Coming of Age in African Theology: The Quest for Authentic Theology in African Soil

Abstract

AbstractThis article explores the concept of African theology from a historical and methodological point of view. It shows that there is not one type of theology that can be called African theology but that there is a cluster of diverse theologies which share a number of common characteristics: African theology is theology done in Africa, arising out of the identity of African people, using African concepts of thought and speaking to the African context. The authors signal that there is relatively little interaction between the various theologies developed on the continent and that much theology is a reaction to Western Christianity and Western colonialism. The article ends by concluding that the quest for African theologies is in full progress, as the contexts in the midst of which African theologies are developed continue to change. Yet, despite the many challenges African theologians face, their theologies speak of hope and life. This vitality of African theologies, according to the authors, is the contribution of African theologies to the discourse of world Christianity.