Although African theology emphasises the contextualisation of the Christian gospel within African culture, it has neglected African women’s issues. Women’s experience of God are assumed to be the same as those for men. This is not the case.
It is now the responsibility of African women to make it clear that although we live on the same continent, the experiences of women in religion and culture are different to those of men. It is, therefore, no longer acceptable to claim that when African men are writing African theology, they are speaking on behalf of all Africans.
The contending major theological directions in African theology remain indigenisation, which stresses Africa’s religious and cultural realities and liberation, with its emphasis on the political, social and economic realities of the continent.
The recent writings of some liberation-orientated theologians in Africa suggests that the tension between the two has not been resolved. This needs to happen because Christianity in (Southern) Africa is of global significance, and the directions it takes are of importance to Christians everywhere. It seems to me that the problem related to indigenisation and liberation is twofold. The first is a lack of awareness of what constitutes culture.
Culture is often narrowly defined in terms of the African traditional worldview, customs, beliefs and symbols.
The second problem is the tendency to regard culture as a past, static community.
The tendency here is to identify southern Africa culture with pro-colonial, pre-missionary or pre-apartheid eras.
Therefore, the major works on African theology during the 1990’s have indicated that it will not be allowed to degenerate into an immutable museum ornament. It is dynamically growing, multi-faceted and dialectic.
The 21th century affords a unique opportunity for us to celebrate the achievements of African theology, lament its missed opportunities, and learn from both in order to map out a solid agenda for the next century.
It is, therefore, imperative that African churches, Christians and theologians must “find one another” if we are to move forward into the twenty-first century.
Given our linguistic, political and ecclesiastical diversities before us, the task is enormous.
For African women, their encounter with Christ has been ambivalent, taking place as it did through the historical process of colonialism. On the one hand, they have experienced Christ as the conqueror, and on the other as the liberator.
African theologian Theresa Hinga suggests that “………women would need to be on the alert, and to be critical of any “versions” of Christology that would be inimical to their cause.
They would have to reject, like others before them, any Christology that smacks of sexism, or those functions to entrench lopsided gender relations.
Only in doing so would African women be able to confidently confess Christ as their liberator, as a partisan in their search of emancipation.”