred
in a particular time and place in history. No Christian denies the
uniqueness of the incarnation as the height of divine revelation. But
does this mean that only a unilineal concept of revelation, as presented
40
I. Puthiadam, „Christlicher Glaube und christliches Leben in einer Welt religiöser
Pluralität.“ (Aus dem Engl. Übersetzt von K. Hermans). in: Concilium 16 (1980),
370f.
in the Western Christianity upon its adoption from Judaism is valid?

God has been revealing Himself to people continuously; the Apex of
this is his son Jesus Christ.
The mystery of divine revelation as it occurred in Jesus Christ has not
been finally fathomed. Can one not talk of divine revelation through
Jesus Christ, the Way as continuous and divergent? Will it not be
better to see divine revelation as a promise, instead of as a doctrine?
As a promise
which remains to be verified in its realization in
the future of the world. Thus it unceasingly opens
out upon the future of a new creation, a new
exodus. God’s revelation in history always
comports a horizon of the future, in which the
divine design will be accomplished in its fullness.
Out beyond events having the value of a sign, a
more distant perspective appears, that of the end of
the ages.41
These are the main obstacles posed by the Western Christianity to
inculturation as dialogue with the Message of Christ. Western cultures
in which Western Christianity is based and lives, have understood and
tried to present themselves as the paradigm of culture. This claim is
based on their tradition and historical achievements. They are not
easily disposed towards critical reflexive appraisal. The structures of
injustice and oppression have made people and institutions within
these cultures including a reasonable number of Christians and
Christian institutions insensitive to the cry elsewhere. Prominent
among them are those who reject the idea of dialogue and encapsulate
themselves in their own cultural world and values. It could be
maintained that Western Christianity as it developed historically
blocks the way for the inculturation of the Message of Christ. It no
longer finds real adjustments easy to exercise thorough the practice of
self-criticism.42
41
J. M. Ela, African Cry, 33.
42
L. Boff, 61.
176 Chapter Four
4.4.2 Challenges and Opportunities of Inculturation as Dialogue in

Reference to Euro-Western Christianity
A litany of problems and challenges faces Christianity in the world

today. We have seen some aspects of the problems of inculturation
movement for the present structure and practice of the official church.
Inculturation presents either challenges or opportunities to the church
depending on how ready the church is to take up these challenges. In
the case of Africa, it can be seen as an opportunity for the church to
enter into the hearts of not less than one hundred and fifty million
people. It must be made clear that this does not depend on the Church
alone.
The winds of change are blowing. As J.M. Ela puts it
Christianity has endured for a long time,
maintaining its Graeco-Latin heritage within the
context of a society fashioned by Western models.
Today the church must examine that entire
experience, recognising that it has lost its cultural
monopoly as well as the theological systems that
seemed to guarantee it. A new age is beginning
that gives great importance to non-western
churches ... The centre of gravity of Christianity
continues to shift. It is possible that the black
continent will become a real prize for the church.43
The church itself is aware of this development. It is not only that the
number of non-European Christians is on the increase while the
number of European Christians is decreasing. The official church is
aware of this trend in Europe and has shown efforts in trying
equivocally to make clear her stand on important issues of the modern
society. She has shown her teaching authority as regards such issues
of doctrine and morals. At the administrative level she is careful in
appointing the leaders of different institutions and local churches.
Being aware of the challenges of the world of today, she has taken the
task of changing her methods of evangelisation to emphasize the
practice of dialogue. Some of the church’s standpoints and measures
remain controversial, such as conservative doctrines, the appointment
43
J. M. Ela, My Faith as an African, 116.
of some leaders in different areas of church activities, and the

authoritative way of dealing with “liberal” voices in the church. Today
there is the strong tendency of categorising representatives of the
church or groups within the church into “conservatives” and
“liberals”, through these measures and developments do not bring the
desired results.
Although the Christian faith does not depend on the number of its
followers, the church should take the great number of African
Christians seriously. J.M. Ela notes that “the one hundred and fifty
million Christians in Africa today are a significant resource on the
Christian faith. But the Christian communities of Africa can truly set
free their dynamism only if the church agrees to stop standardising
and centralising its practices and rules (without the known neglect of a
due and adequate consideration of the essential peculiarities of the
African cultures).”44
With reference to the history of the church’s relationship with Africa
one can only suggest a self-critical reflection: that her role was
compromised with slavery and colonialism, that her missionary
activity was marred by conversion through conquest in the framework
of European expansionism. The oppressed people of Africa, their
myths and mythologies, rites and religion were not taken seriously;
when considered at all this was not without prejudice, hence their
diminished role in the construction of the type of Christianity planned
for Africa. Now that we enter a new millennium and the movement
for inculturation gathers momentum, the church is expected to show a
clear acknowledgement of her responsibility for her role in the past
and honestly, sincerely, and officially to ask for pardon from all
concerned. This is an issue not just of camouflaging with apologetic
excuses, but of mourning together with all the victims.45 Such step
will go a long way to reduce the weight of the burden of history on the
church. The diminishing credibility of the church – evident in the
proliferation of Christian sects in Africa – might come to a stop.
As was said above and in agreement with H. Bühlmann the church
finds herself today in a moment of tension and polarisation between
44
Ibid.
45
H. Küng, „Lateinamerika als Herausforderung. Zum Problem der Inkulturation des
Christentums.“ in: Der eine Gott in vielen Kulturen, 263.
178 Chapter Four
the “conservative” and the “liberal” groups within the church. A good
number of her members is not easily motivated for changes and as
regards some teachings and practices. Some officials of the church are
in this group. The “conservative” group argue that the old practices
have stood the test of time and nobody is sure of what the new ideas
and changes are to bring. Order and tradition are values we need not to
neglect. But it is a mistake to see the function of the church as
restricted only to preservation, excluding the creation of order,
traditions and values. The church needs to show a more balanced
disposition in this new post-Vatican II era that has come.46 An all-
encompassing principal affirmation of this era is very necessary; the
church needs to overcome her fear.
It should not go unmentioned that there is an equal number of the
church members who want to change almost everything within the
church. This group maintains that the church should adapt to the
developments in today’s world. They seem to forget that the Church is
not an ordinary mundane institution. Again this group needs to realise
that if some teachings and practices of the Church are old, it does not
mean that they are no longer relevant.
The “tension” between these two groups has slowed down the
actualisation of the new impulses from the Second Vatican Council.
Balance is needed between these two standpoints. The question may
not be of either change or no change, but rather of preservation as well
as change.
The uniqueness of divine revelation through Jesus Christ is central for
Christian faith: God speaking through his son is apex of divine
revelation regarding his saving purpose in respect to the human race
(Heb. 9:12).47 This unique event is one to which every culture should
have access. The peak of revelation is Christ and not the Church
which should try to follow the example of St. Paul in Athens in
realising the presence of the knowledge of God among the Athenians
and using their concept of the “unknown God” to deliver the gospel.
Divine revelation occurs in the histories of the various peoples.
Though the incarnation as seen by the Christians as the peak of
revelation is unique, but earlier there was a multiplicity of divine
46
H. Bühlmann, 21.
47
R. E. Brown, J. A. Fitzmyer and R. E. Murphy, 922.
revelations. The letter to the Hebrews (Heb. 1:1-4) shows the

historical trend towards this peak of divine revelations. Paul’s effort
not to contradict the uniqueness of the incarnation as the peak the
revelation can be understood as meaning that the multiplicity of divine
revelation – one of which is his Athenian experience – leads to the
apogee of revelations which is Jesus Christ. In this context Paul used
natural theology as a positive threshold to the gospel.
The respective cultures with their previous and pre-Christ history of
divine revelation should be allowed to experience on their own way
the uniqueness of the incident of divine revelation in Jesus Christ.
Divine revelation before the advent of Christ was not entirely
unilinear. Christ’s coming is a point of convergence to which
everything leads and then a point of divergence from which
everything departs. This incident of divine revelation did not cancel
the multilinear nature of divine revelation. Christ himself was a
different person to different persons without having a multiple
personality. To the leaders he was a political threat, while he was a
saviour (even if only politically) to the common people of his time.
This non-unilinear process of divine revelation, which did not stop
with the incarnation but continued in Him, is to be found in many
places in the New Testament. The conversion of Paul (Acts. 9:1-19) is
a case in point. In verse 4 of this chapter the question – “Why do you
persecute me?” – shows that in his disciples Jesus himself is
persecuted. This is an example of a non-unilinear process of
revelation. The miracles that occurred after Jesus was no longer
physically present with his disciples were not only or principally
outward confirmations of Christ’s message, but vehicles of the same
message. In a sense they are “revelation events”, which continuous
non-unilinear process of divine revelation shows it to be a developing
process.
The church can help non-European Christians in their efforts to
experience the uniqueness of divine revelation in Jesus Christ by not
insisting that the Western experience of this incident is the only valid
one. Without their own experience of this incident of divine revelation
in Jesus, it will have no meaning for them and cannot become the
“Good News of Salvation”.
This is not to underrate or forget the importance of unity and the
efforts made to sow and protect the seed of unity in the Church.
180 Chapter Four
Among the demands for reform in the Church the European demands
differ from those coming from non-European Christians and show the
diversity of the situation of the members of the church. These
demands can be the seeds for acknowledging diversity within ecclesial
unity, “right to be different” within and not outside the church. The
diversified nature of the church members and their demands call for
attention of the church authority. The questions addressed to the
church by the non-European cultural traditions may need non-
European answers. Though such questions pose extra challenges, they
may constitute an essential contribution to the future of the Church.48
Not only Africa, but all other non-European cultural worlds that are
Christian should be granted the freedom to articulate their situation
more adequately. The risks of transformations should be taken when
all concerned plumb the very depths of the Message of Christ. That is,
when the experience the uniqueness of divine revelation in the person
of Christ in their own way and from their own background, and hence
witness it incarnate and dwelling among them. This insertion will be
easier if greater freedom is accorded to the local churches by the
central church authority. This will enable these local churches in the
pastoral ministry to be more present in their cultural world. This was
one of the goals of the Second Vatican Council and from this
background local churches can make valid responses to the particular
questions of their time and cultural world.49
This entails an important challenge facing the Church as regards
inculturation as dialogue, namely, the apparent contradiction between
the claim of the Church, that Roman Catholic Christianity is the only
true universal and absolute religion on the one hand, and, on the other,
the affirmation of religious pluralism. Vatican II in its document on
the church (Lumen Gentium) affirms both the uniqueness of the
Roman Catholic Christianity and a certain religious pluralism.
Inclusivism may suggest an apparent, though not a real contradiction
for though faith can be unique, its religious expression is obviously
plural. These plural expressions are often the basis for religion.
Contradiction in this issue develops once personal faith and
48
49
Ibid., 117
convictions are absolutised and generalised. In such a situation

