John Mbiti

John Samuel Mbiti ( born November 30, 1931 in Kenya) is an Anglican priest and philosopher of religion with teaching at various universities around the world, an extensive publication activity and Professor Emeritus at the University of Bern. He belongs to the ethnicity of the Akamba (also Kamba ) at. Mbiti represents an ethno philosophical school ( ethnophilosophy ) and Christian theology and is often called the " father of modern African theology." He now lives in retirement as parish priest and professor of theology commissioned in Burgdorf, Switzerland.

Family

John S. Mbiti was born as the first of six children in Mulango in Kitui, Kenya. His parents were Samuel Mutuvi Ngaangi (1899-1993) and Velési Mbandi Mutuvi ( 1908-2010 ). Both belonged to the ethnic group of the Kamba. The father was a professional farmer and businessman, his mother was a housewife. John grew up in a pastoral area east of Nairobi, a nature-loving children's lives, which aroused his great curiosity and sharpened his mind. Mbiti itself measures this background great importance for his work.

In his later study in Cambridge Mbiti met a Swiss language student, with whom he has been married since 1965. He has worked with her, the language teacher Verena Mbiti - Siegenthaler, four children. The children are all working in the arts as an industrial designer, art teacher, potter and sculptor. The center of life of the family is Switzerland, but she has continued strong ties to Mbitis home country Kenya.

From 1981 until his retirement in 1996 Mbiti has held a full-time pastor of the Swiss Reformed churches in the parish in Burgdorf in the canton of Bern and worked until 2003 as a lecturer Professor of Missiology and World Theology at the University of Bern.

The Polyglot Mbiti speaks his native language Kiikamba and the two official languages ​​of Kenya ( Kiswahili and English) and German. He also speaks some French, Kikuyu, reads Greek, and Latin.

School

John went through the Missionary Kids School ( Elementary School ) in Mulango in three instead of six years. Then he had to run daily in the primary school of the village of Kitui five kilometers.

1946-1949 he was a student of the famous, located in Nairobi, Protestant Alliance High School, which has produced many of the leading personalities of the country.

Here started in 1954 his literary activity and the East African Literature Bureau, Nairobi published a first story in his native language Kiikamba entitled " Mutunga Na Ngewa Yake " ( Mutunga and its history ). The manuscript of a longer narrative was lost through the fault of the persons entrusted with the release of missionaries.

Study

After high school, John Mbiti 1950 went to the Makerere University College in Kampala, which was then trained the intellectual elite of Anglophone Africa. He studied English and geography, but also took courses in economics, history, sociology and art. He was very active in the community life of the Christian student body and received during this period, the inner call to become a priest. A degree in theology was not offered at that time in Makerere.

As one of the first students Mbiti 1953 received there the degree of BA and then taught for half a year at his first school in Mulango. During this time (1954 ) he laid the foundation for a lifelong enthusiasm, collecting traditional stories, tales, proverbs and sayings.

In the U.S. - today resolved at Barrington College in Barrington - he studied theology. In 1956 he received the degree of AB ( Arts Baccalaureate ) and 1957 the degree of Th.B. (Bachelor of Theology).

From 1960 he studied at the University of Cambridge theology, where he received his doctorate in 1963 with the New Testament and published in 1971 dissertation " Christian Eschatology in relation to Evangelization of Tribal Africa". In his PhD in 1963 Mbiti was ordained an Anglican priest also.

Activities

Mbiti taught as a visiting professor at various universities in Africa, Europe, the United States and Canada. In 1957, back in Kenya, he worked in the teacher training college of Kangundo ( Teachers' Training College ) and also took regular preacher services. In 1959 he accepted an invitation to " William Paton Lectureship " to Birmingham, England, at, where he taught until 1960 as a guest lecturer on " Selly Oak Colleges ." He also taught at Harvard University (USA ) and at the University of Bayreuth ( Germany ), University of Geneva ( Switzerland ), University of Zurich ( Switzerland ) and Others He also held numerous lectures and held seminars in many countries around the world.

1963-1964: After receiving his PhD in England (1963 ) worked Mbiti for year and a half in St. Albans near London as parish priest of St. Michael's church.

1964-1974, first as lecturer and since 1968 as a professor, he taught at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, New Testament, religious studies and theology. He also helped as a student pastor.

