Abstract
Stephanie Lowery’s study of the African communal identity and the role it plays in the ecclesiological thinking of certain African theologians is a helpful beginning to the larger study of ecclesiology in its African context. The book is based on her PhD work at Wheaton College.
Lowery’s aim is to start where Charles Nyamiti’s left off in what she calls his ‘ground clearing’ book, Some Contemporary Models of African Ecclesiology. Lowery uses her six chapters to establish a foundation for African ecclesiology in ‘communal identity’. She begins her Introduction by stating that, ‘Ecclesiology should naturally be a prominent doctrine in Africa because of the cultural emphasis on communal identity’ (p. xiii). In Chapter 1, Lowery discusses the issue of identity in its African context. In particular, she notes Kwame Bediako’s discussion of identity (the title of Lowery’s book is an obvious reference to Bediako’s monumental Theology and Identity) but is critical of his failure to adequately define the word. For Bediako’s generation, identity had apologetic importance as he and his friends fought for the acceptance of theology conducted in Africa – especially theology emerging from an African identity. Lowery rightly observes, however, that a renewed focus on identity in its communal sense is essential for any discussion of ecclesiology coming out of Africa. In Chapter 2, which is foundational to the entire work, Lowery lays out the five most important ‘leitmotifs’ or ‘foundational themes’ in her reading of what constitutes African theology: (1) identity, (2) inculturation, (3) liberation, (4) life and (5) community. By the end of the chapter, however, it is clear that ‘communal identity’ is the interpretive key for the other four. Because Chapter 2 highlights, ‘African theology’s concern with identity, specifically an identity that is inculturated, liberating, full of life, and shaped by community’ (p. 46), Chapter 3 uses the work of V Mulago gwa Cikala Musharhamina, Kwame Bediako and Mercy Amba Oduyoye to discuss and further define identities in Africa. Lowery notes that all three argue for the importance of both understanding and incorporating Africa’s self-understanding into their Christian faith. She also demonstrates that Mulago and Bediako both discuss identity with a tacit presumption of its communal nature. Lowery commends Oduyoye in particular for her pointed criticism of elements in African religio-culture, colonial western Christianity and certain interpretations of biblical culture which failed to alleviate oppression against women and other marginalized people (cf. pp. 78–79). It does not come as a surprise that Lowery reaches a definition of identity in this chapter which highlights its communal aspect. She writes,
A particular concern with communal or social identity, related to group membership, would suggest that it is vital for African theology to explore ecclesial identity further, describing how that particular communal identity reflects the Lordship of Christ and the nature of God’s kingdom. (p. 46)
In Chapter 4, Lowery considers the Bible’s understanding of communal identity. She looks first at two passages in the Old Testament (Joshua 2, 6-7 – the story of Rahab) and Ezekiel 18 (and the prophet’s understanding of the proverb about sour grapes). She then turns to the New Testament and discusses John 17 and Jesus’ prayer for unity rooted in God’s Triune nature, 1 Corinthians 12 and its discussion of diversity of gifts within the unity of the church and Galatians 3.26-28 and the fact that in Christ old divisions have evaporated. Her exposition of these texts makes clear her value of both diversity and unity within the church.
In Chapter 5, Lowery discusses the ecclesiastical ideas of three Roman Catholic and two Protestant theologians. Two themes emerge in this chapter. The first is how African communal identity is expressed in the idea of the church as family – or in the case of Ande, what he calls the ‘Life-Community’ model with Christ at the centre. Lowery appreciates Georges Titre Ande’s change in nomenclature as an attempt to counteract some of the negative repercussions of seeing the church as a ‘family’ or ‘clan’ that can too easily lead to putting one’s clan commitments ahead of a commitment to Christ and his church. The second theme is of even greater importance to Lowery’s purposes and that is the way in which the perichoretic relationships of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are absolutely foundational to the African concept of the church. This, Lowery suggests, is ultimately the best way for establishing the church community as the African Christian’s ‘principal identity’ (p. 189).
Chapter 6 introduces the social identity approach, a combination of social identity theory and self-categorization theory. This approach acknowledges the influence of communal identities on the individual’s claims about his or her identity. Lowery uses this tool first, to emphasize the need for Africans to make their commitment to Christ ‘superordinate’ and second, as a way to translate the African understanding of the church to the West without privileging the West.
Lowery argues that until now, only Nyamiti has written on ecclesiology and then as a way to introduce the RC magisterial teaching. Her work tries to go beyond that. Two factors seem to me to work against Lowery’s purpose. First, Lowery’s methodology – she has chosen to study only theologians from the mission-founded churches – seriously limits the scope of her work. By leaving aside the AICs and Pentecostals, she has arguably studied the least important segment of the African church today. This strikes me as a serious problem if, as Cephas Omenyo (2011) has noted, virtually all African Christian churches today have been deeply influenced by the Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal churches, especially their emphasis on the charismata and divine healing. My second, and more significant complaint is that Lowery has not reckoned with the ancestors in this work. The idea of the ancestors as the ‘living dead’ (John Mbiti’s phrase) is ubiquitous in African theology and essential to Africa’s communal identity. Both Bediako and Oduyoye, two of her most important conversation partners in this book, specifically mention and use the reality of the ancestors as living members of the church in their work. Lowery, however, does not appear to have read Bediako’s second most important work, Christianity in Africa, where he deals extensively with the ancestors. While Bediako himself rejected the Roman Catholic idea of including ancestors in the ‘communion of saints’, his objections were qualified. Charles Sarpong Aye-Addo (2013) in particular has pointed to the great promise that ancestors – informed by African communal identity – might play in a more robust understanding of the church today.
Lowery’s work will, I believe, prove most useful to scholars researching African ecclesiology. Wipf & Stock, under its Pickwick Publications, has done an admirable job making the work of African scholars and Africanists (like Lowery) available to a broader audience. Unfortunately, for the average reader this book still reads too much like an academic thesis.