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Parallels between Jewish and African religio-cultural lives
Temba Mafico
In my Master's thesis presented to Harvard Divinity School in 1973, I stressed the importance to missionaries of a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament, if their mission abroad were to succeed, particularly among the Africans.' In my conclusion I quoted B.W. Anderson who wrote in The Old Testament and Christian Faith:
The relation of the Old Testament to the New
is not just a concern of Old Testament specialists who might be accused of special pleading, or of New Testament experts who cannot escape dealing with the matter in their exegesis of the text. Rather, it is a question which confronts every Christian in the Church, whether he be a professional theologian, a pastor of a congregation, or a layman. It is no exaggeration to say that on this question hangs the meaning of the Christian faith 3
To this quotation I added a concluding sentence to my thesis: a . on the same question hangs the success or failure of mission work in Gazaland, and in any part of the world where Christianity encounters a different culture and religion. »4
Ignorance of the Old Testament does not, in itself, seem to be as damaging to the missionary evangelistic effort as were their preconceived ideas of the African and his culture. These two elements in the missionary, that is, his ignorance of the Old Testament and his preconceived ideas of the African, sealed the failure of his mission before it had even started. The importance of the Old Testament will become clearer in the course of the essay. What we must examine briefly from the outset are the preconceived ideas the missionaries had.
Misconceptions of African culture
a For David Livingston, `the end of the geographical feat [was] the beginning of the missionary enterprise'. »5 There is not much I can point out to criticize David Livingstone personally except that he also shows some bias against African religio-cultural life. The absence of his praise of African culture after spending so many years travelling on the continent, and his urgent appeal for missionaries to come to Africa, show that he shared the view that Africa was a « dark continent” suddenly opened up by his explorations.
You will see . . . what an immense region God in His providence has opened up. If we can enter in and form a settlement we shall be able in the course of a very few years to put a stop to the slave trade in that quarter . . . Providence seems to call me to regions beyond.6
The missionaries who responded to Livingstone's call were typical of many who visited Africa. We will not attempt to exhaust the list because it is too long, but we will quote a couple who give a general idea. One of those who came to Africa for missionary work is Frederick Stanley Arnot, a playmate of Livingstone's children. Being so familiar to Livingstone, one might have expected that he would have some positive briefing from Livingstone about the Africans and their culture. But as soon as Amor was established in Northern Rhodesia he wrote:
The depth of [the Lozi] heathendom seems unfathomable; it is a nation of secret bloodshed, superstition, and enchantments.7
He went on:
Moreover, the Lozi « are clever at . . deceit in all its imaginable forms. Never can you trust one word they say, from the king to the beggar—but indeed they are all beggars, and mean. I have often longed to see in one a glance of truth or spark of honesty.” 8
Frederick Stanley Arnot, like many subsequent missionaries, decided to approach his work through education. He built a school, but found students very uninterested, even towards his compassionate exposition about « sin, death and judgement, and of God's love in the gift of His Son z. Arnot was very surprised « that it was only with supreme effort that [he] could interest them ».° Looking at his approach one hundred years later we should not be surprised that he failed and his school had to close down. Not only did he fail educationally, but evangelically « Arnot met with very little success ».'° He urged the king, Lewanika, g to eliminate witchcraft and trials by ordeal, to eschew sacrifices to idols and to forbid adultery and polygyny b." Rotberg adds that Amot even went to the extent of trying to convert the king by mistakenly interpreting his tolerance for genuine encouragement.
Frederick Amot, who was the first missionary in Northern Rhodesia, had failed mainly because of his preconceived ideas of the Africans. To him the Africans surrounding him were a pool of « awful heathenism ». As Rotberg wrote: « In his eyes, Barotseland was a vast den of sin, » an example of African depravity. After Arnot, Francois Coillard reinforced Armes view of the Africans in these terms:
« [The Lozi were] utter heathen. » They flourished in an « unfathomable abyss of corruption and degradation, of which [he had] found a parallel nowhere in heathen Africa ». In 1891 Coillard, writing to his supporters in Europe, said: g The Barotse are treacherous and suspicious — no savages' feet are swifter than theirs to shed blood. The least provocation, the most groundless suspicion, envy, jealousy, and vengeance justify the most atrocious crimes. s R There are more examples we could use, but since they all show the general and widely shared views of missionaries towards Africa, we will limit ourselves to these few examples.
