E-Journal of Religious and

Theological Studies (ERATS)

ISSN – Online 2458-7338 | Print 2821-8957
Volume 9 Issue 12 - December 2023 pp 593 - 606
Available online at: https://noyam.org/journals/erats/
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20239124

Reincarnation Christology in African Christian Theology

Edward Agboada1 & Francis Appiah Kubi1
1
Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi – Ghana.
1

ABSTRACT
Correspondence
The subject of reincarnation has been considered a reserve of primal (esoteric)
Edward Agboada
religions or cultures. Therefore, it has not been thoroughly studied to decipher the Email: [email protected]
philosophical and theological issues thereof. Notwithstanding, what seems to be the
total neglect and lack of interest, the significance of christological parallelism that
exists between reincarnation and resurrection as Christological parallels in both Publication History
African Traditional Religion and African Christianity cannot be disregarded. Received 29th September, 2023
Accepted 30th November, 2023
Reincarnation Christology provides a paradigmatic christological framework that
Published online:
conceptualises Africa’s notion of life as a cycle of death, birth, and rebirth 15th January, 2024
(reincarnation) similar to incarnation, death, and resurrection Christologies of the
missionary (Western) Christianity and provides a competitive context that defines
the identity, and significance of Jesus in African Christianity and Theology. Even
though reincarnation provides a good context for the Christology of Jesus in African
traditional religion, Christianity, and Biblical Theology, theologians and biblical
scholars such as Mbiti, Bediako, Nyamiti, Wiredu, and Gyekye failed to give it any
attention. Nevertheless, the article argued that, like incarnation, death, and
resurrection Christologies, reincarnation Christology provides very powerful and
strong philosophical constructs for the inculturation of the Christology of Jesus in
African Traditional Religion, African Christianity and African Christian Biblical
scholarship. The article further argued that, there also exists a strong parallelism
between resurrection and reincarnation Christologies which can provide
complementing philosophical paradigmatic framework for the christological
nomenclatures in Christianity and African traditional religions.

Keywords: Christianity, Theology, Reincarnation, Christology, Resurrection,

Inculturation, Ancestor, Decolonisation.

INTRODUCTION
Christianity since its arrival in Africa has undergone several vicissitudes. It has changed in emphasis of its
theological nomenclatures and paradigmatic framework, religeographic dynamics and trajectories and
interaction with and approach to the socioreligioculture and traditions of Africa. Most importantly, in the 21st
century where its centre of gravity and hegemony has shifted from the global West (Europe and America) to the
global South (Africa, Latin America and Asia), Christianity in Africa has been forced to decipher a pragmatic
nomenclature and legitimate ways it can continue to remain significant in Africa and beyond. In sub-Saharan
Africa, for instance, emergence of distinctive ontologies and praxis has informed and influenced African centred
paradigms for Christian Theology and biblical scholarship such as ancestor, eschatological and reincarnation
Christologies. Inculturation of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus and reincarnation as a framework
within which Africa’s concept of life as a cycle of birth, death and rebirth is conceived provides key parallelism
for a wholistic discussion on the Christology of Jesus Christ in African traditional religion, Christianity, and
Theology.
Jesus’s incarnation, death and resurrection which is similar to the concept of life as a cycle of birth,
death and reincarnation in Africa remains a significant theological debate not only in Western Christian

© 2023 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals.

This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
 Agboada, E. & Appiah-Kubi, F./ E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies Vol.9 No.12 (2023) pp 593 - 606

theological discourse but also in African Traditional Religion, Christian Theology and Biblical scholarship
because of how it contextualises the identity, role and significance of the incarnation, death and resurrection of
Jesus within the African Traditional religion and Christianity. The availability of adequate study of the
christological parallelism between the two concepts however does not comprehensively provide the answers
needed since reincarnation and resurrection both leave much to be studied to fully comprehend the trajectories
of christological dynamics and frameworks they provide. Therefore, it is only within inculturation that any
possible provision is made for a comprehensive discussion of the two.

Christianity in Africa; Religeographic Dynamics, Trajectories and Development of Distinct Ontologies

Christianity in Africa is a historiographic trajectory that traces its arrival in Africa and the trajectories of
religeographic dynamics presented. Anthropologists and historians such as Isichei, Meyer and Hastings have
outlined its main dialectics. Depending on which biases informed a historian's account, the hypothesis consists
of the Pentecost hypothesis, based on Acts 2, 1 the Ethiopian Eunuch and Philips encounter, based on Act 8 and
an attempt by Europe through the Crusades to reclaim its territories which had been taken by Muslim Empires
in Northern Africa. Finally is the attempt by the Portuguese to find a root to India through the Atlantic Sea at
the base of the African continent for trade purposes.
In the first hypothesis, which is the Pentecost hypothesis based on Acts Chapter 2, the biblical account
of the occasion coincided with the Jewish festival of “Shavuot” (Exod 34:22; Deut 16:9-10;12) seven weeks
after “Pesach” (Passover) which was one of the major religious festivals of the Jews. As a result, in the biblical
narrative, over 15 nations gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the occasion and engage in other activities.
According to Cyrus, not everybody who went for the “Shavuot” went there for religious purposes, since the
occasion served as a huge trade and economic opportunity. 2 All kinds of people travelled far and wide for
religious rites and to trade in various kinds of goods. The crust of the hypothesis is that among the 3000
conversions made by Peter, were Africans who later returned to their towns and villages and continued with
their newfound faith and shared the same with their families.
In the second hypothesis, the Ethiopian Eunuch (chamberlain), described as a high court official of the
Candace of Ethiopia had his encounter with Philip based on Acts 8. It is argued that he was not the only person
who converted and sought baptism by Philip. Others who were in his caravan also converted since it was a
tradition for people to follow the religion of their masters or fathers, they together returned and continued in
their newfound faith. It is juxtaposed that this religious revolution led to the Aksumite Empire (eastern Ethiopia),
one of the most ancient cities in Africa around the 4 th century which made Christianity its official religion. In
the same hypothesis, Dube and Scott argue that the Ethiopian Eunuch’s possession of a copy of scripture from
the scroll of Isaiah which at the time was uncommon and expensive to possess, is an indication that he was not
a “novice” and must have spent fortune to own the text.3 He was probably a dedicated and committed Christian
who had the parchment with him for years.
In the third hypothesis, Muslim Empires conquered territories that belonged to Europe, and their attempt
to recapture them through the Crusades brought Christianity to Africa. The event that sparked the Crusades
itself was struck not in Europe but in the East, when the Byzantines first confronted the Seljuk Turks, originally
an Asian Army which, like the Huns of earlier times, penetrated far into the West, and captured much of the
Near East, including the Holy Lands.
The fourth hypothesis is that Portuguese maritime activities attempted to find a route to India through
the Atlantic Sea at the base of the African continent for trade, which sparked other expeditions that culminated
in one of the most barbaric and heinous practices ever perpetuated by one race against the other “trade in
humans” (slave trade). Once Africa was opened, British, French, German, Belgian, Spanish, and Italian traders
came around. In Africa, one of the major activities was missionary services. It became a strong tool in the hands
of the colonisers and was used for various religious and political benefits and reasons, including education, skill
development, social transformation, and economic empowerment. The mission schools, hospitals, and
agricultural engineering centres provided invaluable services to the indigenous people; however, they created a

