Inculturation and the Christian faith in Africa

Abstract

Inculturation is a rare dictionary word that gained popularity after the Second Vatican Council. It is the incarnation of the Christian message in particular cultural context, in such a way that this experience not only finds expression through elements proper to the culture in question, but becomes a principle that animates, directs and unifies the Church and remaking it so as to bring a new creation. In this paper, the researchers argue that evangelization in post-missionary Africa, to be intensive and not just extensive, must imbibe the principles of inculturation. It further argues that inculturation provides the fertile ground for incorporating the culture of particular peoples into the life of the Church. This disconnects evangelization with the missionary concept of evangelization as a one-way traffic and connects to a process that is interactive and complementary. It is through inculturation that the church would reappraise her evangelizing mission so as to maintain and exceed the present successes and redefine its orientations and goals.

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