Becoming good in Africa: A critical appraisal of Stanley Hauerwas’ ecclesial ethic in the sub-Saharan context

Charles K Bafinamene

doi:10.4102/ve.v38i1.1716

Abstract

The present article examines the appropriateness of Stanley Hauerwas’ ecclesial ethic for the sub-Saharan African churches. Thus, it consists in a Christian ethical assessment of the metaethical foundational categories of his ecclesial ethic. In brief, his proposal is eclectic and pluri-disciplinarily applicable to the churches of various denominations. It reflects the marks of the Aristotelian ethical tradition endorsed by Thomas Aquinas and recovered by several communitarian philosophers. It also includes some discernible ecclesio-centric and postliberal theological accents. The promising insights of this proposal include: (1) the necessity to ordain the church’s worship, polity and its entire way of life to the spiritual and moral formation of church members; (2) the stress on Christian virtuous life, identity formation, witness and non-conformism in social ethics. However, essentially designed against the background of a Western, liberal, autonomous and individualist self, Hauerwas’ ecclesial ethic is not a definitive answer for the holistic, normative and communalist moral self, characteristic of the traditional African ethos and influencing a large majority in Africa. Moreover, it stresses the purity of the church in a way that restricts cooperation between Christians and nonChristians for socio-economic justice and the common good.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Therefore, Hauerwas’ virtue, narrative, community and social ethics provide some valuable insights for moral formation in African churches as it explores the interplay between ecclesiology, Christian ethics, practical theology and philosophical ethics. For sure, other relevant resources should come from African spirituality, developmental psychology and sociology of religion.

Highlights

Churches in sub-Saharan Africa serve within a context characterised by a moral decline which requires an efficient moral regeneration (Van der Walt 2003:52)
The first social ethical task of the church is to be the church— the servant community. (p. 99, author’s own emphasis added). This often-repeated and very controversial statement contradicts the tradition of Christian social ethics developed in the USA emphasising the church’s responsibility towards the larger society. To this widely held construal Hauerwas proposes the concept of the church as an alter civitas (‘alternative political community’) and a related account of character moral formation where to some extent moral formation in the church becomes a Christian social ethic
Hauerwas’ ecclesial ethic undergirding his proposal for a particularist character formation, though generated in the American context, presents several outstanding insights for African churches. It amounts to a call for the African churches of various denominations to emphasise discipleship and discipline and ordain their worship, liturgy, polity and entire way of life to the spiritual and moral formation of their members

Summary

Introduction

Churches in sub-Saharan Africa serve within a context characterised by a moral decline which requires an efficient moral regeneration (Van der Walt 2003:52). The Hauerwasian proposal encompasses the six interrelated concepts of the Aristotelian and MacIntyrean ethical http://www.ve.org.za paradigm, namely tradition, telos, community, narrative, practices and virtues or character. To this widely held construal Hauerwas proposes the concept of the church as an alter civitas (‘alternative political community’) and a related account of character moral formation where to some extent moral formation in the church becomes a Christian social ethic.

Results

Conclusion