Abstract

The thesis which this work is based is that the study of African Traditional world views and concept is essential for the development of a meaningful, relevant and authentic theology for Africa, a theology that takes seriously the existential condition of the African in his cultural set~up. The concept of God is taken as the kay towards the development of such a theology because it is the common factor between African Traditional and biblical religions and that everything else can be explained in terms of it. of it. This study seeks therefore to explore the Chew concept of God in order to discover similarities that exist between it and the biblical concepts. It further seeks to draw out whatever implications this concept has for evangelism, theological contextualization and church life. The study makes the following assumptions: 1. That man everywhere has an awareness of God as a “mysterium, tremendum at fascinas" (to use Rudolf Utto'a description) and that this reality which we can study the Chewa concept. 4. That it is therefore the task of the church to understand what constitutes Chewa spirituality, if it is to speak relevantly and meaningfully to the Chewa and to any other cultural group in Malawi in carrying out the mission of evangelization. To place this study within a wider context, there is first e consideration of the need to study African Traditional Religion in order to avoid being parochial. As a result I have liberally made use of works from other parts of Africa to support, clarify or illustrate a point. In our survey of the history and religious conception of the Chewa, it is noted that their world-view is anthropocentric rather than theocentric. This observation is very significant For theology in Africa especially for the doctrine of God. In comparing the Chewa and biblical concepts, it is noted that the Chewa concept is not very developed and the reason suggested is the cultural limitations on the intellectual development of the Chewa. While God is acknowledged as creator, he remains peripheral to daily human activity and therefore is remote. The place that the biblical tradition gives to God is occupied by the ancestors in the Chewa tradition. For all practical purposes the Chewa outlook is anthropocentric. The question is, how do the two outlooks relate to each other for the sake of relevance and meaning ? Four points emerge and are singled out as significant to the thesis. These are:- 1. The need for fully developed all-embracing doctrine of God made relevant and meaningful by taking into account the traditional concepts. 2. The ethnological study of the people to be reached by the gospel as a major subject for those in theological training. This will require an interdisciplinary approach. 3. A clear grasp of the gospel message and a comprehensive vise of salvation embracing the totality of man in his existential condition (the Chewa) is essential. 4. The traditional world-view to be integrated with the biblical world— view. In practice, it means the reformulation of the doctrine so that it addresses itself to the existential condition of man as culturally determined.

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School	: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issued Date	: 1984

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