Abstract
This article studies Christological titles as used among the Christian youth in Enugu state, Nigeria. The article adopts both oral interview and participant observation as its methodologies. It aims at discussing these modern-day Christologies among the Christian youth in Enugu state in the context of the reason for such a shift in the categorization of Jesus. Its findings show that, partly, this development among the youth can be located within their desire to key Jesus into modern-day youth language. More broadly, however, the article locates this Christological development among the youth of the state within folk religion, typified by the ever-evolving and contested nature of African Christology determined by changing contexts in which African Christians find themselves.
Introduction
The 25th of November 2018 was a great day for the Catholic Church all over the world. It was the day the feast of Christ the King was celebrated by all Catholic faithful worldwide. In the Nigerian context, however, it was the day for the celebration of both Christ the King and Corpus Christi. 1 Christ the King is usually a Catholic ritual that celebrates the kingship of Jesus Christ. In the Nigerian context, it is usually accompanied by a procession of Catholic faithful who march on the road with a religious leader leading the way with the Eucharist. During the Christ the King procession of the 25th of November 2018, I happened to come across a group of “breakaway” Christian youth involved in the procession at Ohom Junction Orba, along old Obollo road in the Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu state. These young people, with drums and gongs, were chanting “Jesus is a fine boy” amidst jubilation and cheers to Jesus as a king. Their chant of “Jesus is a fine boy” is Christological since it depicts these young people’s understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. This understanding, of course, is a radical shift from both the traditional western Christology and those obtainable in African Christianity as projected by some African theologians.
Christology is the study of the life, person, and work of Jesus Christ (Onwu, 2004: 107). It is partly anchored on the question that Jesus asked of his disciples in Mt 16:13-16, Mk 8:27-30 and Lk 9:18-20 concerning his person. Christology has been adjudged a very important aspect of Christian life, especially, in the midst of life crises. Since Christianity came to Africa from the western missionaries, the question of western Christology making sense to the African Christians has been the concern of African theology since it began to gather momentum in the 1960s. 2
Thus, for the earliest African theologians like Mbiti (1971), Ella (1986, 1988), Milingo (1984), Bediako (1992) and others, for Christology to make sense in the African context, it must be adapted from the cultural practices of the African people. As I shall discuss in detail in the next section of the article, it was on this basis that Christological titles for Jesus such as ancestor, chief, witch doctor/healer, elder brother, and others, became dominant Christological titles of Jesus in African Christianity. It seemed, as Uwaegbute (2009) has pointed out, that these titles indigenized the person of Jesus Christ to most African Christians, especially the rural and uneducated ones, for whom the ontology-dominated Christology of the West made little or no impact in their life during crises. For decades, especially in church life and academic discourses, these Christologies adapted from African cultural life reigned supreme. Thus, today among the Igbo Christians, for example, it makes sense to address Jesus as onye eze or igwe, Igbo words for chief or king, or such-like titles adapted from Igbo cultural practices. 3
However, as I narrated in the beginning of the study, some of these African Christologies no longer resonate with the Christian youth in Enugu state. While it cannot be claimed that most of these Christian youth are unaware of the existence of these Christologies, especially in their local oral forms, it is probable that they are not aware of these Christologies in theological discourses. That notwithstanding, some of the Christian youth in the state seem to be rebelling against the existing African Christologies which may now appear too old-fashioned and unintelligible to some of them, especially those in the Catholic fold. How then did these Christian youth arrive at appropriating “Jesus as a fine boy” or ‘Jesus as one who uses a nail as a toothbrush’ for example? Has this anything to do with the forces of modernity and the youth’s drive to key Jesus into their own modern-day language, thereby abandoning other traditional African Christologies? What about the location of this Christological development within the context of folk religious practices, and the ever-evolving nature of African Christology? These are some of the questions that motivated this article.
This development in the understanding of Jesus among the Christian youth in the state is likely a growing phenomenon that has not attracted any academic attention. Knowing that it is impossible for this article to cover all the Christian youth in the various strands of Christianity in Enugu state, I chose to concentrate on this shift among the youth’s understanding of Jesus in the Catholic Church in Enugu state. When necessary, however, related developments in other denominations may be referred to in the study.