1 Elizabeth Isichei, A History of Christianity in Africa: From Antiquity to the Present (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995); Birgit
Meyer, “Christianity in Africa: From African Independent to Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches,” Annu. Rev. Anthropol. 33 (2004):
447–74; Adrian Hastings, A History of African Christianity, 1950-1975 (Cambridge University Press, 1979).
2 Cyrus H. Gordon, “The Biblical Sabbath: Its Origin and Observance in the Ancient near East,” Judaism 31, no. 1 (1982): 12-16.
3 Zorodzai Dube, “The Ethiopian Eunuch in Transit: A Migrant Theoretical Perspective,” HTS: Theological Studies 69, no. 1 (2013):

1–7; F Scott Spencer, “The Ethiopian Eunuch and His Bible: A Social-Science Analysis,” Biblical Theology Bulletin 22, no. 4 (1992):
155–65.

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big hole in the intellectual abilities of the indigenous Africans and the technological advancement of African
nations.

Inculturation, (contextualisation) of Christianity and Theology in Africa (African Christianity and

Theology)
Christianity in Africa began to be “inculturated” (contextualised) to make sense of the socioeconomic and
religiocultural cosmology of the African people. In the literature, four hypotheses have been discussed.
Sakupapa outlines the following as the reasons; the first is the decolonization, which emerged as African nations
got independence from their colonial masters and wanted to get rid of every reminiscence of colonial hegemony
in education, religion, politics, and economics.4 The second is the failure of Missionary Christianity to recognise
and accept Africa’s religiocultural and socioeconomic cosmology as a competitive and legitimate paradigmatic
framework for Christian theology and nomenclature. The third was an attempt to find suitable and appropriate
nomenclatures in Christianity that provided the right answers to the many questions that African Christians were
asking about the relationship between the Christian gospel and their African traditional religions. The fourth
demands a change in the centre of gravity and hegemony of Western (missionary) Christianity from the global
West (Europe and America) to the global South (Africa, Asia and Latin America)
The first reason is the decolonisation of religion, education, politics, and economics. Higgs argued that,
as African nations got independence from their colonial masters, they wanted to get rid of every reminiscence
of colonial hegemony.5 Therefore, they began to reconstruct the legacies of colonialism and reconceptualised
its hegemony to recognise Africa’s competency to contribute to its own development and growth. For Varas-
Díaz and Serrano-García, colonialism had created an impression of inferiority in the intellectual capabilities of
people and African traditions and cultures.6 Mungwini further opined that everything African was regarded with
scorn, and prejudice, maligned and condemned without examining their veracity or ineptness. Anything that did
not conform to the context of Western hegemonic heritage was considered incredible and worthy of recognition.7
The inculturation of Western (missionary) Christianity and theology in Africa, therefore, emerged as a
revolution to put Africa in its rightful place in the socioeconomic and religiocultural cosmology of the world.
Courtesy of the African Initiated (instituted) or Independent Churches (AICs), the theology, and nomenclatures
of Christianity in Africa have undergone several inculturations.
Christianity and theology in Africa have since been reconstructed to the extent that they manifest in a
way that is completely different from Western (missionary) Christianity or theology. For instance, while
Western (missionary) Christianity still focuses on hegemonic Eurocentric nomenclature, African Christianity
focuses on the context of its religioculture, spirituality, and traditional cosmological milieus. According to
Daneel, AICs represented a cultural renaissance and indigenizing movement that protested the hegemony of
missionary Christianity. 8 While African indigenous religions and spirituality were considered confrontational,
plagued with a constant struggle between good and bad (evil) spirits trying to control and manipulate the
physical world of Africa, missionary Christian spirituality remained abstract and intangible. What the AICs set
out to achieve therefore was to reconstruct the theology and nomenclatures of Christianity to accommodate
Africa’s religious, traditional, and cultural cosmological realities. By this, the AICs were able not only to
integrate important features of Africa’s traditional values, culture, religion, and Christianity but were also able
to use them to provide answers to the questions that African Christians in the missionary churches struggled to
answer.
They proved that African culture, tradition, and religion provided Christianity with enormous content
and context to address the challenges of Africa’s socioeconomic, traditional, and religious cosmology.
According to Oosthuizen, by these actions of the AICs, African Christians came to realize that, their traditions
and culture possessed important values that could be used to teach good Christian living.9 From this perspective,

4 Teddy Chalwe Sakupapa, “The Decolonising Content of African Theology and the Decolonisation of African Theology Reflections
on a Decolonial Future for African Theology,” Missionalia: Southern African Journal of Mission Studies 46, no. 3 (2018): 406–24.
5 Phillip Higgs, “The African Renaissance and the Decolonisation of Theological Education,” Contested Issues in Training Ministers

in South Africa, 2015, 43–56.

6 Nelson Varas-Díaz and Irma Serrano-García, “The Challenge of a Positive Self-Image in a Colonial Context: A Psychology of

Liberation for the Puerto Rican Experience,” American Journal of Community Psychology 31 (2003): 103–15.
7 Pascah Mungwini, "‘Philosophy and Tradition in Africa’: Critical Reflections on the Power and Vestiges of Colonial

Nomenclature." Thought and Practice 3, no. 1 (2011): 1-19.

8 Marthinus L. Daneel, African Initiated Churches in Southern Africa: Protest Movements or Mission Churches? (African Studies

Center, Boston University, 2000).

9 Gerhardus C. Oosthuizen, “The AIC (African Independent Churches) and the Modernisation Process. Part One,” Africana

Marburgensia 20, no. 1 (1987): 59–81.

