Christian identity and justice in a globalized world from a Southern African perspective

Hermen Kroesbergen, Hermen Kroesbergen

• Publisher: CLF Publishers
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781868044993
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

What does the globalized world that we live in mean for our Christian identity and for our struggle for social justice? That is the central question that is addressed in this book from a wide array of angles by members of the Association of Theological Institutions of Southern and Central Africa (ATISCA) and Justo Mwale Theological University College (Lusaka, Zambia)."This book is about the struggle for social justice in relation to the self-understanding of Christians from Southern and East Africa in a globalizing world. Among other concerns, it brings out the connection between theology and disability where disability is reflected as an issue that calls for self-identity and self-re-definition. This book is an important resource on contextualisation of theology and it is worthy reading" Dr. Samuel Kabue, Executive Director of the World Council of Churches network EDAN."In a work long overdue theologians and other researchers in Christianity investigate, discuss and critique the influence of globalization on Christian identity in Southern Africa and its consequences in the struggle for justice. Despite all talk about a 'global village', the voices of Christians from Southern Africa are hardly ever heard. This book represents an important change in this respect. The book has been well edited by Hermen Kroesbergen and it is a must read for all theologians and ministers who want to reflect on our shifting identifies. " Christian Literature Fund

Christian identity amid African Religion: Buganu ceremony and the construction of multiple religious identities in Swaziland

Hebron L. Ndlovu

Swaziland is a multi-religious society that is home to African Religion, Christianity, Islam and the Baha’i faith (cf. Kasenene 1993:6-7). African Religion (or Swazi Religion in the Swaziland context) is the original or host religion, and current estimates suggest that it commands a following of about 33%, while Christianity has about 66%, and the remaining 1% is shared by Islam and the Baha’i faith (cf. Ndlovu 2006:396). In this paper, I use the term ‘Swazi Religion’ to refer to the indigenous and ethnic religion of the Swazi that has been transmitted from generation to generation through oral tradition since the formation of the modern kingdom of Swaziland in the nineteenth century.

The Swazi are part of the Nguni peoples of central southern Africa, and their culture is a synthesis of Nguni and Sotho traditions (cf. Kuper 1986b:189; Bonner 1983:22-24). A distinctive feature of modern Kingdom of Swaziland is its proud adherence to its cherished cultural heritage and ceremonies. By The Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland (2005:228-229) and Swazi law and custom, the country is ruled by dual monarchs consisting of the Ngwenyama (the King) and the Ndlovukazi (the Queen Mother) who are assisted by their respective statutory advisory councils. The Ngwenyama and the Ndlovukazi perform complementary political, moral, religio-cultural roles and duties on behalf of the Swazi nation (cf. Ndlovu 2007:122).

Both the Ngwenyama and the Ndlovukazi are regarded by the nation as “the undisputed symbol and custodian of Swazi culture” (Swaziland Government 2009:1). The valorisation of indigenous culture in our modern era is defended in the Preamble of The Constitution of the Kingdom of Swaziland (2005:s15) which declares that the Swazi people believe that “it is necessary to blend the good institutions of traditional law and custom with those of an open and democratic society so as to promote transparency and the social and cultural development of our nation”.

Significantly, some of the indigenous institutions that have been retained and blended with modernity in Swaziland including some of the dominant rituals of Swazi Religion such as the Incwala, or the ritual of sacred kingship, and Umhlanga, or the reed dance (cf. Kuper 1986a:71-76; 1986b:190-91; Kasenene 1993:21). In recent times, two extra indigenous rituals have been revitalized and retained, namely the Butimba, or the hunting festival, and Buganu, or Marula wine festival (cf. Ndlovu 2006:402; Hall 1998:16-20, 151-154). Because Swazi culture (like other indigenous African cultures), is interwoven with indigenous religion, Swazi Religion has served as the undisputed cultural host to other religions of Swaziland. The core tenets and values of Swazi Religion include: belief in the Creator known as Mvelimnchanti, ancestor veneration, veneration of sacred kingship, the practice of magic and medicine, buntfu or humanness, respect for seniority, life affirmation and valuation of material well-being (cf. Ndlovu 2006:400; Kasenene 1993:13-16; Kuper 1986a:61-76).

My contention in this paper is that whereas statistically Christianity is the dominant religion in Swazi society, Christian self-understanding in the Swaziland context has been broadened by its co-existence and interaction with Swazi Religion in that many committed Christians simultaneously commit themselves to full participation in key rituals of Swazi Religion. I use the Buganu ceremony as a case study that shows that in Swazi society multiple religious identities are affirmed and redefined through ritual performance. In this regard, Christian identity entails, among other things, openness to and readiness to embrace some core elements of Swazi Religion while retaining one’s faith in the Triune God.

1. Methodology

The paper is informed by two related methodological perspectives. First, I subscribe to the pluralist theology of religions that posits the view that all the genuine religions of the world affirm one ultimate reality which is conceptualized in different ways. In this regard, I follow the principle that there is “no one religion [that is] better than the others” (Pluralist Summit 2003:35). The said pluralist theology also holds that the different religions of the world do not only share essential moral values but also influence and enrich one another; and hence “no religion is totally unaffected by its interaction with other religious traditions” (WWC 2005:7). Following this perspective, I see African Religion and Christianity as world religions that have shaped, and still continue to shape, each other in significant ways.

The second perspective that informs this paper is an interpretive view of ritual or ceremony as a dynamic social performance which echoes, inverts, creates, alludes to, and at other times, denies important beliefs, values and understandings through meaningful action by the participants (cf. Bell 1992:219-20; Salemnik 2008:262; Ndlovu 2011:85). This view of ritual will be used in this paper to suggest that in recent times the Buganu annual ceremony serves, among other things, to re-define Christian self-understanding vis-à-vis ardent followers of Swazi indigenous Religion.

Substantive data for this paper has been drawn from primary and secondary sources, and I examine and interpret these data in the light of the methodological perspectives outlined above. Primary data has been drawn from my ...

Table of contents

• Preface
• Christian identity in a globalized world
• Speaking as a Christian without borders: A globalized identity in a localised world
• An Old Testament perspective
• Popular conceptions of Christianity in Zimbabwe as reflected in selected literary texts
• Christian identity amid African Religion: Buganu ceremony and the construction of multiple religious identities in Swaziland
• Challenges and opportunities for theological education in Zambia
• Training of ministers in a globalized world
• Christian faith and the public sphere: An analysis of Zambia as a Christian nation
• Religion and politics in a flat world: Implications for religious and political actors
• Accusations of Satanism in the public sphere
• Social justice in the global village: An imperative call to break the shackles of the past
• Christianity and social justice in Swaziland:
• Blaming the victim and not the perpetrator: An African Pentecostal interpretation of Psalms 37:25 in the light of the global North-South relations
• “Let justice flow like rivers…!” : A critique of the role of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe in the light of Amos 5:24
• Voice of the ‘silent creatures’: An advocacy for Christian ecological justice in an era of consumerism
• Same-sex relationships in Zimbabwe: challenges in the study of the phenomenon
• African socio-religious ethics and the empowerment of women in Zimbabwe: a critique
• Possibilities and constraints of introducing disability discourse in theological schools in Southern Africa: a case for Zambia
• Disability discourse: Imago Dei, teaching theology from a disability perspective
• List of Authors