PAPER DELIVERED AT THE WATS STUDENTS WEEK. DATE: 28TH NOV.-2ND DEC.

2011 VENUE: THE WATS ULTRA MODERN CHAPEL. THEME: THE AFRICAN CHURCH IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM TOPIC: AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION & CHRISTIANITY IN CONTEXT: CURBING THE MENACE OF RELIGIOUS PROMISCUITY BY: OKONKWO DANIEL PROLIFIC CHUKWUKA PROLOGUE African religion says, God is for everyone everywhere. God takes very little interest in the dayto-day affairs of individuals. God is not concerned with purely personal affairs but with matters of national and international importance. The ancestral spirits, on the other hand, are concerned with the day-to-day affairs of their descendants. They are the intermediaries between the living and God. People pray to God through their ancestors. But the Christian faith teaches Christ as the only way to God. INTRODUCTION All over the world today, Christianity and faith in Africa have been said to be known with a certain slogan which reads; "There have been a lot of people becoming Christians in Africa, but in Africa, faith is a mile wide and a half inch deep." While this is true, it is also false on its own. This statement has been used to describe the ongoing practice of the Christian faith in Africa. It is being used to describe the people of Africa and their actions. One professor noted that African pastors have utilized that phrase to rebuke those who mix Christianity and African traditional religion. Non-African missionaries and professors use it to chastise Christian leaders for not training their flocks in-depth about the Christian walk1 whichever way it is being used, the real issue is not in the conflict of racism, superiority, or domination and manipulation as the case may be, but I for one think that this statement really pertain to the religious habit in Africa and its influence on the lives of African Christians. Often times it is observed that many African Christians (in this generation) resort to the rejected practices of the old. We see young Christians going back to the religion that their parents rejected and denounced so many years ago at the second coming of the Christian faith to Africa. Many of them lay claims to the fact that they are believers and followers of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Some are even observed to be Christian leaders or as the Dr. Moses Iloh will always say,
1

Richard Chowning-http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Chowning

Leaders of Christians, while others lay claim that theyve been saved by the blood of Jesus and having the Spirit of God in them. I am not to judge who is really one, but it should be re affirmed that Jesus Christ Himself said that By their fruits, we shall know them. If there is anything that the Church in Africa must stand against, it is indeed this issue that is telling on our spirituality and reputation among the people we are called to reach with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. WHY DO CHRISTIANS DO THIS? According to Rev(Dr) P.H. Bamaiyi, he opines that It often results from a tendency or attempt to undermine the uniqueness of the gospel as found in the Scriptures or the incarnate Son of God. The communication of the gospel involves the transmission of a message with supra - cultural elements between a variety of cultures. This includes the disembodiment of the message from one cultural context and the re-embodiment of it in a different cultural context.2 This statement suggests that this act results from a heart that seeks to undermine the Word of God or the doctrine of the Son of God (Jesus Christ). Christians, who do this, do it with an aim to demote the uniqueness of the Gospel. They deny the peculiarity of the Christian faith from other world religions. They profess that all roads lead to God. In a bid to avoid continuous judgment and discrimination of these Christians, permit me to suggest some reasons further why this is done. 1. THE STATE THEY ARE- THEY ARE IN NEED. Without any sentiment, it is worthy and human enough that we first understand the plight of these people who involve in this so called act. They are people who are in severe need of one thing or the other. They might have asked or seeked solutions from the church without receiving any positive result. At this point they are tempted to seek the answers they needed outside. Honestly speaking, there are times when people ask God for help in urgent needs and it appears as if God is silent and slow in answering, but the JUJU priests and their oracles, offer short cuts to the solution of these problems. This might be as a result of Christians not asking in the right way, not asking for the right things or not having knowledge about the moves of God. 2. THEY HAVE NOT DRAWN A LINE OF DISPARITY BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND ATR. It should be noted that people who partake in this are sometimes people who havent draw any strong line of disparity between ATR and the Christian faith. They adhere to the belief in Continuity. Continuity as defined by Gehman, entails the belief that all religions have much in