religious pluralism has no chance.50
Christianity emphasizes the individuality of human beings. This does
not mean that community is not valued in this faith and every
Christian can participate according to his/her potentialities and
maturity in the wealth of the living faith and opportunities that abound
in Christ. But may one not ask here if it is really the will of God that
all races of the world should belong to just one religion. If yes, to
which religion for every religion is already limited in its history and
conditioned and bound to change. Religions are not God. Even if they
occupy the absolute centre of the peoples life and respond to their
“ultimate concern” (in Tillich’s sense of the word), they are human
realities.
Religions belong to the sphere of symbols and function like symbols.
Such symbols receive their meaning only at the structural level and
within particular contexts. It might then be that it is in relation to the
structural and contextual contrasts between religions that the absolute
in every religion receives its meaning.51 I would agree with I.
Puthiadam in his view above for this can help us to see that religions
can be complementary to one another.
The above understanding of the complementary relationship that can
exist between religions is not unknown to the church. Since Vatican II
there has been the wind not only of “theological renaissance” but that
of theological pluralism. Theology was now to be occupied with the
human situation. Pluralism is recognised not only as existing on
account of the plurality of philosophies, but also by reason of a
plurality of the life-experiences of peoples in their cultures. The
different forms of Christian involvement in the world play a very
important role.52 This pluralism which the church has already been
witnessing within its own walls, should be a help for her to encounter
the growing challenges of religious pluralism in the present world.
The church’s own theology of the wealth of the life in the divine
Trinity could be important here. Taking her inspiration from the
theology of Trinity, she could strive to build a form of “trinitarian“
50
I. Puthiadam, 370.
51
Ibid., 374.
52
J. Ukpong, 507f.
182 Chapter Four
relationship with other religions that is not between a superior and

inferior partner, an adult and a child, an expert and a lay person. She
could try to see the distributive equality among the religions as the
chance and base for dialogue between her and African traditional
religions in the process of inculturation as dialogue. Otherwise, how
are we to understand the introductory part of the “Document on
Dialogue with Unbelievers”, that “... men have become aware of
pluralism and indeed have come to see it as the hallmark of our age.
True pluralism, however, is impossible unless men and communities
of different origins and cultures undertake dialogue.”53
4.4.3 African Problems with Regard to Inculturation as Dialogue
Africa generally is confronted today with problems in different

spheres of life. Most that we are going to address here are on the way
of a dialogical inculturation of the gospel. Some extend also to other
non-religious spheres of the lives of Africans.
Talking of Africa in terms of inculturation, one must acknowledge the
well known diversity of cultures among the various African people.
This diversity of cultures raises the question as to whether there can be
a uniform pattern of inculturation in Africa. Reflections on divine
truth are always made from a cultural background. How should Africa
get on with the problems that will definitely arise as a result of this
diversity when each African group encounters the Message of Christ
from its own standpoint? It is important to highlight that this is an
issue of diversity of cultures in Africa because in many cases when the
issue of inculturation is discussed the impression is often mistakenly
created that there is only one African culture or that African cultures
(for those who recognise the many cultures) are homogeneous. This
view is entertained in forgetfulness of the fact that every culture
possesses sets of values and ideals. These are not just things that can
be pushed aside, for they most often pertain to the “ultimate concern”
of the various African people.
The movement for inculturation as dialogue must then reckon with
difficulties. Historically, which Africa is referred to? Who is an
African? What is the factor that makes a person, group, culture, issue
or movement African? As inculturation in our context is an important
53
„On Dialogue with Unbelievers“. in: A. Flannery, Vatican II, 1002.
aspect of African theology as it pertains to Africa’s encounter with the

Message of Christ. Hence it follows that since every theology is
culturally conditioned, the question as to who is competent to do
African theology (i.e. to be involved in the dialogue with the Message
of Christ) is seen to be more pertinent than in other sciences. For
theology (inculturation) cannot be approached with cold objectivity;
peoples and cultures must be fully involved in the enterprise for
inculturation as dialogue. As this implies involvement in the Message
of Christ and in the African predicament, such a theology of
inculturation should be done by those who are involved in both
African culture and Christian theology. This means more than just
being a Christian titularly; besides, if in-depth knowledge of the
African socio cultural situation is necessary, is one qualified just
because he/she is African or disqualified because she/he is not
African? How should we consider, for instance, the many Africans
who have not only lost touch with their African culture, but have not
studied it scientifically? Or should one be excluded just because of
being non-African? If so how should we consider those non-African
who are well versed in African culture.54
If we dwell further on “studying African culture scientifically” are we
not running the risk of making inculturation an elitist venture? Are we
not making the mistake of judging African culture by an inadequate
standard if we go on to emphasise its “being scientifically studied”?
What is more important in inculturation – having a scientifically
worked out programme or letting the life of the people be touched and
positively influenced by the Message of Christ?
If we go a bit deeper on the issue of scientific study of African culture,
do we not see that most such studies (even when made by Africans)
are conducted from foreign backgrounds and with foreign standards?
An example can be seen (as was presented the earlier part of this
chapter) in the works of some African theologians who advocate the
adaptation approach as a model of inculturation for Africa. These
African theologians use the format, procedure and standards of
Western theology and hence treat African culture as the „non-
essential” while the Western culture and the Euro-Christian standards
are taken to be the “essential” elements.
54
J. Ukpong, 512.
184 Chapter Four
As found in many universities and seminaries in Africa there are

professors and lecturers who have studied African cultures and teach
them, but approach African culture with “cold objectivity”. Cases
even abound of those who are virtually ignorant of African cultures –
though they have studied them “scientifically“. For most African
culture is not the dominant factor in their endeavours, though these are
the purported teachers of African culture. The real masters of African
cultures are in the countryside: though55 people from this background
are often denied the chance to be involved because they have not
“studied” the African culture “scientifically”. Can Africa still afford to
continue denying these people who really know African culture the
chance for active and effective involvement in the process of
inculturation as dialogue?
Further unsolved problem is that Africa has no clear collective picture
of her past, especially the pre-colonial past. For one reason or another,
many Africans tend to see pre-colonial African history as one of
immaculate purity. Hence inculturation means for some of these
groups of people, recovery of the African culture of that era. Such
views belong to the ideology which operates in a network that
“falsifies the past, persuading the masses that Africa’s ancestral past
was free of any internal tensions or conflicts. The past, they are told,
was all order and stability, all concord and harmony. It is dangerous to
call the past something that it is not, to falsify and distort it ...”56 Such
a move is only an illusion and an escape which hinders any serious
effort towards inculturation as dialogue.
A phase of African history that constitutes problems for the movement
of inculturation as dialogue in Africa is the colonial experience of
Africa. The open wounds of colonialism, in the creation of which the
missionaries participated, are still a painful and disturbing heritage of
African history and culture. Colonialism, among other things, effected
transformations in African self-understanding, thought patterns, life-
styles and world-views. It made cultural hybrids of Africans. The
African of today as a product of two heritages – one indigenous, the
other alien suffers an identity crisis. One of the evils of colonialism as
55
O. P`Bitek, „Africa’s Cultural Revolution“. in: Voices from Twentieth-Century
Africa. Griots and Towncriers. Ed. I. Chinweizu, (London: Faber and Faber, 1988),
vii.
56
regards our topic (inculturation) is that it precluded Africans from

participating objectively in their own indigenous cultures that is, the in
social, economic, cultural and political decisions which deeply affect
them and their environment. Foreign cultures were imposed on
Africans and today’s identity crisis has resulted from this experience.
This might be expressed in the fact that colonialism is a disease of the
mind.57
Another problem subsequent to Africa’s experience of colonialism is
the negative side of missionary activities in Africa.
In the mind of numerous African Christians,
shaken by the traumas of colonialism, the
contribution of the missionary churches is
perfection incarnate. Hence the tendency to
reproduce the institutions and methods, the
practices and even the problem of Christian
activity and the style of presence handed down
from the first evangelisation. In other words, the
contributions of the mission societies have been
integrated by the African churches without
examination. An uncriticised ecclesiology, that of
the first period of the implantation of Christianity
... continues to inspire styles of life and thought.58
This situation is problematic and one of the causes of the under-
development in theology which Africa suffers today. This entails a
cultural burden, namely, European Christianity weighing
uncomfortably on the orientation and practice of African theology.
What else could be the cause not only of the dearth of initiative in
reflection and research on the difficulties of the Christian faith within
the African cultural context? There is a prevailing smog of
conformism which is indicative not only of intellectual stagnation and
barrenness, but also of mental alienation.59 A closer examination of
57
C. Udeani, “The Struggle for Identity: Africa’s efforts and problems in
contemplating, rediscovery, redifining (sic), nurturing and preservation of the African
identity.” in: Kulturverständnis und Entwicklung. Hg. K. Zapotoczky u. H. Griebl.
(Frankfurt am Main: Brandes & Apsel/Südwind, 1994), 149f.
58
59
Ibid., 106f.
186 Chapter Four
some points in earlier missionary theology will throw more light on

