Contemporary African Postcolonial Theology: Found Balance, Interreligious and Interdenominational Dialogue, Rehabilitation of Relations with Traditional Religions, and Reflection on Syncretisms
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: African postcolonial theology is the application of postcolonial critique to African theology, with the main aim of critiquing hegemonic ideological constructions and providing legitimacy to alternative theological views. African theologians developing postcolonial theology argue that the previously dominant Western form of Christianity indiscriminately imposed on Africa in the second phase of Africa’s Christianization is in fact determined, shaped and defined by European colonialism, which implies and reinforces notions such as Eurocentrism, colonial exploitation and the superiority of European values and culture over African values. Therefore, there is a need to critically examine the history of the African mission and develop alternative interpretations to colonial-tinged narratives. The aim of this article is to examine the current state of postcolonial theology, which has been shaped by a long and arduous journey to find its own balance after a painful period of colonial dictatorship, violence, and complete cultural and religious intolerance, but also a difficult period of postcolonial epistemic violence, subalternity, and hybridity. We pay special attention to the relationship to interreligious dialogue, traditional African religions, and the syncretisms of Christianity and traditional religions. The outlined issues are elaborated through the method of own long-term field research in the field of African Christianity and its relationship with traditional African religions.
Source: AUC THEOLOGICA
Author: Ondřej Havelka
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7161630871
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