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theology in Africa followed a particular trend. Ka Mana observed there were the missionary theologies of
“tabula rasa”; Africans were considered to have no knowledge, and it was the responsibility of missionaries (or
Whiteman) to educate them.10 These were theologies of “inculturation.” Missionary theologies were challenged
by the desire to develop an African Christian theology. This was followed by theologies of “liberation” which
laid the foundations for Africa to respond to issues of socioeconomic, religiocultural and political challenges
within the continent. The last face was the theologies of “reconstruction” which challenged the realities of
problems faced by Africans and emphasised the need for theological reflection that addressed the problems.
Three theologies have emerged: reconstruction, inculturation, and decolonisation. In inculturation three
Christologies emerged; Incarnational, Ancestor and Eschatological Christologies.

African Christian Theology of Reconstruction (ACTOR)

The theology of reconstruction is a framework developed in response to the challenges and problems faced by
Africans and the quest to address issues of poverty, political instability, social injustice, and cultural alienation
by combining African cultural values, spirituality, and social dynamics with Christian faith. Maluleke has
outlined the historical trajectories of the development of the theology of reconstruction.11 He recounted two
ecclesial events: the 1974 Synod of Bishops and the 1994 African Synod12 which were significant events in the
history of the Church in Africa aimed at addressing the challenges of spreading the Christian faith in Africa. It
linked “Liberation” to “Evangelization” and emphasised contextual theological perspectives that coincided with
the emergence and popularisation of the independence movements in the 1960s and 1970s. According to
DaSilva, the AICs movements quickly assumed the responsibility of reconstructing theology in Africa.13 Pauw
observed that it was within this context and desperate search for a suitable framework amid challenges of
redefinition of the evangelization agenda in Africa that in the 1980s and 1990s African Reconstruction Theology
emerged popularised by the Ka Mana and Jesse Mugambi.14
Mugambi also proposes the theology of reconstruction. It focused on addressing various challenges and
painful experiences that Africa went through, including social injustice, liberation, decolonisation, and
alienation of African traditions and values in Christianity, theology, and biblical scholarship. 15 Overall, the
theology of reconstruction sought to reclaim Africa’s identity, restore its dignity, and promote the holistic
transformation of all aspects of African life, including spiritual, social, economic, and political. Reconstruction
theology offered various benefits. First, it provides a critical examination of traditional religious doctrines and
practices to identify aspects that need to be reinterpreted considering current issues. Second, it emphasises the
importance of contextualising religious beliefs and rituals to make them relevant and meaningful within specific
cultural and social contexts. In a portrait of Mugambi's theologies of Liberation and Reconstruction, Magesa
highlights the strategic contribution of his theologies of “liberation” and “reconstruction” with his Post-Exilic
Motif.16 According to Magesa, Mugambi’s understanding of the post-Cold War and the need for a shift from a
“dominant” paradigm of liberation was used to articulate his “reconstruction theology.”
Mugambi has also noted that the Cold War had divided Africa (in fact, the rest of the world) into the
East nations (WARSAW) and the West (NATO). Thus, with the destruction of the Berlin Wall (1989), the end
of colonial rule in Africa (1945- 960), and apartheid in South Africa (1990), he argued for a shift in theological
emphasis from an “exodus (liberation) motif” to a “reconstructive motif”. 17 In a review of the contribution of
Mugambi, Vähäkangas observed that Mugambi’s main argument was that, after, the Cold War, Colonisation,
and Apartheid in South Africa there was the need to reconstruct theology to address the destructions and

10 Kä Mana, Christians and Churches of Africa Envisioning the Future: Salvation in Jesus Christ and the Building of a New African
Society (Ocms, 2002).
11 Tinyiko S. Maluleke, “The Proposal for Theology of Reconstruction: A Critical Approach,” Missionalia: Southern African Journal

of Mission Studies 22, no. 3 (1994): 245–58.

12 Synod of Bishop was established by Pope Paul VI in 1965 as a result of Vatican II to promote unity and collaboration between

Bishops through the common study of the conditions of the Church and in agreement on the questions pertaining to her mission.
13 José Antunes Da Silva, “African Independent Churches Origin and Development,” Anthropos, 1993, 393–402.
14 Christoff M. Pauw, “African Independent Churches as a’People’s Response’to the Christian Message,” Journal for the Study of

Religion, 1995, 3–25.

15 Jesse N. Mugambi, From Liberation to Reconstruction: African Christian Theology after the Cold War (East African Educational

Publ., 1995).
16
Laurenti Magesa, “A Portrait of Professor JNK Mugambi’s Theological Project of Reconstruction: A Review Article of Theologies
of Liberation and Reconstruction: Essays in Honour of Professor JNK Mugambi, Ph. D., Edited by Isaac MT Mwase and Eunice K.
Kamaara,” Studies in World Christianity 19, no. 2 (2013): 187–97.
17 Jesse Mugambi and Ndwiga Kanyua. "The church and reconstruction of Africa: Theological considerations." All Africa Conference

of Churches, 1997.

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dehumanization that had taken place to remotivate and encourage Africans to take their rightful place in the
global world.18

African Christian Theologies of Inculturation

The theology of inculturation emerged around the 1950s and the 1960s as a theological response to the alienation
of African traditional religion and cultural values in theological discourses and biblical scholarship in
Christianity in Africa, and a search for a context that correctly answered the questions African Christians were
asking. Missionary perceptions in Africa were persistently negative, i.e. savages, backward, uncivilised, etc.,
and all that remained was savage chaos. According to Ayittey even when Darwin speculated that it was Africa,
(not the Garden of Eden in the Near or Far East) that the evolution of humanity should be traced, intellectual
prejudices precipitated rejection that anything good could come from Africa because its people had no history,
no culture, no civilization, and nothing of value to contribute to human evolution. 19 As observed by Viera,
missionaries condemned its religion, and culture as Satanic, from which they had come to save them, any
possibility of integrating them into Christianity was considered unacceptable.20 For Antonio, inculturation like
liberation was part of post-colonial discourse that provided appropriate, comprehensive, and suitable
intercultural paradigms for making missionary Christianity and its theological nomenclatures meaningful in the
African Christian context.21
Centuries in Africa, the dominance of the colonial hermeneutical framework prevented a holistic
approach to Christian theologies and biblical studies in African traditional and cultural contexts. No opportunity
was given to the possibility of African traditions and culture to provide a perspective on the many Christian
theological and biblical hermeneutical frameworks found in the bible and traditions of the early Church. Bediako
has proven how Jesus and the gospel are significant in other cultural contexts. Bediako argued that it was
unreasonable to insist that the significance of Jesus and the Bible could only be perceived in Western or Euro-
American contexts.22 Inculturation theology according to Magesa was developed as a framework that explored
the dynamics of cultural diversity and inter-cultural encounters within the context of religious belief and practice
(especially in Africa). It sought to comprehend and address the theological implications of cultural diversity,
globalisation, and the interactions that exist between different religious and cultural traditions. 23 Intercultural
relationships recognise that culture or religion does not exist in isolation, and societies are increasingly
interconnected and diverse. It, therefore, acknowledged the inherent value and significance of cultural diversity
and sought to promote dialogue, mutual respect, and understanding among different cultures and religious
traditions.
Its theological approach according to Stanley emphasized the need to engage in meaningful inter-
cultural engagements that went beyond superficial tolerance and mere coexistence. 24 The African Christian
theological paradigm also explored the ways in which theological concepts, practices, and expressions could be
enriched and reimagined through various intercultural engagements. It acknowledged that different cultures
provided unique insights into the understanding and experience of the divine, and by engaging in the
intercultural exchange of ideas, new theological perspectives and understandings could emerge.