the origin of the situation.
Simply put, theology has to do with human reflection on God, which
can be done only from a cultural point of view. It has two important
aspects – the divine and human. From the aspect of the divine, it is
evident that the concept of God presented by the missionaries was
very foreign and distant. Its strangeness was increased by the colonial
activities which took place in Africa. As presented in a colonial
context God was shown as commanding adaptation and submission to
the foreign, colonial and oppressive order or structure60 in which
creativity has no place. To reflect on a foreign God leads to alienation,
for they consciously or unconsciously acquiesced in accepting this
concept of God. Secondly, as in order to be able of reflect on him,
they have to be something different from what they are at the moment.
The defined goal is to be European. Structures were built and are still
maintained which have been producing these “aliens”. Anybody who
has lived in seminaries, christian philosophy and theology faculties,
and convents in Africa will be witness to this trend. Though the
qualification “Roman” irritates some Catholics, it describes exactly
the character of the church in Africa. How many non-Africans who
went to Africa looking for Christianity usually leave Africa
disappointed because of the high concentration and wide spread of
latinity among the African churches. Could we attribute this to
financial dependence of the African churches on the Western church
as some have argued? On the one hand it would seem so, for the
financial help received till now has always been invested in sustaining
wrongly-conceived structures. Yet it is the local church authorities
who want to run these institutions as they think such institutions are
run in the West. For instance, in the liturgy more money is easily
made available for foreign publishers to provide medieval liturgical
texts that are no longer published instead of making this sum available
for creative minds to produce something that is liturgically suitable for
the African local churches. It is noteworthy that most of these texts
have already been revised or jettisoned by the central Church
authority.
60
Ibid., 29f.
Many litres of Italian and Greek mass wine are being imported by the
African clergy for the celebration of the eucharist irrespective of the
consent of the central Church authority that Africans search for
appropriate alternatives. Africa has an abundance of such alternatives,
such as palm wine that is found in most African countries and has
very important religious meaning for these Africans. A good number
of the African clergy are not ready to give such alternative a chance.
All this indicates that even if another means of income is found, it
may not bring any serious change. Most of the African clergy wants to
continue imitating for their own convenience their counterparts in the
West. This is often done at an extremely painful cost of already
poverty-stricken African Christians.
Another problematic factor for inculturation as dialogue in Africa is
the type of picture of Christianity implanted in Africa. Africa sees an
antagonistically divided Christianity, a systematically distorted image
of Christianity. The circumstance surrounding missionary activities in
Africa brought this “privatisation” to the peak and disrupted Africa’s
chances of experiencing and developing a unified view of Christianity.
Africans did not have the much needed historical critical sensitivity
towards these divergent versions of Christianity and received more of
the reasons for the existence and continued sustenance of these
divisions than the common elements found in these various versions
of Christianity.61 Africa has never been homogeneous, but with a
divided picture of Christianity, consisting of antagonistic groups, more
divisions arose. Due to divisions engendered through taboos and
sanctions African Christians are today the “divided people of God”. In
some communities and even families, the enmity between the African
Christians (based on the Christian group to which they belong) is
greater than the officially difference between their groups. Examples
of this could be found in the relationship between Catholics and
Anglicans. The enmity between these fronts is much more than the
one that may have existed between Martin Luther and the Pope during
the Reformation.
The structure of Christianity in Africa is still planned, executed and
sustained principally from outside not only as regards what to do but
also how to do it. An example is the call for an African Council in the
61
Ibid., 30.
188 Chapter Four
Catholic Church. This was ignored for a long time and partly rejected
but later on was considered. But what happened is that instead of an
African Council, an African Synod was granted. Even the synod was
held under the supervision of important representatives or officials of
the Church who set the themes and guidelines for the synod.62
Whatever may be the ecclesial juridical difference between a council
and a synod, the distinction is mainly a matter of emphasis. Talking of
an „African council” this was, among other things, to point out that
the universal church should give meaningful and serious attention to
issues regarding Africa and Christianity. This can be considered
reasonable judging not only from the number of African Christians but
from the need for the Message of Christ to take root in Africa, often
now referred to as “future” of the church?
The problem caused by the structure of African Christianity is also
evident in the organisation in disciplinary and legal spheres. From the
moment there is a Christian community developing in a totally
definite and different socio cultural environment itself, it become
normal and obvious that special adaptations must be made for it as
regards its organisation in the administrative and juridical spheres, as
characteristics emerge that distinguish it from other groups in other
areas. But this has not been the case with African Christian
communities and structures. Founded by missionaries according to
Western standards from the “Latin” Church, they must remain
satisfied with the application of the complete and unadapted Roman
canon law to their situations.
There have been calls for the revision of the Codex Iuris Canonici and
the work on a “Lex fundamentalis Ecclesiae” in Africa. Beyond
general organisational church principles, based on the gospel and the
elements of the Christian tradition, these should create room for
everybody everywhere, and for an independent organisation
corresponding to the various historical and cultural situations. The
underlying principles will then be adapted to the particular local
circumstances.63 This is missing in the African local churches today. It
is not that African local churches should become self-enclosed
62
K. J. K. Tossou, 57.
63
T. Tschibangu, “Plädoyer für eine christliche Vollreife einer jungen Kirche -
Überlegungen aufgrund der Entwicklung der afrikanischen Kirche.” (Aus dem Franz.
Übertragen von A. Ahlbrecht). in: Concilium 17 (1981), 328.
monads; the problem here is that of appropriately necessary

autonomy. The absence of this makes it impossible to direct sufficient
attention to vital questions and poses a specially difficult problem for
inculturation. Without calling for secession from the universal church,
inculturation will be possible, only if these local churches have the
freedom of initiative and action which will not hinder them from
taking necessary steps and risks.
Lack of a clear, common definition of inculturation and its goals, and
of methods of achieving these goals, is a big problem for Africa. The
language of inculturation has become so multi-faceted and ambiguous
that it does not make it easy for African Christianity to present a
necessary united front. This situation offers security to those
authorities who fear that, through such African solidarity, African
Christians might proceed to question the whole of the neo-colonial
exploitation still flourishing in Africa today64 an example of which
can be seen in such concepts as authenticity, which often is wrongly
used.
The fear mentioned above is not entertained by non-Africans alone;
some Africans themselves have this fear. Hence there is an effort to
curb the thrust of free thinking, for this would entail the introduction
of debate and discussion in all aspects of life. Recourse to a theory
that returns Africa to the past is an effort to keep it from facing
immediate essential problems. Thus the search for an African identity
as proposed by this group of Africans shows itself to be a search for a
mythological past, a past that has never been well known to Africans
except principally through the works of European ethnologists.65 The
call for restoration of the “authentic” identity does not afford the
chance to control our development but distracts Africans from a
reasonably substantial critique of their present life situation.
In the retreat to “authenticity” with all its ideological practices and
theories, alienation is changed into bureaucratically institutionalised
practices decreed and imposed by ukase. In the new system of colonial
domination, it can be maintained only artificially. This is done in the
form of an official ideology conceived to reinforce popular ignorance
so that the masses are distracted from knowing something of their real
64
J. M. Ela, My Faith as an African, 147.
65
190 Chapter Four
condition. In being deprived of all opportunity to criticise the

prevailing system, they are thus denied genuine authenticity and are
sent off on a journey in search of a mythical past which is not what
they need.66
Another important problem confronting Africa’s efforts towards
inculturation is, paradoxically, the African clergy. Irrespective of the
restoration of the theology of charisma, the role of the African clergy
in the church paints a picture best described as „tyranny of the
clergy”. A monolithic structure of the clergy is found almost
everywhere. The ministry of the laity is still seen as a mandate or
privilege granted to the laity by the clergy. The clergy tends to insist
obstinately on resolving almost every question or problem of
ministries and Christian life in Africa at the clerical level.67
This does not augur well for inculturation, because African culture
principally is still in the hands of the ordinary people who belong to
the laity. This means the exclusion from a vital role in the
inculturation process. Most members of the African clergy, on account
of the form of their training and the structure in which they are
operating, are prejudiced in favour of the West and limited in their
knowledge of African culture. Some of them are totally ignorant of
actual African culture; most who know something got their knowledge
not from live encounter and experience, but from books, usually
authored by foreigners. Members of the clergy who are free from
these disadvantages and have the prerequisites for a sound
contribution are usually too few to do anything effective. When they
are not outnumbered, they remain passive out of fear of the stringent
measures of the official church passed on those who have dared to try.
Those who have braved it usually fall out of grace among the officials
of the church and are denied the necessary means to continue their
ventures. Those who are presented as real inculturation theologians
“mostly sing their master’s voice”; most often they work and live
according to the principle: he who pays the piper dictates the tones.
As regards theological creativity, the African clergy has yet to
manifest this. It seems not to realise how incumbent on them it is to
make a daring effort to re-assess critically the traditional systems of
66
Ibid. 126f.
67
J. M. Ela, My Faith as an African, 56ff.
theology in order to gain new perspectives. Their uncritical acceptance

of a Western theology is a sign of theological immaturity coupled with
a prejudiced and uncritical rejection of anything differing from the
theology developed in the West.
An example of this issue can be found in the local churches in Africa.
In some parishes members of the clergy try to disrupt the existing
traditional social network. In a society where respect for the elders is a
central part of the culture, cases abound where gross neglect of this is
the constant practice. Such cases have nothing to do with the teachings
of Christ or the Christian faith but have to do principally with African
culture. Most of members of the clergy do not know more than these
elders. But due to lack of disposition towards dialogue they take
refuge in forbidding that of which they are ignorant instead of making
effort to become informed so as to understand what is really meant by
these aspects of African culture. This can be seen as a sign of
intellectual irresponsibility but should not surprise anybody that
leading African clergy trained in “Western colonial and alienating
seminaries and convents”, most of whom finished their training in
Europe and America, are anything other than what they have been
educated to be.
All these problems notwithstanding, there are chances for the success
of inculturation in Africa. The difficulties presented above and other
similar ones should be seen as challenges facing the African
inculturation movement.
4.4.4 Challenges of Inculturation in Africa
Africa faces many challenges in her movement towards inculturation;

all the problems we have mentioned also challenge African
inculturation movement. The outstanding trouble in facing problems,
even when described as challenges, is that they are hydra-headed and
have intertwined causes. Some of these causes lie outside the religious
sphere which means that the first challenge is to establish co-operation
with some other spheres such as the political, economic, ideological,
sociological, etc.
A change of attitude is urgently called for. Generally, African

