144. understanding inculturation in the light of res

7/30/2019 144. Understanding Inculturation in the Light of Res.

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Ferdinand Nwaigbo

Understanding Inculturationin the Light ofthe Resurrection

Introduction

THE theology ofInculturation presented in this article is anattempt to interpret the Biblical Message in a given culturalcontext. For instance, in "Namely that Christ died for our

sins that He was buried and that He was raised to life on the thirdday, in accordance with the scriptures" (7 Cor15:3-4) a new emphasis has to be made on The Resurrection in the African context

after Inculturation.

The meaning of Inculturation

As an exercise that involves the whole Church, Inculturation is acombined effort of different Christian theologians. The experienceand expressions that emerge from it extend from one generation to

the next. In the experiences of other peoples we experience, notonly ourselves, but as Gerald O'Collins points out, "Also our

Fr. Ferdinand Nwaigbo lectures at The Catholic Institute ofWest Africa. His address

is: Catholic Institute of West Africa, P.O. Box 499, PORT HARCOURT, Rivers

State, Nigeria.


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42 African EcclesialReview

openness to an unlimited horizon of being".1

This leads to other

sources of relational thinking which, in religious experiences, relate ahuman being with his/her Creator.

Therefore, to understand Inculturation, one has to know thAfrican culture and Scripture. As Aylward Shorter explains in hisbook, TowardA Theology OfInculturation, this is a concep"relationship between the Christian message and cultures"

2of a

given people. Even though culture can, be transformed by the Gospel, the two realities may remain divergent. They can, however, be

united to achieve an ultimate goal of expressing the ChristianMessage of Salvation in divine and human contexts.

Inculturatinglife in the context of human situations and existence in view of Christ's Resurrection needs to follow a logicalmethod (the correlative method) in theology. With this type ofmethod, it is easyto see that the cross is correlated to life and thatthe Church in Africa, the Body of Christ, has to experience thecross before it can be resurrected into the new life ofthe Eucharist

as God's Family. This challenges it to create a new self-awarenesswhich will help people to understand the nature of their Christiancommunity (the Body of Christ God's Family). As children ofGod who are divided among themselves, they need to address theproblem of their common cultural heritage as a natural family that

was crucified in the past and to examine their relationship withtheirseparated Christian brothers and sisters in view ofthe following questions:

What is the place ofthe Protestant Churches in the theologyofthe Church as God's Family in Africa? How should Catho-lics today relate with their separated brethren considering thatthey have been chosen together among all the nations of theearth to build God's Family in Africa?

1. O'Collins, G., S.J., Fundamental Theology, New York 1986, p. 48.

2. Shorter, ., Towards A Theology of Inculturation, London, 1990, p. 11.


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UnderstandingInculturation 43

Theological systems ofInculturation ought to focus on the Person

of Jesus Christ, the nature ofthe Church and the essence ofChristianlife in relation to culture. To do this, there is need to be consciousofthe limits Inculturation seen against the backdrop of its relation

to the Gospel Message.Inculturation is now a common theme among Christian writers

in both Catholic and Protestant theological circles. The theology of

Inculturation is, not only a quest for African theology to be born

again in the Mystery of Incarnation ofthe Divine Word, but also

an emphatic demand for contextualization to transform the African culture through the Gospel Message. Christ's Resurrection isthe basis ofourChristian faith and hope. As St. Paul explains:

If Christ was not raised, our faith has nothing in it and we are

still in our old state ofsin. It follows also that those who diedwithin Christ's fellowship are utterly lost, and we are of allpeople to be pitied (1 Cor15:17-19).

Therefore, Easter is the celebration of the Divine " Yes'1

to life forhumanity. It is the privilege of those who have been resurrectedinto new life so that in Goethe's words, "They celebrate Resurrection, for they themselves are risen."

