Samuel Waje Kunhiyop: African Christian Theology

The second chapter discusses revelation of God as the basic starting point of theology. The two types of revelation (general and specific) and their sources are discussed and he also elucidates the meaning and value of revelation for today. He cautions that any means of revelation that may be upheld today must be subsumed to the finality and primacy of the scripture. Of great importance is the author’s discussion on the basic bibliological and hermeneutical issues particularly the various principles of biblical interpretation.

In the third chapter titled “God and Spirit” the author scratched where the African church is itching. Some of the important questions he answered include how the African understanding of Spirit and spirit-world relates to the biblical concept of angels and Satan and demons. The author gives some cautious guidelines on how Africans should relate with this biblical concept within the African culture. One of the most important things he mentioned is that African Christians should not worship any spirit apart from Christ.

In chapter four, the book transits to deal with cosmological issues; biblical creation story and African cosmogonies. The author deals with the issue of original sin contrasted to the sin against God and taboos in African context. The chapter is concluded by discussing the four important historical views concerning sin in Christendom: Pelagianism, Augustinianism, federal theory and corporate personal theory (p.75). Notwithstanding that the issue of original sin is controversial, the author affirms the fact that we “have all sinned and come short of God’s glory and we stand in need of salvation.” He then moves on to the issue of Christology and Soteriology in the fifth chapter. The author compares and contrasts some salient issues in the biblical concept of Christ and salvation to the African concept of sacrifice and salvation. While he notes that the idea of atonement (substitutionary and propitiatory) is known in Africa, the concept of a human-god sent to die for another is quite strange. His discussion on what resemblances the biblical concept of Christ can have in an African context is noteworthy. Christ can mean a founder, ancestor, elder, brother, diviner, or proto-ancestor. He concludes the chapter with a detailed discussion of the personhood of Christ, his human-God nature, his offices and several heretical misunderstanding of these issues in the history of the church. A good question to ask, according to the author, is can a Christian lose their salvation? Because the confidence of a genuinely-saved Christian is in God, Eternal security, rightly understood, then points to the glory of God and power of God within the believer.

In chapter six, the author turns his attention to the personhood and roles of the Holy Spirit in soteriological processes (regeneration, justification, conversion, indwelling, sanctification and others). The rise of Pentecostalism in Africa has given birth to some hot pneumatological debates which include issues such as the difference between baptism and filling of the Holy Spirit, anointing of the Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit and others issues. Some church denominations tend to misconstrue some of these important theological issues. The recipe offered by the author for all these theological misdemeanors, as a way of concluding the chapter, is that African Christianity should always affirm and uphold the primacy and supremacy of the Bible and endeavor to use correct hermeneutical principles in matters such as these.

Tags: african, christian, kunhiyop, samuel, theology, waje

Category: In Depth, Winter 2016