CHRISTOLOGY IN AFRICAN WOMEN'S THEOLOGY

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Appearing in African Theological Journal, Makumira, Tanzania, ATJ, Vol. 31, No. 2, (20008), 75-92.

CHRISTOLOGY IN AFRICAN WOMEN’S THEOLOGY

By Julius Gathogo [email protected]

Abstract

The article sets out to unveil the question, „what is the nature and relevance of Christology in African Women‟s Theology to our contemporary Africa?‟ In other words; how far can it help us in undoing the wrongs that have been brought about by patriarchy? To achieve its objective, the article will begin by surveying the theology of African women‟s theology in general; and afterwards attempt a dialogue with some of the issues that keep on recurring in our contemporary African society. In so doing, the article puts forward the consideration that Mercy Amba Oduyoye is the undisputed founder of African women‟s theology – a theology that is one of the most vibrant theologies in the Africa of the twenty-first century. As a postcolonial theology, African women‟s theology offers a chance to right the African wrongs that are by-products of patriarchy. In view of this, the article aims at conscientising the entire society that African women‟s theology is a discourse for all genders, as it affects our children, our sisters, our mothers, our life partners, and our wives, among others - without whom life would be inconceivable. As an African male writing on African women‟s theology, I intend to make a bold statement that we must all swim into action and stop the African boat from sinking. This we can do by collectively addressing the African plight. For that is the mission of Christ in our time.

Introduction

Africa women‟s theology (AWT) is one of the youngest contemporary theologies in the Africa of the

twenty-first century. Others are Black Theology of South Africa (BT), African Theology (AT); and African Theology of Reconstruction (ATOR). For while African Theology of Reconstruction (ATOR) was born in 1990, AWT was born in 1989, in Accra-Ghana, when Mercy Amba Ewudziwa Oduyoye gave the keynote address that inaugurated the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.1 In her inaugural address that was attended by seventy African women theologians, Oduyoye urged African Christianity to do a “two-winged”2 theology through which both women and men could communicate with God.3 Though she may not have been conscious of it, Oduyoye was attempting a reconstruction of the traditional approach to theologising in Africa where one gender did theology almost to the exclusion of the other. At this juncture, it is critical to appreciate that an African Theology of Reconstruction (ATOR) can be said to have began in 1990 when the then President of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the then General Secretary, the Rev. Dr. Jose B. Chipenda,

1 Isabel Apawo Phiri, “Doing Theology in Community: The Case of African Women Theologians in the 1990s,” Journal of Theology for

Southern Africa, no. 99, (1997), 68. 2 J. Nyambura Njoroge, “The Missing Voice: African Women doing Theology,” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, no. 99, (1997), 77.

3 Mercy Amba Oduyoye, a Methodist - originally from Ghana but married in Nigeria, has been the leading African woman pursuing feminist

theology that is distinctly African. She is the founder Circle of Concerned African Women theologians (otherwise called The Circle) since 1989 in the whole of Africa. Musimbi Kanyoro co-ordinated The Circle from 1996 to 2002. And in 2002, Isabel Apawo Phiri, from Malawi,

succeeded her. Besides Oduyoye there are others like Bette Ekeya, Mary Getui, Teresa Hinga, Musimbi Kanyoro, Hannah Kinoti, Anne Nasimiyu-Wasike, and Nyambura Njoroge of Kenya, Teresa Okure of Nigeria, Elisabeth Amoah of Ghana, Rose Zoe, Louise Tappa and Grace Eneme in Cameroon, Bernadette Mbuy Beya and Justine Kahungu in Zaire, and Brigalia Bam and Denise Ackerman in South Africa,

Musa W. Dube of Botswana among others. See the website on The Circle‟s membership which goes beyond six hundred – www.thecirclecawt.org. Since 1989, when the circle of concerned African women theologians was launched under Mercy‟s leadership, they have participated in oral theology, through song, music, story telling, Bible reading and in particular, through written theologies that are

evident in many emerging publications in recent times.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.thecirclecawt.org/

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invited Jesse Mugambi, the “undisputed founder,” to make a theological reflection on the changing global patterns following the end of the cold war in 1989, and its relevance to Africa. On 30 th March 1990, Jesse Mugambi, who was, by then, a researcher with the AACC, presented his (inaugural) paper on the “Future of the Church and the Church of the Future in Africa,” to the General Committee of the organisation - in the Nairobi Meeting. In the Nairobi Meeting (of 30 th March 1990), Jesse Mugambi suggested that African theological articulation must shift her theological emphasis in the postcolonial Africa, from the Exodus motif to a reconstructive motif. He suggested that reconstruction is the new priority for African nations in the 1990s and beyond. He further contended that in the New World Order, the figure of Nehemiah, unlike that of Moses, gives us the mirror through which we are enabled to spot out our mission to remake Africa out of the kinds of ruins that continue to bedevil Africa (see Jesse Mugambi, From Liberation to reconstruction (Nairobi: E.AE.P., 1995), 160-180.