African Christian Christologies (ACC)

The role and significance of Christ in Christianity in Africa and its interplay with African religions and cultures
was dynamic and occupied the majority of post-colonial Christianity and theology. For Ezigbo it was important
for Christ to identify with the traditions and cultures of African Christians. 25 Not only was this important
religiously but politically. According to Banda and Orobator, such rhetorics reclaimed the dignity of African

18 Mika Vähäkangas, “Postcolonial Positions: Jesse NK Mugambi and the Christian Responsibility in the Socio-Political Sphere,” in
Religion and Social Reconstruction in Africa (Routledge, 2018), 98–107.
19 George B. N. Ayittey, Africa Betrayed (Springer, 1992).
20 P. A. Viera, “Christian Missions in Africa and Their Role in the Transformation of African Societies,” Asian and African Studies 16,

no. 2 (2007): 249–60.

21 Edward P. Antonio, Inculturation and Postcolonial Discourse in African Theology, vol. 14 (Peter Lang, 2006).
22 Kwame Bediako, Jesus in Africa: The Christian Gospel in African History and Experience (OCMS, 2000).
23
Laurenti Magesa, “Inculturation Theology in Africa,” in A New History of African Christian Thought (Routledge, 2016), 121–33.
24 Brian Stanley, “Inculturation: Historical Background, Theological Foundations and Contemporary Questions,” Transformation 24,

no. 1 (2007): 21–27.

25 Victor I. Ezigbo, Re-Imagining African Christologies: Conversing with the Interpretations and Appropriations of Jesus in

Contemporary African Christianity, vol. 132 (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2010).

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traditions and cultures and brought them to a status comparable to that of Western or Euro-Americans.26 It also
made what Jesus stood for significant in African cosmology. Bediako provides insights into some key aspects
of the complexities and politicization of African Christian identity including the incorporation of traditional
African religious elements into Christian worship, the role of African theologians in shaping this identity, and
ongoing dialogue between Christianity and indigenous African belief systems.27 Keith also highlighted the
importance of Christ to identify with the African “condition” since according to him it had become extensively
prejudiced. 28 Apart from reclaiming the dignity of African identity, it elevated Christianity to a global
(intercultural) status, making it a religion for every tradition and culture, especially because it made Christ
identify and share in the suffering of the African people.

Incarnational Christology
One of the major Christologies that emerged in African Christian theology was the attempt to conceptualise the
significance and role of Christ's “incarnational” christology, that, the pre-existent divine person (Christ); God
the Son, the second person of the Trinity, and the eternally begotten “Logos” (word) took upon human nature
and “was made flesh”, conceived in the womb of a woman, (Mary). The incarnational theology which according
to Coffey was originally formulated by the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) by the Byzantine Emperor Marcian
(392-457) presented three facts for Christian theology: the divinity of Christ; the humanity of Christ and the
“hypostatic union” (humanity and divinity) of Christ without “diminishing” the other.
According to Dunn, this meant Christ was at the same time fully God and fully human.29 His body was
therefore capable of being subjected or was subjected to all the bodily weaknesses to which the human nature
(body) is subjected i.e., hunger (Matt 4:2), thirst (John 19:28), fatigue (John 4:6), pain, and death (Luke 23:46)
Consequently, Torrance developed an incarnational Christology that underscored the centrality of the
“incarnation” of Christ. 30 He saw this as a key event in history and was crucial for understanding God's
relationship with humanity. Torrance posits that in incarnation, Christ accomplished “redemption” and
“reconciliation” reconciliation’ between God and humanity. 31 Magezi and Magezi in “Christ also ours in
Africa” employ Torrance's Christological model as a nexus for Christ to identify with African Christians. They
assert, that there were enough reasons for Africa to develop this Christological model to see Christ in the
identity, experience, and context of African Christians since he represented a connection between Christianity
and African culture that enabled African Christians to relate to Him in a way that resonated with their struggles
and special context.32 The concept of Christ's sufficiency in Africa is however explored by Banda who posits
that it was necessary for Christ to be found in the traditions and cultures of Africa in order to explain the
significance of what He (Christ) represented and the possibility of his salvific work in the African social and
cultural context.33 African Christian inculturation Christology, therefore, provided a suitable framework to
contextualise the incarnation of Christ in the African religio-cultural and socioeconomic context, allowing
African Christians to see themselves reflected in the person and message of Jesus as it attempts to reclaim and
reinterpret biblical teachings and traditions through an African lens.
Akper further divides Christological discourse in Africa into Inculturation and Liberation. According
to him, Inculturation Christology employed traditional African religious concepts to imagine and explain Jesus
Christ and the salvific significance of his cross.34 Liberation Christologies also attempted to fit Jesus and the
salvific significance of his cross into Africans’ socioeconomic and religiocultural challenges and problems.
According to Akper, African Christian Christology sought to identify and develop a suitable and relevant

26 Collium Banda, “ The Sufficiency of Christ in Africa: A Christological Challenge from African Traditional Religions” (2005);
Agbonkhianmeghe E Orobator, “The Quest for an African Christ: An Essay on Contemporary African Christology,” Hekima Review,
1994..
27 Kwame Bediako, Theology and Identity: The Impact of Culture upon Christian Thought in the Second Century and in Modern

Africa (OCMS, 1992).

28 Ferdinando Keith, “Christian Identity in the African Context: Reflections on Kwame Bediako’s Theology and Identity,” Journal of

the Evangelical Theological Society 50, no. 1 (2007): 121.

