Five years ago, I wrote a blog post titled Recommended books for Apologetics in Africa. I limited the discussion to key resources that are written for the African context. Since then, I have edited a book titled Apologetics in Africa: An Introduction to help capture biblical, philosophical, cultural and practical ministry perspectives from top African theologians and scholars. However, in this post I am imagining someone totally new to the discussion on African Apologetics and asking “where can I start?”
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to participate in the 6th Pan-African Conference of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. The conference was hosted by Trinity Theological Seminary in Accra, Ghana, from 1 to 5 July and its theme was Sankofa 2024: Earth, Pandemics, Gender and Religion. I had expected the conference to be a multicultural event, but the reality was even more diverse than I had imagined. This diversity was enriching, but also challenging at times.
Why study Christian history? Knowledge (or ignorance) of history impacts identity: “a past is vital for all of us—without it, like the amnesiac man, we cannot know who we are” and thus “what is the past of the African Christian” will remain a prime question for African theology (Walls 1978, 13).
On 15 June 2023, Shri Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of Union Commerce and Industry, claimed that India and Africa are “natural partners with historical and cultural ties” (Government of India 2023). It is hard to imagine that these ties do not include theological exchange, considering that there is a history of intercultural exchange between the two (Shankar 2021).
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