Dr. Bamaiyi, is the Chaplain, the Christian Chapel Adamawa State University, Mubi.

common. Christianity is not unique. Jesus is not the only way to fellowship with God. 3 These people believe that the ATR doctor is directly communicating with God and that all roads lead to God, not minding the doctrinal differences. 3. THEY LACK ADEQUATE AND PROPER DISCIPLESHIP. Gehman in his work continued by stating that Without adequate teaching and discipleship, the first generation converts bring with them elements of their past traditional religion which conflict with the Gospel. Many baptized Christians are not even saved.4 It is said that the African man is a religious man. Thus, they are people who get baptized and initiated fully into their religion. This is a serious problem and challenge for them when they turn to Christianity because when they come to embrace Christianity, they come with all the ideas and teachings of their former religion into their new marriage which in turn (using the words of my Professor, Pastor Eugene Ukaoha), forms a mixture of Christianity and paganism- Christopaganism5. People who have the above problem needed to be guided and guarded through the Christian faith, in order to ensure a freedom from the old ideology and practices. We must understand that the tenets of religion are basically of the heart and not in the practice. By this I mean that religion is more of ideology that leads to practice, than practices that lead to ideology because actions are motivated by the thought pattern (Proverbs 4:23). So people, who involve in this act, have not really submitted their hearts and minds to renewal through the Word of God and accountability. Discipleship is a system or program, which aids in capturing the thoughts of men and teach them to obey Christ (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Any man, who fails to be subjected to the scrutiny of the Gospel, will have the problem of hard decision making. John Oswalt in his recent sermon stated that the heart is the centre of ones personality. He said that it is where we think, feel and decide. It is the control panel of ones being and humanity. This heart is only renewed and given life from the storms of this life, through the cleansing of the Word of God. So people who have not been cleansed nor had their hearts re-shaped through the reforming of the Word of God, easily fall into the error of religious promiscuity. 4. THE DECLINE OF HOLINESS TEACHINGS IN THE 3RD MILLENIUM AFRICAN PULPIT. Few doubt that the theological distinctive of the holiness movement sanctification is misunderstood and underemphasized today. The classical terms of holiness "Christian Perfection," "Entire Sanctification," "The Second Blessing," and "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" no longer seize the imaginations of many people. Both those inside and outside the holiness movement seem to believe that holiness has become an irrelevant or extra dimension to
3

Gehman Richard 2001, pg.198. Ibid, 219. 5 Ukaoha, Eugene. 2006. Notes on introduction to African Traditional Religion (ATR). pg.100
4

contemporary Christian life. And where this takes place, people no longer see their need for a Saviour, never strive to please God or move towards spiritual maturity. They become complacent and comfortable with where they stand and can adopt any means as a way of savaging their situation and predicaments. 5. IN THE STRIVING BY MISSIONARIES FOR AN INDIGENOUS NATIONAL CHURCH WITH A CONTEXTUALIZED GOSPEL, THE DANGER OF SYNCRETISM IS EVER PRESENT IN ATTEMPTS AT ACCOMMODATION, ADJUSTMENT, AND ADAPTATION. Tippett reminds us that while striving for relevance we must remember that in communication only message is transmitted, not meaning. Beyerhaus points out three steps in biblical adaptation: 1. Discriminating selection of words, symbols, and rites, e.g., "Logos." 2. Rejection of that which is clearly incompatible with biblical truth. 3. Reinterpretation by a complete refilling of the selected rite or symbol with a truly Christian meaning. Inculturation is an inseparable aspect of evangelisation, which is the establishment of Gods reign on earth, the realization of His project for humanity. Culture is an essential aspect of being human. It refers to the various patterns according to which human beings think, act and feel. Culture is the prism through which people view the whole of their experience. It is, as Geert Hofstede calls it, "the software of the mind"6, the shared mental package that helps to programme our perception and our behaviour. To evangelise human individuals and communities inevitably means the evangelisation of culture, as Pope Paul VI was the first to point out in 1975. Otherwise, evangelization is a purely superficial process. Anything short of this is but anti-Christian. In a true inculturation, therefore, there are no winners or losers. Inculturation means the presentation and re-expression of the Gospel in forms and terms proper to a culture. This process results in the reinterpretation of both, without being unfaithful to either. Anything less, is not inculturation. In other words, it would be a syncretism and not a synthesis - the juxtaposition of non-communicating meanings. Therefore in our attempts to contextualize and inculturate the Gospel, many African and European scholars have gone to the extreme of it by either promoting more of ATR or being unfair to the adherers of it. Many have promoted ATR to a high or higher state above the Gospel of Christ, thus this subject matter is generated as Africans are people who live in the First class power encounters. Africans are a very religious people and always seek the higher religion. So if we through our process of contextualization and inculturation promote ATR above the view-point of biblical lens, we then create a scenario for the people to believe more and resort to ATR in days of difficulties.