The missionaries showed a complete rejection of the African culture. They failed to realize that the African way of life was not only cultural, but was governed by many religious considerations which dared back many generations. These were customs whose abandonment did not only cause displeasure to the guardian spirits and to their God, but an action which invoked their wrath and unavoidable punishment,' To avoid personal and national calamity, strict observance of the statutes, testimonies and ordinances was not only a duty, but an absolute requirement as wel1.14 Thus, when the missionaries prohibited all aspects of traditional African marriage, for example, polygyny, bride wealth, and many other traditional practices, they were not only uprooting the African from his culture, but also from his religion. The missionaries failed to realize that in Africa religion and culture are indistinguishable (unlike the western world where they are separable). This is why it is wrong to speak of « the African traditional culture and religion s, but one should speak of the « African religio.cultural life ».15
The missionaries, seeing that their missionary endeavor was failing, decided to use strategies which seemed effective. They established mission stations and built schools and hospitals there. To the Africans, who over the years had found economic and social advantages in acquiring education, the missionaries laid conditions of admission to the school. This was by confession of the sins, baptism and confirmation 16
Perhaps it will help for me to illustrate this point from personal experiences which I still remember very vividly in my home place — Chipinga in Rhodesia.17
The newly confirmed members of the church were strictly forbidden to participate in traditional cultural dances, drumming, a and many other traditional ways of expressing joy, [which] seemed sinful. [These] were eschewed within the precincts of the mission stations where the new converts were now like prisoners in a process of cultural transformation. As years rolled by, I still recall, many church records reflected many names of church members, but to our surprise, the churches outside the station were almost always empty. Drumming, though heard in the distance, attracted hundreds of people from far and wide, making the church with its bell and church spire seem to be a symbol of permanent missionary failure. The few Africans who really turned away from their culture wholly became new creatures s. We can call this new creation « the nowhere man s." They are nowhere because they have been detached from their African religio-cultural life. They now support the missionaries in their condemnation of their culture. One would expect that they would be accepted by missionaries as equals, but in countries where colonization was discriminatory, it was not one's faith or culture which transformed or qualified one to be counted among the white race, but color only. Thus it was sad to see that e the nowhere man* could no longer relate to his own people because he was « Christian », and yet he could not be fully accepted by the white missionaries because he was African and black. This type of « Christianity s fostered a situation which was nothing less than social ostracism. To avoid this state of affairs many Africans chose the wisest option: to appear Christian in order to earn some education and receive medical attention. After schooling, however, many Africans shed their « sheep's clothing s and openly practised their religion. This accounted for the virtually empty churches with records, however, showing a membership of many hundreds.
Parallels between Jewish and African religio-cultural lives
Many of those who left the mission church either formed their own or joined the Zionist church which reflected many Old Testament aspects. This tendency suggests very strongly that the African discovered that there were parallels between the Jewish and the African religio-cultural lives which made him feel comfortable with the Old Testament. The missionary interpreted this situation to confirm his low grading of the Old Testament whose teaching or inferior status was only attractive to « primitive I> people." In this short paper I will not pursue my criticism of the « Marcionic » attitude of the missionaries, but will confine my discussion to the following features which are very similar in the Jewish and African cultures: community feeling, genealogy, significance of the word and name, marriage customs, the nature of worship, social structure, importance of wisdom, and other matters.