Isabel Apawo Phiri explains why it is African women‟s “theologies” and not just “theology” and says that “African women theologians want to acknowledge that even within Africa, there is a diversity of women‟s experiences due to [the] differences in race, culture, politics, economy and religion.”4 She goes on to explain that despite the differences in terminology, “all women would like to see the end of sexism and the establishment of a more just society of men and women who seek the well-being of the other.” 5 Apart from Oduyoye, other founders of the Circle (of Concerned African women theologians) include Betty Ekeya, Anne Nasimiyu-Wasike, Musimbi Kanyoro, Rosemary Edet and Rachel Tetteh.6 In launching the Circle, which is Pan-African, it gave birth to other circles that came later. For example in 1993/4 - English-speaking West Africans met in Abokobi near Accra under the facilitation of the late Rachel Tetteh and Elizabeth Amoah. Around the same time, 1993/4, French-speaking West Africans met in Douala, Cameroon, in 1993 and the meeting was co-ordinated by Louise Tappa and Rose Obianga.7 Since then, other circles have been formed all over Africa. From the above, we can deduce that African Women‟s Theologies like other theologies such as the United States of America‟s Theologia Mujerista of the Spanish-speaking women, the Womanist Theology of the African-American women and the white American woman, among others, is a liberation theology - that seeks to liberate women from socio-cultural forces that tend to dehumanise and to oppress them - hence barring them from being fulfilled as true images of God (Imago Dei).8

As Phiri observes, studies in the Majority-world feminists‟ theology have wrongly combined African-American Womanist theology with African Women‟s theology; but while African Women‟s theology and African-American Women theologies may share the same skin colour, the contexts within which they do their theology are very different.9 An example can be seen in the fact that the context of Womanist theology is the history of oppression from slavery and sexism in the Americas, which is not the actual case in the culturally oppressive Africa. African Women‟s theology, like other theologies of liberation in Africa (refer to Black theology of South Africa and African theology), covers a wide scope. For it covers the wider concerns of the society, such as the history of slavery and colonisation, cultural and spiritual imperialism, struggle in the shape of racism, female circumcision, cultural identity, poverty engendered by globalisation, neo-colonial structures, widowhood, childlessness, inheritance, the tragedy of HIV and AIDS, among other issues.10 Its sources include: oral sources, The Circle of Concerned African Women theologians,

4 Isabel Apawo Phiri, “African Women‟s theologies in the new millennium,” Agenda: Empowering women for gender equity, 61, (2004): 16.

5 Isabel Apawo Phiri, “African Women‟s theologies in the new millennium,” 16.

6 Musimbi Kanyoro, “African women‟s Quest for Justice: A Review of African Women‟s Theology,” Pacific Journal of Theology (1996),

reprinted in Journal of Constructive Theology 2 (1996): 9. 7 Musimbi Kanyoro, “African women‟s Quest for Justice: A Review of African Women‟s Theology,” 10

8 Isabel Apawo Phiri, “Doing Theology in Community.”

9 Isabel Apawo Phiri, “Doing Theology in Community,” 68.

10 Isabel Apawo Phiri, “Doing Theology in Community,” 68

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Anthologies of papers from Conferences and Consultations of the Circle, Bible study sessions, informal interviews, personal letters that have been kept anonymous, unpublished theses and research papers among others.11 According to Phiri, African women‟s theologies are:

A critical, academic study of the causes of women oppression: particularly a struggle against societal, cultural and religious patriarchy. They are committed to the eradication of all forms of oppression against women through a critique of the social and religious dimensions both in African culture and Christianity. African women‟s theologies take women‟s experiences as its starting point, focusing on the oppressive areas of life caused by injustices such as patriarchy, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, capitalism, globalisation and sexism.12

In my view, African Women‟s Theologies emerged out of the need to create a forum in seeking to liberate African women from the oppressive structures in both the society and the religious institutions, and especially the Church. Commenting on this, Phiri says:

