Vol. 13(1), pp.

1-6, January-June 2021

DOI: 10.5897/AJHC2020.0485
Article Number:93CE6BA65857
ISSN 2141-6672
Copyright ©2021
Author(s) retain the copyright of this article African Journal of History and Culture
http://www.academicjournals.org/AJHC

Review

The influence of the African revolution on

African theology
Nwuba Sr. Mary Kristel Grace Chinyere
Theology Department, School of Liberal Art, Duquesne University Pittsburgh, United States.
Received 12 July, 2020; Accepted 5 August, 2020

The main thesis of this work is to portray Pan-Africanism as a movement that is destined to give all
people of African descent a sense of identity, self-determination and liberation by supplying significant
context for African theologians. Pan-Africanism, notwithstanding all its limitations, can be an effective
instrument of African liberation and hence, proffers great opportunity for authentic theological
enterprise. However, not minding the perceptible differences and competing strategies, the main motif
of the Pan-African movement is the unification of all people of African descent and the commitment to
black liberation. Culture and religion in African cosmology intermingles. Therefore, for a contextual
theologian to work well in Africa, the act of culture and religion of the people must be considered and
highly rated, for religion does not exist in a vacuum.

Key words: Pan-Africanism, culture, politics, nationalism, inculturation, liberation, incarnation.

INTRODUCTION

The impact of theological knowledge which many African the Commission of the Christian Basis for Participation in
theologians acquired from the local catechists and the Africa Revolution, 1967).” Further, since the church‟s
teachers continue to be a significant part of the worldview principal concern is the human relations to God and
which is updated in their works today (Odozor, 2020). neighbor, it cannot be apathetic to the African quest for a
The African search for authentic and prophetic theology fuller human life in society.
has at once been a rejection of the dominant Western Historically, theology which is the systematic study of
theological paradigms and an acceptance of African the nature of God and religious belief has always been in
realities and worldviews in theological hermeneutics. As continuous effort to liberate the enslaved and
was stated at a conference held by All African Conference dehumanized community. In Africa, it has been part and
of Churches, “in one sense the spiritual dynamic of the parcel of the revolutionary struggle to be fully human in a
African Revolution arises out of the impact of the Gospel world that denigrates black humanity (Martey, 2009). The
and Christian education, and the church has the duty to effect of the African revolution on the emergence and
give sense of direction to the human aspirations it has progress of contextual theology in Africa has been
helped to awaken. This revolution is primarily concerned remarkable for it challenges the African church and its
with (humanity) and (human) dignity in society (Report of leaders on the need to respond and relate their gospel

Email: nwubam@duq.edu.

Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 International License
2 Afr. J. Hist. Cult.