Christians must allow themselves to be dominated by an „inspirational
192 Chapter Four
unrest” that will urge them to take the necessary risks involved in the
inculturation of the Message of Christ. They must nurture a sincere
constructive discontent with the present situation of Christianity in
Africa. They must stop complaining, deploring and lamenting.
Africans dare not forget that the causes of some of the problems
actually are in Africa and among Africans. As the roots of some of
these problems lie partially in the social structure, the most effective
solutions cannot be imported. Africa must learn to stop looking for
scapegoats or justifications for their misery. Even if these are found,
this will not make a useful contribution, so there is no need to waste
time and energy here.
When African history is presented as a hindrance, and its
misappropriation and misunderstanding as a cause, there is a call for
further explanation. This does not mean that Africans should not busy
themselves with their history; African history must be brought along
and preserved as an absolutely essential heritage of Africa. In this, the
challenge is for Africans to deal critically, consciously and objectively
with their history, and which is part of the effort towards the
rediscovery of Africa for Africans. Only by doing so can Africans find
a base from which Africans can help themselves. Without this, there
will not be “that into which to inculturate”. Such a situation (should it
take place) would mean a woeful failure of the inculturation
movement.
In this rigorous examination the African Christian or theologian has
the task, on the one hand, of identifying the important and relevant
aspects of African culture through its rigorous criticism. Since the
Christian faith or Message of Christ as the Africans have it today is
already embedded in Western cultural expression, another huge task
will be the identification of the “kernel”/“nucleus” of the message as it
exists in Western Christianity. Most African theology today takes the
adaptation approach. This operates on the premise that within the
African cultures/world there are conceptual models in which Christian
message in its cultural setting and expression can be communicated.
This is the task of “translating” the Christian message from its
Western cultural setting into one that is African. This approach is still
strongly present today within African theology and seems to have
taken the theological format of the West as the norm. The adaptation
approach’s view of Christianity relies on a theology of revelation
which emphasis the disclosure of doctrine and hence its attitude

towards African traditional religion and culture is one of mistrust.68
The adaptation approach still retains in its finished product the pattern
of Western theology. In terms of method it turns principally to the
Bible and tradition to find its justification. The concern and challenge
of inculturation as dialogue is to find a way of helping the African
people at their different levels to express their own true experience of
faith and life. Furthermore, ways should be sought to clarify how the
people can be helped to attain the needed freedom for their self-
expression in the absence of which people cannot live out their faith in
terms of their African cultural milieu. Hence the African movement
for inculturation as dialogue has the challenge of reflecting upon the
data of revelation and reinterpreting them in the light of the African
cultural milieu. It should look to the Bible and tradition to discover
and recover the spirit of the Message of Christ which is the object of
Christian faith.69
Inculturation as dialogue may be described as giving birth to or
sowing the seed of African Christianity. This implies among other
things, re-articulating and re-expressing the Message of Christ in the
context of African culture. It involves confronting the Christian faith
with the African cultural world so that this faith, based principally on
the Message of Christ, will enlighten the African culture. In this
process it can be expected that a reinterpretation and integration of
both Christian faith and African culture will take place. The basic
truths of revelation as found in scripture and tradition are critically
reflected upon for the purpose of giving them African cultural
expression. A new theological reflection that is African as well
Christian will be a product of this process.70
The desire to inculturate the Message of Christ in African culture
through a process of dialogue is wholesome and right, but Africans
have to be ready for a series of challenges. The challenge of courage
in being African is required. M. James puts this challenge rightly:
African Christianity, in order to play its parts in ...
Africa, must work out its own theology from its
68
J. Ukpong, 516.
69
Ibid., 517.
70
Ibid., 516.
194 Chapter Four
own experience. Much of what Western European

Christians regard as essential theology is irrelevant
to African Christian experience. There are
problems which can be resolved only by African
Christians and it may well be that in the process of
working out this theology African Christianity will
make its contribution not only to ... Africa but also
to world Christianity.71
This, it is expected, should help African Christians to understand their
own situation. They must endeavour to comprehend the nature and
ramifications of the situation in which they live, their past and future
in the light of the Scripture. Here they must awaken to a realisation of
themselves, as they are and not as they ought to be. All in all, theology
is also in the last resort, a divine-human encounter. It is a continuous
reinterpretation of the divine message of salvation in every generation,
culture and people. It is a representation of the will and way of God in
and through Jesus Christ in a dialogue with different thought-forms
and cultural patterns. Inculturation at this level of the divine-human
encounter has hardly begun in Africa. Inculturation as dialogue with
the Message of Christ in Africa has to interpret this Message of Christ
in terms which are relevant and essential to African existence and
culture.72
The next challenge could be termed the challenge of the unaddressed
and unanswered questions of the African Christians. Because of the
way missionary activities have been carried out and the way the
Church has been operating in Africa. There is need to re-evaluate its
practices, attitudes and teaching on such questions that are still
unanswered. Undue emphasis on the administration of the sacraments
in place of evangelisation, as has been the case in many African local
churches, did not solve any of these problems. This remnant of the
missionary practice reflects a time when all that mattered was the
salvation of souls of Africans and not the African as a unity of body
and soul. There is need for a shift of emphasis. Hence the church in
Africa should show the courage to abandon the comfort of such
missionary praxis organised around centres of worship. Instead it
71
H. Rücker, Afrikanische Theologie. Darstellung und Dialog. (Innsbruck: Tyrolia
Verlag,1985), 41.
72
Ibid., 47.
should take up the specific and radical concerns of people and attend
the entire person. This will imply serious changes in many areas.73
In talking of inculturation, we mean the culture of the people. This, as
is obvious, cannot be treated in isolation from the other facets of the
society and its problems. In the African situation, where exploitation
victimizes the people, this situation challenges the church in its move
towards inculturation to redefine the fundamental project of
Christianity in Africa. The problems and challenges of inculturation in
Africa are not located only on the level of discourse but also on the
level of concrete commitment. Hence, the need for the church to
promote a kind of Christianity that will help the African masses
escape the deadlock that has followed independence. It should
therefore re-examine the prefabricated ideas of North Atlantic
theology. It has to define itself according to the struggles of the people
in their resistance against the structures of domination.74
As regards the problem of the tyranny of the clergy, the challenge is
that the officials of the churches in Africa must realise that
inculturation has to be a movement of the whole Christian community.
As such, inculturation as communal act of encounter and acceptance
of the Message of Christ places great demands which include pastoral
attention and decisive listening to the breath of all of God’s (Africans)
people and its “sensus fidei”. Stiff theological constructs coming
directly from an academic think-tank are of little or no use here. It will
be totally wrong to conceive inculturation as a purely academic
venture; and more wrongly still as reserved only for the elite – the
clergy for example – and considering the laity only as a passive player
who should only receive injunctions from above.75
Africa and Africans must be prepared for the challenge of the
Message of Christ itself. This challenge is to be found everywhere
where there has been a real encounter between the Message of Christ
and the particular people and culture in question. Hence it is very
necessary for Africans to guard against the illusion of thinking
inculturation will be just a naive and easy introduction only of the
comfortable aspects of the Message of Christ. During his time, Jesus`
73
J. M. Ela, My Faith as an African. 142.
74
Ibid., 176.
75
M. M`nteba, 102.
196 Chapter Four
attitude towards the Jewish cultural heritage was basically positive

and sympathetic, even though it included strong criticism of
developments he judged harmful. Jesus himself challenged Jewish
messianism. He was opposed to and condemned the Pharisees in their
superficial and external observances. He took the same stand on their
attitude of segregation and discrimination against the “sinners” and
the publicans. That upon reaching Europe, Christianity set up a stiff
opposition to paganism testifies to Christianity’s capacity to challenge
the cultural milieu.76
4.5 Goal, Guiding Principles, Prerequisites, Spheres and

Methods of Inculturation as Dialogue
All these subtopics deserve further discussion, but their treatment

here, no matter how short, is geared towards positioning them within
our model of inculturation as dialogue.
4.5.1 Goal of Inculturation as Dialogue
Dialogue is not new to the Christian faith. Christian theology and the
biblical account of the history of salvation bear testimony to the role
of dialogue as form of divine-human relationship. Generally, the goal
of inculturation as dialogue within the African context is to make it
possible for Africa to develop the right form of relationship to the
Message of Christ. Dialogue with the Message of Christ will turn this
message for them into the Good News of Salvation. One can ask how
a person or group can encounter this message in itself. For otherwise
there can be no dialogue with the Message of Christ. In encounter
with the Message of Christ there is always a mediation. In the case of
Africa this points to the missionaries for even though they made
mistakes they will remain the primary medium through which
Africans have heard the Message of Christ.
Inculturation has the goal of making it possible for Africans to be
Africans and remain Africans even after they have become Christian.
It will enable the Message of Christ to act as a catalyst in African
76
J. Ukpong, 504f.
culture. It is not concerned with the clarification of doctrines, but is

occupied with helping the Africans to live the Message. It aims to
make the Message of Christ and the Christian tradition and doctrines
meaningful to the Africans in their life situation. In a way it is
concerned with presenting the Message of Christ in a particular
African context within the universal church. As dialogue inculturation
takes up the task of listening to, and asking questions about, the
Message of Christ. It thinks about, articulates, tries to understand and
re-express it within or in terms of the African cultural milieu, hence
making it possible for Africans to live it as the Message of Christ and
Good News of salvation.
Within the Church itself, inculturation as dialogue strives towards
finding a common language in matters concerning the canon law,
liturgy, dogma etc. It is obvious that such problems can only be solved
adequately through dialogue with, and within, the church.77
Inculturation as dialogue must play a very vital role in the Church’s
efforts towards accomplishing the noble objectives and the Second
Vatican Council. As a part of the Church’s venture it aims at
correcting some of the mistakes made during the mission era and
subsequent years in Africa. It could be seen equally as working with
the church to actualise the original apostolic mandate of Jesus Christ;
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ...” (Mt 28:19-20).
Another important goal of inculturation as dialogue is to challenge
Africans to make their reasonable contributions as equal partners in
the community of the universal Christian family; to ask themselves
pertinent questions about Christian faith; to take the fundamental
option of being converted and of , being thereby both fully Christian
and fully African.
Inculturation as dialogue aims at introducing a fresh breeze into the
Christian community so that those who have not had the chance to
contribute in their talents and charisma to the service of the universal
Christian community will have the chance to do it.
77
T. Kramm, 822.
198 Chapter Four
4.5.2 Guiding Principles of Inculturation as Dialogue
Having stated the goals of inculturation as dialogue, some principles

