Ferdinand Nwaigbo

Understanding Inculturation in the Light of the Resurrection

Introduction

HE theology of Inculturation presented in this article is an attempt to interpret the Biblical Message in a given cultural context. For instance, in "Namely that Christ died for our sins that He was buried and that He was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures" (7 Cor 15:3-4) a new emphasis has to be made on The Resurrection in the African context after Inculturation. The meaning ofInculturation

As an exercise that involves the whole Church, Inculturation is a combined effort of different Christian theologians. The experience and expressions that emerge from it extend from one generation to the next. In the experiences of other peoples we experience, not only ourselves, but as Gerald O'Collins points out, "Also our

Fr. Ferdinand Nwaigbo lectures at The Catholic Institute of West Africa. His address is: Catholic Institute of West Africa, P.O. Box 499, PORT HARCOURT, Rivers State, Nigeria.

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1

openness to an unlimited horizon of being". This leads to other sources of relational thinking which, in religious experiences, relate a human being with his/her Creator. Therefore, to understand Inculturation, one has to know the African culture and Scripture. As Aylward Shorter explains in his book, Toward A Theology Of Inculturation, this is a concept of 2 "relationship between the Christian message and cultures" of a given people. Even though culture can, be transformed by the Gos pel, the two realities may remain divergent. They can, however, be united to achieve an ultimate goal of expressing the Christian Message of Salvation in divine and human contexts. Inculturating life in the context of human situations and exis tence in view of Christ's Resurrection needs to follow a logical method (the correlative method) in theology. With this type of method, it is easy to see that the cross is correlated to life and that the Church in Africa, the Body of Christ, has to experience the cross before it can be resurrected into the new life of the Eucharist as God's Family. This challenges it to create a new self-awareness which will help people to understand the nature of their Christian community (the Body of Christ God's Family). As children of God who are divided among themselves, they need to address the problem of their common cultural heritage as a natural family that was crucified in the past and to examine their relationship with their separated Christian brothers and sisters in view of the follow ing questions: What is the place of the Protestant Churches in the theology of the Church as God's Family in Africa? How should Catho lics today relate with their separated brethren considering that they have been chosen together among all the nations of the earth to build God's Family in Africa?
1. O'Collins, G., S.J., Fundamental Theology, New York 1986, p. 48. 2. Shorter, ., Towards A Theology of Inculturation, London, 1990, p. 11.

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Theological systems of Inculturation ought to focus on the Person of Jesus Christ, the nature of the Church and the essence of Christian life in relation to culture. To do this, there is need to be conscious of the limits Inculturation seen against the backdrop of its relation to the Gospel Message. Inculturation is now a common theme among Christian writers in both Catholic and Protestant theological circles. The theology of Inculturation is, not only a quest for African theology to be born again in the Mystery of Incarnation of the Divine Word, but also an emphatic demand for contextualization to transform the Afri can culture through the Gospel Message. Christ's Resurrection is the basis of our Christian faith and hope. As St. Paul explains: If Christ was not raised, our faith has nothing in it and we are still in our old state of sin. It follows also that those who died within Christ's fellowship are utterly lost, and we are of all people to be pitied (1 Cor 15:17-19). Therefore, Easter is the celebration of the Divine " Yes'1 to life for humanity. It is the privilege of those who have been resurrected into new life so that in Goethe's words, "They celebrate Resurrec tion, for they themselves are risen."3 Thus, the Resurrection draws humanity into the life of God; a fact that is crucial for integrating theology with life within the Africans, socio-cultural context. Afri cans' do not regard life as, simply worldly or materialistic, but as a fundamental thought concept from where other meaningful concepts of human existence emerge. For an African, life is so meaningful that it has to be perpetuated through one's children. It has a meaning that, according to John Mbiti, "permeates all

