Abstract
African lifestyle is informed, influenced and guided by African cosmology or cosmologies. These cosmologies (especially from the AmaZulu tribes, who are the focus of this study) shape social norms that are drawn from and explained by various indigenous knowledge systems that view the cosmology as intertwined. Consequently, according to this view, the spiritual world is not necessarily divorced from the physical world. This configuration of rationality could be observed during traditional and cultural gatherings in which myth is not only orally narrated but re-lived through rituals. In such cases, rituals provide a sphere where both the human world and the spiritual world converge in sharing a mythic experience represented in meals, drinks, songs, clapping of hands and dances. This convergence of God, amadlozi or badimo (generally translated as ‘ancestors’ or ‘predecessors’) brings the lived experience of the previous generation to reality. Therefore, the main argument in this contribution would be that the story of Jesus could still be re-lived through its most significant rituals such as the Holy Communion. This article reflects on the ritual of Holy Communion, which more emphatically addresses African cosmological views. The question of exclusivism of participation in this ritual is addressed to probe their individualistic pattern, which is perhaps more Western than African.
Highlights
Through all the life stages, Africans, who are raised within African religious patterns and customs, are groomed through particular rituals to achieve a concrete and vibrant relationship with the world of amadlozi [the ancestors] as much as the world of the living
They believe that there is no distance between the deceased and the living in terms of time and space (Nurnburger 2007:37), and that occupation and moments are shared between the living and the amadlozi. This understanding of their worldview is shared by Christianity, where, through rituals, Christians connect in fellowship with others, as well as the transcendent, especially during the Holy Communion
Africans believe that this relationship could be traced from conception until death, as individuals within African Traditional Religion (ATR) are engaged in active maintenance of close contact with the spiritual world, that is, the world of their ancestors and the Creator (Mndende 2005:19); on the other hand, Christians believe that God knows individuals, even before they were conceived, and he knitted them into being in their mothers’ wombs (Jr 1:5; Ps 139:13 &14)
Summary
Through all the life stages, Africans, who are raised within African religious patterns and customs, are groomed through particular rituals to achieve a concrete and vibrant relationship with the (spiritual) world of amadlozi [the ancestors] as much as the (physical) world of the living They believe that there is no distance between the deceased (or the living-dead) and the living in terms of time and space (Nurnburger 2007:37), and that occupation and moments are shared between the living and the amadlozi. The research reflects missiologically on the sacrament of Holy Communion as a means of not just re-telling the story of Jesus but of re-living it as well (Von Allmen 1969) It sought to engage with (1) the Biblical text, rather than the Western world, on how to understand this ritual, and (2) African cosmology (AmaZulu in this case) for Africanisation purposes. This brings us to the meaning of Holy Communion in this context
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