The construction of womanhood by patriarchy is one of the central issues for feminist theologians globally and particularly in Africa because it has influenced the way women and the roles that women can play in African Church and society are imaged. Patriarchy has defined women as inferior to men thereby perpetuating the oppression of women by religion and culture13

The conditions and status of African women have been something that men do not want to discuss, but as for women theologians it is something that ought to be discussed as the urgency of the moment. Musimbi Kanyoro observes the conditions of African women by saying that:

African women are custodians of cultural practices; for generations, African women have guarded cultural prescriptions that are strictly governed by the fear of breaking taboos. Many aspects that diminish women continue to be practiced to various degrees, often making women objects of cultural preservation. Harmful traditional practices are passed on as “cultural values” and therefore are not to be discussed, challenged or changed. In the guise of culture, harmful practices and traditions are perpetuated. Practices such as female genital mutilation, early betrothals and marriages, and stigmatization of single women and widows, [polygamy, domestic violence] hinder the liberation of women.14

Oduyoye argues that, for years women have been carrying the knowledge that men were oppressing them, but the conditions were not suitable for them to raise their voices. She says, “Over time, African women had to learn to know their oppressors but had held their peace, because “when your hand is in someone‟s mouth, you do not hit that person on the head.”15

11

Isabel Apawo Phiri, “Doing Theology in Community,” 68 12

Isabel Phiri, “Southern Africa,” in John Parratt ed. 2004. An introduction to Third World Theologies (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 2004), 156. 13

Isabel Apawo Phiri,. “Doing Theology in Community: The case of African Women Theologians in The 1990‟s”. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 99 (68-76) (November.

1997),11. 14

Musimbi Kanyoro, “Engendered Communal Theology: African Women‟s contribution to Theology in the 21

st Century,” in Njoroge N. and Musa W. D. (eds) Talitha Cum!

Theology of African Women (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2001), 159 15

Mercy Oduyoye, Daughters of Anowa: African Women and Patriarchy. (Mary Knoll: Orbis Books, 1995), 3.

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Kanyoro suggests that in order for African Women‟s liberation theology to achieve its goal, cultural hermeneutics should be regarded as very important and the first step towards that goal.16 This is because “all questions regarding the welfare and status of women in Africa are explained within the framework of culture.” And in her insightful work, Introducing Feminist Cultural Hermeneutics an African Perspective (2002), she suggests how hermeneutics should be done. In summary she

suggests that the Church should be open to change and at the same time it should maintain the tension that exists between gospel and culture. According to her, this tension will automatically invite dialogue between Christianity and African religious cultures. She says that cultural hermeneutics can also be used as a method of dialogue between Christianity and African Religions. When dealing with the aspects of gospel and culture, she feels that three questions should be applied. First, how is difference a problem to gospel and culture? Second, what option might we consider when dealing with differences? Third, how do we theologize once we recognize the difference? For her, difference is not a problem but a reality that can be good and creative. She avers: “What is required of cultural hermeneutics is to sift the good aspects of the culture and religion and affirm them, knowing that there is room to reject what is bad.”17 With regard to methodology in doing African women‟s theologies, Phiri acknowledges that it sees the need to include the voices of women, both theologians and non-theologians, because it recognises that most women in Africa are engaging in oral theologies. She says:

Story telling is one of the powerful methodologies that African women have revived. Musa Dube has developed a unique methodology of reading a biblical story in the context of globalisation through story telling technique. Through story telling, African women are bringing to the attention of the world their spiritual, emotional and physical suffering and the potential they have to transform their situation of oppression. It includes men in its vision and struggle for African liberation from all forms of oppression.18

Story telling as a methodology in doing African Women‟s theologies is an essential approach for doing any reconstructive theology in the post-cold war Africa. Indeed, it is a tool of healing and reconciliation. In a continent that is recovering from foreign and locally instigated conflicts, story telling as an avenue of confessing our sins of commission and omission will be crucial. The post-war countries of Angola, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Mozambique are just a few examples that can be cited to demonstrate the importance of story-telling in a continent that is in dire need of psychosocial reconstruction. James Cone captures this view when he says:

Every people have a story to tell, something to say to themselves, their children, and to the world about how they think and live, as they determine their reason for being… When people can no longer listen to the other people‟s stories, they become enclosed within their own social context… And then they feel they must destroy other people‟s stories.19

Of great concern in African Women‟s theologies is the HIV and AIDS crisis. They have gallantly pushed this agenda since 2002. In view of this, Isabel Phiri rightly develops the view that HIV and AIDS is an urgent issue for theology of mission in Africa. She rejects some conventional wisdom that

“HIV and AIDS is a punishment from God” and explains that such retrogressive views would make it difficult for the church to successfully confront the pandemic.20 Rather, it should be confronted as a

16

Musimbi Kanyoro, “Engendered Communal Theology: African Women‟s contribution to Theology in the 21

st Century,” 164.