3Thus, the Resurrection draws

humanity into the life ofGod; a fact that is crucial for integratingtheology with life within the Africans, socio-cultural context. Africans' do not regard life as, simply worldlyor materialistic, but as afundamental thought concept from where other meaningfulconcepts of human existence emerge. For an African, life is someaningful that it has to be perpetuated through one's children.It has a meaning that, according to John Mbiti, "permeates all

3. Goethe, von J. W., Faust: A Tragedy, PartOne, trans. ByMartin Greenberg, New

Haven, 1992, p. 29.


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44 African Ecclesial Review

departments"4

of human situations. Therefore, anything that

leads to understanding and living "the meaning of life"5

is veryimportant.

The question then arises, How is Jesus' Resurrection relatedto African culture? To answer this question, it is important to notethat all cultures of the world have been transformed by God'spower manifested through Jesus' Resurrection and this applies toAfrican cultures as well. Unfortunately, indifference and ignoranceof these cultures on the part of the early missionaries was a major

obstacle to a meaningful integration of African cultures into Christianity. This has definitely affected people's faith since without properunderstanding theChristian faith, it is impossible to inculturate it.

Through the proclamation of the Word of God and the celebration of the Sacraments, Africans encounter the Risen Lord. So,the African cultures, which had been buried in the past, come tolife when they are seen in the light ofJesus' Crucifixion, Death andResurrection. In this way, the African identity which had been

wounded, disfigured and trampled upon in the belief that pagan(non-Western) cultures are basically idolatrous, also becomesrecognizable. This new age of technology with its cultural revivaland openness to plurality, has ushered in the new life ofthe Resurrection to the African cultures. A theology ofInculturationhas indeeemerged from African situations and conditions that proclaimsJesus as The Resurrected Lord of Life.

Faith in the Resurrection

The following words ofSt. Paul, "For indeed He was crucified outof weakness, but He lives by the power of God" (2 Cor13:4) showJesus' victory over sin and death and His entry into glory where

4. Mbiti, J., African Religion andPhilosophy, London 1990, p. 2.

5. Tillich, P., Christianity and the Encounter ofthe World Religions, N.Y., 1963, p. 90


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Understanding Inculturation 45

He is Lord. He was exalted by God's Power into unity with The

Father. For Paul, the Resurrection is the actualization of God'sredemptive activity which came into this world through Jesus' Redemptive Sacrifice on the Cross.

The Cross helps one to understand the Resurrection better.As Francis Schuessler Fiorenza points out, "Belief in Jesus' resurrection is belief in God's justice that vindicated the life and praxisofJesus and had the effect of affirming that life and praxis".6 God's

justice is manifested in His redemptive activities in Christ which,

neither the powers of this world nor its principalities could extinguish. Since God's love of justice is shown in the Resurrection,faith in the Resurrection should be expressed through a personalcommitment to creating a system of social justice which promotespositive human relationships. Faith in the Resurrection, therefore,touches and transforms African cultures in such a way that theylead people to freedom and hope that will enable them to proclaim

justice, peace and compassion by their way oflife.

Christ's Resurrection is about life and faith in the victory ofThe God of Justice. It is a battle between Good Friday and EasterSunday which, according to Choan-Seng Song, "Is a battle between the power of life and the power of death, between the powerof destruction and the power of creation, between God and Satan".7

The Resurrection is the proof that eternal life emerged from deathon the Cross; God's plan accomplished by The Spirit. It correlateslife with the gift of the Spirit as in Jesus' case who, "In the body he

was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life, and, in thespirit, he went to preach to the spirits in prison". (1 Pt3:18).