Sense of community
The Hebrews had a very strong corporate feeling which originated from their allegiance to a common God: e the God of [our] fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob s (Ex. 3:15). The Hebrew allegiance to the Lord played a stronger unitive influence on the Hebrew slaves than sheer nationalism. When the Hebrews had been reduced to slavery in Egypt, they had reached a desperate point where it had become inconceivable that they would ever be able to free themselves?' The male population was being curtailed by Pharaoh to prevent any possible !rebellion." Moses, in despair, after failing to arouse any nationalistic feeling among the Hebrew slaves, fled Egypt (Ex. 2:15). The call of Moses may be interpreted as his firm realization of the main unitive factor among the Hebrew slaves: their allegiance to the Lord. Moses therefore returned to Egypt and declared that « the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob » had invited them to worship him in the wilderness." The Hebrews were thus solidly united in a community feeling by their desire to serve their God, who was also seen as the God of history.24
Genealogy
To identify the God of the Hebrews, Moses used what I call a « mini » genealogy." This genealogy convinced the Hebrew slaves that the God who helped their ancestors through similar hardships would certainly help them, in order to fulfil the promises he made to their fathers. This fact is substantiated by the credo in Deuteronomy 26:56-9. The Jews not only used genealogies to identify their deity, but they also used them to reveal relationships hidden behind different names, as will be made clear below. Many people who dislike the Old Testament say that their interest was killed by too many genealogies found in the Pentateuch," but these long lists serve an important unifying function in the Jewish religion and culture.
It is very interesting to find that the Africans are also culturally bound by their genealogical lineage. Let us look at one example of the importance of genealogy to them.
One of the boring aspects of the African culture to westerners is the duration of the greeting or the introduction formality. The reason for its length is that the guest must be placed somewhere on a genealogical ladder. As this ladder is descended rung by rung, the two who are meeting may suddenly realize that somewhere down the line their forefathers were related, hence these two are also related. Behind the different surnames often lies a relationship, permanently inscribed in genealogical records, retained by the African's ability to recite their genealogies regularly." African families, clans and tribes share a belief in a common ancestor at some remote time in history. Consequently, in a sacrifice or presentation of first fruits," the Africans used to dedicate the food to their immediate ancestors, who were asked in turn to give it to their own immediate ancestors and so on down the line until the gift reached the first ancestor — presumably God. He was known under these titles: the Creator (Mwari), the king and judge (Mambo), the giver of food (Mabota). The last name also suggests that God was conceived of as Father because Mabota refers to the One who provides food for his children." The importance of genealogies therefore did not lie simply in the retention of funny-sounding names, but in their ability to place people in their social milieu. This is a very important point to grasp. This is why the worst thing that could be done to either the Jew or the African was to throw him out of the family line. Not only did that mean one was lost from his parental genealogy, but he had at the same time lost the family « fathers (ancestors) 9 who connected him with the Creator, whose worship ensured prosperity and long life.30
Places of worship
The places where the patriarchs met their God are very similar to those revered by the Africans. Abraham came to a « place of Shechem and received a theophany by the oak or terebinth of Moreh." Rowley points out that this could also be referred to es 6 the soothsayer's oak 9." At Mamre Abraham stayed by the oaks. At Bethel Jacob dreamt of angels walking up and down the ladder and in the morning he set up a stone to mark the place of the theophany? When Kautsch realized these examples he mistakenly concluded:
Real worship was rendered by Israel in the pre-Mosaic period to the many numina, which were believed to be the inhabitants and possessors of certain places, and which were venerated as such. These make their appearances in connection with trees, stones, and springs, which thereby assume a sacred character.
Kautsch's argument is countered by H.H. Rowley." An examination of African worship counters even more the idea that because worship was localized in particular natural spots, it was necessarily spirits which were worshipped there. Clearly, in the African experience, worship in these places was not of the numina, but was a worship of the God who revealed himself at and through these places. This makes a very important difference.
Importance of word and name
The concept of the word and the name is of great significance among both the Jews and the Africans. When Isaac was nearing his death, he summoned his elder son, Esau, in order that he might give him his blessings." Jacob supplanted him, but the blessing which Isaac had mistakenly given to Jacob could not be revoked: the word could not be altered. Throughout the prophetic books we see, therefore, that when God spoke it was simply referred to as « the word of the Lord », and after God's word, most poetic stanzas are closed by the phrases « thus says the Lord God » and so on. The concept of the word reminds me of my father's familiar statement: « The word of 'the father' will never fall to the ground.* What this means is that a curse or a blessing from the family elders will never fail to achieve its intended purpose. The word was thus personified: it could bless or curse whoever it was directed toward.36
Apart from the word, the concept of the name was very significant to the Jews and to Africans. The Africans did not simply throw a sweet-sounding name on a child, but employed a name which was meaningful even if it might have sounded awkward.37 The name, it was thought, would influence the child to live to the potential implied in it. This very fact explains why when an African became a Christian, he changed his traditional name to indicate his adoption of a new faith and a new set of goals in life. To his surprise, however, must of these new English names had no known meanings! The Jews also demonstrate this importance of the name in many instances—Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, and the list could be expanded. All these changes signified very important episodes in their lives.