By implication, I conducted interviews with ten Catholic Christian youth drawn from four local governments areas (Nsukka, Udenu, Enugu north, and Igbo-Etiti) in a bid to understand the meanings of some of the titles for Jesus that will be discussed in the article. For a correlation and comparison of these Christological titles among the Christian youth in the state, I also interviewed two Pentecostal youth from Nsukka. The interview was semi-structured. This was to allow me to pursue related aims of the article based on the responses of the interviewees. The interview questions were primarily designed to elicit the interviewee’s perception and understanding of the modern Christological titles being used for Jesus by the Christian youth in Enugu state and some possible factors responsible for this. The interviewees participated voluntarily. I made it clear to them that their responses would be used solely for the purpose of this article and that I would employ pseudonyms for those who do not want their names mentioned. Hence, during the interview processes, related ethical issues with regard to confidentiality were observed. Backed up with interviews as a source of data collection is participant observation that I made during mass celebrations and other related church rituals in which the youth participated, especially Catholic.
Breaking with Western Christology: A Survey of Some Existing African Christologies
Christology, as I have pointed out, is important in the life of a Christian. Since a Christian’s faith in Jesus depends on his/her understanding of who Jesus is and what he can do, Christology remains a very important part of the Christian faith (Mbiti, 1971: 190). As such, the African Christian mostly takes the issue of Christology seriously. In the Nigerian context, for example, one writer notes that “the African perception of Jesus Christ pervades every aspect of the Christian’s life in Nigeria and it influences the various ways of appropriating Christology.” 4
Generally, the received western Christology has been criticised by African theologians as being “too western” to make sense to the African Christian. The western context, as argued by these theologians, is quite different from that of Africa. The western-received Christology is therefore more “ontological” than “functional” for the African Christian to understand according to these theologians.
Many African Christians, particularly the uneducated and those in rural contexts as I have indicated, in their everyday struggles, do not really see how the ontological Christology of the West, which deals with the question of Jesus’ relationship with the Father (that is, how he is God and human at the same time, or his co-equal with the father while at the same time being human), helps solve their existential struggles. In fact, the ontological Christology of the West is too theological and academic to make sense to many African Christians (Uwaegbute 2009; Folarin 2003). Hence, it is not a functional Christology. This argument, therefore, led to a radical shift in African theology generally and the appropriation of Jesus in Africa, particularly.
African theologians, beginning from the 1960s and 1980s most especially, began to categorize Jesus with Christological titles adapted from African cultural themes and practices. Perhaps, the most popular of these African Christologies adapted from African cultural contexts are the ancestor Christology. Ancestorhood, of course, is one of the pivotal beliefs of the traditional religion of Africa. 5 A thorough understanding of the concept of ancestors in Africa shows that they are the ‘living-dead’ as Mbiti (1969: 83) has called them. They are the dead heroes (and in some contexts, heroines) of different African tribes who lived uprightly in accordance with the dictates of the traditional ethics of their people, who now in their superhuman state, help watch over the people they left behind. Given the importance of the ancestors in African religion, ancestor Christology became very popular among many African theologians like Penoukuo (1991), Pobee (1979), Nyamiti (1984, 1987), Bujo (1992), Milingo (1984: 78), Ezeh (2003), Stinton (2004), among others.
