By: Jim Sabella on June 15, 2017
In recent weeks the members of our cohort have read two books about Africa’s influence on Christianity. In the first book, Oden argues for Africa’s role in shaping present Christian thought. In this week’s reading Michael argues for an African theology that not only has the potential to inform the African church but also the…
By: Mary Walker on June 14, 2017
“The contention of this work is that Christian theology should encourage taking on the positive elements of the African traditions and positioning these elements in dialogue with the teaching of the scriptures.”[1] In his book, Christian Theology & African Traditions, Matthew Michael seeks to transform the African mind and its worldview and traditions to be…
By: Katy Drage Lines on June 11, 2017
When Kip and I moved to Kenya to work among the Turkana, we spent our first 12 months living in the remote village of Kangarisae, learning the language and culture of Turkana. It was in that little village where we first built relationships—with our language helper, the church leaders, and the elders—men and women—in the…
By: Kevin Norwood on June 9, 2017
What is the point of evangelism? Is it the salvation of the person that is being reached with the good news? When organizations send missionaries into all the parts of the world one of their goals is to evangelize those who have never heard the gospel message of the good news. They go through cultural…
By: Stu Cocanougher on June 9, 2017
This September I will travel to Cape Town, South Africa for the second of three “on location” intensives with Portland Seminary. In preparation for this, I have been asked to read the book The Rise and Fall of Apartheid by David Welsh.1 This book is highly detailed, as it should be. The historical foundations for…
By: Jason Kennedy on June 9, 2017
In studying Christianity worldwide, Phillip Jenkins states in his book The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity: Assuming no great gains or losses through conversion, then there would be around 2.6 billion Christians, of whom 695 million would live in Africa, 610 million in Latin America, and 480 million in Asia. Europe, with 574…
By: Aaron Cole on June 9, 2017
Summary: Christian Theology and African Traditions by Matthew Michael is an insight read into the convergence of Christian history and the cultural and traditional effects of and upon African culture. Michael demonstrates how Western Christianity in particular has imposed its’ culture and tradition upon the African Church and has used theology as a vehicle…
By: Garfield Harvey on June 9, 2017
My research topic in the doctoral program at Portland Seminary centers on the idea of cultural intelligent and its influence on corporate worship. In my research, I learned through Genesis 10:6-20 that the kingdoms were founded by families of the founders of Ethiopia, which I alluded in one of my previous blog posts. If these…
By: Chip Stapleton on June 9, 2017
You probably familiar with the saying, ‘love means never having to say you’re sorry’. That phrase has never made any sense to me, and more than that, as I have grown up and learned more and experienced more of both loving and being loved, it has occurred to me that the exact opposite is closer…
By: Kristin Hamilton on June 9, 2017
I have been watching The Handmaid’s Tale, a television series with a modern take on the 1985 dystopian novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. I read the original book some time ago, and this current series is equally as chilling if not more so. The bottom line question is this: How far will…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on June 8, 2017
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”[1] – Nelson Mandela In 1988, I remember sitting with my parents as we watched a concert with celebrities and singers such as Whoopi Goldberg, Whitney Houston, Tracy Chapman, Stevie…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on June 8, 2017
Unity makes or breaks a country… In summary of the recent read, “The Rise and Fall of Apartheid”, it appears that unity was the secret ingredient for the rise and fall of the South Africa apartheid. The lack of unity of Africans set a stage for an apartheid to take hold, in the same way,…
By: Phil Goldsberry on June 8, 2017
Introduction Why does this people group, denomination, socio-economic quota, or ethnicity get a pass? Can being from a certain continent give you a “green card”, “Get Out of Jail Free-card”, or “I can do what I want because I am __________ – card (You fill in the blank)”. After my rant, I reflected on my own…
By: Aaron Peterson on June 8, 2017
The small size of Matthew Michael’s, Christian Theology & African Traditions is deceiving because it really is an immense theological textbook that deserves to be in every pastor’s library. This book will serve as a great reference for me. I appreciate and value this work. Maybe it’s because I’ve taught World History for over 20…
By: Claire Appiah on June 8, 2017
The renown evangelical theologian and academic, Matthew Michael, has produced a quasi-systematic theology work which seeks to understand Christian theology through close dialogue with the Bible, especially in the context of African worldviews and traditions. He sees the necessity of Christian theology engaging the worldviews of the African people in terms of their beliefs, values,…
By: Rose Anding on June 8, 2017
Introduction The African evangelicals recently began to disagree on their intention to develop a Christian theology in an African context. In connection to that, they have taken a plan to develop and African Bible commentary. Drawing illustrations from Matthew Michael’s Christian Theology and African Traditions, this paper notes some of the reality of the…
By: Marc Andresen on June 8, 2017
What is the view from our heart? The heart’s view is what we perceive to be reality. In Christian Theology and African Traditions Matthew Michael encourages us that theology must engage at this level: at the level of worldview. Michael’s book is a good companion volume to How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind by Thomas…
By: Katy Drage Lines on June 8, 2017
David Welsh’s extensive treatise on South Africa’s experiment with social engineering (aka ‘apartheid’) is an excellent introduction for those who are not South African. For those of us visiting South Africa later this year as part of our doctoral research, it is essential reading to understand the South African context. Even for me, as a…
By: Lynda Gittens on June 7, 2017
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:5 (NIV) THE RISE AND FALL OF APARTHEID BY WELSH In 1948, Apartheid was for the people with black skins, white Afrikaans, Coloured, and Indians. It, for the most…
By: Geoff Lee on June 7, 2017
Those of us of a certain age have lived through some amazing historical events in recent decades. I was living in Germany when the wall came down and East and West Germany were reunited in what was a relatively peaceful process. I was living back in the UK when the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement came…