3. Goethe, von J. W., Faust: A Tragedy, Part One, trans. By Martin Greenberg, New Haven, 1992, p. 29.

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departments"4 of human situations. Therefore, anything that leads to understanding and living "the meaning of life"5 is very important. The question then arises, How is Jesus' Resurrection related to African culture? To answer this question, it is important to note that all cultures of the world have been transformed by God's power manifested through Jesus' Resurrection and this applies to African cultures as well. Unfortunately, indifference and ignorance of these cultures on the part of the early missionaries was a major obstacle to a meaningful integration of African cultures into Christianity. This has definitely affected people's faith since without proper understanding the Christian faith, it is impossible to inculturate it. Through the proclamation of the Word of God and the celebration of the Sacraments, Africans encounter the Risen Lord. So, the African cultures, which had been buried in the past, come to life when they are seen in the light of Jesus' Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection. In this way, the African identity which had been wounded, disfigured and trampled upon in the belief that pagan (non-Western) cultures are basically idolatrous, also becomes recognizable. This new age of technology with its cultural revival and openness to plurality, has ushered in the new life of the Resurrection to the African cultures. A theology of Inculturationhas indeed emerged from African situations and conditions that proclaims Jesus as The Resurrected Lord of Life. Faith in the Resurrection The following words of St. Paul, "For indeed He was crucified out of weakness, but He lives by the power of God" (2 Cor 13:4) show Jesus' victory over sin and death and His entry into glory where
4. Mbiti, J., African Religion and Philosophy, London 1990, p. 2. 5. Tillich, P., Christianity and the Encounter of the World Religions, N.Y., 1963, p. 90.

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He is Lord. He was exalted by God's Power into unity with The Father. For Paul, the Resurrection is the actualization of God's redemptive activity which came into this world through Jesus' Redemptive Sacrifice on the Cross. The Cross helps one to understand the Resurrection better. As Francis Schuessler Fiorenza points out, "Belief in Jesus' resurrection is belief in God's justice that vindicated the life and praxis of Jesus and had the effect of affirming that life and praxis".6 God's justice is manifested in His redemptive activities in Christ which, neither the powers of this world nor its principalities could extinguish. Since God's love of justice is shown in the Resurrection, faith in the Resurrection should be expressed through a personal commitment to creating a system of social justice which promotes positive human relationships. Faith in the Resurrection, therefore, touches and transforms African cultures in such a way that they lead people to freedom and hope that will enable them to proclaim justice, peace and compassion by their way of life. Christ's Resurrection is about life and faith in the victory of The God of Justice. It is a battle between Good Friday and Easter Sunday which, according to Choan-Seng Song, "Is a battle between the power of life and the power of death, between the power of destruction and the power of creation, between God and Satan".7 The Resurrection is the proof that eternal life emerged from death on the Cross; God's plan accomplished by The Spirit. It correlates life with the gift of the Spirit as in Jesus' case who, "In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life, and, in the spirit, he went to preach to the spirits in prison". (1 Pt 3:18).

6. Schuessler, F., Foundational Theology, New York, 1986, p. 45. 7. Song, C S . , Third-Eye Theology, New York 1991, p. 198.

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According to Jewish thought-form, "spirit" and "breath"8 are expressed as one word. This means that at creation, God endowed human beings with the spirit of life. Wolfhardt Pannenberg has this evidence in mind when he writes, "Since the life of the Risen Christ is united to the Spirit, the giver of life, the believer in the Risen Christ receives in himself or herself the source of all life and therewith the hope of his or her own immortal life".9 In his book, The Jesus ofFaith, Michael Cook reiterates the same idea by asserting that: In The Resurrection, God's Spirit touches and transforms this body-person so completely that he or she enters into an utterly new existence which can be characterized in terms of traditional understanding of Adam's Eve's existence in the Garden of Eden, viz. As involving union with God, harmony with oneself, and victory over death.10 A theology of creation related to the Person of Christ holds that through the Mystery of Incarnation, God in Jesus touches creation. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, Christians undergo a new birth, experience a new creation and go through an initiation which incorporates them into the Body of Christ, the Church. Warren Dicharry confirms this when he writes that, "Our personal and communal relationship with one another in the Church stems from our union with the Risen Christ",11 since Christ is the Head of the Church.

8. Brown, R., Biblical Exegesis <& Church Doctrine, New York 1985, p. 104. 9. Pannenberg, W., An Introduction to Systematic Theology, Edinburg 1991, p. 46. See also, Wolfhard Pannenberg, Jesus, God and Man, Philadelphia 1968. 10. Cook, M., The Jesus ofFaith, New York 1981, p. 82. 11. Dicharry, W., To Live the Word, Inspired and Incarnate: An Integral Biblical Spirituality, Bombay 1992, p. 319.