6. POOR MISSION STRATEGY OF THE WEST It can be said that some of the early missionaries saw themselves as social and religious reformers. However, while they tried in their own way to achieve their mission goal, which was the conversion of Africans into Christianity, their approach and attitude did not produce a wholesome result. They thought by condemning African religious beliefs and practices, social and political means of control, That they would produce 'a new man' born in a new faith; but this 'new man' produced became a split personality - who could neither totally return to the old nor firmly be rooted in the new. This was made worse by the fact that some of the missionaries were not only ignorant of the African people but also lacked adequate knowledge of the content of the Christian message. For instance, one of the listeners in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart asked the missionary thus: If we leave our gods and follow your god, who will protect us from the Anger of our neglected gods and ancestors? In response, the missionary nastily said angrily: Your gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm. They are pieces of wood and stone.7 The impatience and unwillingness of some of the early missionaries to educate the African Traditionalists on WHO JESUS IS and WHAT HE CAN DO for them in relation to their gods marked the beginning of a false start in communicating the Christian message to the African. It was a brand of Christianity, which did not affect all facets of African life. It was that failure which gave rise to ambivalent Christianity in Africa whereby many African Christians resort to their local deities, ancestors, medicine men, divination, sacrifices and use of charms or amulets to seek for solution and protection in their crises moments. Nevertheless the Christian message has continued to challenge the African man and his environment. (Nlenanya)8

Prof. Gordon L. Chavunduka observed and opines that Many Africans who became Christians found it difficult to abandon their religion and medicine completely. Christian conversion was, therefore, shallow; it did not always change the African people's understanding of life and their relationship to their ancestral spirits and God.9 These Christians in the face of problems, challenges and difficulty, resort to the African Traditional Religion in search for help and solution to their problems and this is eating deep and fast into the fabric of Christianity and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus in Africa.
7

See Achebes Things fall apart.

Rev. Professor Emmanuel Nlenanya nw- Department of Religion, University of Nigeria Nsukka. 4th Nov., 2002.
8 9

Pro. Chavunduka is the president of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers' Association.

WHAT IS REALLY THE PROBLEM WITH THE CHURCH IN AFRICA? 1. LACK OF PROPER DISCIPLESHIP. The church in Africa is suffering from under-discipleship. This can be interpreted to mean that the Church in Africa has more members who have either not passed through discipleship, or people who were not properly discipled. Need I say that we may make many converts and not make any disciples. Why? This is because discipleship is vastly more than making converts. In fact, we may do many religious things and yet miss Christs commandment to make disciples. Be sure that though discipleship is Jesus' own method of reproducing and maturing, it has been abused and will be abused by less noble causes such as communism and numerous false religions. But the method has brought success to them, erroneous as they are. Discipleship works. The more disciplined the approach, the better it works... Permit me to use the words of Don Basham to elucidate that the church in Africa has failed to understand that acceptance of Christ makes one a potential disciple and not a full disciple. Unfortunately, many people who have what they call a genuine conversion experience (in Africa), never seem to grasp what it means to be a disciple or how to live and grow in the faith.10 The church in Africa must comprehend that evangelism alone was not effective, to the point that new converts who were not properly discipled are in real danger of falling away. According to John Poole, Much harm is done when meeting after meeting is devoted to "soul-winning" at the expense of messages the teaching of the flock .11 2. THE QUEST FOR POWER AND DOMINION. This idea in its own is related to the insurgence of materialism in Africa as everyone wants to be the leader. It generates from a sinful and selfish state of the heart. The sick heart craves for dominion over others and for total power control. This is highly practical in Africa as we see it in the Church , Political arena, Schools, Families and the Society at large. Nobody wants to render service in Africa. There is a total shift from emphasis on servant leadership and materialism became the trend and current surge. 3. LACK OF MINISTERIAL, MISSIOLOGICAL AND THEOLOGICAL TRAINNING.