17 Musimbi Kanyoro, Introducing Feminist cultural Hermeneutics. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002), 65-71

18 Isabel Phiri, “Southern Africa,” in John Parratt ed. 2004. An introduction to Third World Theologies, 156.

19 James H. Cone, J.H. God of the oppressed (New York: Seabury, 1975), 102-3.

20 Isabel Phiri, “HIV/AIDS: An African Theological Response in Mission,” The Ecumenical Review 56 (4), (October 2004), 423-4.

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challenge that affects all people in tropical Africa with its catastrophic consequences that need to be addressed with urgency. With marriage in tropical Africa being at great risk, she contends that HIV and AIDS ought to be treated as a gender issue.21 This, she argues, will guarantee the safety of African society considering that “marriage is at the centre of the African community.”22 With regard to the future of African women‟s theologies, Musimbi R. A. Kanyoro optimistically predicts the transformation of the African society towards an inclusive society of men and women. Consequently, she sees the way forward as something to do with dialoguing amongst women (whose voices were previously unheard) with their male counterparts.23 She cites the case of the “dialogue” between Jesse Mugambi and Musa Dube as a case in point. In this dialogue, “Jesse Mugambi Is Calling Us to Move from Liberation to Reconstruction: A Postcolonial Feminist Response,” (Unpublished paper, 2001), Dube critiqued Mugambi‟s theology of reconstruction as that which needed to address the superstructure of patriarchy keenly.24 Presently, African women theologians who are responsible for theological formation and religious training, include, Mercy Oduyoye, Denise Ackermann, Isabel Phiri, Elizabeth Amoah, Nyambura Njoroge, Musimbi Kanyoro, Teresa Hinga, Esther Mombo, and Musa Dube among many others.25 Some of these women teach and work in the Diaspora, and yet this does not hinder them from influencing theological formation in Africa through their publications. Such would be Nyambura Njoroge, who works for the World Council of Churches in Geneva. In concluding the section on the introductory part of African Women‟s theologies, we appreciate that, though unique in their own right, their concerns are also the concerns of other African theologies in the post-cold war Africa, a continent which is grappling with the renewal calls of rebirth, renaissance, rejuvenation, development, rebuilding, democracy, deconstruction and reconstruction. This drives us to wonder: isn‟t it appropriate for all African theologies, African Women‟s Theology inclusive, to openly acknowledge that reconstructive motif is the common denominator for all theologies in Africa in the twenty-first century? African Women’s Christology

The word Christology is derived from two words, „Christ‟ and „logy‟- (study of) - which comes from the Greek word „Logos‟ meaning word or reason. It literary means the study about Christ or reasoning about Christ. Oduyoye defines it simply as “a reasoned account of what the word Christ stands for.”26 In other words, we are attempting to answer the question that Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say I am?” (Luke 9: 18-21). Oduyoye further says that Christology for African women is the story of Jesus who saves, the one who brings and lives good news.27 Terese Souga, quoted in Mercy Oduyoye, says that Christology cannot be formulated without taking into account women and their place in church and society.28 I agree with Oduyoye when she says that Christology is not meant to analyse the nature of Christ,29 but to identify his saving acts and to cling in hope of liberation; and that it is to celebrate the victories over domination and death and to attribute these to Jesus rather than other powers.30

21

Isabel Phiri, “HIV/AIDS: An African Theological Response in Mission,” 425. 22

Isabel Phiri, “HIV/AIDS: An African Theological Response in Mission,” 425. 23

M. R. A. Kanyoro, “Beads and Strands: Threading More Beads in the Story of the Circle” in I. A. Phiri, and S. Nadar (eds) 2006. African women, Religion, and Health: Essays in Honour of Mercy Amba Ewudziwa Oduyoye (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 2006), 37. 24

See M. R. A. Kanyoro, “Beads and Strands: Threading More Beads in the Story of the Circle,” 37 25

See Christina Landman, The piety of Afrikaans women: diaries of guilt (Pretoria: University Press, 1992), 38 26

Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Introducing African Women’s Theology: 52. 27

Oduwu asserts that we cannot ignore African Religion in seeking to articulate Christology (Oduyoye 2001: 59). 28

Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Introducing African Women’s Theology: 58 29


Emmanuel Lartey has described African women‟s Christology as „Liberation Christology‟ (Oduyoye 2001: 64), since women‟s aim is that

Christology should be liberative as well.

