A critical evaluation of the understanding of God in J.S. Mbiti's theology

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dc.contributor.authorHan, Y. S.
dc.contributor.authorBeyers, J.
dc.date.accessioned2018-09-05T11:50:43Z
dc.date.available2018-09-05T11:50:43Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.description.abstractThis article investigates how Mbiti articulates the theological reflections on the understanding of God from an African perspective. Mbiti systematises data of the African concepts of God in a set of Western Christian doctrinal systems. He presupposes a continuity between the Christian and the African concepts of God, and overemphasises the similarities. Mbiti regards African Traditional Religion(s) (ATR(s)) as monotheism and as a praeparatio evangelica, and maintains that the Christian God is the same as the God worshipped in ATR(s). In Mbiti’s theology, negative attributes of the African God, which are irreconcilable with the God of the Bible, are not critically evaluated, and the concept of the Trinity is not articulated. In this article, the notions of African monotheism and of ATR(s) as a praeparatio evangelica are criticised. This article claims that what African theology needs is to clarify the Christian concept of God, and to articulate the understanding of God within a Trinitarian context.en_ZA
dc.description.versionPublisher's versionen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationHan, Y. S., & Beyers, J. (2017). A critical evaluation of the understanding of God in J.S. Mbiti's theology. Acta Theologica, 37(2), 5-29.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1015-8758 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2309-9089 (online)
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18820/23099089/actat.v37i2.2
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11660/9238
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherFaculty of Theology, University of the Free Stateen_ZA
dc.rights.holderFaculty of Theology, University of the Free Stateen_ZA
dc.subjectConcept of Goden_ZA
dc.subjectAfricaen_ZA
dc.subjectTheologyen_ZA
dc.subjectMbitien_ZA
dc.titleA critical evaluation of the understanding of God in J.S. Mbiti's theologyen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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AT 2017 Volume 37 Issue 2