AbstractThis article entails a critical investigation of the role of Africa and Africans in the scheme of Salvation in the Old Testament. It identifies the terminology used to refer to Africa and Africans in the ancient period, and critically examines the salvific events in which God used Africa and Africans to deliver the children of Israel.

AbstractIn his book titled Bible and Theology in African Christianity, Mbiti shared his beliefs about some theological issues such as faith, prayer and salvation and how they are understood among African Christians. He was able to prove that Africans have internalized Christian beliefs to the extent that Christianity is no more regarded as a foreign religion but a traditional religion. He was able to show how traditional religion greatly contributed to the spread of Christian beliefs. This paper attempts to reappraise his views on salvation from a Christological point of view. The paper is of the view that Africans’ understanding of salvation as total deliverance not for sin alone but from all misfortunes is informed by untoward socio-economic situation in the continent. The methodology adopted is theological method.

AbstractAfter considering Paul's theological categories and the concept of salvation in the OT, the article shows how the theme of salvation cuts across his whole letter to the Romans, and how he found the historical, christological, soteriological, and eschatological implications of the condition of humankind in the fall narratives in Genesis 3. It concludes that Paul's teaching on salvation can only influence Nigerian Christians who have totally imbibed the Judeo-Christian beliefs as written in the Scriptures.--D.J.H. Abstract Number: NTA47-2003-1-311

AbstractStudies on African Religions have neglected the topic of animal sacrifice in African Initiated Churches. I examine the role and meaning of sacrifice in a Liberian church called the United Church of Salvation I encountered over two decades ago. The church observed two forms of sacrifice: a Sin Sacrifice that mandated immolation of a goat; and a Life Sacrifice that mandated immolation of a ram. Animal sacrifice provided an effective ritual strategy that obviated direct accusations of witchcraft, yet reminded each member of his or her responsibility to the moral order of the church. The church's practice of sacrifice, however, would change with the emergence of Diaspora branches, new affiliations, and circuiting with global Pentecostalism. I contend that sacrifice needs to be understood in terms of ritual struggle, denoting an agonistic theme that continues whether sacrifice persists or disappears.

AbstractThe late colonial era in Uganda was not an easy time to keep families intact. Colonial officials, missionaries, and concerned East Africans offered their diagnoses of the problems and prescriptions for responding to the dilemma. In this context, Balokole Anglican revivalists articulated new patterns and ideals of family life. These new patterns of family life were not uniform across Uganda or East Africa, but they did share common characteristics that were derived from the spiritual disciplines and religious beliefs of the Balokole revival. As such, this essay argues that the revival movement was not simply a new message of eternal salvation or primarily a form of dissent, but rather a means through which a group of African Christians sought to address quotidian domestic problems and concerns of late-colonial East Africa

AbstractThis article which is taken form my book African Christianity in Britain will be devoted to how salvation is understood in African Christianity. The first task will be to describe how salvation is understood on the African continent. This will be followed and compared with the understanding of salvation among African Christians in Britain. The comparison will be based on material from a variety of sources, but most particularly the work of African Instituted Church preachers.

AbstractThis contribution offers a broad orientation regarding theological discourse on the church and the environment. The question is what the church as church can do in addressing environmental threats. The eschatological uniqueness of the church is taken into account, as well as the different dimensions of Christian witness (marturia), namely kerygma, diakonia, koinonia and leitourgia. The argument is structured in the form of seven spiritual 'stations' towards the sanctification of the whole earth. The thesis is that the 'and' in the phrase 'church and environment' requires theological reflection. If we also reflect on the situatedness of the church in the environment, this opens up possibilities to see the distinctive place of the church within the larger household of God - which would then also offer a theological re-description of the term 'environment'.

AbstractThis article offers a conceptual map of soteriological discourse in the field of Christian ecotheology. On the basis of an adaptation of Gustaf Aulén's famous analysis in Christus Victor of three types of atonement, the following three soteriological models are identified and made relevant for Christian ecotheology: a) God's victory over the forces of evil, death and destruction; b) Reconciliation amidst alienation; and c) Moral influence in the form of environmental policy making. It is proposed that these may be related on the basis of discerning the present consequences of human sin in the many forms of evil, the deepest (past) roots of such evil in human sin and the need to limit the future consequences of evil.

AbstractFocuses on the birth, proliferation and phenomenal growth of sub-Saharan African independent churches. Origin of churches through a variety of schismatic processes; Acceptance and application of scripture; Belief in a triune God; Pervasive presence of an indwelling Holy Spirit.