are needed to guide such a venture so as to accomplish its goal; certain
prerequisites have to be fulfilled. This is a matter of recommendation.
As each African group has its peculiar point of departure, it is not a
matter of striving for a uniform concept.
The situation of Africans today is in a way similar to that of the early
Christians who were confronted with the question of whether they
would continue their life according to their Jewish traditions.
Secondly, there was the case of the pagans who were converted for
whom it became a problem whether in their new faith they were to be
bound by the elements of Jewish culture.
Looking back on how these and other similar problems were
addressed and solved, it can be assumed that, perhaps unthematised, a
sort of guideline was laid down for inculturation. We see that in
Jewish culture, as well as in the pagan Hellenistic milieu, the
inculturation of the gospel took place within the respective cultures
and traditions. The Greeks were not introduced to the Christian faith
through the wisdom of the Old Testament, but rather through the
wisdom of the Greek poets and philosophers and through the
traditional Hellenistic religion (Acts 14:15-17).78 As a precedent, this
means that inculturation as dialogue must strive to introduce the
Message of Christ into the areas of African culture and tradition. For
inculturation as dialogue to achieve one of its goals within the African
cultural context one condition which needs to be fulfilled is the correct
understanding of the gospel both in words and deeds. This prerequisite
is the completed inculturation process of the African subjects which
has to involve living and practising the faith and hence the human
person as a whole in his or her daily life.
The guiding principles point also to the fact that dialogue should not
be conceived and understood superficially or myopically. This is
because the true nature and purpose of dialogue in general and here in
particular “does not exclude other forms of communication, such as,
among others, ... contention and controversy, nor does it rule out the
78
. N. B. Abeng, “Scheitern die Inkulturationsbemühungen des Christentums in
Afrika?“, in: Concilium 26 (1990), 416.
defence of the rights of the human person. In general... an open ...

mind, which is the foundation of dialogue, is needed.”79 This dialogue
must encompass all areas of human life. If inculturation as dialogue is
to achieve its aims, the rules of truth and freedom should not be found
to be lacking.
Another important guiding principle is that of the complementarity of
the experience of the divine. This is important for we need to recall
that the mystery which every religion experiences and tries to express
in its own way is the same. Differences come principally from the way
it is expressed. But it is in taking seriously these different expressions
of the same divine by others that the mystery of the divine human
relationship becomes gradually clear. Every religion has the basic
experience of the diversity of encounter with the divine, basic
experience of a distinctive encounter with the divine which, may
prove to be complementary. This encounter may be such whereby the
divine enters into the world and is met by human beings with awe and
hesitation. The case of complementarity of religious experience, calls
for openness. Instead of a group trying to prove and defend its own
experience as the sole or as absolute, the principle of recognition of
the validity of the experience of the divine by others should guide.80
Complementarity, bilateral enrichment and fulfilment of real diversity
of religious experience should be taken seriously.
Complementarity of religious experiences leads to tolerance as the
next guiding principle. In the Old Testament tolerance was not
lacking. In the book of Numbers (11:26-30), Moses’ attitude towards
Eldad and Medad who prophesied without being registered is
tolerance. Among others, the recognition of Eldad`s and Medad`s
prophetic charisma by Moses, against the objection of Joshua, serves
to protect the independence of the prophetic office. This office is
protected from those who would subject it to unnecessary institutional
control.81 Even in the New Testament, the call for tolerance was a
centrepiece of Jesus admonitions to his disciples as future leaders of
the Christian community. “John said to him, “Teacher we saw
someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him,
because he was not following us’” (Mark 9:38-40; Luke 9:49-50).
79
“On Dialogue with Unbelievers”. in: A. Flannery, Vatican II, 1003.
80
I. Puthiadam, 377.
81
R. E. Brown, J. A. Fitzmyer and R. E. Murphy, 85.
200 Chapter Four
Jesus’ answer and reaction is a clear example of the role of tolerance

in the Christian community. “Jesus’ tolerant attitude is grounded in
the idea that anyone who exorcized in his name would be slow to
speak ill of him.”82 These are examples warning against the tendency
towards exclusivism and cliquishness in the church when it comes to
the relationship of dialogue between different religions and cultures.
The church, and in short, individual Christians misunderstand the
meaning of being Christian, if this think that their own version and
practice of Christian faith is exclusive one. This calls for tolerance and
openness to others who work “in Jesus’ name”, i.e. who strive towards
being Christians in their own way and do not adhere to old ways.
A group or a person is not tolerant for recognising and accepting the
other only because they cannot be eliminated. Tolerance is the
acceptance of the other out of goodwill. This grows out of the fact that
one becomes conscious of the independence that exists between them.
One needs the experiences of the other so as to understand better the
truth of the universe, humanity and God.83 This fact of independence
should be borne in mind when we talk of inculturation as dialogue.
This is especially the case for the dialogue between African culture
and the Church. A related guiding principle is what may be termed the
„trinitarian principle” which concerns the basic relativity of each and
every culture. Though every culture is a complete system of meaning,
each still remains open for other systems. This is because no particular
culture exhausts all the latent possibilities of the human beings as
individuals as well as social beings. The guiding principle here should
be that of the mystery of the Trinity, the radical relativity
(“Relationalität”) between the three divine persons. Each divine
person is one and unique, but in continuous relationship and in
perichoresis with the other two divine persons. Community and
reciprocity explain why these three divine persons are one God.
Wherever relativity („Relationalität”) among cultures is respected,
care is taken that no culture oppresses the other.84 This means that the
relationship among cultures should be that of equals.
Emphasis here is laid on distributive equality; it should not develop
into a relationship between superior and inferior partners. Being
82
Ibid., 616.
83
L. Boff, 70.
84
Ibid., 59.
different should be understood in terms of being distributively equal,

without reason to swallow up the other or lord it over him/her. The
other must be able to be and to remain other.
A very important part of the prerequisites for inculturation as dialogue
includes also what M. Buber, in his description of a genuine dialogue,
called its characteristics. In a genuine dialogue the partners turn
toward one another in all honesty. Every partner sees the other
partners as equally important. The sincere attention given to one
another by the partners is a confirmation and acceptance of the other
as a real partner. This acceptance and confirmation has nothing to do
with the opinion or views of the partner as regards what is at stake, but
a recognition of him/her as partner for dialogue. This means everyone
has the right to have and represent his/her opinion; every participant
can contribute his/her views sincerely.85
All the partners in dialogue must show a firm resolution and readiness
for a dialogical synthesis of culture. In and through this synthesis it is
possible to resolve the contradictions – where they arise – between
different cultures and views of partners and peoples, to the enrichment
of all the partners. This dialogical cultural synthesis does not deny the
differences between the views of the respective partners; it is really
based on these differences. It denies rather the “invasion“ of one by
the other. This was missing as the missionaries started working in
Africa. No serious account was taken of such things as the African
peoples` view of the world, their concerns, hopes, doubts, their way of
perceiving themselves and others, their religious beliefs etc. All these
should be considered jointly, for none of them can be seen separately.
Another important prerequisite is humility. No dialogue can exist
without humility, which is very important at the horizontal or human
level. Inculturation as dialogue cannot be an act of arrogance. As the
encounter between partners addressed to a common task, it is broken
if the parties or one of them lack humility. How can a party enter into
a dialogue if it always projects ignorance onto other parties, especially
when it never perceives its own ignorance? How can there be genuine
dialogue if a party regards itself as a case apart from other parties.
What chances has genuine dialogue if a party sees itself as the sole
85
M. Buber, Das Dialogische Prinzip. (Gerlingen: Verlag Lambert Schneider GmbH,
1994), 293.
202 Chapter Four
possessor of truth and knowledge; arrogance is incompatible with any

dialogue worth its name. At the point of encounter there are neither
utter ignoramuses nor perfect sages; both should be trying to learn
from one another in humility.
Inculturation as dialogue demands strong confidence in the partner,
faith in his/her power to make and remake, to create and recreate. This
trust is a prerequisite for dialogue. It is not naïve, but critical, it never
loses sight of the fact that although it is within human potential to
create and transform in a particular situation, though this potential
may be impaired in its use. In the absence of this faith, dialogue just
becomes a farce which inevitably degenerates into paternalistic
manipulation.
Hope is another important element of this dialogue. It is rooted in the
incompleteness of human beings, from which they step forward in a
continuous search which can be carried out only in union with others.
This does not consist in passivity – folding one’s arms waiting.
Inculturation is an encounter in which Africans seek to be more fully
African without having to stop being Christian. This cannot be carried
on in a climate of hopelessness.
As a prerequisite for inculturation, dialogue cannot exist without
critical thinking, to recognise and discern an indivisible solidarity
between human beings everywhere in the world as children of God. It
admits no dichotomy, be it among them or between human beings and
the world. Reality is a process and transformation, not as a static
entity. Such critical thinking does not separate itself from action, for
the important thing is the continuing transformation of reality.
Inculturation then is to be understood as a continuous process86 based
on love, humility, faith, hope, critical thinking, and action. All these
must be present for without them, there is no dialogue. Hence
communication, in the absence of a true encounter will remain an
illusion.
86
P. Freire, 63ff.
4.5.3 Spheres of Inculturation as Dialogue
That inculturation involves the African as a whole person means that