faith “to the African search for a fuller human life in new “Whenever one recalls today that the revolution, which in
societies. The roots of this quest for fuller humanity, fact radicalized African Church leaders, began as a
which began in the political arena, can be traced to the political movement of liberation, one wonders why the
end of the nineteenth century and, especially, the first theological perspectives that emerged did not develop
decade of the twentieth century. Thus, a more organized with a similar focus-taking liberation seriously (James,
black resistance to colonial oppression and racism 1983).” However, one can only begin to understand when
started with the rise of Pan-Africanism and gained more one realizes that the very idea of adjusting the gospel
momentum with African nationalism after World War II. message to suit the African condition had come from
The African revolution has undergone many phases and Western missionaries whose interests “the seed of
has had significant provisional goals. But its supreme perpetual Western superiority and domination‟ would
objective has always been to bring full humanity to the continue to protect” (Alyward, 1977) Undoubtedly, proof
African. This was how the African church understood and such as this is a concise support for the South African
interpreted it. For instance, at its 1965 Enugu black theological critiques that “When the Africans
Consultation, the All-Africa Conference of Churches seemed to be encouraged to produce indigenous
(AACC) defined the African revolution as “a movement of theology; they are just being used as they have always
liberation of African people from colonial domination and been to solve the psychological problems of the
from the enslaving aspects of traditional societies.” missionaries” (Buthelezi, 1978). Historically, there have
According to Aimé Césaire in the work, Discourse on been three areas of resistance in the revolution against
Colonialism, from the writings of both Africans and blacks foreign domination: political, cultural and religious. It is
of the diaspora, African Christians have been educated these factors, according to Martey that have contributed
on how colonialism wearied African societies of their very to the emergence of African theology. Culture and politics
essence, crushed African culture underfoot, destabilized therefore were the key factors that gave rise to tension
African institutions, confiscated their lands, smashed their between African theology and Black theology and they
religions and destroyed their magnificent artistic will be buttressed further.
creations. The Africans are left with little or no chance of
extraordinary possibilities for new innovational skills
(Césaire, 1972). Additionally, Emmanuel Martey is of the THE POLITICS OF LIBERATION
opinion that these same Africans are now cognizant of
the relationship of North Atlantic theology to the African Politically, the objectives and philosophies of the African
situation. For example, they have read European revolution are defined by the three intimately connected
theologians and know how some of them opposed the components of the African liberation movement,
violence of the two world wars. But none of these specifically, Pan-Africanism, nationalism and socialism.
theologians, not even Karl Barth, regardless of his According to Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of
attitude against the naked aggression and violence of Ghana, these political components are so interconnected
Nazi Germany, deal with the problem of colonial violence that “one cannot be achieved fully without the other,” and
and military oppression against the African nations. no genuine liberation can be attained by any region if one
Therefore, as “a movement of liberation” fighting with of these is missing (Kwame Nkrumah, Revolutionary
oppressive and manipulative forces, outside and within Path, 1968). Manas Butheelez asserts that, while pan-
the African continent, the African revolutionaries mounted Africanism and African nationalism offered the framework
a “theological pressure” on African Christians particularly in which theology was to surface, some African Christians
the church, which were regarded as an implementation of also found inside socialist principles a way of expressing
imperialist oppression by the mission-trained nationalists. innovatory sociopolitical and economic ambitions that
African Christians and Church leaders responded to the could generate new modes of relationships and create a
situation with a thoughtful survey of the “Liberation model for the future (Buthelezi, 1978). Socialism will then
Movement” that was permeating the whole continent and be omitted at this point given that African theology, unlike
finally conveyed the African revolution under the central Black theology, particularly in its second stage which
point of Christian consideration and theological started in the early 1980s, has not taken socialism (even
interpretation. Marxism) seriously in its methodology.
Liberation theology which turned out to be the language Pan-Africanism is a scheme of ideas; therefore, it does
of the African Church in the mid-1960s was wanting in not lend itself to a simple description. What makes the
the theological lexicon of the early African theologians task of description even more burdensome is the fact that
who started writing in the late sixties. As an alternative, these ideas have not emerged from an individual person
their adherence to the revolutionary fight gave rise to or a single group at one specific instance in history, but
theological flow recognized as “African theology,” which rather are an assemblage of connected ideas articulated
centered spatially on the cultural-religious feature of over years by people of African descent from within and
African revolution and shifted its concentration from in the diaspora, who were addressing the issue of
political and economic factors. According to James Cone, emancipation. These ideas expressed their worldview,
 Nwuba 3

