Faith in the One God in Christian and African Traditional Religions: A Theological Appraisal

Abstract

The Second Vatican Council has led the contemporary Church out of the desert of an arid doctrinal point of view, which sometimes rejects all questions and any kind of critical research. In contemporary Christian Catholic theology, any critical research or questioning is no longer seen as lack of faith in God and the Church, but as the part of the Anselmian programme of theologizing as an act of faith seeking to understand the depth of the mystery of God in salvation history. In the search for the mystery of God in salvation history, how should the African Christians understand the relationship between revelation of the one God in the Christian and African Traditional Religions? In response to this critical question, this paper examines the Christian revelation of the one God in the Bible, on the one hand, and the knowledge of God in African Traditional religions on the other hand. Finally, it draws a theological appraisal.