Umunthu Theology: An Introduction

Augustine Chingwala Musopole

Description

What is the key to understanding in a truly Malawian way? After a lifetime's theological reflection the author finds the answer in the concept of uMunthu (personhood or human-ness). Drawing on Malawi's cultures and languages, the biblical text and the evangelical faith, he casts a theological vision that can be transformative for church and nation.

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Éthique et morale
• Religion
• Christianisme
• Ethique et morale
• Anthropology
• Religion in Africa
• Culture of Africa
• Christianity in Africa
• Philosophie et théologie
• PHILOSOPHY
• Christian Theology

Informations

• Publié par: Mzuni Press
• Date de parution: 31 décembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789996060977
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Umunthu Theology: An Introduction

© Augustine Chingwala Musopole 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mecha- nical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from the publishers.

Published by Mzuni Press P/Bag 201 Luwinga, Mzuzu 2 Malawi

ISBN eISBN

978-99960-60-96-0 978-99960-60-97-7

Mzuni Press is represented outside Malawi by: African Books Collective Oxford (also for e-books) ([e-mail])

www.africanbookscollective.com www.mzunipress.blogspot.com

Umunthu Theology An Introduction Augustine Chingwala Musopole

Mzuzu 2021

In Memory Wambali Greenwood Mkandawire, d. 31 January 2021

Contents Contents Foreword

Chapter One A Theology for the Christianity of the Soil in Malawi

Chapter Two Theological Norms for the Christianity of the Soil

Chapter Three What is Theology?

Chapter Four A Theologian for Christianity of the Soil

Chapter Five What is Umunthu Theology?

Chapter Six Umunthu Theological Method

Chapter Seven Umunthu Theology and the African World View

Chapter Eight Umunthu Theology and the Development of Theology in Africa

Chapter Nine Christian Theology in uMunthu Perspective

Chapter Ten A Theological Vision for Malawi

Bibliography

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6 11 27 45 64 101 124 137 187 212 274 293

Foreword

Foreword

6

Augustine Musopole begins this book with the call issued in 1933 by his compatriot Yesaya Zerenji Mwasi for a “Christianity of the soil,” i.e. a fully African theology. Mwasi was a most remarkable prophet, anticipating the agenda that would occupy African theology half a century before it got seriously underway as an academic discipline. Concerned that, almost one hundred years later, Mwasi’s call has yet to be fully answered in the Malawi context, Musopole addresses himself to its challenge.

He brings a remarkable range of perspectives to this theological project. Having grown up and been educated up to Bachelor’s level in Malawi, he had a long sojourn in the Western world (UK and USA) undertaking postgraduate studies. Much of his working life was then spent back in Malawi where he engaged in various forms of Christian service and leadership. He then embarked on a 12-year stint as a theological teacher in Taiwan, thus taking the opportunity to become familiar with the Asian context and Asian approaches to theology. He thus acquired an unusual combination of both being deeply grounded in his homeland in Malawi and having a global and international perspective. John Pobee of Ghana used to say that “theology is biography” and Musopole is one theologian who draws deeply on the life he has lived in order to craft his theology.

His integration of local and global, national and universal, is illustrated by his use of language. He writes in highly polished English, making his work accessible to an international audience. In the construction of his theology, however, he constantly draws on Malawian languages such as Chichewa/Chinyanja, Chitumbuka, Chingonde and even Chindali. In his hands these languages become a treasure trove, rich in meaning, as he teases out their nuances to advance his theological argument. In this way he develops a theology

Foreword 7 that has its roots in the soil of Malawi but reaches outwards to contribute to a broader discourse that is global in scope.

The constant that runs through it all is the concept ofuMunthu (humanness), on which he alighted early in his career as the key to a truly Malawian/African theology. Whether engaging prickly con- textual realities at home in Malawi or engaging in theological dialogue on the global stage he has consistently championeduMunthuas the foundation on which an authentically African theology can be built.