10

Don Basham, "Forum: Discipleship," New Wine, March 1974, p. 27. John Poole, "What a Shepherd Can Expect from His Sheep," New Wine, May 1974, p. 7.

11

I am glad that among the issues being discussed in this meeting, is the issue of Re- branding Theological Education in the Third Millennium Africa. The issue of in-adequate ministerial training has contributed to the increase in this inter-religious promiscuity. Many African Pastors, Missionaries, and Ministers in general lack proper and basic idea of biblical interpretation. Others are illiterate on exegetical and hermeneutical approaches to biblical studies, they read and interpret the Scriptures in their own meaning and thereby, mis-interpreting the basic teachings and message of the Bible. Brethren, any congregation that lacks effective biblical interpretation, will sooner or later fall into wrong doctrines and theology. To an extent, this is true of the church in Africa. When the people are not taught the truths of the Scriptures and supra-cultural nature of Biblical customs, they are likely to fall into syncretism and religious harlotry because; they will find it hard and challenging to differentiate the truth from the lies of ATR. Teaching can give rise to deeper research, just as it can be the fruit of such research, which can in turn also develop to the point of providing tools or subjects to be used by others than the teachers themselves. 4. BEING MORE HOLY THAN GOD HIMSELF. It may surprise you to hear this statement that some people claim to be more holy than God Himself. But this is true of most African Christians. We Africans tend to reject and despise our Traditional Religion so much that we forget to study them in order to be relevant in our message to our people. They neglect to find out the truths and issues behind the religion of their people. By this I think that a proper way towards identification among the people is to take an in-depth study of the traditions and religions of the people. Proper identification I believe should be aimed at contextualizing the Gospel message to the African. Contextualization is explaining the Gospel in terms of the peoples worldview, beliefs and values. It involves feelings that will make the Gospel relevant to them. If we must ensure a hitch Free Church in Africa, we must ensure to make the message meaningful, relevant, and effective to the people. We need to rely upon the Holy Spirit to provide us with appropriate illustrations from the Bible and from the culture of the people to present the Gospel to them (Remember Paul in Athens Acts 17:19-31). There is need to enter into the world of the "die-hards" in ATR to discover what spiritual richness, what fears, what elements, profound as they may be, attract, and sustain the followers of ATR or what draws back the half-converted Christians who return from time to time to the practice of the religion. But how can we get this done when we despise and reject these people? I get obsessed when I see Christians of this Third millennium still repeating the same mistakes of

