African Christian - Adequacy of Christian Conversion (John Musonda)

  African Christian – Adequacy of Religious Conversion

John Musonda

This is all coming from the class lesson on African Tradition Religion/s (ATR) and Christianity. During this lesson the statement attributed to John Mbiti that ‘Africans are notoriously religious’ kept banging at the back of my mind. Even with this reference to Mbiti, I must be quick to acknowledge that I don’t claim to have understood him. Nevertheless, my face value interpretation of this it is what may be referred to as the difficult or even the impossibility of religious conversion. Simply put it if an African is notoriously religious then adequate conversion to a religion other than what is African is doubted. Put it in another way to what extent can an African be converted to Christianity if let’s say we take it for granted that what is purely African does not resonate to what is Christian or vice versa.

Wait a minute – did the earliest missionaries to Africa asked too much of our people thus conversion to Christianity? Or did they even convert any? Fruits of Christian conversion are indeed written on the wall but even then are there any adequate conversions to a new Christian religion? I am a Christian; call me a staunch catholic – I mean everybody in my village knows this. Moreover, from this August 2012, I began my theology studies in view in of priestly ordination – am I converted. Surely can the thoughts, actions, way of life, way of worship etc. be adequately converted? How else then would someone interpret the undertone of the good cause of enculturation than pointing to the question of Africa’s conversion bearing in mind that culture of the people and religion can hardly be separated? And why should we not call the robust and extreme voices of enculturation a blatant refusal to complete Christian conversion? It seems the church in Africa it’s trying to go back to its ‘notorious’ forms of worship that were probably rejected by its first missionaries as being (unchristian). Is the above point of view a mere buttress claim positing difficult or even impossibility to Christian religious conversion?

With this mind then then today’s lesson on ATR with reference to Christianity put the whole same question of religious conversion in perspective. Take for instance the concept of morality – sin in ATR (class notes) is primarily and strictly speaking transgression against the community with remote reference to the divine. Hence, it’s more sinful to hurt your own than it is with strangers; while in Christianity scorn for sinfulness of whatever kind/perpetrator knows no distinction. This is so because in Christianity every transgression is primarily and ultimately against the divine (God). Simply put it in traditional African society transgressions was about how much it affects the peace in the community while in new Christian religion God come first (class notes).

Taking the African concept of communal reference and Christianity’s divine reference makes an African Christian adequately disposed in this sense. Thus the recipe of what is purely African (community appeal) and what is purely Christian (divine appeal) should enrich one. The concluding claim in this case is the appraisal of Christianity encounter with African Traditional Religion/s and many other world religions. This encounter arguably should enrich our Christian living.