6. Schuessler, F. , Foundational Theology, New York, 1986, p. 45.

7. Song, CS ., Third-Eye Theology, New York 1991, p. 198.


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According to Jewish thought-form, "spirit" and "breath"8

are

expressed as one word. This means that at creation, God endowedhuman beings with the spirit oflife. Wolfhardt Pannenberg has thisevidence in mind when he writes, "Since the life of the RisenChrist is united to the Spirit, the giver of life, the believer in theRisen Christ receives in himself or herself the source of all lifeand therewith the hope of his or her own immortal life".9 In hisbook, The Jesus of Faith, Michael Cook reiterates the same ideaby asserting that:

In The Resurrection, God's Spirit touches and transformsthis body-person so completely that he or she enters into anutterly new existence which can be characterized in terms oftraditional understanding of Adam's Eve's existence in theGarden of Eden, viz. As involving union with God, harmonywith oneself, and victory over death.

10

A theology of creation related to the Person of Christ holds that

through the Mystery of Incarnation, God in Jesus touches creation. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, Christians undergo anew birth, experience a new creation and go through an initiationwhich incorporates them into the Body of Christ, the Church.Warren Dicharry confirms this when he writes that, "Our personaland communal relationship with one another in the Church stemsfrom our union with the Risen Christ",11 since Christ is the Headof the Church.

8. Brown, R., Biblical Exegesis


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The relationship between Christ and the Church that began with

creation comes to a climax with the Resurrection when the bondbetween Christ and the early Christians is sealed. The Church is,therefore, a community {ecclesia) that is born of the Resurrectionand through which God forms His own People, the Body of Christand the Temple of the Holy Spirit. It is the vision of the life of theTriune God.12

Salvation History has mysteriously linked Christ and theChurch. Therefore, defining the nature and mystery ofthe Church

by using the Greek word, ekklesia13 which means, those gatheredtogether, shows clearly the relationship between Christians and theRisen Lord. The frequent use of this word, ekklesia in the Scripturesand early wisdom literatures indicates that the early Christianslived their faith and witness ofthe Resurrection, not as an individual's concern, but as a community.

The early Christian community consisted of Jews who, inGeorge Tavard's words, "Believed that the Prophet Jesus of Naz

areth had 'risen from the dead', was alive in their midst in thepower of God's Spirit, and must therefore be the Messiah announcedby the prophets".14 But, St. Paul in his LetteriotheEphesians writes,"You are no longer aliens or visitors; you are fellow-citizens withthe holy people of God and part of God's household. You are builtupon the foundations of the Apostles and Prophets and ChristHimselfis the cornerstone". Therefore, The Church is inclusive of OldTestamentand New TestamentPeople of God.

The same Spirit that was at work in Christ's Birth, Death andResurrection was released to Christ's followers on Pentecost Day.Israel's Call as the qahal Jahweh passed on to the community of

12. Tarvard, G., The Vision ofthe Trinity, New York1981, p. 98.

13. Schnackenburg, R., The Church in the New Testament, London 1981, p. 15.

14. Tavard, G., The Church, Community of Salvation. An Ecumenical Ecclesiology,

Minnesota 1992, p. 15.


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believers (the Church, the New Testament People of God). Thus

the end of the former marked the origin of the latter. On PentecostDay, the Church was born, not of the flesh nor ofthe will of men,but ofthe Spirit {Acts 2). The Church is, therefore, the communityofthe Resurrection. Its day of rest shifted from the Jewish Sabbathto the day on which the Lord rose from the dead (Sunday).

By nature, the Church fosters the interior and exterior activities ofthe Holy Spirit among the believers. For instance, CharismaticRenewal of the late twentieth century into the twenty-first century

which has shifted the outward manifestations of the Spirit from theestablished Church to the interior activities of the same Spirit outside this visible Church. This has led to new Religious Movementsor the Pentecostalism. As George Tarvard, points out in his book,The Church, Community of Salvation. An EcumenicalEcclesiologalso the proper perspective from which to look at a number ofmodern sects that have mushroomed in Europe, and at the numerous Independent Churches that emerged in Africa".