the early missionaries to Africa and our own early converts, who neglected the place of dialogue between Christianity and African Traditional Religion. 5. THE LESS EMPHASIS ON HOLINESS FROM OUR PULPIT AND THE INSURGENCE OF MATERIALISM. Christians in the holiness circle continue to ponder and wonder why the shift in emphasis on HOLINESS. The African pulpit is suffering from what I may term spiritual malnutrition as the people are not really taught the exact Word of God; rather the PROSPERITY message is the major trend of the day. Many professing Christians are so focused on what they think God should give them that theyve apparently lost sight of what He wants to make them. Theyve exchanged what they can become for what they can get. Like the prophet Isaiah, they need a fresh vision of Gods holiness (Isaiah 6). Some people, even some preachers, are intimidated to speak of holiness, lest they be viewed as hypocrites. Granted, it is convicting to preach such a high standard of holiness, but it is Gods standard and we must proclaim nothing less. Do you ever wonder why we so often limp along spiritually, licking our wounds and longing for victory? Why we so often stagnate or settle for mediocrity in the things of Christ? Why people continue to return to the former things when God advices that we come out of them? Then see the words of Dennis Bridge who opines that: Perhaps its because weve lost our PASSION FOR HOLINESS. And its that passion I want to call us to.12 WHY IS IT A PROBLEM? 1. IT AFFECTS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. It is very evident in the Scriptures that God is obviously against spiritual harlotry. As the people continue in this act, the spiritual life of the people diminishes and deteriorates. The Scriptures is fully evident and shows in sundry places how God frowns at His people when they consult other gods for help or even support them. Furthermore, it is commanded by God in the Scriptures that Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3 KJV). Whenever anyone resorts to ATR for help it times of difficulty, he accepts that deity as god and thus goes contrary to Gods commandment which in turn, severs his relationship with God. 2. IT AFFECTS CHURCH GROWTH IN THE 3RD MILLENIUM AFRICA. The other day, we heard of a Christian who went to preach the Good news to a core Traditionalist in the Eastern part of Nigeria. The young Evangelist after toiling and trying to win this elderly person, received the most shocking opposition (may be not violent opposition, but opposition of
12

Ibid.

ideas and conflict of beliefs and practices) when this elderly man told him that I cannot follow your white mans religion because it has not yielded any meaningful result in your lives, and is not providing you with the answers needed. The majority of those who patronizes us for charms, divinations, spiritual powers and protection, are those who acclaim to be Christians, some even pastors, so I cant be an hypocrite. I cant abandon the religion of our fathers in pursuit of something that I know is unreal, after all we all worship the same God but your means is different from mine. What do we think will be the plight of this young Evangelist or the Church from which he was sent? These are some of the most important factors that we have found that affect church membership and participation. As is evident, the factors are multiple, and they operate at differing levels. They make clear that churches exist in a complex social and cultural environment, both national and local. This environment shapes churches in ways not always recognized or understood. But there are also crucial, if limited, degrees of freedom for churches to respond in ways that both mediate and transcend the effects of environmental factors. If this is to happen, then it is of considerable importance for us rightly to discern the multiple factors--national and local, external and internalthat affect the life and ministry of the church so that we can acknowledge those things we cannot change but also respond constructively to those things that we can change.13 Resorting to ATR, hampers the work of true evangelism and Spiritual growth. 3. IT IS FAITHLESSNESS IN ACTION. Faithlessness is a major decay that is eating very deep into the fabrics of the Church in the 3rd millennium Africa. Many people no longer take the Words and promises of God as valid or serious because they never believed in them. Some professing Christians dont know or believe that God is able and willing to solve their problems. This comes as a result of not believing the Scriptures as true and as a result of not really having any experience of God. The more this act lingers, the more faith in Christ declines faster and with full strength. 4. IT IS MR FLESH IN ACTION. The Bible teaches that the carnal heart and mind crave for the carnal things. Paul in his epistle to the Galatians, listed the works of the flesh and among the acts listed in verse 20, is the issue of idolatry (Galatians 5:20). Thus if this is so, it proves that the heart that yearns for help in any other source except in God, is a heart that still live by the detects of the flesh which is corrupt and in opposition to God. 5. IT IS HYPOCRISY IN ACTION.

