Faces Of Jesus In Africa

The centre of gravity of contemporary Christianity has shifted to the southern hemisphere where, with the exception of Latin America, almost all Christians are minorities in their home countries. Christians in Asia live amongst Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Shamanist or Taoist majorities and this context shapes the local Christian theology. The same is true in Africa where traditional religions and beliefs influence African Christians. Central to this change in both Africa and Asia is the creation of a new Jesus, one who accretes local beliefs and concerns and who, in that process, is transformed. 'The Non-Western Jesus' reveals how a new theology - with its own images and concepts - is coming into being. A wide range of embodiments of Jesus is examined: Jesus as 'Avatara' and 'Guru' in the Indian context; as 'Bodhisattva' in the Buddhist context; and Jesus within Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, African and Indonesian religious contexts.

"A disciplinary map for understanding African Catholicism today by engaging some of the most pressing and pertinent issues, topics, and conversations in diverse fields of studies in African Catholicism"--

The questions and answers about Christianity and its contemporary mission now being formed in the African churches will have enormous influence in the years to come. This volume offers nine new essays addressing this sea-change and its importance for the future of Christianity.

Civil war, famine, genocide, AIDS--the peoples of Africa have endured horrific human tragedies. Those crises plus widespread economic, political, and social instability have combined to produce what some consider a dire and nearly hopeless situation. Even as this book was going to press, the leaders of the G-8 nations were meeting to talk about what could be done to "aid Africa" in these critical times. A careful look at history would indicate that the answer must come from within Africa and from the African people themselves, not from other nations or the economic programs and solutions they propose. The rapid rise of a Christian social ethics movement as an alternative perspective focused precisely on addressing Africa's challenges using the spiritual resources of its own people is providing a hopeful solution and a timely and powerful coping mechanism for African peoples. One of the leaders of this movement is Emmanuel Katongole, a Catholic priest from Uganda. In A Future for Africa, Katongole wrestles with concrete problems like the AIDS epidemic and widespread military conflicts, as well as fundamental, systemic ones, like poverty, corruption, and tribalism. He then offers faith-filled solutions based on the power and example of Christian community and Christian moral imagination. Katongole's radical message is that a political ethic based on Christian principles as taught in the Scriptures is the necessary foundation for healing, reconciliation, and rebuilding the continent.

Throughout the history of Christianity, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT” or“queer”) people have been condemned as unrepentant sinners who are in dire need of God’s saving grace. As a result of this condemnation, LGBT people have been subjected to great spiritual, emotional and physical abuse and violence. This issue takes on a particular urgency in light of the ongoing harassment and bullying of LGBT young people by their classmates. Cheng argues that people need to be liberated from the traditional legal model of thinking about sin and grace as a violation of divine and natural laws in which grace is understood as the strength to refrain from violating such laws. Rather Cheng proposes a Christological model based upon the theologies of Irenaeus, Bonaventure and Barth, in which sin and grace are defined in terms of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. This book serves as a useful resource for all people who struggle to make sense of the traditional Christian doctrines of sin and grace in the context of the 21st century.

Perhaps no topic is more central to Christianity than the fundamental study of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done. This illuminating and necessary book on Christology considers "why Jesus matters." It offers a thoroughly accessible discussion of central issues about Jesus Christ. The author takes into account important issues from the last three decades, incorporating new and diverse voices of theologians and thinkers from around the globe who all consider from their own unique perspectives: does Jesus matter?