1974-1980: Professor and Director of the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey in Castle, an establishment of resident in Geneva, WCC (World Council of Churches - World Council of Churches ) in Bogis -Bossey, Celigny ( Switzerland ).

1981-1996: Full-time pastor in the Reformed community Burgdorf, Bern, Switzerland.

1983-2003: At the University of Bern Mbiti was in the faculty of theology part-time and Trustee Professor of Missiology and non-European theology ( ecumenism and mission).

Work

The work Mbitis reaches far and preferably treated philosophy and theological aspects, but also ethnographic as indigenous narratives, African proverbs, oral literature or poetry to Kiikamba and English. Mbitis work and research focuses on ecumenism, mission, theology and Christianity in Africa and Asia or religious studies in Africa, such as " Family Christology ".

About his work, the Heidelberg professor of history of religion and missiology Theo Sundermeier says, " Mbiti has created an indispensable reference works with high information value. If he wanted to prove that they had no low, inferior concept of God in Africa, then it is unquestionably the most successful. "

His pioneering work is the 1969 English under the title "African Religions and Philosophy" (African religion and belief, Berlin 1974) published book. In this he occupied for the first time and due to extensive field studies in Africa that the usual and prejudiced criticism in the Christian understanding of Africa's faith was " demonic and anti- Christian," is incorrect. His own primary Christian perspective on the traditional African religions is sometimes accused of. The book was translated from English into many languages ​​: in German, French, Italian, Polish, Spanish, Japanese and Korean.

Honors

Due to its high academic achievements in the field of theology and religious studies, he received four honorary doctorates:

Theological statements

As of 1960, Mbiti sat in his writings and readings to ensure that the relationship between the Christian gospel on the one hand, and the African culture and traditional religion would otherwise paid more attention. He took the view that Africa widerspiegle the Gospel message relating to the individual joy and spirituality and thus hope, healing and certainty for the well-being of individuals, society and the country hold ready. He emphasized in the development of theology and everyday life of Christians especially the role and the place of the Bible.

Mbitis principal impetus and contribution in his publications and his teaching took place always in the context of the African heritage and biblical, ecumenical and inter-religious insights. He claims that the Bible is the leader and the indispensable tool for theological reflection and expression are. The population of Africa he holds in attitude and practice for widely and deeply connected with religion. He looks at the theological task in Africa as enormous and thinks the theologians they could best overcome by directed according to the saying: " No man can only include a Baobab Tree ".

Summary of the " Theology of basic statements " according to Dr. Jurie van Wyk, director of DACB ( Directory of African Christian Biography ) for Southern and East Africa, Lusaka in Zambia.

Publications

In addition to the titles listed below ( listed after the first publication year) Mbiti has published more than 400 smaller works, including articles, essays, poems, radio reports and reviews.