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The relationship between Christ and the Church that began with creation comes to a climax with the Resurrection when the bond between Christ and the early Christians is sealed. The Church is, therefore, a community {ecclesia) that is born of the Resurrection and through which God forms His own People, the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. It is the vision of the life of the Triune God.12 Salvation History has mysteriously linked Christ and the Church. Therefore, defining the nature and mystery of the Church by using the Greek word, ekklesia13 which means, those gathered together, shows clearly the relationship between Christians and the Risen Lord. The frequent use of this word, ekklesia in the Scriptures and early wisdom literatures indicates that the early Christians lived their faith and witness of the Resurrection, not as an individual's concern, but as a community. The early Christian community consisted of Jews who, in George Tavard's words, "Believed that the Prophet Jesus of Nazareth had 'risen from the dead', was alive in their midst in the power of God's Spirit, and must therefore be the Messiah announced by the prophets".14 But, St. Paul in his LetteriotheEphesians writes, "You are no longer aliens or visitors; you are fellow-citizens with the holy people of God and part of God's household. You are built upon the foundations of the Apostles and Prophets and Christ Himself is the cornerstone". Therefore, The Church is inclusive ofOld Testament and New Testament People of God. The same Spirit that was at work in Christ's Birth, Death and Resurrection was released to Christ's followers on Pentecost Day. Israel's Call as the qahal Jahweh passed on to the community of
12. Tarvard, G., The Vision ofthe Trinity, New York 1981, p. 98. 13. Schnackenburg, R., The Church in the New Testament, London 1981, p. 15. 14. Tavard, G., The Church, Community of Salvation. An Ecumenical Ecclesiology, Minnesota 1992, p. 15.

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believers (the Church, the New Testament People of God). Thus the end of the former marked the origin of the latter. On Pentecost Day, the Church was born, not of the flesh nor of the will of men, but of the Spirit {Acts 2). The Church is, therefore, the community of the Resurrection. Its day of rest shifted from the Jewish Sabbath to the day on which the Lord rose from the dead (Sunday). By nature, the Church fosters the interior and exterior activities of the Holy Spirit among the believers. For instance, Charismatic Renewal of the late twentieth century into the twenty-first century which has shifted the outward manifestations of the Spirit from the established Church to the interior activities of the same Spirit outside this visible Church. This has led to new Religious Movements or the Pentecostalism. As George Tarvard, points out in his book, The Church, Community of Salvation. An EcumenicalEcclesiology, "It also the proper perspective from which to look at a number of modern sects that have mushroomed in Europe, and at the numerous Independent Churches that emerged in Africa".15 It is not new to see some radical Christians overemphasize one aspect of the Christian revelation at the detriment of the other in the history of Church. A case in point is the Montanists of the early Church, the Cataphrygians and the Albigensians of the Middle Ages, the Anabaptist and other sectarial movements of the nineteenth century that placed great emphasis on the interior revelation of the Spirit. This explains the present rift between the Pentecostal and Independent Churches with the Catholic practices and principles. But it helps one to understand the nature of the Church in Africa as a local church rooted in the social, spiritual, religious, cultural and human situations through which people encounter the redemption brought about through Christ's Death and Resurrection. Even the theological practices in Africa are now shaped and coloured by the continent's cultures rather than by European-North American cultures and religious tenets. These influenced the Church in
15. Ibid., p. 56.

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Africa from the time of Augustine, the great ancestor of African theologians, via the Medieval period to pre-Vatican II But, today the emphasis is on cultural environments or human conditions which help people to discern the Spirit of God at work in the cultures of the world. Inculturation and Dialogue Inculturation becomes a Paschal process involving a dying and rising of a local church to a new life of grace when it is seen in the light of the Resurrection. A local church has to die to its old Western forms in order to rise to a new life of grace. It has to return to the state that St. Paul refers to when he writes, "So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glorious power, we too should begin a new life" {Rom 6:4). Therefore, like Christ, a local church is also involved in the Paschal Mystery whereby it takes on new forms of creativity in its structures, music and arts. God is very close to each of us because we are His sons and daughters. Consequently, as members of God's Family, we all share a common faith based on Christ's Resurrection. In this way, we give a common witness of Jesus' Resurrection since with Him the cultures of the world (including those of Africa) are risen. The challenge to African Christians now is to discover the values in their cultures which can be reinforced through Inculturation. This will certainly create a positive attitude towards the African cultures which are the heritage of the people. In the Third Millennium, the Church in Africa should become alive through Inculturation. Today, the paradigm of theology is Inculturation because it can be applied to all levels of theology and Christian practices. Its influence can be felt by the universal Church and it is a sign that the Spirit is at work. The Holy Spirit who spoke and continues to speak through the prophets, led Jesus of Nazareth to fulfil the