basically every area of African life should be involved in this
encounter with the Message of Christ. Though all cannot be treated
here, that does not mean that only those which are treated are
important. The essence of Christ’s message is life: Christ came in
order that the people might have life and life in abundance. His
experience of, and way of dealing with, the Jewish culture of his time
shows his in-depth knowledge of the Jewish tradition, history, politics,
daily life, future expectations etc. This encounter between Jewish
culture and Christian faith through Jesus and his disciples, like the
later encounters between this and other cultures (particularly through
his disciples) was total and radical. Principally, one of the goals of
inculturation is that Africans find their own expression of the Message
of Christ.
Theological Sphere:
This is the obvious sphere where inculturation has to take place. The
statement of the Second Vatican Council on this is very apt in finding
it necessary “that in each of the... socio-cultural religions,...
theological investigation should be encouraged and the facts and
words revealed by God, contained in sacred scripture, and explained
by the Fathers and Magisterium of the Church, submitted to a new
examination ... In this way it will be more clearly understood by what
means the faith can be explained in terms of the philosophy and
wisdom of the people, and how their customs, concept of life and
social structures can be reconciled with be standard proposed by
divine revelation.”87 Divine revelation within the African history and
culture must also be studied. Obviously the African people have not
been a godless race, and it is important to integrate their experience of
God.
The development at the theological level in Africa has moved from
mere adaptation, through adjustment to the justification for an
indigenous theology which will constitute autonomous reflection and
87
Ad Gentes No. 22.
204 Chapter Four
work on, and with, the Message of Christ in Africa. The development
of an African theology through serious efforts of independent
theological researches is a very important step towards the
construction of a non-western African theology, not only for the
African churches but also for the universal Church.
Liturgical Sphere
Many efforts have already been made in this area examples of which
... include the translation of texts into the vernacular, and introduction
of indigenous symbols into sacramental rites without the format of the
rite being changed.”88 But this is not enough. For inculturation cannot
be simply a matter of a few Africans tokens; efforts must be made to
extend the whole of African symbolism to all religious expressions of
the Christian faith in Africa. In the construction of African indigenous
Christian rites, the existing Roman ritual format must be questioned
and re-examined in order that the essence of Christian faith based on
the Message of Christ must receive adequate treatment.
We already have some African rites – the Camerounian rite; and the
Zairean Mass. Some of these rites are not based on, nor do they rely
essentially on the Roman liturgical rite. Typical example is the Zaire
Mass, “whose format is different from the traditional one with the
following prominent features. At the beginning of the Mass there is a
long litany involving the ancestors; the penitential rites comes after
the homily, followed by aspersion and kiss of peace; the Eucharistic
prayers are composed according to African prayer pattern; there is
much interpolation, singing, dancing, drumming, and bodily gesture
all through the mass.”89
Other areas of liturgy must equally be encompassed. Further
development is necessary. In all these areas inculturation as dialogue
between African culture and the Message of Christ must remain the
goal.
Pedagogical Sphere
88
J. Ukpong, 514.
89
Ibid., 516.
Here the principle of dialogue should be very central and new forms
of catechism must be developed. Unlike the present situation of
catechetical practice in many African local churches where what is
passed on is a mere translation of foreign Western catechisms one that
is suitable for the people to whom it is addressed must be developed.
Africa must try to maintain her very own “personality”. This new
catechism should be able to answer the questions peculiar to African
Christians. It should also integrate them as African into the universal
Church. Hence the subject matter remains divine revelation as is
contained in the history of divine salvation that very important part of
which is the Message of Christ.
At this pedagogical level, effort must be made towards an exchange
between the evangelisers and those being evangelised which calls for
respect and readiness to learn from one another.
Sphere of Spirituality
Every group of people, every culture has its own traditional mental
and spiritual life, and African culture is not bereft of its own
spirituality. This reflects African social constellations which are based
on a very tightly woven religious organisational forms or patterns and
oriented toward a distinctly marked-out philosophical world-view.
Today, in the effort towards inculturation, spiritual experiences for
encountering the Message of Christ which will enrich the spiritual life
and experience of African Christians must be found.
All the African prayer forms and the deep spiritual experience and
heritage of the African traditional religion and culture must be
seriously taken into account. They have an immense role to play in the
renewal and inculturation of the personal and communal forms of
prayer, liturgy and spirituality is immense.90 The integration of this
very important aspect of the African traditional religion and culture
will go a long way to assuage the spiritual thirsts of African
Christians. Many Christian sects and other religions in Africa have
discovered this and have been making successful and fruitful use of
this fact.
90
T. Tschibangu, 327
206 Chapter Four
Organisational-Structural Material Sphere

Till now the version of the church known to many Africans is a
divided version of Christianity. The official centralist image of the
church is prevalent everywhere. Many do not have that real sense of
belonging for they miss the communitarian Christianity found
everywhere among the early Christians. In inculturation in Africa
where the community plays a very important role, it is very important
that every effort should be taken to make the church in Africa a true
community of the faithful.
That most of the local churches in Africa are materially poor is a very
great hindrance. It puts the local churches in a dependent relationship
on the churches of the West and many plans cannot be executed for
dearth of means. At times, projects already started must be abandoned
due to unreliable and sporadic sources of income. It is a bitter
experience when such projects that are very necessary to the people,
but which do not find favour with the sponsors, have to be abandoned
or extensively revised to find favour. In most cases after such
revisions the projects and plans loose their local validity.
Hence inculturation at this level should incorporate efforts or ways to
find means of solving the material problems of the local African
churches. This will help the local churches gain more of the autonomy
desperately needed to actualise the inculturation of the Message of
Christ in Africa. This will mean questioning and re-examining already
existing structures. Some of them may deserve to be rejected if they
do not contribute positively to the taking root of the Message of Christ
in Africa. Creativity is needed here as well and it is especially
necessary to bring to life new and satisfactory structures that will
contribute positively towards the realisation of the inculturation of the
Message of Christ in Africa.
Upon the achievement of this much needed material self-reliance, the
autonomy and independence of the local churches will follow and will
guarantee the way for a balanced relationship of dialogue between the
local churches in Africa and the universal Church.
Mundane Sphere
African traditional religion is neither a doctrinal nor a book religion,
nor is it a “sunday-to-sunday” religion. In every sense of the word it is
a lived religion that is everywhere in the life of the people. To

understand and encounter Africans as religious beings one should not
forget that African traditional religion is not primarily a collection of
doctrines and rites but more a way of life and an interpretation of the
world. It expresses itself in very aspect of life of the African people
and can in no way be separated from their daily life. Basically the way
Africans eat, plant grain, celebrate feasts and festivals, manage social
contacts, etc. all are influenced by their traditional religion.
The Message of Christ is not anti-life. If the encounter between the
Jewish culture and Jesus is examined, it is clear that every aspect of
life was involved. One of the goals/purposes of the Message of Christ
is that the people will have life and have it in abundance, and this
includes life here on earth.
The Christianity that was brought to, and is being practised in many
parts of Africa shows many anti-life and mundane elements. It is
unnecessarily „over-spiritualised” and undue emphasis is laid on
salvation of the soul alone as if taking care of the material welfare of
the people were evil. One notices an over emphasis on life after death
which naturally leads to passivity among the Christians. They do not
feel the life-promoting and liberating force of the Message of Christ;
their mundane life has been reduced to a mere stepping stone towards
life after death. The church authority shows little or practically no
interest in the social, political and economic problems and situations
of the people. They always try to pacify the oppressed, exploited and
suffering masses with such wrongly applied ideas as “Blessed are the
poor ...; your reward is in heaven” etc. These would seem to be an
effort to make the poor people think and feel that their miserable
condition was divinely sanctioned.
Inculturation must help the people find a way to the God of life. It
must help them return to the God of revelation, who takes sides with
the poor and oppressed; rather than helping them to endure their
sufferings they must liberate themselves.91 Where Christianity
supports resignation and fatalism, the inculturation movement must
help the people, relying on the Message of Christ, to protest against all
forms of injustice and oppression. Hence the mundane sphere is a very
important area where much has to be done for the Africans in, and
91
J. M. Ela, African Cry, 53
208 Chapter Four
through, the process of inculturation. Issues pertaining to economy,

politics, freedom and human rights must be given appropriate
attention. The human person must be seen as an integrated whole and
treated as a person in the world, as a part of the mundane sphere.
4.6 Methods of Inculturation as Dialogue
Because of the diversity of the African cultures and peoples, it must

be made clear that there cannot be a common uniform method of
inculturation in Africa. There must be room for diversity in the
methods applied and some of the methods suggested here are not
obligatory. Satisfactory methods will be the result of the practical
experiences obtained in the process based on the knowledge of the
goals of inculturation as dialogue with the Message of Christ.
Secondly, an in-depth knowledge of the culture, history, and tradition
of the particular group of people in Africa is a conditio sine qua non.
The history of the different inculturations of the Christian faith
testifies clearly that there cannot be but one particular uniform
method.
The different approaches of Christ to many groups of his time is a
clear example and support of this freedom in the choice of a
satisfactory method of inculturation as dialogue. Dialogue in itself
presupposes openness, critical disposition towards oneself, and
readiness to learn; inculturation as dialogue must incorporate these
qualities. Attentive listening to the other and silent reflection are very
important in transcending what has been, and improving what can still
be expressed.
The emphasis must be on the Message of Christ as it is presented in,
by and through the life, words and deeds of Jesus Christ, the New
Testament, as the Bible is a genuine expression of authentic Jewish
and Christian religious experiences, it would be self-deceit to expect
ready-made solutions to the problems of our own time in the Bible.
Hence it should be taken as a point of departure and serve as source of
inspiration.92
92
I. Puthiadam, 371.
In general, a search should be made for the ipsissimma intentio Dei

especially in the Old Testament. This search applies to African
traditional culture, religion and history for it contains the African
peoples’ experience of God. From this background the Message of
Christ can be understood. As for the New Testament, the approach is
that of trying to find out the ipsissimma intentio Iesu. This will help to
distinguish between the Message of Christ and its application to the
Jewish tradition and culture. This ipsissimma intentio Iesu will then
form the central guiding principle of inculturation as dialogue with the
Message of Christ. As culture is not a static deposit our method must
be that of a dynamic process and dialectical in nature. Culture
transforms itself each time it encounters something different and new
and incorporates it into its already existing pattern. As this affects the
cultural pattern into which it has been taken, the process gives birth to
something new and a transformation of the culture takes place. What
was taken in is no longer what it was, and the same applies to that
which has taken it in. This is the nature of inculturation as dialogue for
African culture: Africa becomes truly Christian and truly Christian
faith becomes truly African.
The method for achieving this truly African Christian culture might be
called the dialectical-processual-interactive method. This method
brings along with it negations, uncertainty, distortions etc. But the
goal of inculturation is not transcription of something that already
exists; it expects something new and is processual and interactive. Our
method must take care that true identity of the partners does not get
lost in this process. Hence the repeated call for openness and readiness
to accept the Message of Christ in order that something will result.
In pointing to the process as a part of the method of inculturation, we
emphasise that inculturation cannot be realised through a fixed
method as the process runs at different levels and in different spheres.
This means not a regimented temporal order but rather different
grades of intensity. It is quite possible that these levels exist
simultaneously.93 R. Crollius suggests the following levels: firstly, of
adaptation; second self-consciousness and reflection on ones own
cultural tradition coupled with a simultaneous distancing from the
93
K. Hilpert, 19f.
210 Chapter Four
European elements; third a convergence of Christian practice and