At the same time, his work bears out the conviction of Kwame Bediako that African Christian scholarship “is no longer merely for Africa. It is for the world.” Musopole is a remarkably eclectic theologian, drawing from different schools of thought and travelling widely across both space and time in search of wisdom to bring to his project. In fact, he is self-consciously irenic and synthetic in his approach, refusing to be drawn into theological polarities but ever looking for the best of both worlds. Even the long-running stand-off between conservative and liberal theology he views as the two wings of a bird – both needed for proper balance.

Malawi can be grateful for this son of its soil who has offered a theological vision that is true to its national genius and rooted in the biblical and evangelical faith cherished by so many of its people, yet which carries prophetic and subversive quality to challenge inauthentic spirituality and social injustice. This is a book that can act as a launchpad for the next stage of theological work in Malawi, while at the same time being a gift from Malawi to the world. Kenneth R. Ross Zomba, Lent 2021

Foreword

8

Preface There are a number of things that led me to the development of umunthuThis was to be a theology based on humanness theology. which is an important reality in traditional philosophy. To my surprise my compatriot Rev Dr Harvey Sindima was also thinking on the same theme even before we had met to talk about it. This became a confirmation that I was on the right path. The challenge for me to think from anumunthu perspective started in relationship to education. As both a secondary school teacher and headmaster I discovered that the educational system did not operate with any given philosophy. Having gone through the system from standard one to graduate level, I was not aware of any philosophy that informed the education system. It was a system that was informed by examination and which marked its progress at standards 5, 8, forms 2 and 4, and also semester examinations in the university. No teacher ever shared with us a philosophy of education to inform our education. They were all concerned with the content of what they were teaching having to do with head factual knowledge. Of course, there were times when students got punished if they misbehaved, but no positive information to shape our character and as fundamentals of our education was ever given. If one ever heard of umunthu, it was from the forgotten traditional wisdom through parents especially mothers, but such times were rare since most of the time was spent in school.

It was when I went to Britain for theological studies in 1971 since there were no institutions in Malawi that taught theology at the undergraduate level, that I had the cultural shock of my life as the youth in Britain and America, and also in Europe were going through what was called the sex-revolution which was a moral rebellion from a conservative moral culture of their parents and which was riding on the crest of other protest movements, for instance, the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, Anti-Vietnam War protests,

Foreword 9 academic protests, and other youth protests. What disturbed me was what I thought was a lack ofumunthuas I understood it in Malawi, and all done in the name of freedom which to me was considered irresponsible behaviour. I started to have a crisis of identity and conscious of cultural difference. It all had to do with our different understanding of what it meant to haveumunthu. Even adult students preparing for the ministry within the Anglican Church seemed to suffer from I would consider arrested growth in theirumunthu.

Therefore, I also discovered that while I had a tribal identity, that of Ndali, I did not have a national cultural identity. Malawi was a geogra- phical space without a culture. Each tribe had its culture, but not Malawi as a nation. We were a collective of tribes. I started to ask whether there was a deeper foundation that could unite all the tribal cultures in Malawi and for the sake of national unity. This question led me to the concept and reality ofumunthuproviding such a as foundation with variations on the common theme. Having found this reality ofumunthuas the unifying factor, I realized that it could be the bedrock of a national philosophy which could inform a philosophy of education, a key to theological understanding, and cultural unity and mutual appreciation. The tragedy was that western education and modernity had marginalized it and left us without a philosophical understanding on which to build our self-development.

I became determined to retrieve it and start to build on it a national philosophy for development, a philosophical foundation for education, and a comprehensive theology for our existential meaning in the cosmos. This book is the result of that theological endeavour that has taken over fifty years in the making. It has been an attempt to bring together bits and pieces of theological attempts started by the earlier generations of theologically trained individuals, the foremost of whom was the Rev Yesaya Zerenji Mwasi. There were also the early hymn composers who used song and dance to