4. Conclusion
Oral communication for transmission of the faith and for theological research and production is making a comeback among African theologians. It is present both in the greater use of ethnographic materials harvested from the daily everyday experiences of African Christians as well as through the greater use of the writings of African novelists. A few significant examples are: Emmanuel Katongole (the use of ethnographies and biographies of individual African Christian witnesses to develop a theology of lament, hope, and praxis or peace and social transformation in African politics and religious life), Joseph Healey (the use of narrative theology and storytelling among the growing African small Christian communities), Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator (the appeal to Chinua Achebe’s classic, Things Fall Apart to develop as he puts it ‘an accessible methodology for giving theological reflection a distinctively African flavor’)[18], and Jesse Mugambi ( a study of how African novelists through their literary corpus provide a lens for theological production of a different kind through mytopoeic and metonymic cultural productions and critique of post-coloniality in theological production and in the shape and direction of African Christian religions.[19] In terms of the future, it seems that there will be greater appeal to the writings of African novelists and poets in writing theology. Also important will be the theological productions of these informal channels of theological education, and such important media like songs, preaching, biographies, rituals etc. This is a project which the Dictionary of African Christian Biographies (DACB) currently undertakes with thousands of researchers from all African countries who are collecting the stories of the words and deeds of important African Christians.
By paying greater attention to the everyday experiences of people and their actual faith, there is a noticeable shift in the methodologies for theological research, production and dissemination in Africa. This is particularly a powerful tool in the theological methodologies adopted by the Circle of Concerned African women, who see the daily struggles of African women as the basis for theology and who unite their stories with the biblical narratives in developing daily practices for the reversal of history. It is in the sharing of these stories that liberation and salvation becomes a living reality in the challenging social context of women and the poor in Africa.[20] Theological method in Africa must emerge from such stories as that of the women of Africa. African theologies are only relevant if they lead back to these stories both for interpreting, explaining and showing forth the movement of the Spirit in African Christian history and in African literature and orature.
[18] Orobator, 10. See also Oyeniyi Okunoye, “Half a Century of Reading Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart” in English Studies, vol. 91, no. 1 (February, 2010): 42-57. See also Emmanuel Obiechina, “Narrative Proverbs in the African Novel”, Research in African Literatures, 24. 4 (Winter, 1993): 123-140.
[19] Jese Mugambi, Critiques of Christianity in African Literature. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Educational Publishers, 1992.
[20] See Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Daughters of Anowa: African Women and Patriarchy. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2005, 14. See also Musimbi R. A. Kanyoro, Introducing Feminist Cultural Hermeneutics: An African Perspective. Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2002, 23.