Marriage customs
The marriage customs and hospitality of the Africans and Jews also deserve comparison. Marriage was endogamous and was viewed not as a couple's exclusive affair, but as an entire family's concern. Marriage united two families together and gave rise to new relationships, or strengthened those which were weak. A new member entering a family through marriage could not be one who would cause disharmony by jealousy, envy or any other form of malice. In more ancient times, to ensure the success of marriage, the parents became involved in the selection of the girl or man, and in the marriage solemnization. Among the Africans bride-wealth was paid in property, mainly cattle? If a family did not make the arrangements, a go-between was appointed to negotiate with the in-laws about the marriage. The impact of western civilization has not managed to erase traces of an African marriage as a family affair.
The Hebrews had reflected a similar custom with some minor distinctions, as could be evidenced in the following examples: Because marriage was endogamous we notice that Eliezer was sent by Isaac's parents to Horan to seek a wife for Isaac from among their kinsfolk? When Esau married Hittite women, Rebeccah complained very bitterly to Isaac about them, but she did not complain about Jacob's wives because he married within the cultural bounds.40
Worship
Drumming, traditional music and dancing 41 are very essential elements in both Jewish and African worship. Africans love to sing and play instruments, especially when they ere in trouble, and also when they are worshipping. The Jewish love of the same element of worship may be summed up in Psalm 98:4,6:
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;" break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
Some of the psalms served the same soothing factor when Israel was surrounded by her enemies, or was in some other trouble.
Social structure
Social structure among the Jews and the Africans is very interesting to study. In both cultures there is a very important role of the zekenim (Hebrew word meaning « elders »). Americans art always surprised when I tell them my true age and how my father enjoys an illusion that he is the oldest person still alive in his vicinity. While Americans crave for youth, traditionally, Africans cherished old age. Age was a sign of «a good ripe age ». To reach this age was not a curse but God's blessing. To the African it meant that one had found favor with his own protective spirits. In the Bible this meant that « one's days had been long on earth *.43 Above all, long life meant that one had automatically become a zaken (Hebrew meaning « an elder »). The zekenim (literally « the [grey] bearded ones ,>) were considered wise. If they were not naturally wise, at least they were wise by virtue of their long experience in life. The story of Rehoboam showed that ignoring the wise counsel of the zekenim led to catastrophe, resulting in the divided monarchy." The zekenim, apart from their tribal role as judges and arbitrators of disputes, were also the king's advisors. The story of Rehoboam clearly contrasts the advice of the elders with that of the yeladim (Hebrew word meaning « young men »). Age and grey hair to these two communities did not imply « uselessness and nearness to the grave ». Life was lived in a continuum, unlike in modem times when one's life is segmented into « year units* whose number determines uselessness and usefulness.
Importance of wisdom
Old age brought with it experience and experience was wisdom. Wisdom was to be cherished more than anything else" King Solomon asked God not for riches, but for an understanding heart. God was very pleased with Solomon's request and gave him, not only a wise and understanding heart, but wealth and honor as well. All this can be summed up in a popular proverb: « The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom » (Prov. 9:10). Jesus paraphrased the same verse in Matthew 6:33 when he entreated his audience to seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, assuring them that the rest of their desires would be added to them.
The wisdom literature in the Bible seems to be the basis of our kerygma (Greek word meaning « the proclamation >, of the Christian Gospel). Reading through the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes enlightens one to the realization that « there is nothing new under the sun » (Eccl. 1:9).