15It is not new

to see some radical Christians overemphasize one aspect of theChristian revelation at the detriment of the other in the history ofChurch. A case in point is the Montanists of the early Church, theCataphrygians and the Albigensians of the Middle Ages, the Anabaptist and other sectarial movements of the nineteenth centurythat placed great emphasis on the interior revelation of the Spirit.This explains thepresent rift between the Pentecostal and Indepenent Churches with the Catholic practices and principles. But it

helps one to understand the nature of the Church in Africa as alocal church rooted in the social, spiritual, religious, cultural andhuman situations through which people encounter the redemption brought about through Christ's Death and Resurrection. Eventhe theological practices in Africa are now shaped and coloured bythe continent's cultures rather than by European-North Americancultures and religious tenets. These influenced the Church in

15. Ibid., p. 56.


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Africa from the time of Augustine, the great ancestor of African

theologians, via the Medieval period to pre-Vatican II But, todaythe emphasis is on cultural environments or human conditionswhich help people to discern the Spirit of God at work in the cultures of the world.

Inculturation and Dialogue

Inculturation becomes a Paschal process involving a dying andrising ofa local church to a new life of grace when it is seen in thelight ofthe Resurrection. A local church has to die to its old Western forms in order to rise to a new life of grace. It has to return tothe state that St. Paul refers to when he writes, "So by our baptisminto his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ wasraised from the dead by the Father's glorious power, we too shouldbegin a new life" {Rom 6:4). Therefore, like Christ, a local church is

also involved in the Paschal Mystery whereby it takes on newforms of creativity in its structures, music and arts.

God is very close to each ofus because we are His sons anddaughters. Consequently, as members of God's Family, we allshare a common faith based on Christ's Resurrection. In this way,we give a common witness of Jesus' Resurrection since with Himthe cultures of the world (including those of Africa) are risen. Thechallenge to African Christians now is to discover the values in

their cultures which can be reinforced through Inculturation. Thiswill certainly create a positive attitude towards the African cultureswhich are the heritage ofthe people. In the Third Millennium, theChurch in Africa should become alive through Inculturation.

Today, the paradigm of theology is Inculturation because it canbe applied to all levels of theology and Christian practices. Its influence can be felt by the universal Church and it is a sign that theSpirit is at work. The Holy Spirit who spoke and continues to

speak through the prophets, led Jesus of Nazareth to fulfil the


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Scriptures by carrying out The Father's Will to save all people. The

same Spirit overshadowed Mary at the Incarnation and accompanied Christ throughout His redemptive mission that was to becomea universal design for every nation. If Inculturation is carried ousuccessfully, people will be able to understand better God's universal plan of Salvation and the working ofthe Spirit even outside the

visible borders of the Church. Here, The Holy Spirit is at workmaking it possible for people to be saved in mysterious ways. Thisraises questions like: How can we discern the Spirit ofGod at work

in the culture of a people? Can there be ecumenism in InculturationTo answer the first question, it is important to understand that thestarting point of Inculturation is recognizing the presence of thSpirit ofGod in a culture of a particular people. The second question, from the stand-point of ecumenism, takes into account thefact that The Spirit is in the Church as a resurrection event. To address the foregoing questions, it is imperative to acknowledge thepresence of the Spirit in the non-Christian as well as non-Catholic

churches that do not fit into the historical continuum of themainline churches in the light of the following question: How do

we relate to those who are not in this historical continuum sincethese ecclesial communities accept those Christian values inherentin the Gospels and are devoted to those values inherent in Africancultures? It is important to note that the Spirit of Christ is presenteven in non-Catholic families as expressed in Vatican //thus:

It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe, pervadingand ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that mar

vellous communion.16

The non-Christians and people ofotherfaiths who sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive bytheirdeeds to do His will as it is known to them through thedictates of conscience. These can attain salvation.

17

16. Walter, ., The Documents of the Vatican II (Unitatis Redintegration, noNew York, 1966, p. 344.

17. Ibid, Lumen Gentium, no. 16.


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The nature and mission ofthe Church as the Universal Sacrament

of Salvation for the whole human family is thus revealed. It is,however, Inculturation which empowers the local church to revealits nature in a faith-community and to fulfil its mission to theworld as an instrument of Salvation. In Africa, for instance, thelocal church's essential mission is to incarnate the Christian Message in the cultures of the people. The success of this process willdepend on the Church's ability to transform the African valueswith the Gospel Message. Its mission of Evangelization has a two

fold task: first, to discover the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the localcultures, and secondly to be at the service of God's Family in anecclesial community.