13

Understanding Church Growth and Decline By Jackson W. Carroll

People worship God with their lips but their hearts are far away from God. This trend results in total hypocrisy as the people tend to be for God, but do partake in the fetish practices and rites. Christians who do this, are neither here or there, they are middle grounders and as the Bible says, no man can effectively serve two masters at the same time. Christians become suspicious of each other hence do not walk in love with their neighbours

6. DEMON POSSESSIONPeople become influenced or even possessed by demons e.g. ancestral spirits: sometimes like in the Corinthian church some may be misled by these dumb idols and spirits through some dreams, visions, false revelations, false prophecies and various other forms of deceits. Some are possessed by spirits of strange animals e.g. Hyena, Lion, Pig, Snake, e.t.c. These spirits which control those places visited, enslaves these people and keep them bound and in total captivity. 7. IT RELEASES CURSES UPON THE LAND Partaking in this act brings the land back to demonic control. It should be recalled that following the advent of the Gospel in Africa, there came an awareness of the effect of the idolatrous lives which our forefathers lived and it called for spiritual cleansing, land liberation and covenant breaking. Today the spiritual laws have not changed, In that as we go back into fellowship with these idols, the spirits behind them rain curses upon our lands because they are malicious spirits who do not aim at the good of people (John 10:10). When this happens, People do not prosper as they should in such lands and there is seen a high rate of ungodliness in such places. 8. THE DOCTRINE OF BALAAM AND THE NICOLAITANS PREVAILS Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balaak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate

WHY I THINK IT IS GOOD TO AN EXTENT

1. IT SHOWS US THE UNFINISHED TASK. 2. IT CALLS FOR OUR CHANGE IN PREACHING EMPHASIS. WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD? 1. BACK TO GOD- The church must go back to God in repentance and total submission, lest we receive the punishment stated in Rev. 3:16. 2. BACK TO THE SCRIPTURES- the church in Africa MUST be Bible based and oriented. We must teach nothing else but the Truth found in the unbroken WORD of God.

3. BACK TO PRAYERS- we must build a vibrant, praying church in Africa. 4. BACK TO DISCIPLESHIP Generally speaking, all true Christians are disciples of the Lord Jesus. However, the practical process of being discipled by someone has not been part of this experience, even though many of us have been "discipled" by several mature Christians in the course of our spiritual development. In the event that being discipled "by man" may trouble some of us, 1 Corinthians 4:14-17 may serve as an example. In Acts 9:1 (N.A.S.), the disciples were called "disciples of the Lord." But in Acts 19:9-10, Paul drew away disciples and taught them daily. So again we say, disciples belong to the Lord, but they are shaped by stewards of His ministry ... thus I call for discipleship in African churches, and congregations. This discipleship process should be a process of producing disciples who will walk in Jesus' ways. The one who teaches must himself be an example of Christian maturity and stability. Jesus is not only the pattern for making disciples, He is the pattern disciple. Isaiah refers to Jesus as the Father's disciple and a servant (Isaiah 50:411), and Paul reminds us that Jesus emptied Himself and became a humble servant. The main problem with discipleship in Africa, is the manner in which they try to spiritualize discipleship, turn it into a formal structure, and say that you must submit to the one discipling you. Instead, the Bible has a different emphasis, saying in Ephesians 5:21 "be subject to one another in the fear of Christ." One of the biggest problems with discipleship as taught in Africa, is the "obedience" being asked of the disciples, analogous to a dog chasing a stick--in other words, blind obedience. The Bible does teach obedience, such as in Hebrews 13:17 which says, "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you." (words in italics are not in the Greek text). The word "obey" in this verse is the Greek word peitho which means, "to persuade; to influence by persuasion; to seek to please, to conciliate; to appease, to render tranquil... to yield to persuasion, to assent, to listen to, to obey" 14While a dog may obey when you throw a stick, this is not the spiritual context for a Christian in a shepherd-disciple relationship. The whole idea of obedience in Greek is to be "convinced" or "persuaded" by something to the point that you follow through with action. Only GOD has the right to teach us "obedience training." When we obey human leaders it should be because we are persuaded in accordance with what the Bible says. It

14

(George Ricker Berry, The Interlinear Literal Translation of the Green New Testament with the Authorized Version, Chicago: Wilcox and Follett Company, 1897, p. 77 of the Greek-English New Testament Lexicon).