Some scholars have pointed out that wisdom literature greatly influenced the prophet Amos." Reading through the prophets, and listening intently to the teachings of Christ, it is undeniable that, though we can dispute the degree of its influence, wisdom literature greatly influenced Amos, the prophets, and Jesus himself. Ignoring the Old Testament sterilizes the power of the innate message preachers call the kerygma. The passage in Deuteronomy (26:56-9) which scholars call the « credo x+ demonstrates how the Jews used their historical experiences to inspire them with hope for the future. What God did in the past, he would do in the future. Therefore the present setbacks were only seen as temporary. Redemption was always going to follow because this was how God had acted before. It can be said that the Jews rolled » forward while their faces were turned backward.
There are many other similarities between the Jewish and African religio-cultural life which will need more examination at a later stage — such as: polygyny, casting lots, progeny, the status of women, land ownership, belief in dreams, belief in reward and retribution. All these reflect a very similar religio-cultural life that might make one argue for a common ancestry or common origin of customs. 47
The difficult task now before us
Our study shows that there are three major areas of research demanding the Christian Church's attention today. These areas are:
1) An urgent need for an honest reappraisal of the effectiveness of Christianity as it is preached today all over the world. My experiences as a pastor of a church in Rhodesia and here in the U.S.A. have all convinced me that the Church has ceased to preach the Gospel as a dynamic message to the world. I have also listened to sermons which are a historical narrative of what God did, and what miracles Jesus performed, but very little, if any, of what God through Christ is doing today. I have sadly watched pastors ignoring the Old Testament because in their minds (or through ignorance) the Old Testament is superceded by the New Testament. This is a hidden form of Marcionism." Because sermons have only been a narration of static historical facts, very few in the congregation care to listen to expositions from their pastors with as much expectation as they would to a « presidential election speech”.
The study of the Old Testament shows that the Old and New Testaments are but one book dealing with the same problem — man's quest for the meaning of his being. The Old Testament gives a very vital background to the New. I have also found that the religion of the Old and New Testament was based on a living faith. How to revitalize our faith in God is one of our main and immediate tasks if the church is to retain its enlightening influence in the world. If we accept the Bible as a whole, and Christians profess to do that, then the next research area naturally follows.
2) There is a very urgent need for a reappraisal of the Judeo-Christian relationship.49 Whatever differences divide Christians and Jews, they are differences which stem from a historical error concerning the fulfilment of the Scriptures in Jesus Christ. The quarrel between the Jews and the Christians is simply a family « feud h. Both the Christian and Jewish communities base their faith on the Holy Scriptures. The New Testament is not a new dogma, but a reinterpretation of the Old Testament in order to relate the Scriptures to new social conditions prevailing in Jesus' time. It is wrong therefore to rely on the interpretation of the Scriptures without a thorough understanding of those very Scriptures. I am not advocating that Judaism as practised is and was consistent with the Scriptures. The teachings of the prophets, and later of Jesus Christ, all remind us of this. What I am trying to point out is that the Jews and the Christians should earnestly dialogue to arrive at the truth about their faith in God, and what that faith requires of them.5° If Jews and Christians would, in their lives, go beyond the words of the Scriptures into what those words teach, then it might not make any difference whether one believed in Judaism or Christianity, because it is not just the name of the religion which determines one's piety; it is the deeds? The same argument I am making would force us into a warm dialogue with Muslims, Hindus, religio-traditional Africans, and many people of other faiths. This could lead to the indigenization of the Christian faith. What arc the justifications for the indigenization of the church? The answer to the question leads us to the third research area.
3) If the thesis of my paper is that the Jewish and African religio-cultural lives are similar, that would seem to imply that the Africans do not need the Old Testament. If God revealed himself to the Jews through their culture, and the Jewish culture is similar to the African culture, it should follow that God must have revealed himself to the Africans as Well. It could be argued further that the difference between the two revelations only lies in that the Jewish revelation is documented and that of the African is not.
The thesis of this paper, however, is that the missionaries disregarded one most important aid in communicating the Christian faith to the Africans. This aid is the similarity, not the identity, between the Old Testament and the African culture. The Old Testament cannot be replaced for many reasons, a few of which are as follows.