29 David Coffey, “The ‘Incarnation’ of the Holy Spirit in Christ,” Theological Studies 45, no. 3 (1984): 466–80; James D. G. Dunn,

Christology in the Making: A New Testament Inquiry into the Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation (Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing, 1996).
30 Thomas F. Torrance, Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ (InterVarsity Press, 2015).
31 Torrance, Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ.
32
Vhumani Magezi and Christopher Magezi. "Christ also ours in Africa: A consideration of Torrance’s incarnational, Christological
model as nexus for Christ’s identification with African Christians." Verbum et Ecclesia 38, no. 1 (2017): 1-12.
33 Banda, “ The Sufficiency of Christ in Africa: A Christological Challenge from African Traditional Religions.”
34 Godwin Akper, “The Person of Jesus Christ in Contemporary African Christological Discourse,” Religion & Theology 14, no. 3/4

(2007): 224–43.

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methodological framework to integrate the concept and significance of Christ’s nature and identity within the
context of African Christianity and theology. It covered many theological perspectives and interpretations of
the role of Christ and its significance in African Christianity by integrating elements of African socio-economic
and religioculture with Christianity, providing unique perspectives on Christology.

Ancestor Christology
Ancestor Christology brought Christ closer to the African Christians. It provided a framework that enabled
African Christians to see Christ as a relative, a person who is very much a part of the African family. According
to Oheneba-Sakyi, the African family provides an elaborate socioeconomic and religiocultural foundation for
the African to find his/her identity, and develop their personhood and function. 35 As an institution, it ensures
the survival, protection, and support of members. The significance of the nexus of the African family according
to Chirozva, Mubaya, and Mukamuri is how it connects both the living and the dead (ancestors) and the role
each plays in the survival, protection, and progress of the family.36 For example, ancestors, even though no more
in their physical bodies, are not separated from their families, they get vested with mystical powers and authority
and retain a functional role in the world of the living. They serve as guardians (protectors), sources of guidance,
bestowers of good fortune, and spiritual connections between the living and the dead. As observed by Ubah
death in the African traditions does not alter or end the life of an individual, it only causes a change in their
conditions.37
It is important to add that, within the literature, such as that of Isidienu and Onyekelu, Ushe Kanu and
Mekoa just to mention a few, it is not everybody who gets to become an ancestor.38 There are strict criteria for
a dead relative to become venerated and considered an ancestor. For instance, among many other things, such
an individual must have lived an exemplary (virtuous) life and demonstrated by all standards a high level of
moral uprightness, and hard work whose legacies can be used to advise other members of the family, especially
the younger generation. Their lives never brought shame and disgrace to the family and anytime they were
remembered it brought dignity and honour. It is within this context that, the ancestor christology within African
Christian theology is developed. According to Lies, this is developed as a consequence of the “incarnational”
christology in both Western and African Christian contexts of the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ and its
significance in the context of what he represented and achieved.39 Theologians who dedicated much of their
scholarship to exploring, explaining, and proving the relevance of Ancestor Christology in African Christian
theology such as Palmer, Luka, Nyamiti and Bediako provided justification for the concept not only for African
Christianity but beyond.40
In Ancestor Christology, Christ is recognized first as a member of the family, not just any member but
a highly revered member. His role as an ancestor is a result of his interest, love, and sacrifice for the good of
the family and continuous protection and guidance to members. Seeing Jesus Christ as a member of the family,
first, eliminated the barrier that Missionary and Western theological nomenclatures had established which
alienated the Africans from any possibility to identify and relate with him in their traditions and culture.
Secondly, it created an appropriate context for the African Christian to relate to him as a father, brother, kin, etc
which created a strong bond between the African Christian and Jesus Christ in a relationship of respect and
honour since the family in the African tradition and culture meant more than just being a member of the nucleus.

35 Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi and B. Takyi, “Introduction to the Study of African Families: A Framework for Analysis,” African Families at
the Turn of the 21st Century, 2006, 1–24.
36 Chaka Chirozva, Chipo Plaxedes Mubaya, and Billy Mukamuri, “The Traditional African Family in the Age of Globalization,”

Journal of African Studies 14, no. 2 (2007): 1–16.

37
Chinedu Nwafor Ubah, “The Supreme Being, Divinities and Ancestors in Igbo Traditional Religion: Evidence from Otanchara and
Otanzu,” Africa 52, no. 2 (1982): 90–105.
38 Ifeyinwa Cordelia Isidienu and Ann Chinazo Onyekelu, “Ancestral Cults In African Traditional Religion: Their Relevance In The

Contemporary African Society,” Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development, 2021; Ushe Mike Ushe, “God, Divinities
and Ancestors in African Traditional Religious Thought,” African Traditional Religion and Philosophy:: Essays on an Ancestral
Religious Heritage, 2022; Ikechukwu Anthony Kanu, African Traditional Religion and Philosophy:: Essays on an Ancestral Religious
Heritage. (Author House, 2022); Itumeleng Mekoa, “Ancestors as Guardians of Morality in African Traditional Religious Thought,”
African Journal of Religion, Philosophy and Culture 1, no. 1 (2020): 31–47.
39 Lothar Lies, “Jesus Christ The Ancestor. An African Contextual Christology in the Light of the Major Dogmatic Christological

Definitions of the Church from the Council of Nicea (325) to Chalcedon (451)” (JSTOR, 2004).
40
Timothy Palmer, “Jesus Christ: Our Ancestor?,” Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 27, no. 1 (2008): 65–76; Reuben Turbi
Luka, Jesus Christ as Ancestor: A Theological Study of Major African Ancestor Christologies in Conversation with the Patristic
Christologies of Tertullian and Athanasius (Langham Publishing, 2019); Charles Nyamiti, “Christ as Our Ancestor: Christology from
an African Perspective,” Mambo Occasional Papers/Missio-Pastoral Series 11 (1984); Bediako, Jesus in Africa: The Christian Gospel
in African History and Experience.

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Christ being seen as father, brother, or kin established a dynamic relationship that went beyond simple
theological juxtaposition or nomenclature to a deeper intimacy and closeness which informed a trajectory of
prayer culture and spirituality that did not relent in the face of challenges or impending danger. Third, it elicited
a responsibility towards the protection, survival, and upkeep of the family. Being a member of the African
family came with individual and collective responsibilities some of which were gender based.

