Made in Africa: South African Black Theology from the Perspective Made in Africa: South African Black Theology from the Perspective Of a Central European Observer
Abstract
This article reflects on the shift of the Christian gravity from North to the South which started to be pointed out by some theologians in the 1970s. Today, few keen observers of the Christian scene would contest this fact.
Christianity became a religion of the Third world and it can be easily traced down on a range of new theologies. Though these fresh theological currents haven't swamped the bastions of theological colleges in Europe, yet they are providing originality for the worldwide theological discourse.
The aim of this article is to introduce African theologies and theirs vibrant dynamics. This is done selectively by focusing on South African Black Theology as the most specific theological current of the second half of the twentieth century in the Southern Africa.
First and foremost, concept of liberation is representing nature and scope of Black theology. Therefore, the author is approaching Black theology from its paradigm of liberation and strives to show a shift of emphasis within the agenda of Black theologians, in the course of time: starting with a category of race, over to class, finally approaching a category of gender.
The issue of gender as a form of oppression is introduced in a wider context namely, within African Women theologians. The intention is to sketch African Women's theologies as the most recent stream of African theologies of liberation.
This part of the study deals with a blossoming of African Women's theologies in the last twenty years, with their strong potential, their contemporary challenges as well as their decision to keep distance towards Western feminist theologies.