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Postgraduate Studies
Master of Theology
Types of Theology
COURSE REVIEW

Registration Number: ECU/MTST/2021002

Full Name: ANDREA KITILA CAPHACE

Mail Address: [Link] 93 IRAMBA-SINGIDA

Email Address: andreakitila92@[Link]

Phone Number: 0759660363

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Marks…………………% Grade………………………

Return this exam before. ----------------------------------------------------

QN. In not less than 20 written pages write down the course Review. Read the work book
and then write the Review. This assignment consists of all 100 marks

TYPES OF THEOLOGY

1. INTRODUCTION

In order to understand the major concerns of the different types of theologies, there is as a
necessity the need to understand the general introductory aspect to theology as a field. This
is done with the intention that such understanding will aid us in a critical and systematic
appreciation of the many different Christian theologies of contemporary times.

Definition of Theology

 Theology is ordinarily defined as “the human study of God”. The word "theology"
comes from two Greek words, theos meaning "God" and logos meaning "the word
about" or "the study of" God as He is revealed in the Scriptures. Simply defined,
theology is an in-depth study of the Holy Bible to discover what God has said
about Himself, His purposes, His plans, and His promises.

The Subjects of Theology

The major subjects of theology include the study of: -

 Paterology - The study of God, the Father.

 Christology - The study of the Son, Jesus Christ.
 Pneumatology - The study of the Holy Spirit.
 Angelology - The study of angels.
 Demonology - The study of Satan and demons.
 Bibliology - The study of the Holy Bible, which is the revelation of God.
 Hamartiology - The study of sin.
 Soteriology - The study of salvation which is God's provision for sin.
 Ecclesiology - The study of the Church.
 Eschatology - The study of biblical prophecy, the end-times, and eternity.

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Importance of Studying Theology

There are several important reasons for studying and understanding the major teachings of
Scripture.

i. Theology is important for personal spiritual growth and development.

This is because we may"...grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). Growth takes time in the natural world as well
as the spiritual world. Some theological truths can only be understood over a period
of time. For example, if you are a new believer, you may not understand the
faithfulness of God as well as someone who has served the Lord for years.

ii. Theology is important in order to avoid doctrinal error.

The first sin resulted from the enemy questioning “...Has God said?" (Genesis 3:1).
If you do not know what God has said in His Word regarding foundational issues of
faith, then you may fall into doctrinal error and--ultimately--into sin.

iii. Theology is vital in order to be able to explain Biblical truths to unbelievers and
be prepared to give an answer for the hope which is within you (1 Peter 3:15).

iv. Theology is essential for our spiritual walk and ministry.

As in all Bible study, we should seek heart knowledge--not just head knowledge--
through application of what we learn. The purpose of revelation is not just to obtain
information, but to allow revelation to result in application to and transformation of
our life.

History of Christian Theology

 There are five periods in the history of Theology, namely patristic, medieval,
reformation, enlightenment and modern periods.

Patristic Period

 Christian theology has its genesis in the writings of the Church fathers, particularly
in the works of the Christian apologists of the 2nd and 3rd centuries respectively.

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  The Church apologists sought to reassert the claims of Jesus Christ hitherto in the
Jewish context to their own contemporary Greek context.

 Foremost among these apologists were Justin Martyr, Origen and Tertullian.

 The patristic period also had great theologians like Athanasius and Augustine who
developed solid theological works on the Trinity and Christology.

 It was on the basis of their theological works that conclusions were drawn by the
church councils such as Chalcedon, Constantinople and Ephesus.

Medieval Period

 The understanding of theology in the medieval period could be sum up in the term,
“scholasticism.” This descriptive term, though often derogatory, described the
preoccupation of Medieval Theology with Aristotelian logic, traditionally inclined
and straightjacket understanding of theology.
 Foremost theologians of this period are Anselm, Duns John Scotus, Thomas
Aquinas, Peter Lombard and Peter Abelard.

 One of the dominant theological themes in Medieval scholasticism was on the

attributes of God.

 Eventually theological divisions on the understanding of deity emerged between two

particular schools of Scotus’ nominalist and Thomas Aquinas’ intellectualist
traditions.

Reformation Period

 The monolithic theology of the medieval church was called into question by the
Protestant movement of the sixteen centuries.

 The medieval theology dominated by scholastic tendencies and the Roman Catholic
dogmatism led to the break of the Church at the advent of the Reformation.

 The biggest event in church history came on October 31, the eve of All Saints Day.
On that day Luther nailed a copy of the 95 Theses or statements to the door of the
Castle Church at Wittenberg.

 The choice of where to place these theses was to open it to public consumption and
reaction.
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  The Theses all related to the prevalence of indulgences and Luther offered to dispute
them all.

Enlightenment Period

 Following the double impact of the Renaissance and the reformation on the western
academia and the western Church, a scenario developed whereby the Bible and the
Church came under close scrutiny with the result whereby the church and the Bible
came under serious suspicion and the preference for reason.

 Reason became the standard test for everything that has to do with religion.
Consequently, various forms of criticism and critical apparatus were applied to the
Bible and the Christian religion.

 On the whole, theology in the enlightenment period was dominated by pure reason
hence theology became more abstract, rather than be in engagement with societal or
existential situation of the human society.

 In its radical expression Enlightenment degenerated towards anti-supernaturalism,

whereby academic or science assumed hatred and disbelief in divine Scriptural
activities in the world.

 In its moderate form, acceptance of supernaturalism was deem possible, however, it

was assumed particularly the deist that the divine had left the world to work on its
own (like a watch), hence the notion of divine absconditus.

 Foremost among the theologian of this period include W. F. Hegel, Emmanuel

Kant and Friedrich Schleiermacher.

Modern Period

 The academic and theological challenges of the Enlightenment were sustained in the
modern context, but perhaps with little modification.

 Many theologians became vocal challenging the dominance of western theology as

seen in the stereotyped classical Christian theological reflection and postulated the
need to express the divergence of the modern context particularly in context of

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 colonization, race, gender, class and other social and political definitions of the
modern society.

 These modern incentives with the one-sided nature of western theology and its
patriarchal and capitalist disposition brought about great innovation in theological
reflection of the modern period.
 Thus, these theological developments resulted in the birth of modern theologies such
as Black, Feminism, Liberation, Asian and African theologies to fill the
theological and contextual void seen in classical western theology.

Theology and Basic Foundations

i. Theology and Revelation

 There must be revelation from God. There can only be speaking about
God only if there is speaking of God through revelation. God is the
object of theology but not an object at man’s disposal.

