Developing an African Evangelical Theology

Abstract

Evangelicalism in Africa is an export of American theology and therefore considered inadequate for the African situation because it is shaped by Western culture. onsequently, I argue that Evangelical theology contains cultural elements from the dominant cultures of the West that apply only to those cultures. This article argues that if Evangelical theology is relevant in Africa, it must consider the cultural context. In most cases, references to Evangelical theology in the writings of sub-Saharan African theologians seem to mean previous theology done by Western theologians. In particular, the debate centres on the type of Christianity transmitted to Africa through Western theologies in the 21 Century. African theologians such as Bujo (1992:43) accuse Western theologians of being ethnocentric and paternalistic. This is perhaps the most prominent critique of Western Evangelical theologians’ approach to Africa as if it had no heritage. For this reason, Western Evangelical theology fails to understand that African anthropology treats a person through the community. (Maimela, 1994: 4-5). The lived realities of poverty and suffering must be taken seriously in developing a praxis of Evangelical Theology for Africa. A qualitative methodology is employed in this article by using the works of African and Latin American theologians to understand how their works may assist in developing an African Evangelical theology that focuses on an integral mission.