These theologians constructed ancestor Christology from different African contexts as ways of making Jesus relevant to African Christians. Equally, given the crisis-ridden nature of Africa where oppression, ethno-religious violence, injustice, poverty and hunger have become part of the continent, some African theologians began to appropriate Jesus as a liberator. Notable among these theologians is Magesa (1982: 79–92), the Tanzanian priest and scholar. It is pertinent to note that the issue of liberation in Africa was firstly woven around cultural liberation. It was in this context that an early sub-Saharan African theologian like Ella (1986, 1988) and other francophone African theologians stressed the recovery of African cultural traditions as part of the liberation of Africans. 6 The issue of cultural liberation, as seen in the works of theologians like Ella and others, may have been part of the fruit of South African liberation theology, especially as fully developed during the 1970s. Over the years, however, the issue of Jesus as a liberator has been elaborated upon to include not only the liberation of women, but also liberation from all oppressive forces. 7
Other Christologies of note in Africa include those of Jesus as a healer/witch doctor/nganga (Cece, 1991: 128–140; Shorter, 1985; Schoffellers, 1998: 157–183), Jesus as a chief (Kabesele, 1991: 103–115), Jesus as a king (Manus, 1993), Jesus as master of initiation (Sanon, 1991: 85–102), Jesus as a host (Goergen, n.d.), Jesus as Africa’s universal brother, (Sawyerr, 1978: 65–71), Jesus as the eldest brother (Nkwoka, 1991: 87–103), Jesus as a reconstructor (Gathogo, 2015), among others. 8 Critically speaking, although these Christological titles adapted from African cultural practices have contextualized Jesus in Africa, and have also made Jesus intelligible to African Christians, especially those in the rural contexts, they also have their own challenges (Ezigbo, 2008).
First, some of these Christologies are sometimes “too theological” for some rural and unschooled African Christians. It is worth noting that these Christians, in the first place, were the main target of these Christologies. This may be why some Christians in the rural contexts have not really been able to understand how seeing Jesus as an ancestor or a chief can help them through concrete life crises. It seems, as Okure cited in Uwaegbute (2009) has earlier pointed out, that these Christologies start and end in the classroom. Ezigbo has also raised a similar concern in the Nigerian context. According to Ezigbo (2008: 21) “the majority of Christologies that Nigerian theologians have constructed…have been written not for the laity, (and most times) not for theological students in Nigeria, but for the Western academia.” Hence, these Christologies have partly failed in the effort “to rescue theology from the shelves of the universities and the sanctuaries of the church and make it a living, dynamic, active, and creative reality in our society,” as Appiah-Kubi (1979: viii) once envisioned.
Second, these Christologies have failed to fit into the rapidly-changing African world and as such, have appeared unintelligible to some Christian youth, especially those in urban areas. This, as I shall show, leads to the constant evolution of Christological constructions among the youth for example. It is in this sense that one can understand Ogbonna’s view that “the African world is rapidly changing. Modernity and globalization have set in and are affecting the ways the youths understand both Jesus and Christianity. This includes the way they now understand Jesus and His person in their life.” 9 Of course, Ogbonna is correct. In today’s African world, modernity as propelled by globalization has taken over and has affected the ways not only that the youth practice Christianity but also the practice of Christianity generally in Africa, including Enugu state. 10 How can Jesus as an ancestor, for example, appeal to a Christian youth faced with the global process flow where the internet and the media have dominated and dictated, to some extent, youth’s lives?
How can presenting Jesus as a chief help the African youth in desperate need of jobs, food and shelter, one may ask? Although I will pursue this in detail as the article progresses, the point being made here is that some culturally-informed Christologies have failed to fit into the modern-day youth’s view of Jesus and Christianity generally. This is partly related to the changing contexts in which these young people find themselves and broadly speaking, the organic nature of African Christology which keeps evolving and being contested in accordance with the contexts African Christians find themselves.
From “Jesus as a Fine Boy” to “Jesus as one who uses a Nail as a Toothbrush”: Two Modern-day Christologies among the Youth in Enugu State
i. “Jesus as a Fine Boy”
The term “fine boy” is a modern-day phrase used by the youth not only in Enugu state but also in Nigeria generally. It is the youth’s popular culture language used to portray “handsomeness” “smartness” and “good-looking” features of a young man, Ogbonna told me. It is used to address a young man who may be aware of his looks and handsomeness and so, brags about it, Ogbonna further added. 11 Everything about the term “fine boy”, another youth named Kenneth told me, depicts the “gorgeous, attractive, lovely and comely” nature of a young man. 12 And Daniel adds that young people may also use the term ‘fine boy’ to describe a youth that has money or wealth. 13 However, most fine boys, as Ogbonna added, are always aware of their handsomeness and as such, are usually disposed to arrogance, brashness, impudence and a tendency to womanize. This is true since in an article written in nairaland.com on 23 April 2017, one user highlights that “one of the disadvantages of being a fine boy is that most young women take them to be ‘play boys.’” 14 Therefore, given the above explanations, what then might “Jesus as a fine boy” mean to the Christian youth who address him as such? Firstly and on a positive note, according to Kenneth, “Jesus as a fine boy” depicts Jesus as an unparalleled handsome man even though he cannot be physically described.