Eschatological Christology
Africa’s cosmology and spirituality provide complex and somewhat sophisticated dynamics of dimensions of
the physical and spiritual universe. According to Kanu this cosmology which comprises the physical and
spiritual universe is regarded as “a continuum”; the Spiritual universe is but an extension of the physical
universe.41 There is therefore such closeness between the physical and spiritual universe that, they both are
virtually indistinct. This is because existence in African cosmology is regarded as a “dimension” which means,
one can exist in one dimension (say physical) today, and another (say spiritual) tomorrow and vice versa, a
nexus that explains the concept of life as a “cycle” which according to Mbiti as observed by Mbaya and Cezula
comprises birth, death, and rebirth, until a person reaches the level of perfection where he/she can be admitted
into the world of the Ancestors.42 A belief that explains the concept of “reincarnation” (second birth) as observed
by Unuigwomen.43 This belief explains the concept of “time” in the African cosmology. The belief in life as a
cycle of birth, death, and rebirth with death as not the inevitable end of life, but rather, a journey or a link into
another dimension, a glorified and deified world of the Ancestors is what defines the concept of “time” in the
African cosmology.
Murungi has explained that time in African cosmology is not conceptualised in the same way as it is in
Western or Euro-American cultures (“kronos” [time] and “Kairos” [season]) with an “end” in mind. 44 As
explained by Mbiti, in African cosmological philosophy, time is conceptualised in a “cyclical” way. Time is not
linear; it does have an end in focus. The concept of an eschatological christology in African Christianity like
the African cosmology is not with the expectation of a future “end” of things “escha teloe” (end of time or the
world) where the deeds of men shall be brought into accountability. It is rather with the belief in the present
perfection of humanity as they are rewarded for their good or bad deeds in order to attain the level of uprightness
that they can be accepted into the deified world of the Ancestors.45 Eschatology as Mayemba put it, ‘is not only
about the future (the not-yet-there), it is also about the present (the already-there) and encompasses at each point
in time -from birth, death and the hereafter.46 This idea is what provides a suitable framework for the religious,
social, and economic life of African societies. Since Africans view the universe religiously, it forms in people
a sense of awareness that whatever a person does, there is a reward that will not wait for a distant future.
Mbiti draws a parallel between Western or missionary Christianity’s concept of eschatology and the African
Christian concept to illustrate the comprehensiveness of the African Christian concept of eschatology
on nomenclatures of the global Christian doctrine of eschatology.47 For Mayemba, Kaunda and Kaunda, the
eschatological christology of African Christianity brings a fresh philosophical perspective to the Christian
theology of eschatology and its relevance for the present life of the people.48 And since it is not necessarily
futuristic but inherent in the philosophy of life as a cycle, people pay attention to what they do and the
consequences that follow in the here and now. They would not have to die to receive the reward for their bad or
good deeds. While Christian eschatology contains, as Sobrino put it, the belief that “present reality is not capable
of revealing God fully”, and that “the authentic reality of God will only be revealed at the end of history” making
“re-ligion” (looking to the past) “pro-ligion” (looking to the future), it reminds Christians that human history is
not a “history continuing on into infinity”, and that the world and its history do not simply continue

41 Ikechukwu Anthony Kanu, “The Dimensions of African Cosmology,” Filosofia Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture
and Religions 2, no. 2 (2013): 533–55.
42 Henri Mbaya and Ntozakhe Cezula, “Contribution of John S Mbiti to the Study of African Religions and African Theology and

Philosophy,” Stellenbosch Theological Journal 5, no. 3 (2019): 421–42.

43 Andrew F. Unuigwomen, “Reincarnation as a Metaphysical Principle of Explanation in African Traditional Thought: A Critique,”

Global Journal of Humanities 3, no. 1 (2004): 15–19.

44 John Murungi, “Toward an African Conception of Time,” International Philosophical Quarterly 20, no. 4 (1980): 407–16.
45 John S. Mbiti, "The Concept of Time." (1996).
46 Bienvenu Mayemba, “The Notion of Eschatology in African Ancestral Religions: A Category of Deliverance, Promise and

Remembrance” (Boston College, 2009).

47 Mbiti, “The Concept of Time.”
48 Mayemba, “The Notion of Eschatology in African Ancestral Religions: A Category of Deliverance, Promise and Remembrance”;

Chammah J Kaunda and Mutale M Kaunda, “In Search of Decolonial Eschatology: Engaging Christian Eschatology with Bemba
Futurism,” Theology Today 75, no. 4 (2019): 469–81.

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indefinitely. 49 The African Christian eschatology insists that since the very cosmology of the universe is
spiritual, it can reveal the authentic reality of God since that is the reason why He has placed with it certain
moral laws to help people attain a nature that can be like him.

Resurrection and Reincarnation Christologies

One of the basic pillars of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as “Christ”; the only-begotten of God, the very God
of God, being of one substance with the Father, incarnate by the Holy Spirit, crucified, died, was buried, and
resurrected. The significance of the belief in the “resurrection” (anastasis) is the “recognition” or “unequalled”
status it accords Jesus, as one who had “conquered” one of the most dreaded and unfathomable experiences of
humanity; “death”. According to Cranfield the “resurrection”; the ability of Jesus to lay down his own life and
take it back (John 10:18) is one of the most important events that prove the “christology” of Jesus and therefore
His “Deity” and “immortality”.50 The concept of “Christ” (Christos) meaning the “anointed” derived from the
Hebrew “Mashiach” (or messiah) elucidates not just a “deliverer” to emancipate the Jewish people and restore
Israel to its golden age. But one who had “divinity” and “humanity” dwelling in him at the same time and can
represent God amongst humanity and humanity before God. Torrey posits that what makes the “resurrection”
such a critical “Christological” issue is that, to refuse the “resurrection” is to refuse the “death” of Jesus and to
collapse one of the most fundamental grounds upon which his “divinity” and therefore “christology” is
dependent on.51
The historicity of the “resurrection” of Jesus does not raise very serious scientific issues as the “nature”
of the resurrection. Scholars are divided on the “nature of resurrection” as a product of “religious myth” or
“classical antiquity”. Did Jesus “resurrect” with his “physical body” or “spiritual body”? It seemed the
contention was that resurrecting with his “physical body” put the truth of his “death” in “doubt”, and resurrecting
with his “spiritual body” also put the truth of his resurrection in doubt. Notwithstanding, to doubt the “death”
of Jesus, is to doubt the “crucifixion” narrative on two grounds, first, as a product of religious myth created to
place Jesus and Christianity on a higher pedestal than earlier religions and that it never happened but a religious
product. Second, as a historical event that took place but did not end with Jesus dying on the cross which also
puts a slur on the whole Christ event. Whichever, way, both are never a strong argument since, apart from the
gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) accounts, historians like Josephus, Dunn, Ludemann, Tzapheris, etc
attest to the fact of its historicity.52 There is, however, no doubt that the idea of resurrection is not peculiar to
Christianity alone. The main difficulty with the resurrection is the dynamics of the “soul” and “body” in the
concept of the “death” and “resurrection” of Jesus.
At “death” and at “resurrection”, what is the state of the soul? Did Jesus die with the “soul” and the
“body” or he died with the “body alone. The two main problem here is understanding the dynamics of the
“body” and “soul” in “death” and “resurrection”. Obviously, the soul has appeared to be one of the most difficult
aspects to defined. Various disciplines have approached it differently. In religion and philosophy, the soul is
defined as the “immaterial” (spiritual) aspect or “essence” of a human being; that which confers humanity. In
theology, it is further defined as that part of the “individual” which “partakes of divinity” and often is considered
to survive the death (demise) of the body. In Aristotle’s view, the soul is the "form," and the body is the
"matter."53 According to Plato cited by Olshewsky, the soul existed before birth and continued to exist after
death.54 The body was seen as a temporary vessel for the soul. What is common with the opinions of Aristotle
and Plato is that the body is the “physical” or “material” substance of the “body” while the soul is the “spiritual”
or “immaterial” substance of the body. In anatomy (science) the human body (the material form) is a biological
structure composed of cells, tissues, organs, and systems such as Skeletal, Muscular, Nervous, Cardiovascular,
Lymphatic, Respiratory, Digestive, Endocrine, Urinary, and Reproductive.
If one can follow the argument with the conclusion that, the human body as defined by Aristotle, Plato,
Religion, and Science consists of the “Soul”; the immaterial or spiritual form that does not die but lives on even
in “death”, while the “Body”; the material or physical form consisting of cells, tissues, organs, systems and does

