African World View Versus Christian Eschatological Expectation

The research presents views of some prominent African theologians, namely, John Mbiti, Ephraim Mosothoane, Bènèzet Bujo, Aaron Urio, John B. Ambe, and how they relate the eschatological issue to an African world view. The African Theologians convey eschatological reflections, relevant to the African social and religious context. In order to bridge the gap between the traditional and Christian understanding, the theologians have re-defined various terms to give relevant eschatological meanings. The term Communio Sanctorum has been re-defined from the former meaning as "holy baptized members", to mean a community including both baptized and unbaptized members. They have given grounds for this inclusiveness on Christ's descent into Hell, which enabled dialogue with the unbaptized. Moreover, these African theologians redefined the term "holy", which was understood by the missionary Church as "perfect person", and gave a new meaning for it, underlining that God is the only one who is holy. A person is said to be holy only as a forgiven sinner. Given that all are sinners, these theologians propose Holy Communion, which marks communal practice and gives eschatological hope, should be regarded as a uniting practice and not one dividing between sinners and holy members. The theologians also propose that the Church should adapt the African practice of communal meals. These meals have a social function. They unite all members of the community and also have an eschatological function of giving hope of prosperity. This adaptation could help the Church to take the opportunity to enrich the Holy Communion and strengthen eschatological anticipation among its members.