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Patriarchalisation of Christology

As Rose Teleki Abbey says, one of the arguments used against the idea of a feminine God is Jesus Christ.31 It has been argued that Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God is male and therefore God must surely be male. Backing this argument, Anne Nasimiyu-Wasike, quoted in Oduyoye, says, “All the theological references for defining Christ were defined in male-centred or androcentric ways. This reinforced the assumption that God was male…”32 Ruether contends that there is patriarchalisation of Christology even in the work of Christian prophets. She says, “The sayings of Jesus in the gospel are basically the work of Christian prophets. They were not originally preserved by a process of historical memory in which the prophets wrote down what they remembered Jesus to have said...”33 Ruether traces the anti-woman use of Christology to the adoption of Aristotelian biology in medieval Scholasticism,34 and stresses that the lopsided argument held that only the male represents the fullness of human nature, whereas woman is defective physically, morally and mentally. It follows that the incarnation of the Logos of God into a male is not

an historical accident but an ontological necessity. For in this line of argument, just as Christ has to be incarnated in a male, so only can the male represent Christ. Abbey is thus explicit in saying that just as with theology, Christology is very male oriented. She adds that in Africa, this is compounded, for Jesus is not only masculine he is also white.35 Christ Superseding Humanity

Theologically speaking the maleness of Jesus has no ultimate significance. It only has social symbolic significance in the framework of societies of patriarchal privilege. As Ruether36 says, Jesus as the Christ, in this sense, the representative of liberated humanity and the liberating word of God, manifests the kenosis of patriarchy. This means the announcing of the new humanity through a lifestyle that discards hierarchical caste privilege and speaking on behalf of the lowly. As one who supersedes humanity, Jesus represents the overthrowal of the present world system and the sign of a dawning new age in which God‟s will is done on earth.37 Anne Nasimiyu-Wasike is therefore right in saying that Jesus Christ points to humanity and not to man.38 Abbey agrees with both Ruether and Nasimiyu-Wasike and rightly adds that Jesus was a man, a masculine being; but as the Messiah, Christ supersedes humanity.39 Echoing these views, Reverend Nick Cuthbert when preaching on the “maleness” of Christ said that God incarnated as a man to challenge the traditions of the time, that is patriarchy.”40 He said God came to earth as one who serves and it would not have made much difference if Jesus had been born as a woman who serves.41In so doing, God incarnated in the male form in order to change society‟s attitude to the oppressed - the poor; the sick and women – through God‟s attitude to them. As one who supersedes humanity, therefore, Christ‟s divinity embodies both the male and female and even transcends them both. The Western Feminist Theologians The Western Feminist Theologians literature reveals two perspectives on the issue of Christology, which are radical and reformist views: The Radical Western feminist view

31

Rose Teleki Abbey, “Rediscovering Ataa Naa Nyonmo-The Father-Mother-God,” 151. 32


Rosemary R Ruether, Sexism and God –Talk, 123. 34


Rose Teleki Abbey, “Rediscovering Ataa Naa Nyonmo-The Father-Mother-God,” 151 36

Rosemary R Ruether, Sexism and God –Talk, 137 37


Rose Teleki Abbey, “Rediscovering Ataa Naa Nyonmo -The Father-Mother-God,” 151. 39



Abbey (2001: 152) further contends that we should not hang on to the maleness of Christ. The maleness of Christ shows his reality; after

all, human beings are either male or female. Christ‟s life on earth is meant to give us a lesson on ideal humanity

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This is best epitomized in the works of Mary Daly who holds the view that the cultural and the social institutions, including religion, are irredeemably warped by patriarchy so much that they can hardly be considered as allies of women as they try to liberate themselves.42 Mary Daly advocates a rejection of the dogmas concerning Christ that have previously been formulated as largely oppressive of women. She is also highly critical of the way Jesus has been presented as a model of emulation for Christians including women. Mary Daly suggests that imitating Christ as a model would only lead women to becoming more entrenched in the dilemma of defeat.43Thus emulating Christ would lead women to take on the role, which they are already playing. Hence, Christ cannot be a model for women. This radical view of Western feminist theologians, contrasts sharply with African women theologians who feel that Jesus is their model. Oduyoye says that they see the Christ figure as the one who voluntarily lived a “life that was life-giving for others and even died for the same. Following Jesus, African women approve of costly sacrifice but they insist it must be voluntary and it must be the duty of both men and women.”44 The Reformist Western feminist view

