The Church as Salt and Light (1): Path to an African Ecclesiology of Abundant Life (African Christian Studies)

This book is an attempt at a critical, constructive, and creative theological praxis of social transformation in Africa. The authors apply a multi-disciplinary approach to examining how Christianity in Africa is engaging the problems of Africa's challenging social context. This is a prophetic work that applies the symbols of ""salt"" and ""light"" as ecclesiological images for reenvisioning the path towards procuring abundant life for God's people in the African continent through the agency of African Christianity. The contributors to this volume ask these fundamental questions: What is the face of Jesus in African Christianity? What is the face and identity of the Church in Africa? How can one evaluate the relevance of the Church in Africa to African Christians who enthusiastically embrace and celebrate their Christian faith? In other words, what positive imprint is Christianity leaving on the lives and societies of African Christians? Does the Christian message have the potential of positively affecting African civilization as it once did in Europe? What is the relevance and place of African Christianity as a significant voice in shaping both the future of Africa and that of world Christianity? ""This book serves as a poignant reminder that the mission and identity of the church in Africa or the African Church remain open to a rich variety of theological interpretations, imaginations, and applications. The Church as Salt and Light initiates an African theology of the Church that successfully connects ecclesiology with Christology to produce a rich flourish of possibilities for the Church in Africa. No longer will the Church imagined in this book be considered a merely abstract theological construct; it is a Church of the people, by the people, and for the people. Poised between the historic Des pretres noirs s'interrogent and the Second African Synod, The Church as Salt and Light recalls and applies Vatican II's maxim Ecclesia semper reformanda in ways that are challenging, stimulating, and refreshing. With this book, we can confidently affirm that postcolonial theology has come of age-a new world-Church is possible!"" -Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ Professor of Contextual Theology and Ecclesiology Hekima College, Nairobi, Kenya ""To put it simply, here is a book that clearly transcends the all-too-common approaches in African Theology that, to quote an apt phrase from the Introduction, still cling to ""Western theologies as canons for doing theology in Africa."" Hopefully, the original and insightful approach of this work will inspire definitive change in theological methodologies in seminaries and institutions of higher learning throughout the continent. The Church as Salt and Light overcomes the theologically sterile divisions between, for example, Ecclesiology and Christology, religion and social development, and faith and life to which we are accustomed. Instead, it situates the church's vocation directly in its true setting as 'salt' and 'light' in concrete human locations. The young African scholars whose ideas make up this book reorient us in clear and powerful ways to the necessity of putting at centre-stage of theological thought the meaning of church as practical application of the liberation and solidarity that form the revelation contained in Holy Scripture. Indeed, as Pliny the Elder said two thousand years ago: 'Ex Africa semper aliquid novi,' Africa will always bring forth something new."" -Laurenti Magesa Professor of Moral Theology Maryknoll Institute for African Studies, Nairobi, Kenya ""Rooted in the conditions and vibrant imagination of African Christians, this collection explores a new ecclesiology for bringing abundant life among the suffering African people. At once prophetic, pastoral, and personal, this rich tapestry weaves sub-Saharan African struggles, wisdom, and tradition as strong and integral threads into the tradition of the universal (Catholic) church. This book of highly relevant

Stan Chu Ilo is a research professor of World Christianity and African Studies at the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology, DePaul University, Chicago, USA. He is the author of A Poor and Merciful Church: The Illuminative Ecclesiology of Pope Francis, and editor of Handbook of African Catholicism (2022). He coordinates the Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network.

Joseph Ogbonnaya is Assistant Professor of Theology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is the author of Deepening the Christian Faith (2011) and coeditor of The Church as Salt and Light (2011).

Alex Ojacor is a professor of Religion at St. Mary's National Major Seminary Ggaba in Kampala where he is the Associate Dean of Studies. He is the founder and director of the Children's Educational and Welfare Organization. He is an author, a social commentator, and a speaker.