The doctrine of God in African Christian thought : the Holy Trinity, theological hermeneutics, and the African intellectual culture / / by James Henry Owino Kombo.

• Superior document: Studies in Reformed theology, v. 14
• Author: Kombo, James Henry Owino.
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in Reformed theology ; v. 14.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (312 p.)
• Notes: Originally presented as the author's thesis (D. Th.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000.

The Christian faith knows and worships one God, who is revealed in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. This is the meaning of the doctrine of the Trinity in Christian thought. Although Christian orthodoxy defines the doctrine of the Trinity, the intellectual tools used to capture it significantly vary. At different times and in different places, Western Christianity has, for instance, used neo-Platonism, German Idealism, and the conceptual tools of the second-century Greeks. Taking elements from the known African intellectual framework, this book argues that for African Christians, the respective pre-Christian African understanding of God and the Ntu -metaphysics, in particular, function as conceptual gates for an attempt towards articulating the Trinity for African Christian audiences.

Table of Contents

Prologue -- pt. 1. The doctrine of the Trinity : the Bible and the Church Fathers. An analysis of the biblical roots of the doctrine of the Trinity -- The emergence of the doctrine of immanent Trinity -- pt. 2. Western theologies' responses to the doctrine of the Trinity. God as essence -- God as an absolute subject -- God as community in unity -- Issues in the Western reinterpretations -- pt. 3. The doctrine of God in African inculturation theology. The African conceptual framework -- The notion of God among the African peoples : the accounts of B. Idowu, J.S. Mbiti, and G.M. Setiloane -- Moving beyond the African notion of God: clearing ground for the doctrine of the Trinity -- pt. 4. From the African concepts of God to the doctrine of the Trinity. God as the 'Great Muntu' manifested by the Son and the Holy Spirit -- Fostering the view of God as the 'Great Muntu' manifested by the Son and the Holy Spirit.