They represent the view that social institutions are not distorted beyond repair as in the radical view. For them, aspects of culture and religion are salvageable and that theology can help women in their struggle for emancipation and justice.45 In this category of reformist western feminist theologians fall the likes of Rosemary Ruether,46 Elizabeth Moltmann, Phyllis Trible, Elizabeth Fiorenza, among others. As noted above, this understanding is in working relationship with the African women‟s view. Faces of Christ in African Women’s Theology

William Barclay in his book, Jesus As They Saw Him, identifies 42 ways in which Jesus revealed Himself to his contemporaries.47Here in Mercy Oduyoye‟s pioneered African Women‟s Theology, Jesus is seen as a conqueror, as a liberator, as a personal saviour, as the embodiment of the Spirit, as an iconoclast prophet, as a mother, as both mother and Father, Mtumishi Kwa Wote (Swahili for

„servant of all‟), as one who lightens burdens, as the one who midwives the birth of the new society, and as one who satisfies any circumstance, among others. For the sake of time and space, this section shall highlight only a few of these images.

Jesus as a Mother Oduyoye quotes Anne Nasimiyu-Wasike who says that Jesus is seen as a loving Mother. She describes Jesus as the Mother of life, especially that of the weak. As a Mother, Jesus cares and comforts those in need.48 This agrees with the Reformist Western Feminist view. For as Ruether says, a tradition developed in medieval Jesus mysticism, expressed particularly by Julian of Norwich, where Jesus is proclaimed both as Mother and Father.49 Like a Mother, he feeds us with milk, like newborn babes. In Christ, the male gains a model of androgyny, of personhood that is commanding and nurturing.

42

Teresia M. Hinga, “Jesus Christ and the liberation of Women in Africa” in Oduyoye M.A and Kanyoro M. R. (EDS.). The Will to Arise: Women tradition and church in Africa (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1992), 184. 43

Teresia M. Hinga, “Jesus Christ and the liberation of Women in Africa,” 184. 44



Ruether addresses the problem of sexism embedded in some of the Christologies that have been handed over to society through the

ages. She sites the works of Thomas Aquinas who presented the view that women are malformed males and therefore constitute the abnormal half of the human species. This over-fixation on the maleness of Jesus is a distortion of the truth as she sees it (Hinga 1992: 186). For indeed it misses the whole point of the incarnation, namely, that Jesus became human in order to effect the redemption of humanity both

male and female 47

Julius Gathogo, The Truth About African Hospitality: 92. 48


Rosemary R Ruether, Sexism and God –Talk, 128

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Mtumishi Kwa Wote („the servant of all‟) Being a Mtumishi Kwa Wote (Swahili for, „the servant of all‟), means that Jesus does not discriminate along the lines of gender, race, colour, class, status or on whatever form of prejudice. To men, women and children, he says, “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). As Ruether says, by adopting the word servant (slave), Jesus (Mark 10: 44) reversed the social references of divine redemptive activity, identifying redemption with the lowest persons in society (Slaves) rather that the highest (Kings).50 By becoming a servant of God, she rightly adds, one becomes freed of all bondage to human masters. Only then, as a liberated person, can one truly become a “servant of all” – by giving one‟s life to liberate others rather than to exercise power and lord over them. As a Mtumishi Kwa Wote, Jesus has

a place for African women too.

Jesus as the Liberator of Women Teresia Hinga emphasizes that Jesus is the liberator who liberates women from the poor handling of some cultural practices. For example, cases such as polygamy,51 female circumcision, and spiritual imperialism among others, are cultural issues where culture is poorly handled or exploited negatively for that matter. Oduyoye says that as the liberator, Christ suffered so that humanity might have the fullness of life intended for them by God.52Christ is also seen as the liberator from the burden of disease and from taboos that restrict women‟s participation in their communities. Christ liberates from triple burdens of racism, poverty and marginalization.53 Christ liberates from oppressive cultures and counters these triple burdens. As a liberator, Anne Nasimiyu-Wasike contends that Jesus asks African women not to accept their hardships and pain fatalistically but to work at eliminating the suffering and creating a better place for all.54 As a liberator, Jesus, as Ruether says, does not think of himself as “the last word of God,” but points beyond himself to the “one who will come.”