 No entity in the horizon of man’s experience. Man can know him,

theologize, only if God sovereignly speaks, reveals, and discloses
himself to man.

 The object of theology is the revelation of God. The object of God is

the self-revealing God active in his revelation.

 The revelation of God must control our study from the beginning to the
end. This revelation is the source and the norm of our speaking about
God.

 Only because God has revealed himself to man truly in revelation

makes man able to study God at all. All human knowledge, in a matter
of speaking, is theology.

ii. Theology and Scripture

 Scripture performs its leading function and stands out as the purist
exemplification of theology, the purist instance of the speaking of God:
the divine speaking of God.

 The Bible is theology. The Bible is the speaking of God; it is the

speaking of God in the most direct and proper sense.
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  The Bible is God contemporaneously speaking to us today. The Bible
today is the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.

 The key to understanding Church History, is to understand that Church

History is the history of the exegesis of Scripture. The question of
Church History as a theological curriculum is to provide an
understanding of how the Church has historically interpreted Scripture.

iii. Theology and Faith

 How do we prove that God spoke through prophets and through his Son.
We can speak convincingly only as we speak from faith to faith.

 We must suspend our theological enterprise on faith. Fideism is a true

threat to the church. The fideistic stance and question comes because it
misunderstands what faith is. This brings us to discuss the nature of faith.

 True faith is not a human capacity, it is a gift of God. Faith is a gift from
God; more specifically, faith is the result of the Sovereign working of the
Spirit of God.

 Faith is focused on the Word of God and the saving relationship in Christ.
Without Christ faith has nothing. According to Rom. 10:17, “Faith comes
by hearing and hearing from the Word of Christ.” Eph. [Link] “As believers
we may be filled up with all the fullness of God.” Christ dwells in our
hearts through faith.

 From these observations, it is plain that to insist on the unbreakable

correlation between faith and revelation, or that theology is the truth of
faith, to insist on this is not a sacrificing of the Church to subjectivism.

Disciplines of Theology

 Theology, as a human endeavor, is the interpretation of Scripture. This includes

everything that facilitates or subserves understanding of Scripture.

 All theology is based on exegesis. The theological disciplines are interrelated and
focused in concentration on Scripture: i.e. Old Testament, New Testament, Church
History and Historical Theology, Systematic Theology.
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 These individual disciplines are all derived from the Bible as the source of all
theology. The key to understanding Church History is to understand that Church
History is the history of the exegesis of Scripture. The question of Church History as
a theological curriculum is to provide an understanding of how the Church has
historically interpreted Scripture.

 Theology, in its classical expression has been broadly divided into many disciplines
and subcategories. The following are some of the basic disciplines of Theology: -

i. Biblical Theology

 Johann Philip Gabler (1753-1826), one of the fathers of Biblical Theology defined
Biblical Theology as “the historical study of the OT and the NT, their authors and
the contexts within which they were written.”

 The basic presupposition of Biblical Theology is that it is an objective process of

recovering of the theology of biblical authors without the necessary interference of
one’s religious tradition.

 Thus, Biblical Theology is assumed to be a central theology, which opens to

different religions or theological traditions.

ii. Philosophical Theology

 Philosophical theology is a term used to describe the process of doing theology with
the aid and support of philosophical reflection, language, and methods.

 It emphasizes the use of philosophical language in theological development. This

method moves beyond the simple statements of faith to nuanced and highly
articulated language.

 There are typically two different categories in philosophical theology: "The first
category includes attempts to demonstrate the truth of religious claims by appeal to
evidence available apart from purported divine revelations and is based on natural
revelation to understand the Christian claims.

 The second category includes attempts to demonstrate the consistency and

plausibility of theological claims using philosophical techniques and is based on
special revelations.

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 One of the most critical questions in philosophical theology is how we can know and
posit realities of a divine nature.

 Among the great topics in theology that have high philosophical articulation are the
existence and nature (attributes) of God, Trinity, Incarnation and Faith and
Reason.

iii. Historical Theology

 Historical Theology concerns itself with historical development of Christian

doctrines. It seeks to reveal the political, economical, religious and ecclesiastical
factors that aided in the evolution of Christian doctrines.

 Historical Theology in this dimension revealed the humanness and contextual nature
of every theological creation. Thus, this theological discipline often challenged the
tendencies in most theological traditions to make a theological reflection of the past
sacrosanct for the present.

 Even though, one have to recognize that timeless theological truths existed in
theology such as God which will always occupy the minds of theologians of each
generation or time, yet overshadowing the present with the creeds of the past has
tendencies of merely paying a lip service to the present while actually living in the
past.

 In this sense, historical theology challenges the uncritical imposition of theological

tradition of the past on the present.

iv. Systematic Theology

 Systematic theology ensures that all the doctrines of the bible find a place in the
Christian's understanding; every doctrine is treated exhaustively, from the entire
testimony of the scriptures, so that nothing “falls through the cracks,” or is
overlooked.

 Also, systematic theology ensures that one's understanding of a given doctrine is the
most developed and up-to-date that it can possibly be. Systematic theology demands
the fullest and most final expression of a doctrine that revelatory history has made
possible, so that there is no overlooking or forgetting any later clarification in the
scriptures.

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  Along the same lines, systematic theology, by comparing scriptures with scriptures,
according to the principle of “analogy of faith,” precludes any potential
inconsistencies in one's doctrinal understanding. The scriptures are all brought
together and compared side-by-side, in relation to any particular theme; and any
scriptures that seem to be contradictory are ironed out and brought into harmony.

 Finally, systematic theology is valuable as a comprehensive explanation of the

Christian worldview. Because it brings all the truths of the Bible into a well-
organized system, it is invaluable for explaining to the world just what Christianity
is, defending it logically and scripturally, and edifying and equipping Christians to
interact knowledgeably and reasonably with others.

v. Pastoral Theology

 Pastoral Theology is mainly concerned with the relationship that exists between
theology and the pastoral ministry. It sought to capture for the pastoral ministry
helpful developments in theology and the Bible. Under this understanding, Pastoral
theology explores ingredients of pastoral ministry such as worship, liturgy,
homiletics, administration, hermeneutics and ethics.

vi. Exegetical Theology

 Exegetical Theology is preoccupied with the text of Scriptures. It seeks to explicate

the meaning of the text as understood by the contemporary and original or intended
audience of the text. Hence, exegesis and systematic analysis of the text becomes the
first very important level and also the primary level or theology where all other
development or disciplines of theology built on.

