Bible and Theology in African Christianity by John S. Mbiti

First published: Nairobi: Oxford University Press, 1986

Genre(s): Nonfiction

Subgenre(s): Church history; theology

Core issue(s): Africa; faith; Gospels; healing; knowledge; prayer

Overview

There is a widespread notion that Christianity in Africa has been merely an instrument of colonization. Conversely, some have believed that Christianity brought progress to African peoples by supplanting traditional religions that were bound by superstition. To a committed African Christian such as Anglican priest John Samuel Mbiti, both of these notions are too simplistic to be of any value. He states that “aided by the biblical revelation and faith in Jesus Christ,” Africans built their approach to Christianity on a foundation that already existed in traditional African religions. However, African cultures that have adopted Christianity view religious practice and salvation quite differently from European cultures. Mbiti holds that a respectful understanding of the differences can help to ensure the viability of the Christian church in Africa.

According to Mbiti, European and American Christians tend to separate mind and body and to view salvation as a phenomenon solely of the afterlife: Jesus died on the cross so that we might have everlasting life. African Christian cultures, in contrast, view salvation as a phenomenon both of the hereafter and of the here and now. Earthly life and the afterlife are parts of the same continuum; far less emphasis is placed on the afterlife than in Western Christian cultures. Africans look for evidence of God’s love and protection in their daily lives, for example, in the form of deliverance from present evil. The evils from which African Christians ask God to deliver them include earthly tribulations such as illness, injury, infertility, starvation, and lack of rain for crops or water to drink—reflections of life’s hardships on that continent. African Christians also hope for earthly peace and deliverance from enemies as well as protection against curses and malevolent spirits. Historically, Africans have looked to religion for practical demonstrations of protection against these ills.

It is helpful to know this background, says Mbiti, when one is trying to understand specific tenets of African Christians’ faith, such as their approach to prayer. Mbiti explains how this approach is rooted in religions that preceded the introduction of Christianity in Africa. Indeed, traditional African religions have a rich heritage that deepens their understanding of Christian faith. It is, says Mbiti, “a spiritual practice which readily takes root in the fertile soil of the biblical world.” Thus, African prayer asks for blessings that encompass the entire journey of life. “Man is a whole, his body and spirit belong together. The welfare of one part is subsequently the welfare of the other.” However, Mbiti reminds readers that prayer is addressed to the spirit world in the most literal sense.

Mbiti makes a distinction between mission churches (established by colonists) and independent churches (established by Africans who have accepted Christianity). Mbiti says it is the independent churches that continue to convey the tradition of prayer in Africa. Mission churches may be reluctant to do so because to them Africans seem to be dealing in superstition. The traditional approach to prayer helps explain the growth of the independent churches in Africa. “Many independent churches practise faith healing, which includes exorcisms of unwanted spirits. They pray for people to be protected against witchcraft and sorcery or the use of mystical power against them.” Generally, Mbiti points out, African society believes that illness, accidents, and disappointments are brought about by people who invoke mystical powers against their targets—individuals or the entire community. Prayer is viewed as a powerful defense against spiritual assault. A church that fails to acknowledge this urgent fact of spiritual life, calling it superstition, is not fully serving its faithful. Prayer is and should be a powerful instrument to secure the blessings of life from a loving God.

Another major point of difference between African and European Christianity is their perspectives on health and healing. Like other everyday challenges in Africa, disease is a religious concern. Mbiti reports that traditional African churches practiced faith healing, and of course some denominations in the West have done likewise. However, he makes two further points about African tradition. First, it has included exorcisms of unwanted spirits, witchcraft, and sorcery. When feeling beset by spirits, Christians from mission churches often secretly consult “traditional religious experts” for remedies. These African Christians have nowhere else to turn as long as Western Christianity remains skeptical. Drawing on his own massive field research, Mbiti cites the role of testimony about the cure of serious illnesses, through God’s love, in the attraction of new members to some indigenous churches.

Second, faith in healing can be confused with belief in magic, which Westerners may dismiss as superstition. In a religious context, varying beliefs about healing can become polarized. Those who turn to Western or African medicine—physical remedies—may be seen as lacking faith in spiritual healing. On the other side, those who rely on pure faith to resolve health problems may be forgetting “that God also uses physical agents to heal the sick.” Mbiti advises a balanced perspective, adding, “Perhaps the churches are moving in this direction.”

Christian Themes

Mbiti’s research has shown him that the people of Africa have much to contribute to the meaningful practice of Christianity. Traditional Africans have long had a practical religion that permeates all aspects of their daily life. Their all-encompassing view of life does not see people as exclusively spiritual beings or physical beings, but as both at once, without any contradiction. Therefore, in practical matters such as health and healing, Mbiti counsels that there be no opposition between the spiritual and the physical, between faith healing and the acceptance of physical remedies.

Mbiti says that the traditional view of prayer allows African Christians to draw together into a community and experience the living presence of Christ ministering to them “in mighty ways.” These can include healings, exorcisms, divine revelations, the gift of fertility to childless women, and more. Above all, he says, these prayerful communities are experiencing the “presence of the risen Lord.”

Reading Mbiti’s description of this total approach to religion by traditional Africans, one senses how he might regard them as potentially ideal Christians in that they see their lives as a religious whole and not as a random assortment of experiences leading to conflicted attitudes. In any case, Mbiti’s discussion lends itself to the concept of inclusive religion, respectful of coreligionists whose experience may have fostered significantly different worldviews.

Sources for Further Study

Mbiti, John S. Introduction to African Religion. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1993. A well-organized survey of traditional African religion, based on Mbiti’s extensive research but intended for a nonspecialist readership.

Olupona, Jacob K., and Sulayman S. Nyang, eds. Religious Plurality in Africa: Essays in Honor of John S. Mbiti. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyten, 1993. A collection of essays by other scholars honoring Mbiti’s work as academic research and Christian ministry. Includes biographical information on Mbiti.

Partain, Jack. “Christians and Their Ancestors: A Dilemma of African Theology.” Christian Century, November 26, 1986, p. 1066. Briefly surveys the scholarly work done by African scholars, including Mbiti, on traditional African concepts of life after death and the challenge these concepts present to Christianity.