Seeds Of Conflict In A Haven Of Peace

On 7 August 1998 the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were bombed and 200 people lost their lives. These bombings shattered the image of Africa’s tradition of peaceful religious coexistence. Since then inter-religious dialogue has been high on the agendas of ecclesial and religious organisations, but not so much of faculties of theology and departments of religion in East Africa. This book investigates why this is so. How are interreligious relations dealt with in Africa, and more particularly, how are they and how should they be taught in institutions of higher learning? This book is based on fieldwork in Nairobi from 2001 onwards. It shows why Africa’s tradition of peaceful co-existence is not going to help Africa in the 21st century, and recommends a shift in the education in inter-religious relations: from religions studies to inter-religious studies.

Without question, inter-religious relations are crucial in the contemporary age. While most dialogue works on past and contemporary matters, this volume takes on the relations among the Abrahamic religions and looks forward, toward the possibility of real and lasting dialogue. The book centers upon inter-faith issues. It identifies problems that stand in the way of fostering healthy dialogues both within particular religious traditions and between faiths. The volume's contributors strive for a realization of already existing common ground between religions. They engagingly explore how inter-religious dialogue can be re-energized for a new century.

During the summer of 2010 Ghana played host to the first ever conference held within Africa to focus solely on the relationship of the African Christian and Islam. The event was led by John Azumah in partnership with the Center of Early African Theology. The conference, chaired by Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja welcomed over 50 participants from across 27 African countries and several denominations. This book is a collection of the papers presented by 22 of the delegates forming a historical survey and thematic assessment of the African Christian and Islam. In addition, key information on the introduction, spread and engagement of Islam and Christianity within 9 African countries is presented. The book closes with Biblical reflections that opened each day of the conference, providing useful examples of Christians reading the Bible in reference to Islam.

In crisis situations, such as terror attacks or societal tensions caused by migration, people tend to look for explicit moral and spiritual leadership and are often inclined to vote for so-called 'strong leaders'. Is there a way to resist the temptation of the simplistic solutions that these ‘strong leader’ offer, and instead encourage constructive engagement with the complex demands of our times? This volume utilises relational and dialogical perspectives to examine and address many of the issues surrounding the moral and spiritual guidance articulated in globalizing Western societies. The essays in this collection focus on the concept of plural moralities, understood as divergent visions on what is a 'good life', both in an ethical, aesthetical, existential, and spiritual sense. They explore the political-cultural context and consequences of plural moralities as well as discussing challenges, possibilities, risks, and dangers from the perspective of two promising relational theories: social constructionism and dialogical self theory. The overarching argument is that it is possible to constructively put in nuanced moral and spiritual guidance into complex, plural societies. By choosing a clear theoretical focus on relational approaches to societal challenges, this interdisciplinary book provides both a broad scope and a coherent argument. It will be of great interest to scholars of social and political psychology, leadership and organization, religious studies, and pedagogy.

A resource for the classroom that specifically addresses the missiological issues of the twenty-first century, this collection in honor of Charles E. Van Engen features contributions from practically all the leading lights of the missiology world. Scholars including Stephen Bevans, Roger Schroeder, van Thanh Nguyen, Mary Motte, Gerald Anderson, Scott Sunquist, and many others offer their insights and reflections, focusing on the impact of cultural and demographic changes on the nature and purpose of Christian mission. (Publisher).

This Handbook explores the ways in which religion among the African people has been applied in situations of conflict and violence to contribute to sustainable peace and development. It analyzes how peacebuilding inspired and enabled by religion serves as the foundation for sustainable development in Africa, while also acknowledging that religion can also be a tool of destruction, and can be used to fuel violence and underdevelopment. Contributors to this volume offer theoretical discussions from existing literature, as well as experiences of practitioners, to deepen the readers’ understanding on the role of religion and religious institutions in peacebuilding and development in Africa. The Handbook provides reflections on possible future developments as well, thereby aligning with the goals of SDG 16.

Franciscan priest Placide Tempels’s 1946 book, Bantu Philosophy, introduced a new discourse about African thought and beliefs, questioning the universality of Western philosophy and establishing paradigms that continue to dominate discussion of the relationships between Africa and the West today. More than 75 years after the publication of this influential text, this volume brings together a wide range of contributors to examine the legacy and impact of Tempels’s work for the study of African philosophy and religion. Reflecting on whether Bantu Philosophy reinforces conflict or convergence between Africa and the West, and its reception within Africa, scholars from both African and Western institutions provide new perspectives on both Tempels’s ideas and ongoing debates in African philosophy and religion.

In Jesus for Zanzibar Hans Olsson offers an ethnographic account of the lived experience and socio-political significance of Pentecostal Christians in Muslim Zanzibar, and religious agents’ relation to contestations over the islands place in the Tanzanian nation.

Dialogue between African Religion and other world religions has, regrettably, been a much neglected area in formal religious discourse in Africa to date. Moreover, up to now, the imperative of dialogue in the process of evangelism figures only peripherally - if at all - in the study of African Christian Theology. This book is probably the first deliberate, extensive and well-argued attempt by an African theologian to fill this unfortunate lacuna. How can Christian and African spiritualities interact with and enrich each other on the basis of mutual respect, without - as has historically been the case - the one necessarily seeking to eradicate the other? This is the fundamental question of dialogue discussed in the pages of this book. Dr. Laurenti Magesa is Senior Lecturer in African Theology at the Maryknoll Institute of African Studies and the Jesuit School of Theology, Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.