Rejection of Western Universal Theology

 Most theologies particularly of the liberation stock “and those of racial, gender and
regional brands such as African Theology, Asian theology, Feminist theology,
Liberation theology and Black Theology have certain basic assumptions that
western theology though often positioned to assume universal status is understood to
be inadequate in the human context of African, Latin America, and Asia. This is
because such theology was fundamentally shaped by western questions, which often
are poles apart from those of the African continent or Developing Nations contexts.

Validity of Contextual - Local Theology

 Rejecting western assumed universal Theology, theologians in non-western context

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 understood a just basis for other theological expression of the Christian faith because
of the realization that western theology has blind spot towards issues of race,
colonization, nationalism and gender related upheavals.
 Thus, the local, religious and contextual differences of all human contexts warranted
the necessity of multiple theologies.

The Limitations of Theology

 Theology as a human endeavour to understand or interpret the divine is inherently
saddled with diverse forms of limitations.

 These limitations had been expressed in many ways and many forms; however,
three salient limitation of theology is forever certain and thus the necessity to
tolerate, appreciate and also be sympathetic to the weaknesses revealed by many
theologies in their quest to capture the infinite transcendent being for their time,
generation and human context.

i. Limitation of Scope

 No single theology has ever captured all dimensions of the human existential
experiences; instead every theology is in every sense narrow, limited and
preoccupied with a particular time, context and agenda.

 It is thus unhealthy and absurd to develop a theology that will truly cut across all
race, gender, class and other different categories of the human society.

 Even though, many theologies claim this impossibility, yet a closer look at these
theologies revealed that often those claims are bogus generalization and not founded
on reality.

 It is true that most theology seeks to be universal in their relevant to the entire globe,
but it is also true that such desire is just a wishful thinking since theology itself from
its simple definition encompasses ultimately the reflection of human in their various
context about the divine being who no single person or time could ever capture for
every people and time.

ii. Limitation of Methodology

 The revolt of the existential theology and philosophy against traditional theology
and philosophy is in this sense justifiable since no human methodology or system
could in every sense captured the full and stalk dimension of the human existential
experiences.
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  Thus, in this particular sense every theological methodology whether expressed or
unexpressed have a salient limitation and hence revealed that no one single method
of theology could in every sense translates the divine or interpret the full scale of
human socio-economic experiences.

iii. Limitation of Agenda

 It is now known that no single theological agenda whether of traditional theology, or

feminism or Black theology or any other theology in that sense could be sufficient
and transcend all cultural boundaries, age group, gender distinction, racial categories
and economical and social status.

 Thus, every theology is limited in its choice and identification with a theological
agenda whether this agenda is expressed or unexpressed.

A. THE BIBLE AND THEOLOGY

 The Bible is the written Word of the one true God. The word "Bible" means "the
books." The Bible is one volume which consists of 66 separate books.

 The Bible is the written Word of God. He inspired the words in the Bible and used
approximately 40 different men to write down His words. These men wrote over a
period of 1500 years. The perfect agreement of these writers is one proof that they
were all guided by a single author. That author was God.

 For many theologies, the Bible solely occupied a lofty place in the theological
reflection that often, it seen as the only source of a Christian theology.

The Inspiration of Scripture

 Inspiration is the process by which God used human authors to record His Words
through Spirit inspired writing. Verbal inspiration of the Word refers to every word
being inspired.

 Plenary inspiration refers to the entire Bible being inspired, not just those parts that
speak to issues of faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

 The supernatural action of the Holy Spirit on the mind of the sacred writers whereby
the Scriptures were not merely their own but the word of God.
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  Scripture not merely contains but is the word of God. As the whole Godhead was
joined to the whole manhood, and became the Incarnate Word, so the written word is
at once perfectly divine and perfectly human; infallibly authoritative because it is
the word of God, intelligible because in the language of men. If it were not human,
we should not understand it; if it were not divine it would not be an unerring guide.

The Authority of the Bible

 The authority of the Bible has variously being defined in many ways. As defined
by Wayne Grudem, “The authority of Scripture” means “that all the words, in
scripture are God’s words in such a way that to obey or disobey any word of God is
to disbelieve or disobey God.”

 This suggests that the authority of the Bible is fundamentally based on certain claims
of the Bible itself.

 The authority of Scripture is based on the nature of its inspiration. In other words, by
virtue of its origin in God, which is explained as its inspiration, the Bible holds
absolute authority.

Inerrancy of the Bible

 "Inerrancy of the Word" means that the scriptures are without error, whether they
refer to theological, geographical, or historical issues.

 For this reason, the scriptures are the final authority in matters of faith, doctrine, and
practice. The Word takes precedence over tradition, culture, and man-made
doctrines.

 Any difficulties perceived in the accuracy of the text occur because of errors in our
interpretation or our lack of understanding.

The Unity of the Bible

 The unity of the Bible has basically shaped classical theology whether in exegesis,
homiletics or Biblical Theology.

 Even though the Bible was written by 40 writers over 1500 years, there are no
contradictions. One author does not contradict any of the others.
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  The Bible includes discussion of hundreds of controversial subjects, yet the writers
spoke on such subjects with harmony from the first book of Genesis through the last
book of Revelation.

 This was possible because there was really only one author: God. The writers
recorded the message under His direction and inspiration. For this reason, the
content of the Bible is united.

 The Bible is united in theme. Some people think the Bible is a collection of 66
separate books on different subjects. They do not realize that the Bible is united by a
major theme.

 The Old and New Testaments both tell the story of Jesus.

 The Old Testament prepares us for His coming and the New Testament tells how it
happened. This unites the Bible in one major theme.

The Diversity of the Bible

 When we speak of the "diversity" of the Bible it means that the Bible has variety.
It records different ways in which God dealt with people and the different ways in
which they responded to Him. The Bible is written in different moods. Some
portions express joy while others reflect sorrow.

 The Bible includes different types of writing--history, poetry, prophecy, letters,

adventure, parables, miracles, and love stories.

 The Bible written by different people from different backgrounds, at different

times on different subjects, naturally has an obvious heterogeneous nature.

 This diversity of the Bible should be stressed since it gives legitimacy to the
different brand of theologies that now characterized contemporary Christendom.

 Hence, it is legitimate to underscore the diversity of the Bible writers in relationship

to doing theology in the contemporary context.

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  This diversity of the Bible is revealed in both the Old Testament and New Testament
respectively.
B. CHRISTOLOGY AND THEOLOGY

 The teachings about Jesus, his nature, being, and functions in the Trinity are what
we call “Christology.”