AbstractThis article investigates the composition of the heavenly scenario in Revelation 8:1-6 and the implications of composition for the understanding of this passage. The first section discusses some of the major problems of New Testament scholars with the coherence of the passage. In response to these concerns about its composition, the well structured form of the passage is analysed in terms of textual and intertextual links. The article finally spells out how the composition of this passage determines its twofold message of salvation and judgment.

AbstractThe hymns in the Apocalypse of John function as interpretative commentary on decisive events in the unfolding of the plot. From narratological perspective, it is clear that the reader becomes involved in responsive worshipping through association with the hymns. The reader, representing the faithful, experiences a catharsis in associating with the hymns, to live from the perspective that God's kingly rule is visually manifested through the decisive Christ-event. From an analysis of 12:10-10 and 15:3-4 it becomes even more clear that the struggle between good and evil, represented spatially in heaven and on earth respectively has been won by God. Therefore, the faithful have reason to praise God for his deeds, ways and righteous acts and the fact that his kingly rule and salvation have arrived on earth.

AbstractTo a large extent, the apocalyptic eschatology of the Apocalypse is shaped within the framework of soteriology. The descent from heaven of the new Jerusalem is the eschatological fulfilment of Old Testament as well as early Jewish apocalyptic expectations within the restorational frame. Particularly Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah have made meaningful contributions in this regard. The rebuilding of the temple within the relationship of the heavenly Jerusalem to the new Jerusalem is of utmost importance. The architectural elements of the new Jerusalem and the eschatological blessings were expected in a couple of early Jewish writings. The co-textual framework as well as the textual analysis of 21:1-22:5, with the exegetical results, make up the last part of the discussion.

AbstractIn this article, prevalent interpretations of Romans 11:25–27, which envision Israel as a separate entity apart from the church or understand Israel ecclesiologically, are criticised on the basis of (1) the anachronistic relationship of current Judaism with the Ἰουδαῖοι/Ἰσραήλ in Paul, (2) the constraints posed by the connotations inherent to these designations in the time of the Second Temple, and (3) Paul’s thought on Israel and the identity in Christ outside of Romans 9–11. The terms Paul uses and the grammar he utilises in Romans 11:25–27 are re-examined in respect of the context of the letter to the Romans and the larger context of the Pauline corpus. The salvation of “all Israel” (Rom 11:26) is interpreted as the salvation of ancient, inner-elect Israel, in distinction from national Israel (outer-elect), who lived before the Christ-event.

AbstractThe article intends to show that community in Nigeria contributes effectively to the experience of salvation as a concrete reality in daily life if salvation is exposed in African cultural context. The varied activities of the Annang independent churches examined betray (in contrast to the mission churches) strong traits of this culture and show how the Christian value, salvation, is brought home to the Africans. Consequently, the old churches face a massive drift of their members to the new ones. If Christianity is to maintain its value in Africa, its truths must be cast in African cultural moulds.

AbstractIt is argued in this paper that the Holy Spirit is an agent of an inaugurated eschatology, the tight tension of the kingdom today and the kingdom to come. The Holy Spirit comes offering much more than the charismata, he comes as the eschatological Spirit bringing gifts of change and renewal for an eschatological reality (of which the charismata are a part). Such a reality finds its home primarily in the eschatological community, the church. Pentecostalisation has enjoyed considerable influence in Africa, a continent that is traditionally enchanted. Consequently, Africa is giving way to the emergence of an enchanted Christian society where traditional worldviews and a new form of Christianity synthesise. The effects are significant, sometimes laudable and encouraging, but at times troubling, especially when we consider pentecostalism's elevation of capitalism, the growing theology of prosperity, and syncretism with African Traditional Religion (ATR). This article explores a theology of the coming Spirit of the resurrected Christ as an agent of inaugurated eschatology whose function is to shape and sanctify the ethos of such a Christian society. The renewal of the Spirit's work in this re-envisioned enchanted community is to work in and through his people in the spirit of koinonia and social transformation, freeing Africans from misplaced desires and religious demands, bringing peace, working with them in nurturing the disenfranchised, and caring for his creation. It is argued that through the coming of the Holy Spirit, the enchanting of Africa will flourish.