is not that our will must be broken to follow a shepherd when he "throws a stick to teach us obedience training," but rather through God's word the "old man" is broken and we obey those in the church as part of our new life of following Christ and His teachings. So discipleship is a matter of one who is living in the way of the Lord, showing someone else how to live in the way of the Lord (Acts 9:2; 18:25,26; 19:9,23). 5. PROPER THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION, MINISTERIAL AND MISSIOLOGICAL TRAINNING In a way of suggesting solutions or ways out of this promiscuity, I call for African churches, missionaries and theological Educationist to adopt a full power investment into building a sustainable Theological Education in Africa. This call is not a call to be focused alone in Systematic theology, Biblical interpretation, Exegesis and Hermeneutical procedures, Church history, Expository preaching and Homiletics, even Holiness theology, but that in addition to all these in our curriculum, we must ensure the basic inclusion of Christian Apologetics, Studies in African Religion which modern Christian Scholars think should be rephrased to be Traditional African Religion. This is a call to develop a course similar to the one we have: DISCIPLING MUSLIM BACKGROUND BELIEVERS, we should get our own studies on DISCIPLING AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION BACKGROUND BELIEVERS. This call I think is the basic of doing Theology in Africa, because most Africans are not essentially first religious Muslims, but they are first religious ATR adherers. This invites a selective conception of African tradition or culture which needs to shed the elements that do not enhance development so as to be able to include those that do foster this development in a new order. I think that this is one of the aspects of inculturation: to help African Christians to overcome the religious rift between the traditional practices of local custom and the faith in Jesus Christ and thus to accept the need to abandon beliefs and practices that are incompatible with the Gospel. This presupposes that in the approach to traditional culture or religion, which is multidisciplinary, there must be a greater use of a "method of discrimination" so as to judge what is there and determine the degree of validity and authenticity in relation to the spiritual drive which leads man to the absolute, to God and therefore to the fulfillment of the urge to freedom imprinted in his being. If the Christian transformation of culture is undertaken in earnest, then the possibilities are virtually endless. What matters is to remain faithful to the tradition concerning Jesus and to the authentic values of African tradition and culture. That fidelity can only be ensured by a profound acquaintance with both the Christian tradition of faith and with African cultures. To this - it goes without saying - must be added a genuine faith in the process of inculturation itself! A wise man said; get wisdom get understanding. One cannot get understanding and wisdom without rational thinking. Consequently, theological study is designed to help Pastors, missionaries and ministers in general think rationally, clearly, and consistently. Even more

importantly, it is arranged to teach them how to think Biblically. Therefore, the textbook for our theological study should be the Bible....

6. BACK TO HOLINESS EMPHASIS Despite the current decline in holiness preaching and living, the Bible teaches the priority of true holiness in no uncertain terms. In fact, there are 653 verses in the New American Standard text that speak of holiness (listed under holy, holiness, holier, holies, sanctify, sanctification, sanctified, sanctifies, sanctifier, sanctifying).15 Theologian W. E. Sangster summarizes: All through the Word of God exhortations to holiness appear. They are not sporadic, occasional, or tempered by doubt concerning Gods ability to do this thing in us. Underlying them all is the confidence that God can do something more with our sins than forgive them. We can devise all kinds of games, gimmicks, and gadgets to attract people, but God wants us to be wholly (completely) like him and holy like Him. If we desire to be a church that is effective, effusive, and infectious for Christ in this Third Millennium Africa, we must be a people of holiness. We must re-iterate from our pulpits the need for true biblical holiness, so that the people will be fully prepared for the evil day. We need truly godly leaders to emulate holiness and to hold us accountable. Ungodly or complacent spiritual leaders confuse the issue.16

CONCLUSION As I move towards conclusion, may I boldly state that except we move into praxis, we will continue to ask the questions; why is ATR still exerting much influence on the people despite many years of intensive missionary work? Why are there still in many places people who are unwilling to leave ATR? Why do those who are converted to Christianity return in certain moments of their lives to some aspects of the ATR practice? The way forward for the church in Africa, is to examine carefully African religion and medicine and other cultural aspects, with a view to identifying clearly those practices that are not against Christian faith and morals and incorporate them into modern medicine and Christian worship; if possible, they should also try to find a way out of what are considered non-Christian rites and other cultural practices. A few Christian churches are already doing this.

