The three of us sat together in the Catalyst lounge at Fuller Theological Seminary. It was September 2009, and I was just wrapping up my thesis for my Master of Arts degree in Intercultural Studies. Dr. Shelley Trebesch, my supervisor, casually asked me, “So Bob, have you considered doing doctoral work someday?” No, I had not considered it. Birgit Herppish, a PhD student from Germany and a friend, leaned in saying, “Oh Bob, I know you could do it.” Since that conversation, I have considered the idea, but it was not until five years ago that I gave voice to the dissertation dream. Last July I submitted my Research Proposal to the Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. The following month they accepted my proposal. I am now enrolled as a PhD candidate. As I continue with my teaching role at Nile Theological College, I will do my research and work on my dissertation as we continue to live in Juba, South Sudan. For your interest, below is the title of my proposal and the “abstract” which describes the direction of my work. I appreciate your prayers for me in this dissertation journey!
Title
Reconciling Worlds - A Critical Examination of the Social Interface of the Lifeworld of the Nilotic Peoples of Upper Nile, South Sudan, with the Lifeworld of White Euro-American Christianity
Abstract
The Chollo people[1] of South Sudan describe God as like the wind or the air. God is ever present. God’s ongoing providential care finds expression in all of life. As an African mother would carry her child on her back, nurturing and cherishing that child, the Kiga people of Uganda describe God as Biheko, meaning “He carries everyone on his back” (Mbiti 1989).
While missionaries from Europe and North America made extraordinary sacrifices and accomplishments in Africa over the last two centuries, one African Christian scholar posits that “Missionaries came to Africa with the wrong diagnostics.”[2] Despite Black Africans being “notoriously religious,”[3] White Euro-American missionaries failed to meaningfully connect the rich cultural and religious history of African peoples with the Christian faith. Problematic was the idea that White European and North American “civilization” was inextricably linked with the Gospel; to become a Christian implied conformity to White Euro-American cultural values. As missionaries sought to “replicate” themselves in African converts, missionaries did not grasp the deep religious insights of African peoples (Bediako 1999: 234; Mbiti 1989: 56). Thus, this White Euro-American ethnocentrism led to a misguided theology of mission, a theology of mission which failed to perceive how God has manifested God’s Self in unique and specific ways to African peoples. As most White Euro-American missionaries failed to understand the universality of God’s presence among the peoples of the world, White Euro-American ethnocentrism is a significant factor in the story of Christianity in Africa (Bediako 1999: 236).
Seeking a path forward, Kwame Bediako and scores of concerned voices herald their conviction that for Christianity to be deeply rooted and intrinsic to African peoples, we must name this tragic legacy of mission and then meaningfully engage with the thought processes, religious histories, lived experience, and contemporary challenges of African peoples. We must foster deep and meaningful dialogue between African Religion and experience with the Christian faith. This research will assume a posture of listening and learning as we sit at the feet of South Sudanese sisters and brothers. Giving voice to the ‘theological memory’ and life experience of the Nilotic peoples of Upper Nile, South Sudan, this research will strengthen our understanding of the contextualization process by means of connecting theory with empirical data. Adopting a creation-centered theology,[4] this project seeks to understand how the Nilotic peoples of Upper Nile, South Sudan, connect their traditional religion and lived experience with the Gospel message and the Christian tradition. This research will utilize the Sociological-Anthropological Approach championed by Justin S. Ukpong, combining a sociological understanding of culture with anthropological factors, honoring the unity of African thought, that all of life is bound up together. Moreover, this research project will follow trails blazed by Justin Ukpong, Emmanuel Katongole, and others concerned with not only the personal, but also the communal, the social, and the political ramifications of life in God in Jesus Christ.
[1] Chollo is the true name of the tribe otherwise called “Shillyukh,” this corrupted name taken from the Arabic word “shiyuuk” which means “scars”
[2] Quotation from lunch conversation with Dr. Elisée Musemakweli, Vice Chancellor of the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS) in Huye, Rwanda, in February 2019.
[3] A well-known quote from theologian John S. Mbiti (Mbiti 1989: 1)
[4] A creation-centered theology sees the world as sacramental, a place where God reveals God’s Self, assuming continuity between human experience and existence with the divine. This orientation stands in contradistinction to a “redemption-centered theology” which assumes culture and human experience need either complete transformation or total replacement…that the world is not a vehicle for the presence of God but that reality and creation distorts God’s reality and is in complete rebellion against it (Bevans 2002).
[3] A well-known quote from theologian John S. Mbiti (Mbiti 1989: 1)
[4] A creation-centered theology sees the world as sacramental, a place where God reveals God’s Self, assuming continuity between human experience and existence with the divine. This orientation stands in contradistinction to a “redemption-centered theology” which assumes culture and human experience need either complete transformation or total replacement…that the world is not a vehicle for the presence of God but that reality and creation distorts God’s reality and is in complete rebellion against it (Bevans 2002).