Does this then mean that the youth who depict Jesus as a fine boy try to paint a mental picture of his physical appearance as he lived in his first-century Galilean environment? Kenneth partially thinks so. That is why he goes on to add that if Jesus did all the wonderful things we read about him, then there is every possibility that he must have been a handsome man. Like Kenneth, Felix says that although the Jesus we read about in the gospels was an adult, he was once a boy who must have been fine physically. 15
Secondly and most importantly, “Jesus as a fine boy” may depict the beautiful, wondrous and magnificent things Jesus can do for a Christian youth. As Kenneth puts it, just as the Igbo people call Jesus omerammanaememma (the handsome one that does beautiful things), the youth’s reference to Jesus as a fine boy shows what beautiful things Jesus can do as God. Daniel agrees to this also. This is why he believes that for the Christian youth who address Jesus as a fine boy, the title surely depicts him as good, wonderful and able to do wondrous things. 16 In this regard, the title (fine boy), for the youth, may refer to Jesus’ ability as God who does wonderful and beautiful things.
There is, however, another side to the title of “Jesus as a fine boy.” According to Ogbonna, there may not be much meaning attached to the title as used by some young people to address Jesus. “It may be only a way through which some of these people key Jesus into their modern-day use of language. If such a term, to some of the youth, may be applied to their fellows, then they can equally address Jesus as such. It is just modernity at work,” Ogbonna concluded. Daniel partially agrees with Ogbonna on this. Although he believes that the title “fine boy” relates to the youth’s desire to address Jesus with a modern intelligible language, he also believes that there is still every likelihood that Jesus’ power and ability are depicted in such a Christology. From my own perspective, there is some sense in what Ogbonna pointed out above. In the context of modern-day youth practice of Christianity, for example, there has become a trivialization of many things. In the context of the Christ the King/Corpus Christi, where I first heard the youth addressing Jesus as a fine boy, it has become clear that some of the Christian youth involved in the procession just do so as a thing of fun and not really as an expression of faith in the kingship of Jesus and his person as Lord.
Kenneth partly sees it this way also. This is why he suggests that there is the likelihood that some of these youth who address Jesus as a fine boy do so without any definition to it. “They probably do so for doing sake, and that is if such a title does not have derogatory nuances, given the fact that most ‘fine boys’ may be disposed to arrogant, impudent and brash attitudes,” Kenneth argued. For Kenneth, this is the reason why he partly believes that some of the Christian youth who address Jesus as a fine boy do not really think deeply about its negative sides. That is why Kenneth further maintains his stance that the youth who do so do not necessarily express commitment to a serious understanding of the person of Jesus and what he can do for them.
Hence, for him, some of these young people may not be committed Christians in the first place. Daniel thinks that such a Christology, having derogatory connotations, depends on how one appraises it. If one sees it from a positive point of view, then such a Christology is a good one, its negative connotations notwithstanding. However one understands the fine boy Christology as expressed by some Christian youth in the state, it is likely that the Christology has some connection with the power of modernity and some youth’s drive to key their understanding of Jesus into it.