theological reflection on one side with socio-cultural and political
realities on the other side; understanding of the newly produced forms
of Christian life and thought as an extension and enrichment for the
universal Christian community.94 This entails respect and acceptance
of the other’s divergent views with goodwill because the other’s
experiences are necessary in order to comprehend the truth about the
universe, humanity and God in a better, in a broader, more varied and
deeper way.95 This is not an act between unequal partners but of
interdependence between concerned people.
As culture is dynamic the methods will concentrate on African
history, cultures and traditions. Other models of inculturation suggest
a retreat to African roots, but this cannot exhaust all that could be
done with reference to African history, culture and tradition and must
be critical in character. The goal is not just to present catalogues of
similarities or points of connections between a catechism with
scholastic imprints and African traditions. The method should be
rather more in-depth anthropological and theological reflection on
African history, culture and tradition centred on the symbols. The goal
would be the transmitted concepts and a new encounter with them in
the present situation of Africa. Efforts should not be geared towards
revival of an African past which can never be reproduced nor need
inculturation of necessity work out African attributes of God that
sound like such scholastic concepts as esse, substance or immutable
while these as in any philosophy of God, are part of the African
attributes of God. But what is more important to the Africans has been
and remains, a God who understands how to be present among the
people with their culture and in the different circumstances of life i.e.
one with existential relevance. This is the concrete African experience
of God. It does not mean that God’s attributes are exhausted for the
African for whom God is both immanent and transcendent. The
immanence of God while important for every philosophy of God is of
paramount importance to Africa for through this divine attribute a
smooth beginning can be made in the process inculturation as
dialogue.
94
Ibid., 20f.
95
L. Boff, 70.
The foregoing comments point to a method implied all along as we

have been treating inculturation as dialogue, i. e. existential analysis.
Hence we have been using the expression “Message of Christ” as
distinct from “Christian message” because the former is arrived at
through the distinction of the substance from the accidents of history
and culture which form part of the later expression of the Christian
message.
Applied to African history, culture and traditions, the approach of
existential analysis sees the whole process of inculturation as dialogue
from a newly actualised perception of history, tradition and culture.
This helps history, culture and tradition to retain their value as cradles
of creativity by not allowing them turn into ideologies or nostalgia but
remain existentially relevant and current as living memories and
creative élan.96 Tradition as an example will remain and function as
the living faith of the dead, in contrast to traditionalism which, as an
ideology, might be termed the dead faith of the living.
With reference to African culture, there is no separation or dichotomy
between the sacred and profane in the dynamics of African culture.
The mundane reality is the place in which the sacred and the
consecrated unfold and are experienced. African symbols are to be
understood as the language, of this point of connection between the
sacred and the profane. They express the drama of life, the tension
between life and death, and that the fate of the human being draws its
meaning from the victory of life over dead and good over evil. Hence,
there is continuity between the fate of the cosmos and that of the
human being: the salvation of the human being is equally that of
his/her environment or cosmos.97 For inculturation to be “à jour” it has
to contribute to the victory of life over the forces of death. That
means, among other things, having existential relevance which can be
achieved through existential analysis, interpretation and application of
both the Message of Christ and important elements of African culture,
history and tradition. The issue of existential interpretation leads to the
method of hermeneutic which is very important, for the way in which
inculturation can achieve the preservation of African identity without
96
K.J.K. Tossou, 54f.
97
N.B. Abeng, 415.
212 Chapter Four
deforming the Message of Christ in African culture.98 It is through this

hermeneutic approach that entrance can be found into the African
world of symbols which is very important for understanding the
African past, culture, tradition and religion.
A method of applying the products of the foregoing procedures is
equally necessary. Inculturation as dialogue which is an encounter
presupposes transformation. Dialogue consists, among other things, of
word, reflection and action. These aspects are very important, for if
any is missing the others suffer. In such a radical interaction as
inculturation, there cannot be true words without a corresponding
praxis. Sacrifice of action means verbalism which often leads to
passivity; sacrifice of reflection can lead to a blind copying which
ends up in activism.
Inculturation as dialogue with the Message of Christ should lead to a
transformation of the world and culture of those involved, which
entails as well the transformation of these people themselves. Any
inculturation model which does not succeed here may have failed to
jointly understand and promote word, reflection and action.
Inculturation cannot produce such a result if its central components
are separated for there can be no transformation without action.99
Through inculturation as dialogue African people have the possibility
of an existential encounter with the Message of Christ which is
characterised through its visible positive influence on people’s life.
Africans should be in position to lead every aspect of their daily life in
the spirit of the Message of Christ which encompass as all aspects of
their life. At this point it will be an experience of Salvation, where all
who have encountered the Message of Christ have been transformed.
At this point Africans can bear testimony based on their proper
experience within their own cultural milieu and as Africans of the life-
giving and liberating dimensions of the Message of Christ. Whichever
method, wherever it is used, it must encompass all the people in that
area.
98
N. Muschete, “Das Verhältnis der Kirche der Christenheit zu neuen Kulturen der
Dritten Welt“. (Aus dem Franz. Übers. V. E. Ruser-Lindemann). in: Concilium, 17
(1981), 494.
99
P. Freire, 60f.
Chapter Five
Igbo Culture in Dialogue with the Message of

Christ
5.1 Igbo Culture and Inculturation
In the early part of this work we saw the traditional world and religion
of the Igbos and that it has remained an ongoing challenge to
Christianity. One reason is that the Igbos, like the other African
groups, go in search of a concrete happiness both in the shadow of the
ancestors and today in the light of the gospel. We need to recall that,
more than any other group the Igbos, accepted Christianity principally
for utilitarian purposes.
Furthermore, the challenge of the Igbo culture stems from the fact that
the Igbos (like other African groups) live a relationship with the
invisible God through a special series of meditations: family customs,
marriage customs, techniques of healing, rites of initiation, special
relationship to ancestors etc. These cultural constructs of the Igbos
were not duly considered either by the early missionaries or by their
indigenous successors.
Christianity came to Igboland during a period of great disruption in
the region. The presence and practice of the Europeans (both
colonialists and missionaries) left many traditional systems broken.
No real effort was made towards dialogue between Christianity in its
European version and the Igbo culture. Hence “the Church in Igboland
grew up as it were, divided away from the cultural roots of Iboland to
214 Chapter Five
wear a additional toga of foreignness other than the foreignness that

belongs intrinsically to the Gospel itself ….”1
Traditional Igbo society and culture stresses a considerable
individualism as well as communal solidarity. This trend is found in
many other African traditional societies and cultures. Through
membership in the community individuals are assisted by built-in
values to aspire towards different goals in life. With the advent and
spread of Christianity, coupled with the subsequent Westernisation
and secularisation, Igbo traditional cultural values and the moral codes
supporting them began to break up. This engendered religious
confusion among many of the Igbo people.
In the first place the missionaries brought an antagonistic picture of
Christianity divided among themselves. Today many Igbo converts
live their version of Western Christianity in this way. Again, these
converts try to maintain a dual relationship. Though converted
Christians, they remain consciously and unconsciously deeply-rooted
in Igbo traditional religion. The fact that irrespective of the conversion
into Christianity, the Igbos still flock to their traditional religion
should be indicative of the ambiguity existing in their religious life.
This shows clearly that there is need for dialogue between Igbo
traditional culture and the Message of Christ.
Efforts have been made in this direction, but the persistence of the
situation indicates that more is called for. Such a problem cannot be
solved merely through translation of Western Christian doctrines into
Igbo vernacular. “The work of the interpretation of the Gospel through
Igbo cultural life experiences so as to provide, from the biblical
revelation (i.e. the Message of Christ), new value systems for the
people... becomes the inevitable challenge to theologians of our day.”2
This is because this Message of Christ contains within itself the new
universal possibilities for human beings through the reconciliation
Christ has instituted between God and human beings.
Igbo culture and tradition cannot be left aside. Like any other culture
it is to a substantial degree the repository of the Igbo peoples
experience of the divine in their history. It also contains the Igbo
1
E. Ilogu, Christianity and Igbo Culture: A Study of the Interaction of Christianity
and Igbo Culture. (New York: NOK Publishers Ltd., 1974), 230.
2
Ibid.
culture’s orientation to the values which have developed along the