AbstractThis article traces the development of the Christ Apostolic Church's (CAC) doctrine of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, its current official stance and the church ministers' interpretations of the doctrine. To gather data for this work, focus-group discussions were held with groups of CAC ministers in 1992 and 2012. Data gathered were analysed. Selected leaders of CAC were interviewed, and the data from the two sources were compared, interpreted and discussed in terms of related literature. A theological appraisal concluded the work. The findings are that, whilst CAC tenets appear to conform to the Classical Pentecostal model, the opinions of the church's ministers are divided along Pentecostal and Evangelical lines. The official view of the CAC is that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is distinct from the initial work of salvation and that the visible signs of receiving this baptism are multiple, but there are significant disagreements amongst the church ministers to this. The appraisal reveals that the tenet of the church needs to be reworked to conform to the teaching of the Scripture.

AbstractLike many parts of Africa, South Sudan has experienced ethnic animosities which have led to violent clashes, destruction of property, and loss of life. Many of these conflicts are over land and resources and are rooted in a spiritual attachment to traditional tribal lands which are seen as gifts of God to both steward and protect. In dialogue with an African theology of place, this paper seeks to propose biblical foundations for ethnic coexistence, as seen in Acts 17:22-31, and to examine how Paul's Athenian sermon balances the ethnic particularities of land and tribe with the universal call to Christian salvation. Drawing on twenty interviews with South Sudanese nationals, this paper uses an integrated research method, accessing theological, biblical, and sociological perspectives to ask whether Acts 17 might suggest an approach to issues of land and tribalism in South Sudan.

AbstractThe growth and development within African Christianity have attracted the attention of Christian theological researchers in recent decades. However, this has obviously not witnessed a corresponding growth in environmental theology. This paper argues that this is due to the human-centred and otherworldly nature of the thinking about salvation – a way of thinking which African Christians have not only inherited from missionary Christianity but also radicalised. The paper argues that for African Christians to better configure salvation theology to creation faith there is the need for configuring Jesus Christ through an ecological lens and consequently correlating the implications of the theological claims to salvation wrought through Him to the salvation of creation. Consequently, in this paper, I do a theological ecological anatomy of salvation theology in African Christianity, as it is currently, and explore a constructive configuration of salvation theology from the perspective of creation faith.

AbstractIn Acts 16:17, a slave girl proclaims: 'these men are the servants of the Most High God who have come to show a way of salvation!' The Philippian jailer in Acts 16:30 asks, 'What must I do to be saved?' What do they have in common regarding their understanding of the meaning of salvation? How is it similar or different from the understanding of salvation in Africa? Are these in line with the salvation narrative aim of Luke in Acts 16? Through the sociohistorical method, this paper explores the Greco-Roman context of the slave girl and the jailer. In this process, a contextual similarity between the Greco-Roman context and the African context is identified and the impact of these contexts on the understanding of the meaning of salvation is examined. Placed in conversation with the Lukan meaning of salvation in the passage, an alternative meaning of salvation emerges, along with implications for the Greco-Roman and African contexts. INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS: This article shows interdisciplinarity by an engagement with a theological concept through the utilisation of the sociohistorical method in generating meaning and understanding of a New Testament text. It navigates the disciplines of New Testament, Biblical Studies, Mission and Apologetics.

AbstractThis article demonstrates the value of understanding the socio-historical background of a specific text in the task of interpretation and the search for meaning. This is done here by utilising the socio-historical method in the search for meaning and understanding of the concept of salvation in the narrative about the slave girl in Acts 16. Substantial integration of the understanding of words and concepts at the time of writing the text and the cultural and social background is relevant and leads to an in-depth understanding of the Biblical text and is therefore essential for thorough New Testament studies. Through the socio-historical method, the article explores the Graeco-Roman understanding of salvation as a necessary precursor to arrive at the meaning of salvation in Acts 16. Theos upsistos [Most High God] and the Lukan usage of πνεῦμα Πύθωνα [python spirit] are explored in the light of their Graeco-Roman allusion in relation to the girl who was a slave in the narrative of Acts 16. The article argues that Luke’s point in the narrative is to expose, engage, challenge and counter the long-held assumptions about what is the meaning of salvation and how to obtain it. The article contributes an exemplification of the use of the socio-historical method towards the broader and in-depth understanding and credible meaning-making of the Acts 16 text. The article challenges assumptions about the point of the text in the narrative of Acts 16 and opens up possibilities for further interpretation that could be found meaningful to modern-day interpreters of the text.