Uniqueness of Hebrew Scriptures
A form-critical analysis of the Old Testament shows us that the history of the Scriptures goes many millenia beyond the Jewish period. The Jews as well as the Christians cannot understand the Scriptures unless they read them against their environment — the Ancient Near East." This environment is full of many diverse myths characteristic of man's development from the pre-agricultural age (« the savage stage ») to the iron age. Thus, the uniqueness of the Old Testament Scriptures does not lie in their recording of Jewish history, but it lies in their embodiment of many common elements in man's quest for his being and its providential significance. The Jews therefore cannot claim the Scriptures as entirely reflecting their culture, but can take pride in their forefathers' ability to borrow experiences of other nations—legends, myths and motifs--and to incorporate them into their own history, thus forging out some universal truths" The truths are reflected not only by other faiths, but also by those religions which were called « heathen a or « pagan ». The Old Testament is therefore relevant to both the Jew and the « gentile a and can be used by both to arrive at greater heights in their quest for God, whatever they conceive him to be. The Scriptures are therefore a common heritage of man and this is primarily where their inspiration lies. 54
The second element in the Scriptures' uniqueness lies in their unfailing relevance. The message of Amos, Isaiah, and other prophets, the impact of the wisdom literature, the truths embodied in the Pentateuch, are all keeping pace with the ages as a canon for our lives and also as a corrective. For these reasons, the Scriptures, despite their many imperfections, must be confirmed as a canon (a measure, a rule) of our faith. They are a book drawn up by man, but a book above man. The Scriptures are therefore a paint of reference to the world as a constitution is to a nation.
In sum, let it be clear that the missionary's apparent rejection of the Old Testament es inferior to the New is based on an erroneous concept — the so-called progressive revelation theory?' What progresses, it must be emphasized, is not God's revelation of himself to man, but man's comprehension of that revelation. Viewed this way, God's revelation to all the nations is the same, but the nations' comprehension and reflection of the revelation is very different.
Indigenization
Africa's genuine concern for the indigenization" of the church should find comfort in my views. With the Scriptures in our hands it is not necessary to involve ourselves in the tedious and controversial task of drawing up a new canon based on African experiences. In the Old Testament we have that canon, and in the New Testament its fulfilment. Using the Scriptures as a canon we can identify our experiences with those of the Jews (under oppression in Egypt); Israel free from oppression but wandering in the wilderness; and Israel at last inheriting the « glory land a. By so doing we can avoid the hidden danger of syncretism during the process of indigenization." Therefore, to the « indigenizers a the Scriptures serve three important purposes:
a) The Scriptures act as an encouragement to our process of Indigenization. If the Jews indigenized their worship and produced the Bible, then the Africans and other people should do the same if that would help to make Christianity clear. It should be that logical.
b) However, while encouraging indigenization, the Scriptures at the same time prohibit syncretism." To be able to indigenaze without accidentally falling into the hidden trap of syncretism, the Scriptures are our yardstick because they are forged out of a history which was religiously more confused than our own.
c) Finally, if there is to be some understanding among worshippers of God, of all nations, we need to encourage the adoption of one canon by which our different modes of worship can be checked. One such canon, forged out of many nations' experiences over many centuries, is the Old Testament. Thus, it cannot or should not be replaced by any other book no matter how similar, because its religion, experiences and teachings are universal. The different faiths reflect man's different responses to God's self-revelation. Indigenization of the African response in the light of the Bible would justify the form or nature of worship in the indigenized Christian Church.
Rev. Temba Mafico of the United Church of Christ in Rhodesia, who is a doctoral candidate at Harvard University, presented this paper at the June 1977 Conference of the W.C.C. Consultation on the Church and the Jewish People.
1. The religion and culture of both the Jews and the Africans are so inseparably intermingled that an inclusive terminology such as f( religio-cultural life » seems to describe it better. In this paper this is the term which shall be used.