years. Such values as respect for human life, justice, courage, and
communal co-operation are vivid expressions of the Igbo sense of
community, etc., Such sociological as well as theological resources
within Igbo culture make inculturation as dialogue between Igbo
culture and the Message of Christ possible. This encounter will serve
as the fountain of the new values for life in the Igbo cultural world.
The new cultural dimensions created will lead to a new lease of
community as well as individual life for Igbos.
Generally, like any other human beings, the Igbos are confronted with
all forms of tensions based on existential human predicament. Such
tensions include confronting the forces of estrangement. Igbo history
and culture show many traces of such encounters of estrangement –
both natural and artificial. Estrangement through the forces of nature
in Igbo culture is seen in the cultural and religious symbols and
practices of the Igbos. Their recognition of the forces of evil,
darkness, death and nature, and their search for the patronage of the
deities through religious rituals, rites, feasts, festivals and symbols are
vivid evidence of these forces of estrangement. Such incidents as the
slave trade, colonialism, and collaboration of the missionary agents
with the colonialists, etc., testify to man-made estrangements with
which the Igbos, like other African groups are still confronted.
The Igbo adherents of non-African religions are cut from their roots.
Western Christianity and other non-African religions have had at their
core a subtle mix of encouragement and coercion in “christianising”
and “civilising” the indigenous peoples and prodding them to see their
heritage in the dark colours of evil, everything that existed before the
advent of Western Christianity and “civilisation” was stamped
heathen. Not only among the Igbos, but all over the continent of
Africa, major non-African religions have destroyed the characteristic
features of African life. This development has wrecked a lot of havoc
on the African personality and identity, an example of which can be
taken from the present situation of Igbo Christians with regards to
their identity as Africans. Christian missionaries broke into the
traditional solidarity with denominational varieties and rivalries. Some
mission regulations threatened the traditional society. Perhaps most
fundamental among these methods was the emphasis and exaltation of
the individual and his/her soul, whereas indigenous Igbo society is
communal. Every member of the society is no more than a unit in an
216 Chapter Five
organic whole and thinks, speaks, believes and acts as such. With such
undue emphasis on the individual it was easy to “convert” a number of
people.
This concept of the individual is foreign to Igbo worldview which
joins the individual with a strong communal solidarity. In this culture
the individual is “individual-in-community” and through the
membership in the community receives meaning and identity and can
strive towards self-actualisation.
The methods of conversion of the missionaries as presented above,
removed the individual from this important organic whole. The
“converts” not only imbibed a new set of religious beliefs, but began
to nurse alien ideas detrimental to the welfare and solidarity of the
communal life pattern. Some people may not see anything wrong here
especially with this emphasis upon the individual. But in a society
such as the Igbo where religion is the real cement and even the basis
of secular authority, conversion of the individual which implies in
most cases a wholesome renunciation of the traditional religion and
way of life is detrimental to the traditional community which bases the
Igbo (African) personality and identity.
Today the majority of Igbo Christians (like other African
Christians) tend (judging solely from external appearances) towards
the individualist conception imbibed through Western Christianity.
This notwithstanding, they still retain strong attachments to their
society and culture. There the indigenous African and Western-
missionary concept of the individual continue to jostle together and
mix in a way that not only defies easy analysis but produces a
personality as well as an identity crisis among the Igbos.
The present situation of the Igbos as well as other Africans, an
example of which is presented above, testifies to a rapid increase in
the number of forces of estrangement. These include extreme poverty,
hunger, diseases, wars, dictatorship, exploitation and oppression of the
masses. The list continues to increase daily: these are universally
forces of estrangement and are not bound to a particular culture, time
or group of human beings.
Estrangement points to the underlying characteristic of the existential
predicament of the human being. Human beings as they exist are not
what they essentially are, and ought and can be, but are estranged
from their true being. The depth of the estrangement lies in the fact
that one belongs essentially to that from which one is estranged.
Human beings are not complete strangers to their true being, for they
belong to this true being.3
Even if estrangement is not clearly evident in every culture in the
same identical way, it is implied in most of the descriptions of the
human predicament among various cultures. Confronted with some of
these different forces of estrangement Igbo culture, can find a way
through inculturation as dialogue with the Message of Christ, for it is
Christ alone who has succeeded in conquering these forces of
estrangement and conquered the gap between essence and existence.
This life of Christ is not possible only for one with divine nature.
Being human in every sense of the word, like every human being
Jesus is finite freedom. Otherwise not being truly human he could not
be the Christ.
For the Igbos, as well as other estranged peoples of Africa,
inculturation as dialogue with the Message of Christ offers a real
chance for productive confrontation with these forces of estrangement.
This will be achieved only through an honest, serious and critical
encounter with the Message of Christ by understanding it within the
Igbo worldview and thought-pattern. The way Christ dealt with the
forces of estrangement in the human predicament will then be the
model for inculturation among the Igbos. In this way Igbos will
experience the liberating dimension of the Message of Christ. This
expectation cannot be branded utopic, for the Message of Christ has
universal validity and its expectation cannot be branded utopian for
Jesus himself participated fully and without any reservations in all the
tragic elements of existence.
In terms of the eschatological symbolism it can also be said that
Christ is the end of existence (i. e. in the sense of
aim or purpose, for history has come to an intrinsic
end qualitatively in the appearance of Jesus Christ
as a historical reality). He is the end of existence
lived in estrangement, conflicts, and self-
destruction… His appearance is realized
eschatology…, it is fulfilment “in principle”, and
3
P. Tillich, 45.
218 Chapter Five
it is the manifestation of the power and the

beginning of fulfilment.4
For the Igbo culture and traditional religion it also means that
inculturation as dialogue with the Message of Christ offers
opportunity to experience what fulfilment qualitatively means. Hence
it can be echoed with the letter to the Hebrews (1: 1-2) that in days
past God spoke to us through our natural environment, history,
culture, ancestors and even through the missionaries. But in these days
he not only has spoken to the world (Africa’s included) through His
son, but the still speaks to human beings in their various situations.
Only through such existential encounter is the Message of Christ the
Good News of salvation.
5.2 General Conclusion
This work could be taken as one of the many searches for the way
through which the Message of Christ can take root in Africa. Its last
two chapters became “prescriptive” programmatic as the author’s
response to lack of adequate objective guidelines on how the Message
of Christ is to take root in Africa which was discovered during the
earlier parts of this work.
This situation applies also to the Igbo society. The various authors
working in this area presume the existence of such objective
guidelines, but face the difficulty of trying to build a house without a
drawn architectural plan. The owner presumes that the idea which
exists only in his/her mind is already known to others. It is very
difficult if not impossible for others to follow this idea.
Much details of Igbo culture were not given in the last chapter, but
what was said of African culture in general applies to the Igbo as well.
Hence mention is made only of some possible areas of dialogue
between the Message of Christ and Igbo traditional religion for going
4
Ibid., 119.
into additional details would overstretch the scope of this work which
intended only to lay a foundation for subsequent detailed works in this
direction. Hence this work will require a good deal of follow-up in
order to develop more detailed and adequate treatment of the different
aspects of Igbo culture within the project of inculturation as dialogue
with the Message of Christ. Igbo traditional religion is part of a
complex interacting system and due to the intertwined position of
religion with other aspects of life within the Igbo society such
subsequent works will have to be interdisciplinary in outlook.
Returning to inculturation as dialogue with the Message of Christ, one
should not forget the cross-cultural character of this message. This
makes up for the limitations of the Igbo traditional religion which, to a
great extent, is culture bound. Another problem of the Igbo traditional
religion which can be solved by the Message of Christ is its inability
to give adequate answers to modern questions of the Igbo people.
Igbo traditional religion is not bereft of positive contributions but of
necessity is regional and culture-bound. But this is needed in
inculturation as dialogue for, among other things, it forms the basis of
the social network of the Igbo society which is not only present but
deep enough in their lives that basic decisions are taken based on this
traditional religion. It is difficult today to discern easily what other
values influence Igbo people’s decisions. Both Western and African
values play important roles and are both partners in the dialogue – the
Message of Christ and Igbo traditional religion – are needed.
Those who see Christian faith as an aspect of European imperialism in
Africa argue that African traditional religion alone is enough to give
adequate solutions to African problems. The Message of Christ
contains within itself a universally valid message of salvation. It offers
new possibilities for the Africans in general and for the Igbos in
particular for it has, among other things, a unique model of divine
human relationship exemplified in Jesus himself. This is not found in
the Igbo traditional religion.
On the other hand, Igbo concept of community, though a valuable
aspect to Igbo culture, is strongly exclusive. Those outside the Igbo
cultural world are not easily integrated. For this and other limitations
of the Igbo idea of community the Message of Christ is needed. The
message aims, among other things, to build a universal community of
God’s children. In inculturation as dialogue with this message, the
220 Chapter Five
Igbo culture with its concept of community can be complemented with

the concept of a universal community of the children of God.
This whole work has tried to show that for the Message of Christ to
take root in Africa there should be dialogue between it and African
culture. Within this context of dialogue the message can be believed
as the Good News of salvation which indeed is what inculturation is
all about.
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Inculturation as Dialogue

Igbo Culture and the Message of Christ

Prof. Claude Ozankom

In cooperation with the International

Amsterdam - New York, NY 2007

Satz und Layout: Alexandra Kunstmann-Hirnböck

The series “Intercultural Theology and Study of Religions” will appear

Die Reihe “Theologie Interkulturell und Studium der Religionen”

Table of Contents _____________________________________ i

2.2 The Church and Mission ___________________________68

Inculturation as Dialogue with the Message of Christ .........148

culture, while Christian ideals influenced European culture. The

Le probleme de la connaissance religieuse d´après L. Laberthonnière.

encounter between the Message of Christ and the Jewish culture.

If this be understood as inculturation, then one of the main points of

a culture which lives in relationship with the invisible, through such

he/she cannot do anything towards helping himself/herself in this

those involved allow themselves to be confronted with, and inspired

The reason for the mission and missionary activities of Christianity is

to be out of place. Furthermore, this work tries to be of some practical

It treats culture insofar as it is closely related to religion. Although

Igbo Traditional Religious Understanding of the

The purpose of this preamble is to present a summary of the

used in this work (except where otherwise stated) conceives culture as

members in terms of the fundamental underlying concepts of

To understand the African as religious, one has to bear in mind that

legitimate offspring. The moral aspects of his/her life should be

paradox that in manifesting the sacred, they become something else,

1.2 Origin and History of the Igbos

1.2.1 The Geographical Location of the Igbos

The Igbos are located principally in south-eastern Nigeria and occupy

1.2.2 The Origin of the Igbos

The writing of Igbo history is still at a very

1.2.3 The History of the Igbos

Ethnologically the Igbos are seen as an ancient race. Many accounts

various branches of them spread out to occupy

the Igbo area were probably the Cross River and

relatively narrow low-lying Anambra-Niger flood

The Salient Periods of Igbo History

The First Period

The Second Period

into an otiose existence, as Igbo society grew in complexity under the

The Third Period

culture make it quite difficult to describe them in detail. Each

1.3 Igbo World-View

In this section it is necessary to mention a problem with which one is

view. There is danger of distorting the original meanings of the world-

1.3.1 Igbo Dualistic Vision of the Universe

“In many African societies it is believed that the universe is divisible

simultaneously within and outside of the earth and

material world in terms of imperceptibility to the

(land of the unseen). ... an Igbo term that is

1.3.2 Igbo View of the Material World

very pragmatic. This utilitarian outlook on things may be seen in the

and inanimate objects as well as to elements and ordinary events in

Most inanimate objects and elements serve as residence of deities and

1.3.3 Time and Space among the Igbo People

Concept of Time among the Igbos

historical time. For religious people profane time is sustained through