 Christology is composed of the words Christ, referring to Jesus Christ and ology,
meaning "the study of." Thus, the word "Christology" deals with the study of
Jesus Christ. It is one of three areas related to the study of the Triune God which also
includes Paterology (the study of God the Father) and Pneumatology (the study of
the Holy Spirit).

 The importance of Christology for the Christian Church cannot be under estimated,
since apart from him the religion call “Christianity” could not have come into
being. Thus, Christianity is synonymous with Christ.

 Every theology in the Christian Church cannot be complete without relating to

Christology. Similarly, Christology must be studied in the light of its historical
development and tradition in the Christian Church through the centuries.

The Various Types of Christologies

i. Classical Christology

 No doubt, the classical Christology period started in the 4th century A.D. as a
response to the teaching of Arius.

 He held and defended the view that Jesus Christ was a heavenly being, intermediate
between God and man, yet a creature.

 He argued that if Christ were not a creature, he would not have been able to suffer
and die for us. By the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D; Arius was condemned as a
heretic.

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 ii. Modern Christology

a) Modern Western Christology

 After the close of the patristic period and up to the Reformation, there was little or
no formed development of Christology distinct from the former ones. Even the
reformers were contented with their ancient heritage.

 Due to the impact of the enlightenment in the West, by the 18 th century, debate about
Christ’s nature was revisited, but not as vigorous as before. Scholars like Reimarus
(1694-1768) up to the First World War, attempted to reconstruct the life of the
“historical Jesus”

b) Modern Non-Western Christology

 The modern non-western Christology can hardly be the same with the Western
modern Christology.

 This is because the frame and lenses in which the former sees and interpret Christ
are not the same with those of the latter.

 For example, the former spiritualizes everything about Christ including the purpose
of his coming and his acts.

 But the latter sees Christ as a divine being in human form whose coming
(incarnation) brings liberation from physical as well as spiritual, economic, political
and religious oppression. Without these ingredients, the Modern non-western
theologian does not see Christology as indeed Biblical and complete.

 Thus, for most non-western theologians in Africa and South America, a proper
biblical Christology must touch the culture, spiritual, political and physical needs of
the people to whom it is presented.

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Sources of Christologies

i. The Bible

 Whether in the Western or in the non-western context, the Bible has often been
taken as the major source of Christology.

 But as always, the case, the different understanding of the biblical teaching on
Christology has often led to various Christological presentations.

 This diversity of Christology is not because of the ambiguity of the Bible, but rather
the influences from the context of the interpreter since a lot of the presentation of
Christology is actually a reflection of the milieu or the context of the interpreter.

ii. Context

 Christ lived and worked in a context, a historical milieu, a political era and a cultural
environment. The question is, how did he relate to and meet each one’s needs
accordingly?

 In the Developing Nations, the context in which Christology is being interpreted and
practiced is very important.

 So, in the Developing Nations, spiritualization of Christological teaching is

secondary. The primary aspect is the physical. This does not mean that there are not
spiritual oriented works in the Developing Nations’ context; however, the
preoccupation of these works had a large obsession with the contextual realties
rather than purely spiritual works of western conservative traditions.

C. HERMENEUTICS AND THEOLOGY

 Here we investigate the development in hermeneutics in relationship to Theology.

 It is important to note the close relationship between theology and hermeneutics

because as one may guess different theologies are product of differing hermeneutical
methodology or agenda.

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  Thus, it is pertinent to observe the relationship between theology and hermeneutics
in order to account for the multiplicity of contemporary brand of Christian
theologies.
Definition of Hermeneutics

 Hermeneutics is often defined as the art, science or theories of interpretation.

However, in its restrictive Christian usage, it encompasses the study of rules or
principles for the interpretation of the Biblical text.

 There are different approaches to hermeneutics in Church history. These approaches

include the allegorical, midrashic, typological and other forms of hermeneutical
methods.

i. Traditional Hermeneutic

 Traditional theology as a result of the influence of Western scientific quest for

objectivity has generally discussed hermeneutics in a manner that assume the
enterprise is entirely neutral without the presupposition of the interpreter.

 This posture of traditional hermeneutic had been challenged by the emergence of

different hermeneutical methodologies, which acknowledges the need of
presuppositions and hypothesis in the process of hermeneutical investigation.

General Principles of Traditional Hermeneutics

 The first guiding principle is the assumption that a contemporary reader could
actually observe the intended meaning within the Biblical text.

 Secondly, this first point is also extended to mean that there is only one single
meaning in any given the text and not multiple meanings.

 Lastly, the understanding from this foregone is drawn on the assumption that the
Biblical text itself is static and not dynamic; hence the text is immune from the
historical and contemporary influences that preserved the text.

ii. Modern Hermeneutics

 Modern hermeneutics developed as a revolt against traditional hermeneutics and

theology with its narrow theological agenda and its refusal to place class, gender
and race at the center of theology and hermeneutical investigation.
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  These new modern hermeneutics emphasized the context of the interpreter rather
than the text of the Bible in isolation. Its commitment to the context of the
interpreter made modern hermeneutic revolutionary.

 This radical way of doing theology and hermeneutics rejected a presuppositionless

hermeneutical enquiry and grounded hermeneutics and hence theology in contextual
presupposition of the interpreter.

Guiding Principles of Modern Hermeneutics

 First, it argued that hermeneutics must proceed from the contemporary context and
not the text of the Scripture.

 Secondly, It de-neutralized hermeneutical inquiry and redefined Biblical

interpretation around some well-defined presupposition of theological agenda.

 Lastly, it expressed freely the hitherto mute voices, of individual at the fringe of the
human society such as women, outcast, and the Blacks.

Hermeneutics and Plurality of Theologies

 The root of diverse Christian theologies could be easily traced to the diversity of
hermeneutical traditions, methods or presuppositions of theology, thus as long
as hermeneutical methodologies or presuppositions are different, interpretation and
conclusions to the Bible and doctrine of the Scripture will always be different.

 The plurality of hermeneutics justifies the plurality of theology.

D. ECUMENISM AND THEOLOGY

Definition of Ecumenism

 The word “Ecumenism” can be said to come from the Greek word oikoumene
which literally means “the whole inhabited world.”

 So, by extension, ecumenical movement is “a movement started to express the

wholeness or oneness of the Christian faith as held by diverse Churches in pursuit
of a common worldwide mission”

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  Ecumenism is the principle or aim of promoting unity among the world's Christian
Churches.
 It started with the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910

 The first World Conference on matters of order and faith was held in Lausanne in
1927
 Ecumenism puts too much emphasis on “oneness” as taught in the N T over other
matters in the Scripture.