2. Temba Mafico, Master of Theology thesis topic: <( The Relevance and Appeal of the Old Testament to the Ndau People of Rhodesia, Based on a Form Critical Analysis of the Patriarchal and Covenantal Historical Narratives, Recorded in Genesis 12-35 and Exodus 1-24.*
3. B.W. Anderson, The Old Testament and Faith, Herder and Herder, New York (1969) p. 1.
4. Mafico thesis, see n. 2, p. 96.
5. Robert I. Rotberg, Christian Missionaries and the Creation of Northern Rhodesia, 1880-1924, Princeton, New Jersey (1965) p. 4.
6. R.I. Rotbcrg, Christian Missionaries, p. 4.
7. Ibid., p. 14.
8. Ibid., pp. 14-15.
9. Ibid., p. 15.
10. Ibid., p. 15.
11. Ibid., p. 15.
12. RT. Rotberg, Christian Missionaries, p. 38.
13. The Africans feel a great obligation to abide by certain statutes, ordinances and testimonies whose abandonment means displeasure to the spirits, resulting in various forms of retribution. 14. Cf. Jewish concept of reward and punishment in Judges, Job and also in Deut. 6:25; 11:13ff.
See note 13.
15. See note 1.
16. My father, who was converted this way, tells me many ways which would appear very unethical today, which missionaries employed to win converts.
Cf. Baeta, Christianity in Tropical Africa, Oxford University Press, England (1968) pp. 419-420.
17. The Congregational Church was established in Rhodesia by the American Board Commission for Foreign Missions in 1893.
18. A.I. Rotberg, Christian Missionaries, p. 44.
19. I have divided Africans into three categories:
(a) the traditional African who maintains his traditional way of living,
(b) the « man of both worlds s who is a semi-educated African who is between group (a) and group (c),
(c) the African elite is the « nowhere man ».
20. Krister Stendahl, Dean of Harvard Divinity School, in a private conversation, pointed this out as a possible reason why the missionary seems not to have been bothered by this situation. It might even have hardened his attitude against the Old Testament.
21. Ex. 2:14.
22. Ex. 1:8-22.
23. Ex. 3:15,16; 5:1.
24. Ex. 3:17ff. Cf. Deut. 26:56-9.
25. God is here identified by listing the forefathers from the earliest one up to the head of the clan —Jacob.
26. Gen. 4:16-24; 4:25-26; 5:6-32; 10:1-32; 11:10-30.
27. This is a gift African and Oriental people have. See Eduard Nielsen: Oral Tradition, Alec R. Allenson, Inc., Chicago (1954). See esp. chap. III.
28. Both Jews and Africans presented the first fruits as a sacrifice before eating them. Cf. Ex. 23:16,19; 34:26; Num. 28:26; note esp. in the credo — Dent. 26: 5h-9.
29. J.S. Mbiti, The Prayers of African Religions, Orbis Books, Mary Knoll, N.Y. (1975) pp. 4ff.
30. John 9:22.
31. Gen. 12:6.
32. H.H. Rowley, Worship in Ancient Israel, Its Form and Meaning, Fortress Press, Philadelphia (1967) pp. 15ff.
33. Gen. 28:18.
34. In D.B. Hasting's Extra Vol (1904) pp. 615ff. Cf. H.P. Smith, The Religion of Israel, New York, Scribner's Sons (1914) p. 23.
35. Gen. 27:1-28:6.
36. There are many parallels of this concept in the Ancient Near Eastern literatures. Cf. the laws of Hammurabi.
37. Two examples of names will help:
Kura-uwone — e grow up and see » is long and not as sweetsounding as Chipo — e gift u.
Zondwayo — e the hated one » as opposed to Simbai — a be strong ».
In Genesis we will realize that most of the names there are etymologies, e.g., Beer-Sheba (z well of the oath », « seven wells »), Abimelech (« my father is king »), Jehoshaphat (« Yahweh judges”)
38. The missionary interpretation of bridewealth as « selling a daughter* or « buying a woman ». is wrong. In olden days, marriage was not solely for a man and a woman in love, but was for X-family and Y-family as well. Both parties were culturally required to make the marriage work by advising their son or daughter on what he/she should do to promote harmony. Since the man is the one who looked for the wife, to bind his in-laws to the marriage, they were given «cattle ». When their daughter wanted to divorce, her parents would discourage her because it would mean their losing the « cattle » which had made them richer. The pros and cons of this system are not going to be discussed in this paper. Suffice it to say that this gave stability to the African family whereas the « western type marriage* lacks it. Cf. Eliezer who gave gifts to Rebecca and to Laban; Jacob served seven years for Rachel and Leah.