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Scriptures by carrying out The Father's Will to save all people. The same Spirit overshadowed Mary at the Incarnation and accompa nied Christ throughout His redemptive mission that was to become a universal design for every nation. If Inculturation is carried out successfully, people will be able to understand better God's univer sal plan of Salvation and the working of the Spirit even outside the visible borders of the Church. Here, The Holy Spirit is at work making it possible for people to be saved in mysterious ways. This raises questions like: How can we discern the Spirit of God at work in the culture of a people? Can there be ecumenism in Inculturation! To answer the first question, it is important to understand that the starting point of Inculturation is recognizing the presence of the Spirit of God in a culture of a particular people. The second ques tion, from the stand-point of ecumenism, takes into account the fact that The Spirit is in the Church as a resurrection event. To ad dress the foregoing questions, it is imperative to acknowledge the presence of the Spirit in the non-Christian as well as non-Catholic churches that do not fit into the historical continuum of the mainline churches in the light of the following question: How do we relate to those who are not in this historical continuum since these ecclesial communities accept those Christian values inherent in the Gospels and are devoted to those values inherent in African cultures? It is important to note that the Spirit of Christ is present even in non-Catholic families as expressed in Vatican //thus: It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe, pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that mar vellous communion.16 The non-Christians and people of other faiths who sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. These can attain salvation.17
16. Walter, ., The Documents of the Vatican II (Unitatis Redintegration, no. 2), New York, 1966, p. 344. 17. Ibid, Lumen Gentium, no. 16.

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The nature and mission of the Church as the Universal Sacrament of Salvation for the whole human family is thus revealed. It is, however, Inculturation which empowers the local church to reveal its nature in a faith-community and to fulfil its mission to the world as an instrument of Salvation. In Africa, for instance, the local church's essential mission is to incarnate the Christian Message in the cultures of the people. The success of this process will depend on the Church's ability to transform the African values with the Gospel Message. Its mission of Evangelization has a twofold task: first, to discover the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the local cultures, and secondly to be at the service of God's Family in an ecclesial community. Inculturation and Dialogue have become important concepts of mission theology since Vatican II. According to the Council documents, Dialogue with non-Christians is to be striven after {GS 16). As pointed out in, The Declaration on the Relation of the Church to non-Christian Religions, a mutual understanding must be sought, and a common action inspired by the spirit of the Council for the protection and promotion of social justice as well as cultural heritage of a people to enhance their freedom and peace. This will certainly foster: freedom, openness and reconciliation which are the conditions and prerequisites necessary for enabling persons of other faiths or people of different world-views and beliefs to engage in a mutual dialogue. Dialogue is only possible where persons are willing to focus on a common goal, listen to each other and admit that nobody has the whole truth in himself or herself. Christians in Africa have many common cultural and traditional values that can serve as a basis for unity and dialogue. A good example is the sense of community which symbolizes the Church as God's Family. An African may be as individualistic as any Western person, but the very thought of being alone, keeping aloof from one's own kith and kin and living without communication with other people, will remain alien to the former's mind. This raises two key questions:

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Why is it that Christians in Africa continue to live in fear, disunity, disillusion and are biased against each other in their socio-cultural domain in spite of being community-centred people? What type of hope can the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus' Resurrection offer them in their co-existence with the ecumenical movements in view of the Church as God's Family? A community-oriented cultural background provides a firm basis for ecumenism and weakens all the denominational trademarks thereby creating a new hope based on the Resurrection. The model of Church as Family that was adopted by the African Synod is a countersign to Christian disunity, division and distrust among Christians of the same ancestral-cultural hereditary who happen to belong to a different missionary heritage. Individualism, characteristic of Western culture, was transmitted to Africa through the missionary activities in Africa during the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. The missionaries overlooked the need for establishing Christian unity which is natural to an African because of his/ her family-spirit. A call to Christian Unity Living in an ecclesial community, Christians manifest the Presence of the Risen Lord as a family (the Body of Christ the Church).18 Built on the African family spirit, the Church in Africa will be prepared to undertake issues concerning ecumenism. The African custom of eating from one bowl which is a symbol of unity can serve as a stepping stone to intercommunion and communication; the sharing together of the Eucharistie Body and Blood among
18. Tangaza Occasional Papers/No. 3, Theology of the Church as Family of God, Nairobi 1997, p. 28.

