African Christian Studies Series (14 Book Series)
From Book 1: This book is an attempt at a critical, constructive, and creative theological praxis of social transformation in Africa. The authors apply a multi-disciplinary approach to examining how Christianity in Africa is engaging the problems of Africa's challenging social context.
This is a prophetic work that applies the symbols of "salt" and "light" as ecclesiological images for reenvisioning the path towards procuring abundant life for God's people in the African continent through the agency of African Christianity.
The contributors to this volume ask these fundamental questions: What is the face of Jesus in African Christianity? What is the face and identity of the Church in Africa? How can one evaluate the relevance of the Church in Africa to African Christians who enthusiastically embrace and celebrate their Christian faith? In other words, what positive imprint is Christianity leaving on the lives and societies of African Christians? Does the Christian message have the potential of positively affecting African civilization as it once did in Europe? What is the relevance and place of African Christianity as a significant voice in shaping both the future of Africa and that of world Christianity?
"This book serves as a poignant reminder that the mission and identity of the church in Africa or the African Church remain open to a rich variety of theological interpretations, imaginations, and applications. The Church as Salt and Light initiates an African theology of the Church that successfully connects ecclesiology with Christology to produce a rich flourish of possibilities for the Church in Africa. No longer will the Church imagined in this book be considered a merely abstract theological construct; it is a Church of the people, by the people, and for the people. Poised between the historic Des prêtres noirs s'interrogent and the Second African Synod, The Church as Salt and Light recalls and applies Vatican II's maxim Ecclesia semper reformanda in ways that are challenging, stimulating, and refreshing. With this book, we can confidently affirm that postcolonial theology has come of age-a new world-Church is possible!"
-Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ
Professor of Contextual Theology and Ecclesiology
Hekima College, Nairobi, Kenya
Stan Chu Ilo is Assistant Professor of Religion and Education, University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto. He is the founder and Director of Canadian Samaritans for Africa, and the publisher of the online journal Theology in Africa. He is the author of The Face of Africa and Aid and Development in Africa and the Role of Churches and Christian Charities in Africa's Social.
Joseph Ogbonnaya, PhD is a scholar at the Lonergan Research Institute, Regis College, Toronto, and chaplain of the Igbo Catholic Community of Toronto. He also works as a hospital chaplain at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto.
Alex Ojacor is a professor of Religion at St. Mary's National Major Seminary Ggaba in Kampala where he is the Associate Dean of Studies. He is the founder and director of the Children's Educational and Welfare Organization. He is an author, a social commentator, and a speaker.