Prelude to Religious DialogueAfrican Christian Theology: Adaptation or Incarnation? by Aylward ShorterReview by: Newell S. BoothAfrica Today, Vol. 26, No. 1 (1st Qtr., 1979), p. 87Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4185842 .

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Prelude to Religious Dialogue

Newell S. Booth

Aylward Shorter, AFRICAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY - Adaptation or Incarnation? (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1975.) vii + 167 pages. Index. $7.95 hardcover.

Aylward Shorter, a Catholic priest who has done field work in Tanzania and taught in Uganda, has in this book made a stimulating contribution to the study of African religion.

The title may be somewhat misleading, especially if the question in the second part is overlooked. Father Shorter's goal is the development of dialogue between Christians and traditional believers but, as he says, his book is "a discussion about dialogue rather than an entry into dialogue." (p. 161) He deals mainly with the essential prerequisite for such dialogue: a right approach to the study of traditional religion. The book, therefore, is of interest not only to students of African Christianity but also to those concerned primarily with understanding African Traditional Religion.

Shorter discusses and illustrates a number of approaches in the study of traditional religion and gives special attention to four which he finds promising. The "historical" approach is based primarily on linguistics and the study of tradition and ritual. The "limited comparative" approach studies similarities and differences among a few closely related groups. The "categorical" approach establishes categories which organize phenomena from a larger number of groups. For example, ideas of God may be categorized along a continuum from "pure theism" to "pure deism." The "thematic" approach identifies themes in African religion, such as "memorial," or "co-creativity," "judgement" and "the whole community."

Making use of such approaches, the Christian will be in a position to enter into dialogue with the traditional believer, avoiding both closed-minded hostility and superficial syncretism. Such dialogue, Shorter points out, is not only between people, but with African Christians themselves. The result should be an "incarnational" theology, in which the truth of Christianity is understood in African terms. Shorter does not presume to say what African Christian theology will look like; the Church not only speaks to Africa, it must also listen and include Africa's contributions in its understanding of universal truth. Thus "African Traditional Religion may have consequences for the future shape of the Christian Church of which we now have no inkling. (p. 17)

One problem in the book is the use of the terms "theism" and "deism" which seem to have been imported into the African context and obscure more than they clarify what Shorter is saying. Also, it may be questioned whether all of the groups mentioned are placed in the correct "category" in regard to their ideas of God.

In general, however, the book is excellent and should be read carefully by anyone interested in the serious study of African religion.

Newell S. Booth, Jr. is Protessor of Religioni at Miami University in Oxtord, Ohio.

Vol. 26 (1979) No. 1 87

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