Christian marriage and family life in the African context

English: The African Christian is in search of biblical principles when it comes to marriage and family life. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide means by which Christians in marriage and family can come to understand better that part of life in which they spend most of their time and energy. The dissertation has been divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 is the introduction. It gives an overview of the problem we are investigating. It also provides us with a historical background to the preaching of the Gospel in Africa. The argument in this chapter is that the missionaries were in total disregard of the African culture when they preached the Gospel. As a consequence the African converts rejected their own culture without any concrete understanding and accepted the culture of the missionaries that came with the Gospel. The result is that we are sitting with a Christianity in Africa that does not give answers to African problems, and in this regard, to marriage and family life. Chapter 2 deals with the traditional marriage customs in Africa. This chapter provides us with the context. It gives us a picture of marriage and family life in traditional Africa. Chapter 3 gives the Biblical theology for Christian marriage. The Bible as the Word of God plays a major role in this paper. There are issues that are particular to a specific culture, and there are principles that are applicable to all Christians. This chapter also serves as a reference to the chapters following it. The Biblical foundation that is established here comes back in Chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 4 gives answers to marriage and family life challenges. The approach in this chapter is to take the African context seriously and to apply the principle of continuity and discontinuity critically and responsibly. The Word of God has to triumph at the end. Chapter 5 deals with the family. The relationship between husband, wife and children is approached from a Biblical perspective. Leading a healthy family life is also a sign of growth. Christians need to grow. We cannot just remain like babies and drink milk from year to year. In Chapter 6 we make our concluding remarks and discuss the way forward for Christian marriage and family life in the African context. It is not optional for Christians to apply Biblical principles into their lives, it is an obligation. In this globalising and secularising world Christians need to spend more time in studying the Scripture so that they will know how to apply it in their daily lives. My stance as an evangelical Christian in Africa is also evident in this research. I tried to be as objective as I could in my approach, but it is not possible to be totally objective. This statement should not serve as an excuse for any child of God to act irresponsibly, but we must try to make His truth known to all men.