The Making of an African Christian Ethics

by Wilson Muoha Maina

Overview

An exploration of the development of a contextualized Roman Catholic moral theology in an African context is warranted in our day. This book is a study of the work of Benezet Bujo, an African moral theologian. An analysis of Bujo's work shows the various aspects of an African Catholic moral theology. Bujo's work is viewed here as critically bridging African moral theology and the development of moral theology in the Catholic Church, especially in the West. An African moral theology in this work builds on the elements of the renewal of moral theology after the Second Vatican Council. The renewal elements reflected in Bujo's work and other African Catholic theologians include, among others, the use of Scripture, the relevance of history, the debate on moral norms, the relevance of social sciences to moral discourse, the theory of natural moral law, and the relation between the theologian and the magisterium. This work, therefore, locates the theology of Bujo in the development of moral theology after the Second Vatican Council. The author establishes a relation between African traditional religions, African history, Christology, natural moral law, moral autonomy debate, the encyclical Veritatis Splendor, and political-liberation theological ethics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498279390
Publisher:	Pickwick Publications
Publication date:	07/13/2016
Series:	African Christian Studies , #11
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Wilson Muoha Maina is an associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at the University of West Florida. He is the author of Historical and Social Dimensions in African Christian Theology: A Contemporary Approach (2009).

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

1 The Foundations of African Christian Theologies: African Traditional Religion(s) and the African Historical and Cultural Contexts

2 The Call for Renewal of Moral Theology by the Second Vatican Council and the Development of African Moral Theology

3 African Communitarian Ethics in the Theological Work of Bénézet Bujo

4 An African Christian Ethics Is a Liberation Ethic in the Theology of Bénézet Bujo

5 Human Ethics and/or Christian Ethics? Is There a Specifically Christian Ethics?

6 Veritatis Splendor as a Response to Renewal in Moral Theology

Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Christian theology intersects with African religion(s) and the legacy of slavery to pose compelling challenges to traditional understandings of moral theology and Catholic pastoral roles. Wilson Maina examines these through Benezet Bujo, the leading African Christian theologian. Western ethics, grounded in natural law, reason, and autonomy are fruitfully contrasted to the discourse ethics of African community life, liberation theology, and the abiding presence of God as embedded in the palaver."
—Barbara R. Walters, Professor of Sociology; Author of The Feast of Corpus Christi

Editorial Reviews

"Christian theology intersects with African religion(s) and the legacy of slavery to pose compelling challenges to traditional understandings of moral theology and Catholic pastoral roles. Wilson Maina examines these through Benezet Bujo, the leading African Christian theologian. Western ethics, grounded in natural law, reason, and autonomy are fruitfully contrasted to the discourse ethics of African community life, liberation theology, and the abiding presence of God as embedded in the palaver."
—Barbara R. Walters, Professor of Sociology; Author of The Feast of Corpus Christi

From the Publisher