Despite the fact that the fine boy Christology is an offshoot of modernity, Kenneth argues that the Christology seems derogatory to be used for Jesus. It seems to attack (although subtly) the core teaching of Christianity which hinges on the deity of Jesus as God and his co-equality with the Father. By relegating the person of Jesus to the level of a mere human as the fine boy Christology does, the divinity of Jesus is being doubted and relegated to the background. It therefore trivializes the person and image of Jesus as God. This Christology simply brings Jesus to the level of humans and shows a lack of respect for him as much as it does not depict strong faith in Jesus’ power and ability. Hence, for Kenneth, this is not an appropriate title for Jesus irrespective of how popular it may be among the youth.
ii. “Jesus as one who uses a Nail as a Toothbrush”
This Christology, to my understanding, appears very funny when taken at its face value. I heard it, firstly, when attending the adoration program of a popular Catholic charismatic ministry in Nsukka. When the Eucharist was raised by the priest, some addressed Jesus as igwe, onye eze and the like. Some of the youth would shout: Jesus “o ji six inches nail mere atu” which roughly translates as “Jesus, the one who uses a six-inch nail as a toothbrush.” This is a Christology that, according to Ikenna, depicts “Jesus in his mighty power and ability to do the impossible.” 17 As Ogbonna further told me, “such a Christology, for the youth who categorize Jesus as such, seeks to emphasize his power to do the impossible. For someone to use a nail as a toothbrush suggests that the person must be a superhuman. Only superhumans are capable of such a feat.” 18
Another youth named Christian concurs. For him, this Christology is related since “it shows Jesus in his power, might and ability.” 19 This Christology, though funny, seems to relate to the ability of Jesus, especially, in the context of what he can do for the desperately-poor and restive young Christians in the state.
However, does categorizing Jesus as one who uses a six-inch nail as a toothbrush have any negative connotations? The youth I interviewed think so, although not all that condemnable like that of the fine boy Christology. Kenneth, as we saw above, would condemn such a Christology for the fact that it is just one of the funny ways through which the youth key Jesus into their modern-day language. To some of these young people, it may not really mean much but just a modern way of viewing Jesus. Ogbonna also thinks so. To him, ‘the problem of such a Christology lies in the fact that some youth who categorize Jesus as such may not really be committed Christians. This may lead to the tendency of taking the Lord’s name in vain when critically examined." 20
While this Christology completely breaks with the traditionally known African Christologies, there is every tendency that it has an element of emphasizing the person of Jesus as one who can do the impossible. If Jesus, for example, can use a nail as a toothbrush, what then can he not do for the youth, one may wonder? This should be the core of Christology—the understanding of the person of Jesus in a way that it will make sense in a Christian’s life, especially in times of life crises. This validates Chinwokwu’s (2015: 227) claim that Christology can make sense to an African only when he/she is able to understand what Jesus can do in his/her life.
However, the Christology may just be another way of using a modern intelligible youth’s language to address Jesus, which may not necessarily have much meaning attached to it. One will not be in a hurry, however, to forget the fact being emphasized in this work that the youth in the state are breaking free from a whole lot of the so-called traditional Christologies. As such, they are finding ways of addressing Jesus using modern titles.
It could be that “Jesus as one who uses a nail as a toothbrush” falls into the drive of some youth in the state to use modern-day language to address Jesus. This, as some of my interviewees stated above, may not necessarily negate the person of Jesus as one who does impossibilities as the Christology emphasizes.
Why then these Modern-day Christologies among the Christian Youth now?
In line with part of the aim of this study, it is pertinent to discuss the possible variables that drive these modern-day Christologies among the Christian youth in the state. Two frameworks will guide my analysis of the Christological developments being discussed here: These are globalization as it affects identity construction, and folk religion. I begin first by making some observation. As we have seen, it is likely that some of the existing African Christologies no longer resonate with some Christian youth in the state. As Christian suggested, “some of the local Christologies are way out-fashioned and unintelligible for some young people in the state. Some of these Christologies, therefore, do not help the modern-day Christian youth cope with the fast-changing world of today in which they find themselves.” 21 In the real sense of it, Kenneth argues that he still cannot see the relevance of Christ as an ancestor, a medicine man (dibia), brother, etc. and the impact these Christologies can have in a youth’s life, especially the one going through joblessness, battling diseases, or hoping for ‘God’s settlement’ as most Nigerian youth would put it. 22 Besides, as Chidi, a Pentecostal youth in the state argues, “it even sounds very fetish for a Christian youth in the state to fall back to cultural themes in constructing a Christology. Such an issue like that of ancestorhood, for example, does not only have a smack of fetishism but also has lost touch with modernity.” 23
Chidi raised an important point above with his reference to ancestorhood as fetishism. From my observation, it seems that among some young people in the state, the era of cultural revival and its incorporation into the practice of Christianity and the construction of Christology is over. Such issues, I believe, do not bother them. This is why Chidi puts it that “times change and this also affects some understandings people have about Jesus Christ. This is applicable to the case of the youth’s perception of the person of Jesus Christ today in the state.” 24 Presently, there seems to have been a shift even in African theology in using cultural themes in constructing Christologies. Twenty-first century African theological concerns have shifted from cultural revivalism and its bearing on the practice of Christianity in Africa to other important issues confronting the modern African Christians. 25 This shift also reflects the way Christianity and Christology are viewed by the Christian youth in the state.