AbstractThis article argues that, despite the widely held view to the contrary, the traditional religions of Africa do have an elaborate system of salvation which, unfortunately, is often lost sight of by scholars owing to its difference from the Christian theological norm. The locus of salvation in ATR. it will be maintained, is in the cults of affliction and healing, about which much has been written, but much continues to puzzle scholars. I shall attempt an interpretation of some rituals of affliction and healing that is based on a general model of African theodicyl according to which the goal of life is to become an ancestor. This spells out what it means to be human, namely, to travel the road of the life cycle, reach the portals of ancestorhood, enter the latter's courts, and exercise its privileges and responsibilities. So important is this that both the living and the living-dead will do everything in their power to ensure its achievement. The phenomenon of affliction and the response of healing it elicits represent a corrective element of this do—or—die battle for ancestorhood. In other words, they are signals that something has gone terribly wrong, seriously enough to debar someone from entering ancestral bliss, from attaining salvation. But they are also heralds of hope, declaring that all is not lost; that those excluded from the pale of ancestral fullness may still be included, by all means necessary. This paper seeks to serve as an introduction to indigenous African theodicy.

AbstractFrom an African perspective the Jesus presented in Hebrews is a proto-ancestor. The article first considers the following characterizations of Jesus in Hebrews: the anthropological Jesus, the divine Jesus, the priestly Jesus, the soteriological Jesus, and the eschatological Jesus. Next it considers the symbolic language of Hebrews. Finally it discusses the relevance of the Christology of Hebrews for Africa today.--C.R.M. Abstract Number: NTA45-2001-3-1859

AbstractThe fact that a message of salvation follows the prophecy of doom appearmg in the rest of the book of Amos has given rise to many questions concerning the authorship of Amos 9: 11-15. This article outlines the problem with reference to the views of certain exegetes. The view advanced here is that Amos 9:11-15 was an unconditional message of salvation to the people of the southern kingdom. The message rests on their manifestly political view of God. This theological tradition is the matrix of the author's message of consolation to his people delivered either during the exile or afterwards. He does, however, make frequent allusions to the preceding sections of Amos. Amos was not himself the author of the promise of salvation.

AbstractThe study is a response to the call for papers that focus on African issues and it discusses the issue of atonement. The question which is raised is whether the Jewish and Luhya traditional concepts of atonement are similar or not. To answer this question, I have attempted to explain the understanding of the concept in Jewish tradition before comparing and contrasting this with the Luhya traditional concept of atonement. The study shows that there is a sense of harmony maintained or restored between worshippers and their objects of worship. Through a study of comparative religions, we find various depictions of atonement in different religious traditions. But the goal is the same—the attainment of forgiveness and reconciliation.

AbstractO.'s comparative study of salvation in the Psalter and African Indigenous Churches illustrates how the concept of šālôm ("peace" or "total well-being") is an important concept both to the Psalmists and members of some African Indigenous Churches (The Christ Apostolic Church and The Church of the Lord [Aladura] Worldwide). All humans, especially in Africa, want to live and enjoy peace. Any threat to such peace is taken seriously by the Almighty God who is the Savior par excellence. [Abstracted by: Joseph E. Jensen] Abstract Number: OTA34-2011-OCT-1816

AbstractBY ALLEN OLATUNDE INTRODUCTION One of the few elements that world religions share is the assertion that humans don’t live in harmony with the Ultimate Reality. In other words, humanity does not man…

AbstractSalvation and Tradition: Configurations of Faith in a Time of Death

AbstractByang Henry Kato, a promising African Christian leader, passed away in 1975 at only 39 years of age. In spite of his brief career, he has left his imprint on the pages of African Christian history. He is not without his supporters and critics alike. It appears that while his critics have misunderstood him in some aspects, his supporters also have not paid enough attention to his theological conviction and articulation. While this article aims at clarifying some of Kato’s conviction, it also informs readers how, regardless of context and time, others can appreciate, learn, and even adopt some aspects of his contextual model. The writer, an Asian living more than forty years apart from Kato, argues that Kato was indeed an evangelical leader whose theological conviction and model cannot be confined merely to a past era.

AbstractIn the later Middle Ages, Western Christianity was already nurturing the seeds of its own disintegration. The mistaken assumptions of the pre—Reforrnation church were the direct cause of the quarrels that split the church. This article proposes the view that mistaken assumptions about the atonement led to a new ideology of sacrifice, and that it was this rationalistic ideologizing of the faith which had, and continues to have, a destructive effect on the relationship between Christianity and other cultures. This has caused particular difficulties for African Christians. The African tradition of the family feast is discussed as a case study. In South Africa we need to decide between ideological and narrative understandings of Christianity.