Inculturation and Dialogue have become important concepts ofmission theology since Vatican II. According to the Council documents, Dialogue with non-Christians is to be striven after {GS16).As pointed out in, The Declaration on the Relation of the Church tonon-Christian Religions, a mutual understanding must be sought,

and a common action inspired by the spirit of the Council for theprotection and promotion of social justice as well as culturalheritage of a people to enhance their freedom and peace. This willcertainly foster: freedom, openness and reconciliation which arethe conditions and prerequisites necessary for enabling persons ofother faiths or people of different world-views and beliefs to engagein a mutual dialogue. Dialogue is only possible where persons arewilling to focus on a common goal, listen to each other and admit

that nobody has the whole truth in himself or herself.Christians in Africa have many common cultural and tradi

tional values that can serve as a basis for unity and dialogue. Agood example is the sense of community which symbolizes theChurch as God's Family. An African may be as individualistic asany Western person, but the very thought of being alone, keepingaloof from one's own kith and kin and living without communication with other people, will remain alien to the former's mind. This

raises two key questions:


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Why is it that Christians in Africa continue to live in fear,

disunity, disillusion and are biased against each other in theirsocio-cultural domain in spite of being community-centredpeople? What type of hope can the proclamation ofthe GoodNews of Jesus' Resurrection offer them in their co-existencewith the ecumenical movements in view of the Church asGod's Family?

A community-oriented cultural background provides a firm basis

for ecumenism and weakens all the denominational trademarksthereby creating a new hope based on the Resurrection. The modelof Church as Family that was adopted by the African Synod is acountersign to Christian disunity, division and distrust amongChristians of the same ancestral-cultural hereditary who happebelong to a different missionary heritage. Individualism, characteristic of Western culture, was transmitted to Africa through themissionary activities in Africa during the fifteenth and nineteenth

centuries. The missionaries overlooked the need for establishingChristian unity which is natural to an African because of his/her family-spirit.

A call to Christian Unity

Living in an ecclesial community, Christians manifest the Presenceof the Risen Lord as a family (the Body of Christ the Church).

18

Built on the African family spirit, the Church in Africa will be prepared to undertake issues concerning ecumenism. The Africancustom of eating from one bowl which is a symbol of unity canserve as a stepping stone to intercommunion and communication;the sharing together of the Eucharistie Body and Blood among

18. Tangaza Occasional Papers/No. 3, Theology of the Church as Family ofGod

Nairobi 1997, p. 28.


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Understanding Inculturation 5 3

Christian Churches and members of different and particular faith

communities at one table. With such ecclesial communities,19

itwill be possible to foster unity of all Christian Churches. To preserve this Christian unity, there is need to strengthen the relationshipbetween the Eucharist and the ecclesial community. Being at the center, the Eucharist becomes the source and symbol of unity amongthe believers {Acts 2:42) since through it, the whole community encounters the Risen Lord.

20Then, communicating together as one

community, Christians become aware of their obligations and com

mitment in view of their African sense of community and family.The African family shares a meal from one bowl thus sym

bolizing their oneness, commitment to a single purpose, sharedweaknesses and strengths and willingness to receive the gift of thecommunity as their destiny as well as legacy ofthe ancestors. Sacrifice, which is an incentive to intercommunion because it is astrong basis of understanding the sacrificial character of the eucharistie meal, was attached to the meals with the ancestors. A meal

setting in Africa, just like the Church's Eucharistie Meal is a sourceand symbol of unity; a fact that raises fresh hope in approachingthe issue of intercommunion in view of the following questions:

How can Christians in Africa share a common EucharistieMeal from their cultural background whereby they share theirmeals together in their extended family? Why is it that theyfail to share the same meal from a religious point of view inspite of having a cultural background in which meals areshared? If they can share cola-nuts as a symbol of unity whycan they not share One Bread at the table of the Lord?