On the surface, it may seem that Catholicism is changing in Nigeria. In truth, that is not the case. Catholic liturgies and rituals in Nigeria and in Enugu state in particular have not yet been affected by modernity as seen in other strands of Christianity in Nigeria. Rather, the youth who practice Catholicism in Enugu state are adapting themselves to modernity. Thus, what can be made of this is that the construction of Christology among the youth in the state is evolving, taking different dimensions as time goes by just like the whole spectrum of African Christology as I had indicated earlier. Hence, partly aiding the evolution of these modern-day Christologies among the youth, is globalization and modernity and their impact on the youth’s identity construction. Globalization, according to McGrew (1990: 61) “defines a process through which events, decisions and activities in one part of the world can come to have significant consequences for individuals and communities in quite distant parts of the world.”
Through globalization, information, beliefs, practices, images and the like are spreading from one part of the world to another, thus making it possible for the world to become a global community. The media are veritable agencies through which global ‘flows’ are felt all over the world. And, as Cerulo (1997: 397–399) shows, the media help a lot in identity construction, especially among the youth. As Taylor (2015: 1) points out “theories of construction presume that identity is produced and changed, at least in part by a person’s interactional, situational, sociohistoric and cultural contexts.” This is why global flow of information, images, ideas, and beliefs affect the construction of identities of the youth as they are exposed to all these. Thus, Burgess (2004: 30) is right in saying that globalization affects identity constructions, especially in Africa. In this regard, globalization and modernity have indeed provided the Christian youth in Enugu state “with a repertoire of cultural scripts with which to construct their identities.”
Hence, both of these forces have led to a re-definition of the identities of the youth and how they address themselves based on what is obtainable in the global context as aided by the media. Of course, that is not to deny the fact that there are other local influencing agencies of globalization which have given rise to the use of the term ‘glocalization’ among some scholars. 26 It is therefore within this framework that I partly locate, for example, the image and language of fine boy as a Christology among some young people in Enugu state. As I have pointed out, the term ‘fine boy’ is common among the youth in Nigeria as a whole, especially among those in the urban centres as a reference to a handsome and attractive young man. Of course, worthy to mention is the impetus given to this term, firstly, by the publication of Eghosa Imasuen’s novel Fine Boys in 2012 and Oga Jay’s song Fine Boys Like Us, Nadem Rush Us in 2018 which led the term ‘fine boy’ becoming a buzzword among social media users like Facebook and Twitter by the youth in Nigeria. 27
Thus, the power of the media in helping the youth re-construct their identities as fine boys cannot be overrated. If the term ‘fine boy’ has become part of the identity and language of the Nigerian youth today, it will not then be a wonder to hear them address Jesus as ‘a fine boy’ also? In this regard, when, for example, some youth in Enugu state address Jesus as ‘a fine boy’ and as ‘one who uses a nail as a toothbrush", they are merely using modern titles intelligible to them in constructing Christology.
