{"id":13412,"date":"2017-06-16T02:51:55","date_gmt":"2017-06-16T09:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=13412"},"modified":"2017-06-16T02:51:55","modified_gmt":"2017-06-16T09:51:55","slug":"when-traditions-conflict-can-this-religion-be-saved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/when-traditions-conflict-can-this-religion-be-saved\/","title":{"rendered":"When Traditions Conflict – Can this Religion Be Saved?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whenever I read a book that analyzes another culture, especially one written by someone who has personal knowledge and understanding of that culture as well as a research knowledge, I know I am at a disadvantage from the start. Such is the case with Christian Theology and African Traditions<\/em> by Matthew Michael. As Michael works to contrast Western Christianity or Judeo-Christian tradition with that of Africa, I simply have to take his word for it. I have to trust that, despite his own biases or particular theological bents, he can act as a sort of theological and cultural tour guide, helping me navigate a terrain that is as foreign to me as the surface of the moon \u2013 I have seen<\/em> it, but I certainly don\u2019t understand it.<\/p>\n

Matthew Michael boldly walks us through a variety of theological topics, indicating where African traditions and Christian theologies either mesh or conflict. It is Michael\u2019s assertion that those who teach and lead in African Christianity must engage African traditions skillfully and knowledgeably if there is hope for depth and wholeness to emerge in much of the African church. Michael knows both Christian theology and African traditions as only one who identifies with both camps can \u2013 at least I assume he does. I noted particular theological ideologies with which I do not identify throughout the text, so I have to believe there are those who might also take issue with his interpretations of African traditions. Rather than try to suss out all of that, I chose to \u201ctranslate\u201d what Michael said into an American context. This is in no way a dismissal of what Michael is trying to say about the African context; I simply need more information before I can evaluate that. Instead, I am looking at some of the principles Michael suggests and trying to apply them to where I live and the culture I understand.<\/p>\n

I first had the idea to translate Michael\u2019s principles when I read his statement, \u201cAfrican Christians must prioritize between whose traditions should he or she venerate whether the traditions of his dead ancestors or of the living Christ\u2026The African Christian can no longer put his allegiance wholly on the African worldview, but on a transformed African worldview.\u201d (12) Well, shoot. If I switch the word \u201cAfrican\u201d for the word \u201cAmerican\u201d I am quickly convicted of not only how I live, but how I perpetuate the cause of Christ. I mean, I am as guilty as the next American for venerating the Constitution and the ancestors who built this country. I am also guilty of, shall we say, cherishing<\/em> my Swedish (Irish, Dutch, Welsh) heritage in a way that borders on the obsessive. I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s a bad thing to honor our heritage or to value the foundations of our country. I\u2019m simply recognizing that I often define my identity by those things rather than by who I am in Jesus.<\/p>\n

Throughout Michael\u2019s book, I went back and inserted \u201cAmerica\u201d or \u201cAmerican\u201d wherever the words \u201cAfrica\u201d or \u201cAfrican\u201d were written and noted that the conflicts in traditional worldview exist here as much as they do there. In both places, a religion that is a shadow of true Christianity makes a public appearance in politics, certain types of churches, and in the lives of the \u201cfaithful.\u201d As Michael notes, \u201cAfrican Christianity has birthed a unique brand of Christianity, which is fundamentally shaped by African traditions and worldview. (223) I think it is safe to say that an author speaking to the American context could say the same thing. Wherever I travel and visit churches, I am reminded that American Christianity is a brand all its own. When Michael calls for a resolution to the conflict \u201carising from this encounter between the apostolic tradition and the age-old traditions of the African people,\u201d (223) I can\u2019t help but wonder what it would take to resolve this same conflict in American Christianity. Does our faith, generally speaking, reflect or even point to the apostolic tradition? Are we also in danger of landing in a place where Christianity will \u201cbecome merely one of the many religious cults\u201d in America? (224)<\/p>\n

In the end, I think Michael\u2019s advice to \u201cChristian theology\u201d in Africa is the advice Christians in America must consider if we hope to live into an authentic, Christocentric, biblically-oriented faith: \u201cEncourage taking on the positive elements of the [American] traditions and positioning these elements in dialogue with the teaching of the scriptures.\u201d (224) To that, I would add that we don\u2019t have to venerate Western church leaders such as Luther, Wesley, and Calvin in order to maintain a vibrant American faith, but we do need to engage the lenses they offer to allow the history of our faith to dialogue with our nation\u2019s traditions in light of Scripture. As we do, let\u2019s those of us who have engaged in a somewhat myopic view of theology also engage voices we have not traditionally considered – the Womanist, Black, and Mujerista theologians – as a new way of seeing where our Western and American traditions have failed to give us the full perspective of Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whenever I read a book that analyzes another culture, especially one written by someone who has personal knowledge and understanding of that culture as well as a research knowledge, I know I am at a disadvantage from the start. Such is the case with Christian Theology and African Traditions by Matthew Michael. As Michael works […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1002,1004,992,128],"class_list":["post-13412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-african","tag-american","tag-matthew-michael","tag-theology","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13413,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13412\/revisions\/13413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}