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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Inculturation: its meaning and implication for the Nigerian Church |
Author: | Nzomiwu, J.P.C. |
Year: | 1989 |
Periodical: | Africana Marburgensia: Sonderheft |
Volume: | 13 |
Pages: | 11-23 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | inculturation Catholic Church Igbo |
Abstract: | This paper looks into the question of how the church in Nigeria (particularly the Igbo Catholic Church) has responded to the question of inculturation or indigenization. The validity of the study lies in the fact that the Igbo or Nigerian experience of indigenization points out common religious elements that could make Christianity more acceptable to the Africans. In the religious context, indigenization in Nigeria would mean an attempt to recapture the Nigerian mind and redeem the fundamental values of its culture as an authentic mode of constructing the type of church which understands the Nigerian. Indigenization should consist of a 'de-westernization' process and, for the Igbo, of a process of 'Igbonization', which means incarnating Christianity in the thought patterns and cultural values of the Igbo. The Igbo Church should put more stress on the relationship with one's neighbours; it should be outward-looking and community-centred; it should incorporate the idea of Christ as the ancestor who is foreshadowed in Igbo religion; marriage rites, sacramentals, and burial rites should be indigenized. These and numerous other pastoral problems need to be studied by the indigenous Igbo Church in order to find a common Igbo and Christian solution. Ref. |