19. Haffher, P., The Sacramental Mystery, Witshire 1999, p. 106. See also AuerJohn, Dogmatic Theology, Volume 6, Mystery oftheEucharist, Washington D.C.,1995; L. Walsh, The Sacraments of Initiation, London 1988; J.H. Emminghaus,The Eucharist, Collegeville 1997.

20. Schillebeeckx, E., Christ the Sacramentofthe Encounter with God, London 1989,p. 153.


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Even though Africans share the same cup of palm wine as one

family at village meetings, Catholics and Protestants cannot sharethe One Bread and One cup of wine at community gatherings asGod's redemptive deed of salvation for humanity symbolized inChrist. The Eucharist as the greatest Mystery of ourlife unites ustogether as one family of God through the transforming power ofthe Holy Spirit. We thus share God's Divine Life with each other;a life that is given and received for the Kingdom ofGod and that isrealized in this world.

Since the Church in Africa is poor, it has to strive to becomeself-supporting. Consequently, Christians must learn to work together as one family of God in their efforts to maintain justice,peace and unity. Cultural studies ought to be well focused towardsthe common concern of ecumenism so that Catholics and Protestants aim at producing cultural programmes that portray a deepgrasp on African realities. These should then be translated intoconcrete actions that will create unity and true fellowship withinthe ecumenical-family.

Colonialism divided Africans and infused ethnic groups whilethe early missionaries advanced the fundamental interests of theirdenominations thereby creating divisive differences among brothers and sisters ofthe same cultural background instead of focusingon Jesus Christ whose Spirit is at work in all cultures. As a resultof such a narrow concept of evangelization among those who

brought a culturally biased Christianity to Africa and who weregenerally hostile towards African cultures, the African values andsystems were overlooked and so could not contribute to a culturalecumenical theology. There is, therefore, a great need for moreresearch in this field to discover appropriate African culturalpractices that can lead to Church unity and be fruitful in ecumenical dialogues. For instance, the concept of African-family-spirit

which is reflected in the New Testament communities is a greatcontrast to "rival and conflicting denominations that reject oneanother's doctrines, ministries or sacraments".

21

21. Dulles, ., Models of the Church, New York 1987, p. 140.


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Conclusion

The Church in Africa is now faced with the onus task of relating

African methods of theology to scriptural revelation and historicalsituations so as to examine the African cultures which were crucified in the past to raise them to life by the power ofGod throughthe grace of the Spirit in the cultures. By His Death and Resurrection Christ brought New Life to all; a life which can only be realizedthrough the process ofInculturation. This is the soul and principle oflife ofthe Church in Africa expressed in faith and doctrine withoutendangering the unity of the Church of Christ. The Word of God

that the Church proclaims to the world should bear fruit within thecontext of cultures and ecclesial communities. For instance, the

African culture of eating a common family meal from one bowlwhich is a symbol of sharing life in community, provides a basisfor intercommunion. Similarly, since life is very deep-rooted in

African cultures it should be emphasized when presenting thetheology ofthe Eucharist. Being symbols of life, Christ's Flesh andBlood (The Eucharist) are the communion of life and unity of the

Family ofGod. Therefore, Christians in Africa, who are the members of Christ's Body are incorporated into Christ {Rm 6:4) throughthe Paschal Mystery of the Eucharist. Having been crucified withHim {Rm 6:6) and having died with Him {Rm 6:8), will rise withHim as the first fruits from the dead to bear rich harvests of peace,

justice, mercy, reconciliation and freedom from anxieties. Theymust, therefore develop appropriate rites from Africa that will befertile ground for theology and sacramental practices that are incar

nated in the life of Africans.


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