The main purpose and goals of ecumenical movement were: -

i. To heal the historical division of the Churches, thus stimulating renewal in

Faith and worship.

ii. Struggling by social and political means to secure freedom, justice, and
peace;

iii. To extend the mission of the gospel to all spheres of society.

Trends in Ecumenical Theology

 One of the problems in the ecumenical movement is that in Lausanne and

Edinburgh, the conclusions reached there failed to take into consideration biblical
or theological criteria, nor its feasibility when the declaration were made.

 Evangelicals have, therefore, criticized repeatedly the ecumenical theology on

several grounds.

 Today, because of the continued evangelical participation in large numbers, the

WCC is now paying attention to conservative biblical and theological beliefs.
Consultations in ecumenical theological debate have increased, especially on issues
such as the nature of Salvation and the mission of the Church.

 A major question that arises in ecumenical theology is whether salvation could be

found in other religions apart from Christianity.

 The main purpose of the Church’s merger with heavy emphasis on oneness is weak.

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  However, the good aspect of ecumenical movement is that although all Churches
have suffered the blow of divisions for a long time due to difference in doctrinal and
other theological matters, it is good that these Churches have now been propelled
into dialogue.

 Perhaps one day some proper understanding will be reached whereby each side can
reshape its theology in line with Scriptures and also tolerate each other’s; diverse
theological traditions.

2. TYPES OF THEOLOGY I

i. Roman Catholic Theology

 The Roman Catholic Church is one of the largest denominations in the world, with
the members cutting across all race, gender and different social status that
characterized the human society.

Origin of Roman Catholic Theology

 The origin of Roman Catholic Theology goes deep in Church history, beginning in
the history of the patristic fathers to the erudition of Augustine and Thomas
Aquinas.

 However, the origin of Roman Catholic Theology is so complex and complicated

that capturing the origin of the official Roman Catholic teachings and the other
myriads of Roman Catholic theologies as expressed by her many school of theology
is a daunting task that could not be sustained in the present investigation. However,
some salient defining historical points in Roman Catholic Theology would be
reviewed.

Roman Catholic Reformation

 The Roman Catholic Reformation also known as counter- reformation is a very

important historic point in the development of Roman Catholic Theology.

 The Roman Catholic reformation sought to reassert and developed the distinctive
masks of Roman Catholicism in the light of the Protestant onslaught at the Protestant
Reformation of the sixteenth century.

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  The Reformation of the Roman Catholic was on a large scale that goes throughout
Europe.

The council of Trent (1545-1563)

 Closely related to our present discussion of Roman Catholic Theology is the

significant council in the history of Roman Catholic Theology, the Council of Trent
that was held between 1545 and 1563.

 The Council has been described as “Impressive ideals” of the Roman Catholic
Theology. i.e. It sealed Roman Catholic Theology.

 The Council stood in opposition to the major doctrinal emphasis of the Protestant
movement and clearly defined the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church.

 The Council resolved to uphold the systematic training of Roman Catholic

priesthood to guard against the repetition of Protestant rift.

 Similarly, the Council rejected the heart of Protestant Reformation by its rejection of
the doctrine of justification by faith and asserted that good works is a necessity and
prerequisite for salvation.

 This council also affirmed the validity of the seven sacraments (Baptism,
Confirmation, Holy order, Penance, Eucharist, Holy matrimony, Extreme
Unction) and made them a necessity for true sanctification.

 The Council made the Vulgate (Latin Bible), the standard Bible for the Roman
Catholic Church and Thomas Aquinas the model theologian for the Roman
Catholic Theology.

 Lastly, the Council of Trent declared those outside of the Roman Catholic Church
anathema, that is, accursed.

 The influence of the council of Trent is wide reaching and imposing that most of its
resolution had remained intact for centuries in Roman Catholic Theology.

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The Second Vatican

 The Second Vatican Council was also a very important movement for the
redefinition of Roman Catholic Theology in light of the challenges of the modern
context.

 The Second Vatican took place between 1962 and 1965 at the peak of salient
political and theological revolution that took place in most part of the world,
particularly the Developing Nations context.

 The Second Vatican repositioned Roman Catholic Theology to address modern

contemporary challenges such as inter-faith religious dialogue and to soften the tune
of most of the theological emphases of the Council of Trent.

 This resolution at the Second Vatican Council has opened door to ecumenical
dialogue and had significantly aided in the founding of Liberation Theology in South
America.

 The study has shown that Roman Catholic theology has undergone certain
significant changes, but still retaining its pre-modern theological emphases.

 Thus, the task of Roman Catholic theology particularly in West Africa, is to show
more commitment to the Scripture and the context of West Africa in terms of critical
engagement with the social and political context.

 The four basic theologies of the Roman Catholic Church are Theology of Scripture,
Theology of Salvation, Theology of Mary and Theology of the Pope’s
infallibility.

ii. Protestant Theology

 In recent times, the two terms “Protestant” and “Reformed” are used interchangeably
in reference to the branch of the Church that came out of the Roman Catholic
Church during the sixteenth century Reformation.

 Today all churches/denominations that are not in the Roman Catholic orbit of
Church authority are called “Protestants” or “Reformed.” They are called
“Protestants” because when Martin Luther left the Roman Catholic Church it was
interpreted as a “Protest.”

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  Consequently, all who went with him were called “Protestants.” “Reformed” on the
other hand, it was because the purpose of Luther’s protest was to reform the Church
from the alleged deviation from apostolic teaching and some of the Roman Catholic
handling of the scriptures.

The Origin of Reformed Theology

 The actual root of the Reformed Theology however, can be traced to Martin
Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli and many other reformers in the
Netherlands, Scotland and England.

 From its sixteenth century roots the movement had successfully went through the
enlightenment period and the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution added
fuel to the movement.

 For example, the printing press invention aided the revolution because the printed
page with its power and dissemination of information sent information all over the
continent of Europe.

 By the time the puritans, the pilgrims arrived in America, they brought along with
them the spirit of Protestantism, which spread from this place to other parts of the
American colonies and other part of the world.

The Content of Reformed Theology

 Reformed theology has its unique characteristics. Those features include the
sovereignty of God, covenant, election, the person of Christ, justification,
regeneration, the sacraments, etc.

 The Theology of the Reformed churches is based on the Scriptures. Every theology
is judged by the method of its hermeneutics.