their goals and prescribed strategies for the achievement convinced that when Biafra gains her independent, it will
of these goals. For example, the concept of Pan- be a pace setter for other African nations. He then urges
Africanism advanced by blacks of the diaspora such as all lovers of freedom to participate actively in their
W. E. B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, George Padmore and liberation process. This is an indication that people‟s
others are different from that advocated by later African ideas and involvement, individually and collectively is
nationalists, which gave rise to the organization of African essential in their emancipation especially in Africa.
Unity (OAU) (DuBois, 1903, 1989). For instance, Kwame
Nkrumah‟s view of Pan-Africanism is different from Julius
Nyerere‟s, likewise that from Nnamdi Azikiwe (Ayo, AFRICAN NATIONALISM
1979). However, not minding the apparent dissimilarities
and competing strategies, the primary objective of the Among the three political components of the African
Pan-African movement has always been the unanimity of liberation movement cited earlier, African nationalism has
all people of African descent and the dedication to black had the utmost impact on the African Church. The
liberation. movement guarded Christians to interpret reality into
According to Hollis et al. (1967) the Pan-African spirit dialogue with the God of their faith and consequently to
may be traced to the final decades of the nineteenth tackle the issues in terms of their theology. African
century and is remarkable in the liberating thoughts and nationalism emerged when the inconsistency between
political philosophy of Edward Wilmot Blyden, whose Western claimed democratic values and colonial
“Pan-Negro‟ ideology has been described as „the most autocratic oppression became noticeable to Africans.
important progenitor of Pan-Africanism (Hollis et al., Even though African nationalism is a Western philosophy,
1967).” It is this same spirit of black solidarity that led to it became an effectual weapon for Africans in their fight
the 1900 Pan-African Conference in London, which against imperialism. Nationalism then became “the
affirmed with W.E.B. DuBois that “the problem of the chosen philosophy of the colonial independence
twentieth century is the problem of the color line” movement” (Martin and Molloy, 1974). It was the Pan-
(DuBois, 1986). A cautious study of these conferences African movement, particularly its fifth congress in
offers the analysis of the intellectual world of the Pan- Manchester, which “provided the outlet for African
African movement. The procedural activities of the nationalism and brought about the awakening of African
different Pan-African organizations disclose a combined political consciousness”
awareness of some particular goals and prescribed However, like the ideology of Pan-Africanism itself, the
strategies for achieving such goals. Three major spirit of African nationalism can also be traced back to
concerns surfaced from these conferences from which a the nineteenth century, primarily to Edward W. Blydon,
concord agreement can be made on the meaning of pan- whose ideas on colonialism articulated “both racial and
Africanism and these include: unification of all black nationalistic positions aimed at achieving a particular type
people, dedication to the empowerment of black people of social revolution (Mudimbe, 1941). The response of
and the emancipation of all black people (Ofoatery- the African church to the changes brought by African
Kodjoe, 1984). From these threefold objectives, Pan- nationalism “has been one of gratitude and appreciation,”
Africanism can be explained as a collection of ideas as it saw the preaching of the gospel as “one of the most
behind the Pan-African movement which aims at unifying dynamic „prime movers‟ of social change in Africa.”
all people of African descent to empower them to be (Edward, 1967). The overriding motifs of African
instruments of their own liberation. It is apparent that the nationalism as was clarified in the African Church had a
idea of pan-Africanism-to give all people of African twofold motivation: towards liberation from European
descent a sense of identity, self-determination and colonial domination and towards consolidation of national
liberation has supplied the pertinent context for African unity. The Church affirmed that: “The two dominant motifs
theologians “to formulate theological constructs on of African nationalism, liberation and consolidation are
Africanization and liberation” (Muzorewa, 1985). As a the exact opposite of those of Western nationalism,
movement which not only reaffirms African identity and colonialism and divisiveness” (Martin and Molloy, 1974).
independence but also takes a specific stand against All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) in its
colonialism, racism and neocolonialism, Pan-Africanism, declaration on “The Church and Nationalism,” did not
notwithstanding all its limitations, can be an effective simply perceive nationalism as “opposition to foreign
instrument of African liberation. It can as well be a domination” but, more prominently, as “the common
required medium for authentic theological enterprise. desire of a people to work together for their emancipation
Everybody needs liberation for even the perpetrators of from any form of bondage, whether colonial, economic,
violence are not free until the whole community is social or racial.” One of the benefits of African
emancipated. Nnamdi Kanu, an outstanding Biafra Nationalism is the awakening on Africans to include some
activist is advocating for the liberation of Africans. In of their cultural practices in liturgical worship like the use
union with many other Biafrans who were voicing out of gun, drum, flute and other local implement in the
their opinions in social media for liberation of Biafra from church. Such an act is headway to free emancipation
Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram in Nigeria, he is without compulsion for culture does not exist in a vacuum.
4 Afr. J. Hist. Cult.