This then brings me to the second and broader context through which these modern day Christologies among the youth in the state can be understood. This context, of course, is folk religion. Folk religion has many definitions, and is also a contested term (Kapalo, 2013: 4, 7). However, I adopt the definition of the religion as “the totality of all those views and practices of religion that exist among the people apart and alongside the strictly theological and liturgical forms of the official religion” (Yoder, 1974: 14). This definition is in line with the view of Van Rheneen (n.d.) that folk religion “synthesizes popular beliefs and practices, frequently animistic in nature, that are developed within cultures to handle everyday problems. In many contexts, they exist within high religious traditions and sometimes even with secular humanism.” Therefore, folk religion, according to Kapalo (2013: 13–14), is mostly characterized by resistance of folks and their religious practices against elite/official religion. It is within this context that I locate the practice of Christianity in Africa in most cases. African Christianity, which may also be termed ‘folk Christianity", 27 integrates African cultural (religious) life with the practice of Christianity to reflect real life situations of African Christians. This, in other words, is acculturation of Christianity. Therefore, the desire, the thirst and the yearning of African Christians to root their practice of Christianity within African cultural cum religious practices is a good example of folk religion at play. As of 1982, Aylward Shorter had referred to this type of Christianity as folk Christianity. And, since its modern emergence mostly from the 1960s, African Christianity has become popular among the African people, although being contested and having many strands.
It is therefore, within the above context, that African Christology grew out and is located in this article. In other words, African Christology has, at its root, folk religion. As I have shown in the first section of the article, African Christology developed along the lines of the desire to root the person of Jesus within African/religious cultural understanding for him to make more sense to the African people. Hence, from the 1960s, African Christology has evolved, taking different shades and faces as years go by. This shows that it is “organic” rather than static. This is true of the Christological constructions being witnessed among the Igbo people of Nigeria. Thus, when the Igbo Christian, as I have shown, calls Jesus Igwe, onye eze, nna anyi (our ancestor), eriri ji obele (our life line) among others, these are all Christological expressions taken from Igbo traditional (religious) life and infused into the practice of Christianity; this is folk religion at play. Such Christologies have become popular among many Igbo Christians and are being expressed in everyday practice of Christianity in Igboland. They are equally very organic, taking different shades and dimensions to suit the yearning and changing contexts Igbo Christians find themselves.
Within this framework, that is, folk religion as typified by an organic and ever-contested African Christology, I locate also modern-day Christologies being witnessed among the Christian youth in Enugu state. When the youth, for example, want to categorize Jesus, they fall back to cultural, “trending” or related themes which, in turn, they popularize and integrate into their understanding of the person of Jesus and practice of Christianity generally, just as it is being witnessed in folk religious practices. Within this context one can then understand the Christological titles “Jesus as a fine boy” or “Jesus as one who uses a nail as a toothbrush” as all evolutions of African Christology. By implication, these modern-day titles of Jesus as seen among the youth show how Christological constructions evolve, and are being contested in Enugu state (and by implication, among the Igbo people) based on contexts these Christians find themselves. These Christologies are then popularized and integrated into the practice of Christianity as we have seen in the case of the youth in Enugu state. In this sense, one would not be surprised that the construction of Christology among the Christian youth in Enugu state may still take many forms in future, very much different from those discussed in the present study.
Conclusion
This article sought to study the trends of Christological constructions among the Christian youth in Enugu State, Nigeria. In doing this, it firstly discussed the earlier popular African Christologies and how the modern-day Christologies of the youth in Enugu state seem to have departed radically from the traditional Christologies. Part of the reason for this, as the article’s findings showed, is the unintelligibility of some of these Christologies to the Christian youth in the state and the growing effect of globalization and modernity as aided by the media and their influence on the construction of new identities among the youth. Broadly speaking however, the article argued for these Chistological trends among the youth to be located within the context of folk religion as typified by the ever-evolving nature of African Christology which is also being contested by African Christians to fit the contexts they find themselves. In this sense, both “Jesus as a fine boy” and “Jesus as one who uses a nail as a toothbrush” show how evolutionary African Christology has been among African Christians since the 1960s.
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Notes
The first version of this article was presented at the Annual Conference of Society for Research and Academic Excellence, University of Nigeria Nsukka, held between 4–7 February 2019.