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  Thus, in the Reformed formulation of theology, there are a number of aspects
that are considered as guidelines or procedures. For example: -

i. There is emphasis on literal interpretation of the Bible.

ii. There is emphasis on the teaching of the NT. This is because although the
OT is prior in time; the NT is prior in method. It is the capstone of God’s
revelation (Heb. 1:2).

iii. Exegesis is taken very seriously because it is prior to making any theological
statement. Even the historic Protestant position emphasizes the anchoring of
theology in biblical exegesis. Philosophy has a place in theological formulation, but
it is not itself the source of or the data. Rather, its function is ancillary.

iv. Whatever is not a matter of revelation cannot be made a matter of creed or faith.

v. Protestants hold clearly the literal historical and grammatical interpretation of the
Scriptures.

iii. Evangelical Theology

Definition of “Evangelical”

 The term “evangelical” derives from the Greek word “Euangelion” meaning
“gospel.”

 In the reformation era, the term “evangelical” was used to refer to the adherents of
the Augsburg Confession in contrast to Roman Catholic or Reformed Churches.

 Historically, a second meaning of the term has evolved. Due to the characteristic
unity of the doctrine exposed and defended by the early Protestants, the word
“evangelical has tended in a narrower sense to denote all who remain fully
committed to Protestant Orthodoxy.

 It has to be stated that not all so-called “Protestant” theology is evangelical. On the
other hand, Evangelical theology is found across the Roman Catholic, Eastern
Orthodox and Pentecostal traditions.

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The Origin of Evangelical Theology

 The origin of “evangelical” can hardly be separated from its meaning. As mentioned
above already, it started in the Reformation era as a reaction against some of the
Roman Catholics formulation of theology and beliefs.

 But as a movement its roots is traced to the 18th century. In the 18th century the term
came to be applied to those who favored a Protestant Church of England.

 In 1846 opponents of the Anglo-Catholic movement in England formed a

cooperative venture, the Evangelical Alliance.

 E.J. Carnell (1919-1967) was the early theologian of this new type of conservative
faith. At this time the conservative Churches grew very fast. As a result of the
strength of this evangelical movement, extra- congregational institutions came into
being, thus, the founding of notable of evangelical institution such as Gordon-
Cornwall, Fuller and Trinity. Subsequently, these institutions had caused the
influence of evangelicalism to spread globally.

Evangelical Theology

 A denomination, a religion and an institution are always measured by what they

teach and hold dearly.

 Similarly, the evangelicals have what distinguishes them from others in terms of
theology and belief. Generally speaking, evangelical theology’s basic substance is
drawn from the heritage of Orthodox Christian formation.

 However, the first and foremost emphasis of evangelical when it comes to theology
is their belief the in Bible, the 66 Books only, is the only inspired word of God.

 Within this Bible there are cardinal teachings that, according to Evangelicals, if
temper with, will devaluate the validity of the Scriptures.

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 The cardinal teachings of Evangelicals are: -
i. The Bible – The Bible is the only book that is the Word of God. It is the revelation
of God to mankind.

ii. Revelation - God revealed Himself to man through special revelation, which include
the Word, the Son, etc. Then the general revelation, which is all the visible and
invisible things, God created in the world.

iii. Inerrancy of the Scripture – This teaches that the Bible is without error. This
excludes typographical errors, dating errors and omissions among others.

iv. Inspiration - The Scriptures are inspired by God. That is, God breathed into the
writers and they wrote under the control of the Holy Spirit. Thus, evangelicals hold
that the terms: “infallibility”, “trustworthiness”, “plenary Inspiration”, “inerrancy as
to teaching”, or “inerrant in all it affirms”, are all adequate.

v. The Virgin birth is held dearly by evangelicals.

vi. Jesus the son of God and His bodily return cannot be theologically compromised.

vii. Faith and practice - faith is the event and history without which no one can become
a Christian. Faith helps the believer in his formulation of theology. Faith gives hope.
Hope in the now and in the future.

iv. Pentecostal Theology

 Pentecostalism is the fastest growing movement in present day Christendom.

 The influence of Pentecostalism is clearly seen in the semi-modified liturgy, sermon

and theological emphases of even the mainline conservative missionary churches in
Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The Origin of Pentecostal Theology

Ancient Roots

 Pentecostalism is not merely a twenty- first century revival or phenomenon but has
its root down deep in Church history.

 Apart of the charismatic leaders of the Israelite society who were imbued with the
power of the Holy Spirit, there were indications in Israel prophetic genre that people
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 of the exilic and post exilic period anticipated an increase in the activity of the Spirit
of God in their day, hence the prophecy of Joel that in the last days the Spirit of God
will cut across age, gender and class distinction of the human society (2:28-32)

 The Pentecostal phenomenon was clearly celebrated in the life, message and
ministry of the Early Church as attested by many scriptural passages devoted to
explaining the gifts, fruits or works of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Church and
the individual members respectively.

 This emphasis on the Pentecostal phenomenon is clearly seen in Pauline epistles and
the gospel narratives.
 The history of the Church is creamed with references to this Pentecostal
phenomenon. In the writings of the Church fathers particularly Justin Martyr,
Tertullian and Origen, there are references to this event.

Modern Roots

 The modern origin of Pentecostalism is dated to 1st January 1901 at the beginning of
twenty century, when Miss Agnes Ozman, a student at the Bethel Bible College,
Topeka, Kansas was believed to have spoken in tongue at the laying of hands of the
Principal of the school Charles Fox Parham (1873-1929).

 The singular event coupled with the Azusa Street revival spearheaded by the
Apostolic Faith Mission in Los Angeles launched Pentecostalism to global attention.

 Ever since then, Pentecostalism has spread by leaps and bounds across the globe.

The Pentecostal Theologies

 Pentecostal Theology has many different distinctive features and emphases;

however, three basic theologies have often shown the unique contribution of
Pentecostalism to theology.

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 These theologies are as follows: -

i. Theology of Salvation

 The Pentecostals believed in holistic salvation of wellbeing both for the Spirit and
the body.

 They extend the theological domain of salvation to encompass wealth and financial
prosperity.

 This understanding of salvation is also stretched to include divine protection against

the forces of evil whether they are demons or witches.

 They also believed salvation should include the “now” in concrete physical terms
and not postponement of divine promises to the future. They believed that a life of
abundance, faith and positive thinking should characterize the life of a believer.

ii. Christology

 The Pentecostal Christology is a “realistic Christology” that deals pragmatically with

problems of the now.

 The Christology of Pentecostalism is quite different from the Christology of those

found in conservative theology.

 Most conservative Christology often depicted Christ in philosophical and abstract

clothing, but the Christology of most Pentecostals is clearly constructed to deal with
crucial issues in the lives of their members.

iii. Pneumatology

 The recovery of the Third person of the Godhead in the Theological discussion is
generally, a bye-product of the rediscovery of the Holy Spirit by the Pentecostals.