15

dennis mcbride 1993: a study of biblical holiness. ibid.

16

The Bible's life-giving message, in order to be meaningful to Africans, must be served in an African cup. But, so as not to develop into heresy, as it has in so many cases among the liberal religionists, the text of the Bible cannot be allowed to be swallowed up by the various cultures it confronts. In other words, if the truths taught in the Bible must first be sifted through the cultural sieve of the target society before they can be pronounced genuine, then the resulting combination is syncretistic and not Christian at all. On the other hand, if the Bible is seen as supra-cultural (standing over and above all cultures) but, at the same time, providing practical guidance and answers to the problems of life in every culture, then the various indigenous cultures can be filtered through the sieve of Biblical truths. As a result, cultural elements which are compatible with Scriptural norms are retained, while those which run counter to the norm must be either discarded or modified to reflect Biblical truths.17 There is a need for dialogue between the leaders of Christian churches and the leaders of African religion and medicine. Unplanned interaction might continue to create new problems, misunderstandings and conflict. The need is for sound and genuine dialogue, involving negotiations whenever necessary. There are many benefits that could come to the Church from "serene and prudent" dialogue with the followers of ATR. It will help "on the one hand, to protect Christians from negative influences which condition the way of life of many of them and, on the other hand, to foster the assimilation of positive values such as belief in a supreme being who is eternal, creator, provident and just judge, values which are readily harmonized with the content of the faith." In doing the above, caution must be employed. When it comes to African traditional religion, there is a change in the understanding of dialogue. ATR is not a religion an African adheres to at some point in time in life and which could be independent from other aspects of life. ATR is part and parcel of the African worldview. It influences the daily living of Africans even those converted to other religions like Islam or Christianity. Thus, Cardinal Francis Arinze called for pastoral attention to these "new Christians" (converts from ATR) to enable them harmonize the two religious worlds in which they find themselves after converting to Christianity and thus to promote sound inculturation. He recommended that courses on ATR be introduced into the curriculum of studies in seminaries, religious institutes and particularly ecclesiastical higher institutes in Africa18. This I think is ideal and sound in the process of combating this act as we can never fight a war from the outside. And

17

from an article Contextualizing The Gospel In Africa (This article was written in Kenya, East Africa.). extracted from http/allanturner.com.
18

chidi denis isizoh: dialogue with African traditional religion in sub-saharan africa: the changing attitude of the catholic church.

need I remind us that the war here is a war of ideology and belief system, thus our people must be trained for situations as this. Need I say that Christianity should be firmly planted in Africa and its roots ought to be miles deep, not an inch deep. The Christian faith must be contextualized to be African (its home and origin) but this struggle of contextualization must not adulterate the content of the Gospel in Africa. Every continent, race or people do face their own share in this problem, but what will make Christianity in Africa unique, is the maturity employed in curbing this cancer on the Church. I believe that as we struggle for space in the 3rd millennium world space, the contextualization of Christianity in Africa must ensure that it does not make African Christianity an inch deep, but that it makes it African. As I go down here today, may I admit that if there ever be a time that we must act, it is NOW! Now is the right time to change the thought patterns of the Church of the 3rd millennium Africa. We must stand to reclaim our land and re-affirm our un-relenting and un-reserved faith in God alone. God is calling for African Christians and theological scholars who will undertake studies in the truths and false in regards to ATR, interpreting them in light of the Bible (like Richard Gehman), for only when we do this, we will be able to fully discern what shouldnt be in the whole process of inculturalization and contextualization. We need men who will give proper discipleship to ATR converts and African Christians. Are you the man/woman? Do you think God can use you in achieving this? Then stand up today to this task, let us arise today and reclaim our land because THERE ARE STILL "MANY RIVERS TO CROSS". Thanks for your patience and listening. Always remain blessed and rapturable. Yours in this task, OKONKWO, DANIEL PROLIFIC CHUKWUKA. 08064533092 Chukschoice2010@gmail.com.