49 Jon Sobrino, Christology at the Crossroads: A Latin American Approach (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2002).
50 Charles E. B .Cranfield, “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ,” The Expository Times 101, no. 6 (1990): 167–72.
51 Reuben Archer Torrey, “The Certainty and Importance of the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead,” 1940.
52 James D.G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making Volume 1. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans

Publishing Company, 1939); Gerd Ludemann, The Resurrection of Christ: A Historical Inquiry (Prometheus Books, 2010); Vasileios
Tzapherēs, “Crucifixion-the Archaeological Evidence,” Biblical Archaeology Review 11, no. 1 (1985): 44–53..
53 Hallie Altwies, “Imagination and Inseparability of Soul and Body in Aristotle,” Ephemeris, the Undergraduate Journal of

Philosophy 21, no. 1 (2021): 5.

54 Thomas M. Olshewsky, “On the Relations of Soul to Body in Plato and Aristotle,” Journal of the History of Philosophy 14, no. 4

(1976): 391–404.

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not live on in “death” then it can be concluded that, the “death” of Jesus and his “resurrection” does not mean
the “death” of the “body” and “Soul”; the material and immaterial essence of his “being”. If this premise is
established, then the “death” of Jesus can be explained that, “He” Jesus, “stepped out of his body for a while
and later came to take it on” just as the biblical narrative has claimed. John 10:17-18 “The reason the Father
loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My
own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from
My Father.” This is the statement that renders “reincarnation” in African Traditional Religion and philosophy
a legitimate concept to consider in the context of its christology.

The Concept of Reincarnation in African Traditions, Religions, and Cultures

African traditions and cultures provide comprehensive philosophical and scientific explanations of important
aspects and the essence of human life and existence. “Reincarnation” is one of the many of such. In African
traditions, and cultures it is one of the major themes and is the belief in “rebirth” of the “spirit or material
essence” or “aspect” of it of a person after bodily death.” It is part of the “death” and “dying” tradition which is
itself a part of a complex concept of life as a cycle of birth, death and rebirth conceived with “awe” and
“veneration”. In African traditions and cultures, each of these cycles is celebrated with specific rites and rituals
because it is believed that, each of the stages is a complete journey. Nwadiokwu has outlined the various rites
for each stage and the rationale for the rites and rituals associated with them.55 The main idea is that life in the
African tradition and culture is a system of different dimensions and experiences. There is a specific right and
ritual for childbirth, adolescence/puberty, marriage, death, etc. and each of these stages are “complete” stages
in themselves.
Each of these stages is protected with such intentionality to make sure every child moves from one stage
to the other without any failures because the worthiness and integrity of the entire family are dependent on each
child being able to move from one stage to the other without mistakes or waywardness. Most importantly, in
African traditions, cultures, religion and philosophy, the “human being” (male or female) is conceived not as
“duality” but as “tripartite” and/or “pentachotomistic”. Gyekye intimates that man in the Akan conceptual
scheme consists of Soul (Okra) Spirit (Sunsum) and Body (Honam).56 Wiredu also states that in addition to the
Soul (Okra), Spirit (Sunsum) and Body (Nipadua) there is the Mogya (blood) and Ntoro (spiritual-genetic aspect
of the father) responsible for the caste of the person.57 In addition to these three broad perspectives, in between
cultures, there are other perspectives that are distinct. That notwithstanding, the above is the general concept
within which all the others can be perceived. Because “death” in African traditions and culture is not conceived
as the “end” of life but as a “cycle” and a “transition” the beginning of another set of journeys. “Reincarnation”
is the “explanation” for the process of “transiting” from one “cycle” to the “other”.
In African traditions and culture, it is believed that every child that is born has a special assignment
“hyɛbrɛ” or “nkrabea” and until they accomplish those assignments, they will not find “rest” or be allowed into
the world of “ancestors, and therefore will be “reincarnated.” This belief is one of the main ideas behind “names”
of people. Because it is believed that, people are born for specific tasks, they come with “destinies” (hyɛbrɛ or
nkrabea) which inform the kind of name they are to be given, what kind of things they may be prohibited from
or allowed to engage in. Before a child is born, elders, will go and inquire from the “oracle” (deity) and
“nananom” (ancestors) about the “hyɛbrɛ” or “nkrabea” of the child. This guides the nurturing and upbringing
of the said child. It is expected that each person walks in the path of their “hyɛbrɛ” or “nkrabea” and fulfils the
demand of it before they can finally stop their cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. In the event where a person
“dies” without having completed their “hyɛbrɛ” or “nkrabea” they are “reborn” (reincarnated) to continue their
journey of fulfilling their “hyɛbrɛ” or “nkrabea.” So, in this context, life, death, and rebirth (reincarnation) is a
kind of “punishment” to make people repeatedly reborn until they have fulfilled their destiny “hyɛbrɛ” or
“nkrabea”
The two words “hyɛbrɛ” or “nkrabea” even though they mean destiny, have slight differences in
nuances. Just as the two imply “hyɛbrɛ” or “nkrabea,” linguistically “Nkrabea”, is translated “wo kra bia”
(literally, the place of/for your soul) or “the path for your soul”. This is the meaning of the term “nkrabea” as it
relates to “destiny”. “It is what a person comes to the earth with as his/her life.” In the African traditions and
culture, this destiny “nkrabea” (“wo kra bia”) is protected and preserved with serious rituals. It is believed that
this “nkrabea” can be stolen, destroyed, or twisted. When this happens, the child or individual loses his/her

55 C. N. Nwadiokwu et al., “Rites of Passage African Traditional Region,” International Journal of Education and Research 4, no. 9
(2016): 41–50.
56 Kwame Gyekye, An Essay on African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme (Temple University Press, 1995).
57 Kwasi Wiredu, “The Akan Concept of Mind,” Ibadan Journal of Humanistic Studies 3, no. 15 (1983): 7.

