Biblical Ethics, Children, and Youth in the African Church

Towards Transforming African Theology and the Role of Youth and Children in the Church

Résumé

Scholars of Christian theology, such as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, have offered diverse interpretations of biblical texts, often shaped by their moral and ethical frameworks within the fields of theology and philosophy, reflecting the interplay between scripture and prevailing cultural, philosophical, and doctrinal contexts. There is no doubt secularism has split Christianity into a two-fold polarity that stands between the world of today and the word of God. As the sociologist Peter Berger has noted, the process of secularisation has led to a decline in religious authority (Berger 1967: 107), further deepening this divide between the sacred and the secular. This paper evaluates biblical ethics and compares it with various approaches adopted from the perspective of the global south to understand Christian faith. I argue that there is a distinction between the divinely revealed message of the Bible and the perception that is conditioned by our culture and traditions which are subject to change. This perception has led to the view of Christianity in the global south as an inheritance from the global north. In the current era of postmodernism, the global north is progressively becoming secular, which has contributed to the emergency of liberal theology. There are different factions of theological schools of thought in Christianity. The question that ought to be asked is: who gets to decide what is the truth? In my quest to respond to this query, I focus on a Bible-based, Christ-centred, and Spirit-empowered approach to evaluate the ramifications of secularism in African theology. As a means of exploring this theme, my focus is further narrowed to reflect on the role played by youth and children in the church in sustaining the continuity of Christianity in the global south. Findings and recommendations suggested in this paper will contribute to the empowerment of the global south to uphold a Bible-based, Christ-centred, and Spirit-empowered approach to theological issues.