Jesus as the Victorious Christ

Mercy Oduyoye stresses that the Christ whom African women worship, honour and depend on is the victorious Christ.55 He is the victorious Christ whom the African women who turned to the African Instituted Churches (AIC‟s) found, the hidden Christ of the „Western Churches.‟ According to her, they discovered Christ‟s „power to heal, willingness to suffer with those who suffer, and his joy of liberation.‟56 They found the Christ who declared that he had come to set the captives free, to give sight to the blind, wholeness to the lame and to proclaim good news to the poor (Luke 4:18-20). According to Teresia Hinga, the Christ of the Missionaries was a conquering Christ.57 For winning Africa for Christ was a major motivation factor in missionary zeal. Again, during the period of colonial and imperial expansionism, the prevailing image of Christ was that of Christ the conqueror.58 African Women‟s Christology, as Nasimiyu-Wasike portrays it, unveils the Christ who empowers women to reject androcentric culture, the one who comes “to heal our broken communities,” and who empowers and enables the “downtrodden to realise their dignity and worth as persons.”59

50


In treating the issue of polygamy, the missionaries asked the polygamist to abandon all but one of his wives as a condition of accepting

the gospel, undoubtedly bringing untold pain to women and children thus discarded (Hinga 1992: 188). 52






Teresia M. Hinga, “Jesus Christ and the liberation of Women in Africa” in Oduyoye M.A and Kanyoro M. R. (EDS.). The Will to Arise: Women tradition and church in Africa (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1992), 187. 58


Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Introducing African Women’s Theology: 61.

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Jesus as a personal Saviour and friend

There is a popular conception of Jesus Christ as the personal saviour/friend of those who believe in him. Many Africans have come to perceive that Jesus desires to accept them as they are and to meet their needs at a very personal level. They have come to accept Jesus as a friend of the lonely and healer of those who are sick, whether spiritually or physically. Thus, the image of Christ who helps women to bear their grief, loneliness and suffering is a welcome one indeed. Amoah and Oduyoye reflect on the Christ as portrayed by Christian women who see the Christ of Christian scriptures and tradition as one who has made Africa‟s business his business.60

Jesus as an iconoclastic prophet

Another face of Christ in African Women‟s Theology is that of an ideal prophet. In other words Jesus Christ stands out in scriptures as a critic of the status quo, particularly when it engenders social injustices and marginalization of some in the society.61

Jesus as the lightener of burdens

Oduyoye says that African women now identify with a Christ who does not lay unnecessary burdens on their already burdened lives, but one whose power and victory over the powers of darkness they can experience and testify to.62 In Jesus, therefore, they find resources to transform the obstacles and suffering they meet. That is why their songs are full of acknowledgement of Jesus who helps them lay down their burdens. This image echoes Jesus‟ own words in Matthew 11:28 when he says: “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Jesus as real and the one who satisfies any circumstance

In Christ, notes Oduyoye, all things hold together, giving back to women the integrity of their humanity. This however appears like an echo of St. Paul‟s letter to the Romans (8:28) and Philippians (4:19) when he says that all things work for the good of those who are in Christ Jesus. Efua Kuma, a Ghanaian theologian, further reflects it when she says,

We depend on you as the tongue depends on the jaw… You are the rock. We hide under you, the great bush with cooling shades, the giant tree who enables the climbers to see the heavens.63

The satisfying element in Jesus is given further weight when Nasimiyu-Wasike says, Today Jesus would have insisted on women being also theological teachers, counsellors, catechists, biblical interpreters….[and as persons) called to restore the Church and humanity to the initial inclusive, holistic and mutual relationships between women and men.64

From these expressions, women theologians underline the faith of women in Jesus who is real and satisfies all circumstances. A Critical Appreciation In general, Mercy Oduyoye and other African Women Theologians are of the view that in Africa and in any other parts of the world, when one mentions Jesus, what comes to mind is that Jesus is a man, a phenomenon which is influenced by patriarchy. Since in traditional society man is the one who goes to conquer or fight tribal wars, Jesus is seen as a man. This calls the practitioners of the Christian faith to liberate themselves from patriarchal dictatorship.

60

Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Who Will Roll the Stone Away? (Geneva: WCC, Risk Books, 1991). 61



Efua Kuma quoted in Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Introducing African Women’s Theology: 60. 64

Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Introducing African Women’s Theology: 62.