Author

  • Mutunga Na Ngewa Yake. ( Mutunga and his story, a story in Kiikamba, Mbitis native language. ) Nelson / East African Literature Bureau, London / Nairobi, 1954 ( several editions ).
  • Kithamani kya uthwii. East African Literature Bureau, Nairobi 1954. ( Abridged translation by Robert L. Stevenson's " Treasure Island" in Kiikamba. )
  • English - Kamba Vocabulary. East African Literature Bureau, Nairobi 1959. ( 21981 ).
  • The People of God. World Student Christian Federation, Geneva, 1962.
  • The Wanderer from country to country. (Ins German translated by Dore Marx and Peter Sulzer. ) Of Swiss Protestant Missionary, Zurich 1963.
  • Akamba Stories. Oxford Library of African Literature. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1966, ISBN 0-19-815120-9.
  • African religion and belief. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1974 ( Engl: African Religions and Philosophy African Writers Series Heinemann Educational Books, 1969 ( 21990 ), ISBN 0-435-89591-5. .. ).
  • Poems of Nature and Faith. East African Publishing House, Nairobi 1969.
  • Concepts of God in Africa. Praeger / SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ) / Acton Publishers, New York / London / Nairobi, 1970, ISBN 0-281-02347-6. ( 22010 ).
  • New Testament Eschatology in an African Background: A Study of the Encounter in between New Testament Theology and African Traditional Concepts. Oxford University Press / SPCK, Oxford / London 1971. ( 21978 ).
  • The Crisis of Mission in Africa. Church of Uganda Press, Mukono - Kampala 1971.
  • The Voice of Nine Bible Trees. Uganda:. Church of Uganda, Mukono - Kampala 1972 (as continued in German in " The Community", No. 31-39, 1983. )
  • Love and marriage in Africa. Longman, London 1973.
  • Death and the Hereafter in the Light of Christianity and African religion. Inaugural and farewell lecture. Makerere University, Kampala 1974.
  • The Prayers of African Religion. SPCK, London 1975, ISBN 0-281-02871-0.
  • Introduction to African religion. Heinemann Educational Books, London, 1975, ISBN 0-435-94002-3. ( 21991 ).
  • Prayer and Spirituality in African religion. Charles Strong Memorial Lecture, Australia August 1978 Bedford Park. Australian Association for the Study of Religions, at Sturt College of Advanced Education, 1978.
  • Bible and Theology in African Christianity. Cambridge University Press, Göttingen 1987. ISBN 0-19-572593- X. ( Engl: Bible and Theology in African Christianity Oxford University Press, 1986. ).
  • Translation of the Greek New Testament in Kiikamba, his native language, not yet published in 2009, but.
  • "Concepts of God in Africa" ​​2nd and enlarged edition, Acton Press, Nairobi, 2012. ISBN 9966-888-31-4.
  • " Weteelete Ndakusaa. " Vide Muwa Publishers, Nairobi 2012, ISBN 9966-773-90-8.

Publisher

  • African and Asian Contributions to Contemporary Theology. Report of Consultation held at the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Institute Bossey, 8-14 June 1976. Ecumenical Institute Bossey, Céligny / Geneva 1976.
  • Confessing Christ in Different Cultures. Report of a Colloquium held at the Ecumenical Institute, Bossey, 2 -8. Juli 1977. Ecumenical Institute Bossey, Céligny / Geneva 1977.
  • Indigenous Theology and the Universal Church. Report of the consultation of the same title 16-22 June 1978. Ecumenical Institute Bossey, Céligny / Geneva 1978.
  • Christian and Jewish dialogue on Man. Report of the Jewish and Christian study seminar at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey, 12-16 March 1978. Ecumenical Institute Bossey, Céligny / Geneva 1980.
  • By Erwin Fahlbusch Jan Milič Lochman, Jaroslav Pelikan, and Lukas Vischer: Evangelical Church lexicon. Cambridge University Press, Göttingen, five volumes from 1986 to 1997. ( English Translation: William B. Eerdmans. The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Grand Rapids, United States, 5 volumes from 1999. )
  • African Proverbs. University of South Africa ( UNISA Press), Pretoria (South Africa ), 5 volumes in 1997.
  • With Mutua Mulonzya: Ngaeka Waeka: Anthology of Poems Kiikamba ( Myali ya Kiikamba ). Akamba Cultural Trust, Nairobi, 2010.

Secondary literature

  • Kibujo M Kalumba, Parker English ( Ed.): African Philosophy: A Classical Approach. Prentice Hall, New Jersey 1996.
  • Olupona, Sulayman S. Nyang, and Jacob K.: Religious Plurality in Africa: Essays in Honour of John S. Mbiti. In: Journal of Religion in Africa. Vol 28, 1998, pp. 247-250. And: Mouton de Gruyter: Berlin and New York, 1993.

Swell

  • John Mbiti (1980 ): The Encounter of Christian Faith and African Religion. Christian Century ( August 27-September 3 ): pp. 817-820. Retrieved 23 March 2006. Published online version of "religion online " http://www.religion-online.org
  • Kibujo M Kalumba: A New Analysis of Mbiti 's "The Concept of Time". In: Philosophia Africana. Vol 8 (No. 1), 2005, pp. 11-20.
  • Parker English: Kalumba, Mbiti, and a Traditional African Concept of Time. In: Philosophia Africana. Vol 9 (No. 1 ), 2006, pp. 53-56.
  • Theo Sundermeier is only together that we can live. The image of man of black African religions. Lit Verlag, Berlin et al 1997, ISBN 357900784X, ISBN 9,783,579,007,847th
Church of England Barrington (Rhode Island) Lukas Vischer (theologian) Integrated Authority File
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