39. Gen. 24:1-4.
40. Gen. 28:6-9.
41. See note 17.
42. Underlining is mine.
43. To live many years, that is, to reach old age was only a reflection of God's blessing (Ex. 20:12; Deut. 6:2). This always reflected that one had obeyed God's laws.
44. 1 Kings 12:1-24.
45. Prov. 4:5, 7; 5:1; 8:11; 9:10.
46. B.W. Anderson, ed., Israel's Prophetic Heritage, Harper and Brothers, N.Y. (1962) pp. 108-115. Samuel Terrien makes very interesting observations. F.M. Cross of Harvard University, in a private conversation, doubts these proofs. lie would attribute much of what Terrier, credits to wisdom literature to Ugarit and to poetic formulas, which had nothing to do with wisdom influence.
47. Yehezkel Kaufmann of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, writing in Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People, ed. by Leo W. Schwarz, Modem Library Books, N.Y. (1956) pp. 6-7 points out that Israel was
greatly influenced by the Egyptian culture. There is not much doubi that Egypt was influenced by the African countries south of the Sahara through conquest (Nubian twenty-third dynasty) and trade. This might be posited as a hypothetical reason why African and Jewish culture have much in common, particularly in singing.
48. G.E. Wright, God Who Acts, SCM Press, London (1969), chap. 1, pp. 15-32.
49. Krister Stendahl, Dean of Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, has written at length on this subject. His articles have changed much of my thinking on the Judeo-Christian relationship. James Parkes, The Concept of a Chosen People in Judaism and Christianity, The Union of American Hebrew Congregations, N.Y. (1954) raises very searching questions in his booklet. His other booklet, The Meaning of the Torah (1963), which was from a lecture (held in the Crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, greatly influenced by the Egyptian culture. There is not much doubi that Egypt was influenced by the African countries south of the Sahara through conquest (Nubian twenty-third dynasty) and trade. This might be posited as a hypothetical reason why African and Jewish culture have much in common, particularly in singing.
48. G.E. Wright, God Who Acts, SCM Press, London (1969), chap. 1, pp. 15-32.
49. Krister Stendahl, Dean of Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, has written at length on this subject. His articles have changed much of my thinking on the Judeo-Christian relationship. James Parkes, The Concept of a Chosen People in Judaism and Christianity, The Union of American Hebrew Congregations, N.Y. (1954) raises very searching questions in his booklet. His other booklet, The Meaning of the Torah (1963), which was from a lecture (held in the Crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, London), raises the central concerns in both Judaism and Christianity. By so doing, he confirms what I mean by saying that the quarrel between Christians and Jews is a family feud to be settled for the benefit of both.
50. Amos 4:21-24.
51. Matt. 7:21-23.
52. Wright, The Old Testament Against Its Environment, SCM Press, Bloomsbury Street, London (1968), pp. 7-113.
53. Ibid., p. 15.
54. 2 Tim. 3:16.
55. G.W. Wright, « Progressive Revelation », reprinted from The Christian Scholar, Vol. XXX1X, No. 1 (March 1956) p. 62.
56. By indigenization I mean grafting Christianity on the African culture so that the Africans do not need to become « western a first before becoming Christians. Christianity and the so-called western civilization should nut be confused.
Today, indigenization in Africa refers to the introduction of African culture in the Christian Church which has been exclusively western oriented. This is why the danger of syncretism is great.
57. E. Bolaji Idowu, introducing Biblical Revelation and African Beliefs, ed. by Kwesi 58. Dickenson and Paul Eddingworth, Orbis Books, N.Y. (1969) p. 10, notices this danger.
58. GE. Wright, Environment, pp. 9-41.
