We recently have had several posts considering John Paul II’s opening teachings on solitude and unity, pointing out the contrast with our western cultural focus on an excessive individualism. I came across a quite intriguing article by Grant LeMarquand, Professor of Biblical Studies and Mission at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA. Prof. LeMarquand has long been interested in African and African Christianity. In fact, he has recently been selected to be the Area Bishop for the Horn of Africa and will serve as an assistant Bishop under Archbishop Mouneer Anis, Primate of the Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East and Bishop of the Diocese of Egypt. He will be consecrated in Cairo on Ap. 25.
Prof. LeMarquand gave an address in 2006 to the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church reflecting on the African perspective on the crisis in the Anglican Communion over homosexual bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions. My point is not to get into the details of LeMarquand’s analysis, but to point out one aspect he highlighted between the western and African perspectives on the individual. In the 4th section of his talk, subtitled “The community as the locus of faith,” this is what he had to say (the emphases are mine):
“One of the more obvious characteristics of western culture is our belief in the autonomy of the individual. Descartes’ maxim “I think (or, rather, “I doubt”) therefore I am” reached creedal status in the post- Enlightenment period. For conservative evangelical Christians this often meant that mission could be reduced to “personal evangelism” or “leading individuals to Christ,” to helping people, one by one, to make a “personal decision.” Evangelical Anglicans have sometimes been accused of having a low ecclesiology, because such a priority has been set on individual evangelism. Similarly, the so-called “left” wing of the church has often perceived itself as the champion of individual human rights. The movement for gay rights is, from one perspective, part of a continuum which views the emancipation of the individual as a central part of Christian mission.
In contrast to western individualism, African Christians see the community as the locus of faith. It is not Descartes’ “I think therefore I am” that rings true in Africa but, rather, Kenyan Anglican theologian John Mbiti’s maxim: “I am because we are.” An individual exists only as a part of a family, a household, a clan. Individual human rights are important for Africans, but not if they are perceived to be damaging to the community. The individual’s personal preferences are limited by the good of the whole. Even conversion is often a group decision. In a recent visit to a Muslim country I came across an African Anglican priest who in the last two or three years has been the catalyst for several hundred African Muslims coming to faith in Jesus Christ. The particular ethnic group which this priest has found himself ministering to seems to have come to a group decision to turn from going in one direction in order to turn to Christ.”
In John Paul II’s analysis of Genesis, the man and the woman in the garden find that they are in a situation given to them by God and the being of each is incomplete without the other. In the modern West the driving passion is to escape from any constraints and find “self-fulfillment.” This stands in stark contrast to the African perspective summarized as “I am because we are.” The African view is much closer to the Scriptural view of Christian anthropology unveiled by John Paul II. An individual only exists as a part of a larger grouping of fellow human beings and never can be considered solely in isolation. One's actions have consequences for others. The irony in God’s economy is that the self can only be completely fulfilled when the communities of which one is a part are also fulfilled.
LeMarquand’s full analysis is rather long, but is available at this link for those who care to examine it.
No comments:
Post a Comment