AbstractThe two-fold aim of this paper is (i) to determine whether the description of Jesus as the gardener is symbolic; and (ii) to show that the atonement in the Fourth Gospel is seen in terms of renewal and transformation. Starting with some of Origen's comments, it is then argued that re-creation is a consistent theme of John. This is borne out by a brief look at some early interpretations of John's theology, with special reference to Athanasius, after which consideration is given to the meaning of Jesus as the gardener, and the legitimacy of new interpretations.

AbstractSemantic Scholar extracted view of "The theological legacy of the Reverend Doctor Byang Henry Kato" by Y. Turaki

AbstractThis article critically discusses Andrew Murray's contention that when Jesus Christ spoke of sickness it was always as of an evil caused by sin and that believers should be delivered from sickness, because it attacks the body that is the temple of the Holy Spirit. He wrote that Christ took upon Himself the soul and body and redeems both in equal measure from the consequences of sin. Murray contrasts low level Christians who enjoy no close fellowship with God, no victory over sin and no power to convince the world with those who are "fully saved", who enjoy unceasing fellowship with God and are holy and full of joy. Justification and sanctification are thus divided as two separate gifts of God where sanctification is obtained through a new and separate act of faith. He taught that sickness is a visible sign of God's judgment and that healing is granted according to the measure of faith of the believer.

AbstractAbstract This article attempts to investigate the contribution of the African evangelical theologian and church leader Byang H. Kato (1936–1975) to the salvation debate in the early 1970s. Due to his radical standpoint and at times uncompromising tone, Kato’s soteriological proposals have been characterized as a reproduction of western theology. This article aims to demonstrate that, rather than reiterating a specific American or western concept of theology, Kato’s soteriology should be read as a contextual evangelical response to the ongoing theological debates of his time.

AbstractAbstract This article analyzes Tokunboh Adeyemo’s assessment of African traditional religions in relation to his allegiance to the worldwide evangelical tradition. In the 1970 and 1980s, Adeyemo, who served as the General Secretary of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa, was involved in the so-called salvation debates within evangelical circles. Concerned about the rise of contextual theologies on the African continent, Adeyemo, like his predecessor Byang Kato, advocated the exclusive character of Christianity in terms of salvation. Therefore, he is sometimes described as someone who attempted to replace African religiosity with a Westernized form of Christianity. This article argues that while Adeyemo reiterates the uniqueness of salvation in Christ, as attested within the international evangelical movement, he offers a nuanced assessment of pre-Christian religiosity. Navigating between the two positions of rejection and revitalization, he pioneered new ways of developing an authentic evangelical theology that is grounded in the African context.

AbstractThis article explored the relation between creation and salvation as acts of God in the theology of Robert Jenson, an American Lutheran theologian. This is important due to Jenson's growing importance as theologian and because of the current importance of ecotheology (and related themes that were implicated by the relation between creation and salvation). Jenson's theology is an effort to tell God's particular story and it can be described as a Trinitarian, narrative and eschatological theology. His starting point is that God's eternity must not be understood as timeless (this is unbiblical and incompatible with the story of creation and redemption) and that creation (space and time) takes place somehow within the being of God. Jenson qualified this 'withinness', but also emphasised that creation is an intelligible whole, a history with an intended end. It is important for him that God's story - a story of dramatic coherence - is not separated from our own and creation's story. Within this understanding of God's story (as dramatic coherence), creation found its own dramatic teleology because salvation also includes creation. Creation is therefore not subjected to pointlessness any longer, but will find its final place within God. The implication of this is that we must value creation much more and act with more responsibility towards it. According to Jenson we must enjoy creation in an aesthetic fashion and delight in creation as a whole because of its dramatic teleology.

AbstractIn the religious context of East Africa in which the salvific significance of baptism is challenged, the witness of a good deal of New Testament passages concerning the issue of baptism, faith and the importance of both for the attainment of

AbstractThis is a brief descriptionptive account of the Shona Zion Apostolic churches perception of salvation. Most members of these churches are subsistence farmers living in rural areas. It is, intriguing to note that, even though Christianity has gained a firm foothold in these places, old traditions, cultural practices, customs and norms are still alive. Western Christian influence and patterns of life have not replaced the traditional life-style of church members.