 They single-handedly reawakened an interest in the Holy Spirit, His work and
charismatic gifts, which many conservatives believed had ceased.

 They reverted the “Binitarian” disposition of classical Theology in its emphases on

God the Father and the Son and the often neglect of the Holy Spirit.

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  It is in this latter sense, that Pentecostalism had made a great contribution to global
Christianity, even with the recognition of its many flaws.

v. Theology of African Independent Church

 The emergence of the phenomenon of the African independent Church arose out of
the complication arising from the missionary encounter between the western
missionary and African worldview and spiritual longings.

The Origin of African Independent Churches

 The origin of African Independent Church could be attributed to the stark reality of
modernization on the African society, particularly in the collapse of pre-Christian
religious structure and thus the necessity of recreating new religious structures on
Christian religious lines at the beginning of modernization in Africa.

 However, such sociological explanation of the cause of African Independent Church

does not do justice to the ancient roots or occurrence of the phenomenon of African
Independent Church in the religious consciousness of the African society.

 The ancient historic root of African Independent Church has generally been traced
to the Congo region in the 17th century.

 In a Roman Catholic missionary context of the Congo area, a Congolese of royal

family by name Kimpa Vita advocated some theological and prophetic disposition
that is now closely associated with African Independent Church.

 After her Baptism, Kimpa Vita began to manifest some prophetic gifts and she was
antiwhite missionary in her messages. She related in her vision that Jesus and the
apostles were black, which was contrary to representation of Christ by the white
missionaries.

 She also saw Jesus as a liberator from poverty and oppression, and she looked to the
future, when a black millennium will dawn on earth with its capital in Africa.

 The implication of Kimpa Vita study for theology is that it revealed an early
dissatisfaction and rejection of the hermeneutics and theology of western
missionaries and a conscious preoccupation to define hermeneutics and theology
using an African contextual agenda.

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  It is in this sense, that Kimpa Vita became the first page and genesis in the study of
African Independent Church.

 In modern Roots, the dawn of African Independent Church has been traced to the
message and missionary activities of William Wade Harris in the early twenty
century in the region of West Africa, particularly in the Liberia and Ivory Coast.

 Harris was a revolutionary figure, who had been credited as responsible for the
religious changes in the spiritual landscape in Ivory Coast. He retained in his
theology and messages a preoccupation to define the Christian reality using the
African worldview.

 The modern and ancient expressions of the phenomenon of African Independent

churches stemmed from the radical rejection of the hermeneutics and theology of the
western missionaries and their siblings, the mainline denominations as incompatible
with the African worldview and contextual realities.

 The theology of African Independent Church has three distinctive emphases which
are Christology, Soteriology and Angelology.

 African Independent Church theology is however subject to syncretistic tendencies.

3. TYPES OF THEOLOGY II

i. Contextual Theology

 Theology has grown over the years since the beginning of the church. Theologians
have tried to understand the biblical message within their own various contexts.

 Western theology had dominated the theological landscape until the 21st century
when theologians from majority third world also began to ask critical questions as to
the relevance of some of the theological concepts within their contexts.

 This led to agitations for contextualizing of the biblical message to fit with the
people’s contexts.

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  Today, the concept of contextual theology is no longer new, though theologians are
still wrestling with how to make the best of contextual theology without diluting the
original biblical message.

Defining Contextual Theology

 Contextual Theology refers to the manner in which the church in every age tends to
adapt its teachings to the culture in which it finds itself.

 One thing that strikes us if we start to read theological literature is that it can sound
very different depending on when and where it was written.

 It’s not that Scripture has changed, or God himself. The difference is the place and
cultures - the setting of the faith that “seeks to understand.”

 Because the settings change, the questions change. And because the questions
change, our theology also changes. And this is why we believe that all theology is
“contextual theology” - that is, it is from a context.

 To speak of contextual theology today calls to mind one of two possible approaches
to theology and culture, distinguishable by both their roots and their intention.

 The Bible itself is replete with factors such as culture, ethnicity, history and its
message have to be established to hold meaning in contemporary various cultures.

 Contextual theology tries to make the theological message human. But there is a
fundamental issue that needs to be observed. Contextualizing of Scripture should not
lead to twisting of its truth as if it is no longer the Word of God.

 The Word of God, which is an inspired work of the living Creator, is far more than
any human-inspired book and has been written in such a way that every human
being, rich or poor, man or woman, intelligent or challenged will understand the
meaning of the Gospel message if it is presented in their native language.

 Contextualization is not necessary for salvation of the people into which the Gospel
enters but it is very important for its facilitation and impact upon the people.

 If Paul had been adjusting (contextualizing) the Word of God to fit the culture and
context of the lives of those he spoke to, he would not have said “the aroma of death
leading to death.” He took the spiritual state of these people very seriously, and he
32
 had full confidence that God’s Word, unaltered and unchanged, could reach into the
heart and soul of any person who would receive Christ by faith.

 Whether a person is young, mentally challenged, or of a different culture or ethnic

group, the Gospel is God’s Gospel, and He made it so that all who receive it by faith
will understand His love and forgiveness and have eternal life.

 Scripture commands us to “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by

the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). But the emergents are leading followers
in the opposite direction, teaching that the Word of God needs to be conformed to
people and cultures instead of allowing it to conform lives through Jesus Christ.

 Reimagining Christianity allows a dangerous kind of freedom; like cutting the

suspension ropes on a hot air balloon, the free fall may be exhilarating but the results
catastrophic.

 Contextual theology is a development that has been under debate as to the nature of
its explication. For some, it is conforming the Gospel to cultural patterns which
would make it subservient to culture whereas others have argued that it is cultures
that should be conformed to the Gospel.

 The basic thrust is the question of how to make the Gospel have more impact upon
the people. In contextualization, the real balance is to establish connecting points
between the biblical message and cultural ways of the people, not by way of
compromising the essential message.

 Though in the past, Christian theology was dominated by Western perspectives but
contemporary majority third world theologians in Africa, Asia and South America
have been working to develop theology within their peculiar contexts.

 Such contexts as poverty, disease, hunger and wars pose significant questions for the
Gospel.

ii. Liberation Theology

 Liberation theology is a contemporary significant movement. It was born in Latin

America in the 1960s and was largely Roman Catholic in orientation.

