Rediscovering the human: Human existence and the quest for a Christo-theological anthropology in Africa

This is a constructive study which seeks to propose a contemporary Christian theological anthropology in Africa. Behind this undertaking is the awareness that traditionally, Christian theological anthropology, the doctrine of the human being has confined itself to the inquiry of the nature and destiny of human beings. The biblical story in Genesis 1--3 has often been regarded as the source of data and guidelines for theological discourse about the human being. With this background, the human being in Christian theology is understood to have been created in the image of God which, however, following the Adamic fall became radically deformed. Human enslavement to sin and the new human destiny in Jesus Christ complete the main themes of Christian theological anthropology.;The main weakness of the traditional Christian anthropology lies in its failure to engage the factors affecting and influencing human existence. By assuming that data for understanding the human being and human nature is given and therefore remains the same at all times and in all places, traditional Christian anthropology is incapable of quenching quests for meaning and fulfillment which have constantly emerged in every age. It is the contention of this study that apart from the Bible, the concrete human being and human life experience, that is, life as lived by people in a particular religio-cultural and socio-economic and political context provides information which is necessary for a meaningful definition of humanity and departure point of any phenomenological analysis of human existence. With this conviction, the study looks into the African reality, the concrete life as lived by African people and suggests that the question of what it means to be human in Africa both calls for, and is in itself a christo-theologico-anthropological question. The Christ symbol continually plays the role of shaping the conception of the human. As such, Jesus' life and mission is read as having to do with the recovery of that which rightfully belongs to human beings: freedom, dignity, respect, trust, and abundant life. The study links this knowledge, this truth with the African context and experience in order to propose a theological anthropology in Africa. As it does this, it identifies the areas of discontinuity with western theological claims.