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It is painful that the male-dominated Christology has emerged as the keystone of conservative reaction against women. In Kenya for example, when the women ordination of Anglican priests began in 1992, the Retired Archbishop, David Gitari, had to demote two of his Senior Clergy who fiercely protested against “this first women ordination.” Interestingly, they went and called a press conference to „externalise‟ the bishop “for going against the culture and the bible.” Their arguments, which were supported even by some misguided laywomen, touched on issues such as: “Jesus was a man, so how can a woman be a priest? Women can only be ordained if they reach menopause.” They argued. In view of this, we need to revise our liturgies calmly and earnestly so that where Jesus Christ is portrayed as a mere man as opposed to being just the second person in the trinity, we should let him appear to be superseding humanity, hence accommodating all sexes – as just human beings. In particular, prayer books, hymnbooks and choruses need to be made to portray Christ as both father and mother or to avoid the motherhood or fatherhood of Christ all together. To create a balance, we should re-emphasis Christ‟s „mothering‟ attributes such as „servanthood.‟ In particular, when we have Holy Communion, the Priest needs to remind the congregation about the goodness of our mother Jesus who feeds us with his own body (bread) and blood (wine). Jesus should be portrayed as a good mother who nurtures us with spiritual milk when we are new converts and later feeds us with hard food as we mature in Christ. Now when we combine female and male attributes, the gospel will automatically be real and it will be authenticated to our contemporary situations in Africa. Another issue worthy of note is the case of Jesus as a white man. It is true, as Abbey says, that just as in theology, Christology is very male oriented. In Africa, as she adds, this is compounded with the fact that not only is Jesus masculine, he is also white. In most of the pictures that we buy, especially during Christmas festivities, Jesus has blond hair and blue eyes.65 This issue of a white Jesus as opposed to a black Jesus is both theological and political and has dominated the global scene for years. It is high time that this issue is addressed afresh in the hope of solving it altogether. For example, during the Pan-African Movement in the 1900‟s, Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) moved all over the black dominated areas of West Indies and America stressing the need for Africans to ignore the propaganda that unlike the whites, the blacks are an imperfect creation. To the black mothers he said: “Mothers! Give your children dolls that look like them to play with and cuddle. They will learn, as they grow older to love and care for their own children and not neglect them.” He went on: “Men and women, God made us as his (sic) perfect creation. He made no mistake when he made us Africans with kinky hair. It was a divine purpose for us to live in our natural habitat – the tropical zones of the earth.”66 Thus the whole idea of Jesus as a white man needs to be revised in our emerging publications and in our social interactions. This can be done by acknowledging the need to conscientize the business men/women who make Christmas cards and calendars, that they should make those cards that show both black and white Jesus. In most of the mainline churches in Africa, single mothers and polygamists are excluded from partaking in the Lord‟s Table during the Holy Communion. Further, those who have not formalised their weddings in the church are also excluded from partaking the Eucharist. The exclusion is a contrast to the Christ who declared, “I have come to set captives free, to give sight to the blind, wholeness to the lame and to proclaim good news” (Luke 4: 18-20). Thus, we need to revise our denominational theologies and accommodate as many people as possible for John 3: 16 says, “for God so loved the world that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”; and Jesus himself says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). On the whole, the lesson from the study of African women‟s Christology, as Mercy Oduyoye and others presents it, is that we should avoid gender bias. Rather, we should take a cue from the early baptismal formula quoted in St. Paul that there is neither male nor female, for we are all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28). Thus in our social interactions, in our religious functions, in our socio-political lives,

65


Julius Gathogo, The Truth About African Hospitality: 109.

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gender bias should be avoided. Old traditional generalisations such as one-baby boy is equivalent to two baby girls should now be discarded – for this is what Christ died for – to set free the captives. Conclusion

The article began by offering a general survey of African women‟s theologies. In the survey, it was established that Mercy Amba Oduyoye, the undisputed founder, set the stage that has now moved a notch higher than she could ever have imagined. Why? African women‟s theology has become a theology for every „concerned‟ African man or woman, to empower the society that God has given us to steward. It is a theology for all genders to come now and rebuild the wall (Nehemiah 2:18). It is a theology that calls the members of the African society to address the gender issue now, as it is crucial in the development of our African continent. Indeed, a society where some members of society are not offered equal opportunities cannot prosper. Thus, in seeing Jesus as the one who satisfies every circumstance, African Women theologians are speaking for all sexes regardless of race, status, denomination and areas of origin. In Jesus Christ, the ground has to be leveled.

CHRISTOLOGY IN AFRICAN WOMEN'S THEOLOGY

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