 It is different from previous systematic theology expression of faith in that it seeks to

interpret the Christian faith from the perspective of the poor and oppressed.
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  Gustavo Gutierrez is often considered the Father of Liberation Theology. In his
word, he states “the starting point of Liberation Theology is commitment to the
poor, the ‘non-person.’ Thus, the idea of this theology comes for the victim”.

 Since the 1970s, the Latin American Liberation Theology has exerted a lot of
influence in the LATFRICASIAN regions (Latin America, Africa, and Asia).

 It influenced Black Theology in people like James Cone in the USA, whose concern
focuses on racist oppression.

 It also influenced the black South Africans during the anti-apartheid years.

 In fact, Liberation Theology’s influence has gone far beyond the Church into
government circles.

 Struggle for independence in most developing nations’ colony in the 1960s - 1970s
was influenced by this theology.

 Liberation Theology’s origins cannot be separated from the economic and political
structures of the industrialized nations of the West towards Latin America, Africa
and Asia.

 Hence, in a reaction, the Latin American theologians, particularly the Catholic

priests, began to formulate a theology by interpreting the Bible not in the American
and European lenses and frames, but in response and according to the situation and
context in which their theology is being done.

 Thus, the call for ‘Contextualization’ cannot be separated from Liberation Theology.

Sources and Development of Liberation Theology

 According to Conn, the most basic source of Liberation Theology is the experience
of poverty, distribution and repression in a region dominated by Christianity for
centuries.

 For the Liberation Theologians, human suffering in every form; whether economic,
political, religious and social is against God’s will. Thus, it constitutes a moral
imperative for the Christian conscience to fight against these ills.

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  Upon all these, we can say that the deepest theological roots of Liberation Theology
remain in the growing interest of the Roman Catholic Church which emphasizes
dialogue with the world and other religious, faith, and which sees social care of the
Church towards the poor, widows, orphans, oppressed, etc., as a task that must be
done.

 Liberation Theology, in spite of its weaknesses at some points, has greatly enriched
contemporary Christian discussion.

iii. Black Theology

 The Black race has often been dehumanized throughout history. However, it was the
problem of slavery, racism, and others psychological and cultural stereotypes against
in the Blacks North America that birth the theology that is now known as Black
Theology.

 “Black Theology” could be said to be purely a bye-product of the response of Black

North American Christians against the social and political segregations they suffered
in the North American society.

 Black Theology puts its emphasis on the identity of blacks in theological context.

 Although Black Theology had since gained a lot of adherents from the African
continent, they are more pronounced in Southern Africa than in the rest of Africa.
The reason for this is not far-fetched. That is, it was influenced there by the South
African Boers’ political and economic policies during the apartheid years.

Nature of Black Theology

 The intentions and concerns of black theology are rooted in the experience of
oppression by the blacks in the USA.

 Thus, the Afro-Americans and, perhaps those from Southern Africa, see their history
as inseparable from black theology. So, black theology, therefore, is that attempt to
articulate that significance within the black Christian community and beyond it.

 It emerges from a black reading of the Scripture, from a black hearing of Jesus and a
black understanding of Jesus as the Liberator of black people.

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  Thus, Jesus is seen and interpreted as the Black Messiah. This brings us to the notion
that there is such a thing as black spirituality, which is experienced, in black
worshiping community.

 No theology can totally standalone without some areas of connection with other
theologies.

 Although Black Theology has attempted to be unique, such attempts have not been
successful.

 For instance, to have a black Jesus, a black salvation, and a black God is equal to
saying that there will be black heaven.

 However, even with its seemingly flaws Black Theology has sensitively engaged the
racial problem of the contemporary society, placing the neglected black race at the
centre of theological discussion.

iv. Feminist Theology

 Traditional Theology has often been one-sided. It has been dominated by the male
gender and thus most often, its investigation, interpretation and theological
formulations were based on the understanding of the male gender without the apt
recognition of the female gender in the defining issue of theology.

 The silence of the female gender and their ostracization in the domain of theology
normally made classical theology a half of the total reflection of divine will for both
genders.

 It is this underrepresentation of the female gender in theology and the ecclesiastical

restrictions placed on her ministry in the Church that necessitated the quest to
redefine theology and religion in the mutual recognition of the equality of the
genders.

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The Origin of Feminist Theology

 The origin of feminism antedates the modern feminist movement and has its source
in ancient times in the untold stories of women who sought to transcend the
patriarchal restriction of the human society and assert their divine calling in the face
of many gender - related obstacles on their path.

 On the whole, it is the omission of the deeds and place of women in history,
theology and religion that necessitated the modern feminism in all its ferventness.

Feminist Theologies

 The theology of feminism is wide and complex in its content as well as scope. It also
has various racial religious and contextual colourings that made it impossible to pin
down into simple easy list of theologies;

 However, there are three basic theological emphases that had generally characterized
all brands of feminist theologies.

 These theological emphases are as follows: -

i. The Recognition and Rejection of Patriarchal Structures

ii. The Recreation of a Positive Image of Womanhood

iii. The Quest for Gender Equality.

iv. African Christian Theology

 African Theology is the product of theological complications arising from the

encounter between Africans and the western missionary activities.

 It is a theology that seeks to reject the western theological claims particularly the
understanding that western theology is normative for each human context.

 The rejection of western imperialism at independence, suddenly revealed the

rationality of such step since at independence, the political structure was handed
over to the Africans.

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  On a similar basis, it was assumed that the west, the Church, and the hence, theology
should be relinquished to Africans.

 However, even before independence such quest to understand the Christian gospel
using African flavor was already in process particularly as expressed in the work of
Edward W. Blyden and James Holy Johnson, who vehemently argued for an African
expression of the Christian gospel.

 African Christian Theology – can be defined as the quest by African Christians to

understand, interpret and reconstruct theology based upon the existential, cultural,
political and spiritual categories of the African context.

The Origin of African Theology

 The origin of African Theology, as already noted, goes back in history to the
turbulent relationship between the encounter of western missionaries with the
peculiarities of the African context such as the uniqueness of the African cultures
and custom, and most importantly, the differences in African worldview in
comparison to those of the west.

 Primarily, the quest to develop an African Theology was also due to the
misrepresentation and misunderstanding of earlier anthropological and missionaries’
misinterpretation of African culture arising from this context of missions.

The Content of African Theology

 The content of African Theology has been of diverse nature as the many diversities
of the African continent.

 It seemed different part of the African continent have different theological

preoccupation; however, a harmony of these diverse theological definitions is
observable.

 Some salient contents of African theology are: -

i. African Culture and pre-Christian Religious Emphases

ii. Biblical and Systematic Theology Emphasis
iii. Political Theology Emphasis.

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