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sense of purpose in life. On the other hand, “hyɛbrɛ” literally translates into “Ɔhyɛ brɛ” meaning “ɛbrɛ a wahyɛ”
thus “appointed time” or “season” and “period” determined within which certain things are supposed to happen
or be done. The nuance is that “nkrabea” is the destiny (the whole life determined for a person) while “hyɛbrɛ”
is the appointed times and seasons within which certain things predetermined in the life of a person are supposed
to happen. Therefore, there are elaborate rites and rituals to celebrate the success of each stage of life in the
nurture or growth of a child in the African traditional family.

Implications for the Christology of African Christianity, Theology and Biblical Scholarship
African Christianity and Theology have always attempted to derive important lessons from the concepts and
frameworks in the African Traditional Religion to communicate the gospel message to Africans in their own
indigenous religious traditional and cultural contexts. One such concept is the “reincarnation” of the Soul.
“Reincarnation” like “resurrection” presents important theological lessons for Christology in African
Christianity and Theology. It provides a framework for understanding Jesus’ identity. It affirmed one of the
most controversial claims of Jesus about himself “Before Abraham Was Born, I Am”. In John 8:53-56 Jesus
made a controversial statement when he had a confrontation with the Jews. They asked Him, “Are You greater
than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets who are dead? Who do You make Yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I honour Myself, my honour is nothing. It is My Father who honours Me, of whom you say
that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall
be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he
saw it and was glad.” Jesus claimed to have been alive during the time of Abraham and that Abraham saw him
and rejoiced.
This claim revealed a lot about Jesus, not only did he poignantly identify himself as “eternal,” LORD
referred to in Genesis 22 and Exodus 3:14. He also existed long before and long after Abraham, the greatest
patriarch of the Jewish people but he puts himself in the identity of the Angel who had appeared to him in
Genesis 18:1-35. What was the point that Jesus was trying to demonstrate? He was in a form that was different
from the one he was in at the time of his second appearance. His “form” during the time of Abraham could not
be the same as the “form” he had at this time. Obviously, He could not exist for that long. The Jews could give
evidence of the accounts of his birth etc. In claiming to have existed past Abraham and that the sight of him was
a gratification by God for the faithfulness of Abraham, Jesus claimed a “status” and “identity” that was above
Abraham; “immortality”. But Jesus was talking about what has been a “cycle of his life” (birth, death, and
rebirth), “reincarnation” more than what the Jews were concerned about. By alluding to this nature of existence,
Jesus attempted to confirm his “special relationship” (Christology) with God and claim that, He knew God, and
that it was God who had sent him. This is the reason the Jews picked up stones to kill Jesus; in their eyes, Jesus
claimed to be God, which He was, but this statement was blasphemy to them.
The concept of “reincarnation” itself is not new to both the OT and NT. In Malachi 4:5-6 the Bible said,
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the
LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their
fathers.” This prophecy was confirmed by the Angel Gabriel when he visited Elizabeth and Zachariah
to inform them of the Birth of John the Baptist. In Luke 1:13-17, “But the angel said to him, “Do not
be afraid, Zachariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his
birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will
be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back
to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the
hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous - to make ready
a people prepared for the Lord.”

In John 1:22-23 John described himself with the exact reference that only Elijah is referred to in the
biblical literature, “I am a voice of one calling in the wilderness, make straight the way for the Lord” when the
Jews had sent people to find out who he was.
These scripture references together, confirm the strong belief in “reincarnation” in both the OT and NT.
Also, both Jesus and John identify themselves within the concept which not only brings critical implications to
African Christianity and Theology but, it makes “reincarnation” one of the critical Christological concepts that
can be developed in the quest to decipher the right and appropriate ways of communicating the gospel message
within the African traditional, religious and cultural context.

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CONCLUSION
The article which is written from the African Christian theological and biblical scholarship perspective has
attempted to analyse the comparative relevance, trajectories, and implication of the inculturation of resurrection
and reincarnation Christologies in African Christianity, Theology, and Biblical scholarship. It has been
identified that the African socioeconomic and religiocultural cosmology occasioned several distinct ontologies
and praxis that informed and influenced Christian theologies and nomenclatures. One of such, the inculturation
of resurrection and reincarnation Christologies provided a framework for the discourse of Jesus pre-existence,
incarnation, death, and resurrection in African Christianity, theology, and Traditional Religions. Both
resurrection and reincarnation presented critical frameworks that individually or collectively could be employed
to communicate the gospel message in Africa and beyond. Reincarnation as a Christological framework,
provides sufficient explanations and answers to many of the claims of Jesus, especially his incarnation,
resurrection and pre-existence. The incarnation and resurrection of Jesus, find relevance in reincarnation which
provides a comprehensive and meaningful answer to its significance. This notwithstanding, inculturation of the
incarnation, resurrection, and reincarnation of Jesus, has its own conceptual and theoretical limitations,
however, this article was limited in its scope to discuss some of the critical challenges of the use of the concept
of reincarnation to explain the Christology of the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus in African Christianity,
theology and biblical scholarship.

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ABOUT AUTHORS
Edward Agboada is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana. is an Ordained Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. Until
recently he was a Senior Lecturer at the Ramseyer Training Centre, (Abetifi, Ghana) where he taught courses
in World Religions, Islamic Studies, Christian-Muslim relations, interfaith dialogue, Cross-Cultural Missions,
New Religious Movements, Homiletic (Practice of Preaching), and studies in African Traditional Religions.

Rev. Fr. Prof. Francis Appiah-Kubi is an Associate Professor at the Department of Religious Studies, Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana. He is currently the first Rector of St. Anthony
Rectorate, the first regional President of Regional Union of Priests of West Africa (RUPWA) and the Immediate
past President of the National Union of Ghana Diocesan Priests Associations (NUGDPA). He also served as the
Acting Chairman, Governing Council of the Spiritan University College, Ejisu -Ghana and former Moderator
of Fountainhead Christian College, Accra.

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