THE ACT OF CULTURE aforementioned stress on political and cultural liberation.

Further, from Cabral‟s investigation, it becomes clear that
Edward Blyden in the book: Christianity, Islam and the “culture, which in the hands of academics tends to
Negro Race wrote that the African in the nineteenth become the monopoly of elite, or becomes the object of
century “will not fade away or become extinct before the dispassionate academic analysis, is now put in the
Europeans as the American and Australian aborigines”. service of liberation” (Ayodele, 1979). Similar to Frantz
Moreover, in twentieth century, Amilcar Cabral asserts Fanon, Cabral has asserted that during the struggle of
that: “One of the most serious mistakes, if not the most God‟s people for liberation, “Culture is not put into cold
serious mistake, made by the colonial powers in Africa, storage”( Frantz, 1990). This notion of culture as an
may have been to ignore or underestimate the cultural effectual weapon in the liberation struggle, or the concept
strength of African people” (Amilcar Cabral, Unity and of liberation as “an act of culture,” is becoming famous in
Struggle, 1979). Substantial proof shows how Africans the new gesture of African theology and among young
strongly resisted the attempts of both the colonial African theologians. However, African‟s cultural struggle
administrator and the missionary to dehumanize and against Western cultural imperialism, to which Cabral and
destroy their culture and identity. The first congress of other modern writers refer, also has its historical origins
Black Writers with its topic “The Crisis of Black Culture,” in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as was
fought against three evils that it called the “shameful mentioned earlier in Pan-Africanism. Culture does not
practices of this twentieth century,” specifically exist ex nihilo (in a vacuum) as I earlier stated. In other
“colonialism; the oppression of the weaker peoples; and to avoid anything like cultural imperialism, this work
other racialism” (The First Congress of Negro Writers and proposes for inculturation theology without compulsion
Artists, Paris, 1956). This cultural assemblage urges like the idea of using some traditional instruments in
theologians and other professionals to “participate in the liturgical celebration as mentioned earlier.
historical task of unearthing, rehabilitating and developing
(black) culture so as to facilitate their being integrated
into the general practical conditions for the revival of and AFRICAN THEOLOGY AS INCULTURATION
the growth of Negro cultures.” Cultural resistance has THEOLOGY/LIBERATION THEOLOGY
always been an integral and determining part of Africa‟s
struggle for liberation. Numerous theologians prefer the term “African theologies
The Post-independence African theorist who made a of inculturation” to “African theologies of liberation,” which
special emphasis on culture as a cause of resistance to may be said to incorporate (at least, as close relatives)
foreign domination is Amilcar Cabral. For Cabral, African Black theology. Evidently, African theology must
people‟s domination “can be maintained only by the be comprehended in the context of African life and
permanent and organized repression of the cultural life of culture and the artistic endeavor of African people to
the people concerned.” He then explained that, “to take shape a new future that is dissimilar from the colonial
up arms to dominate a people is, above all to take up past and the neo-colonial present. In this regard, African
arms to destroy … their cultural life, for as long as part of theology ought to stand in opposition to the manufactured
that people can have cultural life, foreign domination ideas of North Atlantic theology by defining itself in
cannot be sure of its perpetuation.” The aspiration of accordance to the struggles of the people in their battle
national liberation, according to Cabral, is to reclaim this against the structures of domination. It is the bounding
right that had been taken over by imperialist domination. duty of African theologians to create a theology that
Stressing liberation as an act of culture, Cabral argues arises from and is accountable to African people (The
that: “If imperialist domination has the vital need to “Final Communiqué” of the Pan African Conference of
practice cultural oppression,‟ „national liberation is Third World Theologians in Torres, 1979). The
necessarily an act of culture.‟ He thus sees the liberation expression, Africanization, like liberation, was first used in
movement as „the organized political expression of the the political arena. Thus, it is associated with the
struggling people‟s culture.” Any group of people who is nationalist movement as the structures of hegemony
fighting for liberation is doing so in connection with their when colonial states began changing hands from
worldview. I believe that to suppress people‟s culture in Europeans to Africans. Africanization symbolizes the
the process of emancipation is a counterfeit and commencement of a new theological tendency toward a
inhumane, for both people and religion emanate from a quest for a genuinely essential African opinion on the
particular cultural setting. Christian faith.
With this conversation on the position of culture in the In an attempt to express and re-express the Christian
liberation movement, Cabral made an important input to message with African idioms and conceptual tools,
the advancement of political deliberation as well as to terminologies such as “adaptation, accommodation,
theological hermeneutics: Political liberation cannot be indigenization, translation, incarnation, localization,
achieved separately from cultural liberation and vice inculturation, interculturation and so forth have been used
versa. Cabral has left much to posterity with the to contextualize African theological discourse… the
 Nwuba 5