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Christian Churches and members of different and particular faith communities at one table. With such ecclesial communities,19 it will be possible to foster unity of all Christian Churches. To preserve this Christian unity, there is need to strengthen the relationship between the Eucharist and the ecclesial community. Being at the center, the Eucharist becomes the source and symbol of unity among the believers {Acts 2:42) since through it, the whole community encounters the Risen Lord.20 Then, communicating together as one community, Christians become aware of their obligations and commitment in view of their African sense of community and family. The African family shares a meal from one bowl thus symbolizing their oneness, commitment to a single purpose, shared weaknesses and strengths and willingness to receive the gift of the community as their destiny as well as legacy of the ancestors. Sacrifice, which is an incentive to intercommunion because it is a strong basis of understanding the sacrificial character of the eucharistie meal, was attached to the meals with the ancestors. A meal setting in Africa, just like the Church's Eucharistie Meal is a source and symbol of unity; a fact that raises fresh hope in approaching the issue of intercommunion in view of the following questions: How can Christians in Africa share a common Eucharistie Meal from their cultural background whereby they share their meals together in their extended family? Why is it that they fail to share the same meal from a religious point of view in spite of having a cultural background in which meals are shared? If they can share cola-nuts as a symbol of unity why can they not share One Bread at the table of the Lord?
19. Haffher, P., The Sacramental Mystery, Witshire 1999, p. 106. See also Auer John, Dogmatic Theology, Volume 6, Mystery ofthe Eucharist, Washington D.C., 1995; L. Walsh, The Sacraments ofInitiation, London 1988; J.H. Emminghaus, The Eucharist, Collegeville 1997. 20. Schillebeeckx, E., Christ the Sacrament ofthe Encounter with God, London 1989, p. 153.

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Even though Africans share the same cup of palm wine as one family at village meetings, Catholics and Protestants cannot share the One Bread and One cup of wine at community gatherings as God's redemptive deed of salvation for humanity symbolized in Christ. The Eucharist as the greatest Mystery of our life unites us together as one family of God through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. We thus share God's Divine Life with each other; a life that is given and received for the Kingdom of God and that is realized in this world. Since the Church in Africa is poor, it has to strive to become self-supporting. Consequently, Christians must learn to work to gether as one family of God in their efforts to maintain justice, peace and unity. Cultural studies ought to be well focused towards the common concern of ecumenism so that Catholics and Protes tants aim at producing cultural programmes that portray a deep grasp on African realities. These should then be translated into concrete actions that will create unity and true fellowship within the ecumenical-family. Colonialism divided Africans and infused ethnic groups while the early missionaries advanced the fundamental interests of their denominations thereby creating divisive differences among broth ers and sisters of the same cultural background instead of focusing on Jesus Christ whose Spirit is at work in all cultures. As a result of such a narrow concept of evangelization among those who brought a culturally biased Christianity to Africa and who were generally hostile towards African cultures, the African values and systems were overlooked and so could not contribute to a cultural ecumenical theology. There is, therefore, a great need for more research in this field to discover appropriate African cultural practices that can lead to Church unity and be fruitful in ecumeni cal dialogues. For instance, the concept of African-family-spirit which is reflected in the New Testament communities is a great contrast to "rival and conflicting denominations that reject one 21 another's doctrines, ministries or sacraments".
21. Dulles, ., Models of the Church, New York 1987, p. 140.

Conclusion The Church in Africa is now faced with the onus task of relating African methods of theology to scriptural revelation and historical situations so as to examine the African cultures which were cruci fied in the past to raise them to life by the power of God through the grace of the Spirit in the cultures. By His Death and Resurrec tion Christ brought New Life to all; a life which can only be realized through the process of Inculturation. This is the soul and principle of life of the Church in Africa expressed in faith and doctrine without endangering the unity of the Church of Christ. The Word of God that the Church proclaims to the world should bear fruit within the context of cultures and ecclesial communities. For instance, the African culture of eating a common family meal from one bowl which is a symbol of sharing life in community, provides a basis for intercommunion. Similarly, since life is very deep-rooted in African cultures it should be emphasized when presenting the theology of the Eucharist. Being symbols of life, Christ's Flesh and Blood (The Eucharist) are the communion of life and unity of the Family of God. Therefore, Christians in Africa, who are the mem bers of Christ's Body are incorporated into Christ {Rm 6:4) through the Paschal Mystery of the Eucharist. Having been crucified with Him {Rm 6:6) and having died with Him {Rm 6:8), will rise with Him as the first fruits from the dead to bear rich harvests of peace, justice, mercy, reconciliation and freedom from anxieties. They must, therefore develop appropriate rites from Africa that will be fertile ground for theology and sacramental practices that are incar nated in the life of Africans.

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