This study deals with the interaction between neo-Thomism and African traditional thinking in Charles Nyamiti's theological methodology. The approach of the study is groundbreaking as it is the first monograph published on the theological method of any African theologian. The question about the position and relevance of Western philosophical-theological systems in a non-Western context also has a wider relevance concerning contextual theologies in general. Nyamiti's theology is a germane and a fruitful choice for the study of this issue because of his programmatic attempt to build a coherent African Roman Catholic theological system. His theology is also well-known for its strong African flavor in elaborating theological questions within the framework of orthodox Roman Catholic doctrine.

"A disciplinary map for understanding African Catholicism today by engaging some of the most pressing and pertinent issues, topics, and conversations in diverse fields of studies in African Catholicism"--

Featuring essays from a broad range of contributors this book is a treasure for anyone interested in theological reflection from an African perspective and is a necessary resource for theologians and scholars working in a church that is steadily moving its center to the Global South.

Twenty or more years have passed since the Second Vatican Council made African Catholicism seem a feasible, bewitching mixture of Gospel freedom, mediaeval en rootedness and Third World contemporaneity. Now it has entered a 'dark tunnel', a church of silence working out its future in isolation, poverty and faith. In these essays Adrian Hastings analyses aspects of African Catholicism today, the prophetic role of the christian church in Africa, the sacrificial death of some of its prophetic figures, the ambiguous situation of the church in racist South Africa, the position of women who are Christianity's principal asset, the importance of African theology, now a lived rather than a published, phenomenon and the ambiguous figure of Archbishop Milingo, exorcist and healer. A single theme binds them together, that of the abiding ministerial reality of the village, the priestless peasant religion which has made Catholicism in Africa as indigenous as maize meal or banana beer. Adrian Hastings draws on examples ancient and modern to illustrate this theme: the Donatists of fourth-century North Africa the Monophysites of Egypt, and his own personal experience of a rural parish in Uganda. No longer in a formal structure of ministry himself, Hastings launches a hard-hitting attack on an ultramontanist, curial bureaucracy. This is a controversial, but fascinating, book, which affords many important glimpses of what is happening in the 'dark tunnel".

Was modern Christian mission to Africa primarily a colonial project and a civilizing mission or was it a spiritual revival spreading to new areas? This book tells the tale of the Dii people in northern Cameroon and describes their encounter with Norwegian missionaries. Through archival studies and through fieldwork among the Dii, an intriguing scenario is presented. Whereas the missionaries describe their mission as one of spiritual liberation, and the Dii highligt the social liberation they received through literacy and political independence, the author shows how both spiritual and social changes were results of captivation, miscommunication and constant negotiations between the two parties.

Unique for its breadth in studying theologians not only from Europe and North America but also from Latin America, Asia, and Africa, this landmark volume introduces the doctrine of the Trinity, examining the work and thought of contemporary theologians throughout the world. Veli-Matti Karkkainen provides an overview of the biblical roots of the doctrine, discussing both the idea of plurality in God in the Old Testament and the rise of Trinitarian understandings in the New Testament. He details the historical growth of Trinitarian traditions and delves into specific theologies, both Western and non-Western. Also including both an introductory consideration of the doctrine's significance and a concluding assessment and agenda for future thought, Karkkainen'sThe Trinityis the broadest and most comprehensive contemporary study on the Trinity available.

This study gives a detailed analysis of the theology of religions of Raimon Panikkar (b. 1918), a Catalan-born Hindu-Christian. His radical pluralism is found to be based on his idiosyncratic "cosmotheandrism," and even to show signs of inclusivism.