writers proclaimed the need to Africanize Christian believe that liberation of the entire humanity devoid of
doctrine, cult, pastoral practices and art, basing them on imperialism, using Africa as a case study is a decisive
African culture and religious tradition” (Patrick, 1989). At option for human flourishing.
the 1974 Synod of Bishops in Rome, African Catholics
thus rejected “theology of adaptation,” which they
measured to be “completely out of date” and rather, CONCLUSION
accepted, “theology of incarnation,” which was open to
the ambition of African people. Incarnation was preferred Contextual theology is a way of doing theology that takes
because it implied “immersing Christianity in African into account two realities. The first of these is the
culture … just as Jesus became man, so must experience of the past, recorded in scripture and
Christianity become African.” Thus African Catholic preserved and defended in the church‟s tradition. The
Christians finally came out with Christological oriented second is the experience of the present or particular text,
expression intensely rooted in Scripture to explain the which consists of one or more of at least four elements:
nature of their theological task. The incarnation paradigm personal or communal experience, “secular” or “religious”
has played an indispensable role in interpreting the culture, social location and social change (Bevans, 2011).
theological notion of inculturation. Pioneers of this The key thing about contextual theology is the centrality
expression always use the economy of the Incarnation as of experience. “It is the honoring and/or testing or
its replica, that Jesus Christ may be seen as “the subject- critiquing of experience that makes theology contextual.
matter of inculturation” (Alyword, 1990). As a What this means is that for contextual theologians,
consequence, Jesus is regarded as “the model of anything can be a source of theology: values in one‟s
incarnation and inculturation” that incarnated in a own culture; one‟s experience as a male or female; one‟s
particular context (Schineller, 1990). Nevertheless, since experience as a marginal person in one‟s culture; one‟s
Black theology emanates from a situation of oppression encounter with another religion; the experience of
and suffering of people who profess their belief in God multicultural tensions in one‟s society; or the challenge of
and who inquire what the Gospel of Jesus Christ has to technology today.” The challenge is to reconstruct the
say about the situation, it is as well, a theology of integrity of the church‟s tradition in light of relevant
liberation (Allan, 1995). Owing to the fact that incarnation background theories and warrants from contemporary
happens in space and time, Christ who is the liberator of experience. Pan-Africanism therefore calls for proper
the entire human race in the Christian perspective is also involvement of Africans in their liberation process and
incarnated in African culture. As the God of the elevation of African culture and practices in theological
oppressed, He shares in their daily plights for liberation hermeneutics.
from all kinds oppression.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
BLACK THEOLOGY AS LIBERATION THEOLOGY
The author has not declared any conflict of interests.
Liberation is not a hypothetical proposition to be argued
in a philosophy or theology seminar. It is a historical truth,
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