FAITH AND WITNESS: RECONFIGURING THE CHURCH'S PoLITICAL ENGAGEMENT IN AFRICA WITH THE SACRAMENTAL THEOLOGY OF EDWARD SCHILLEBEECKX

摘要

Until recently the church in Africa used to protest against corruption and oppression. Lately however, she has become ambivalent or even indifferent to political engagement. This is partly due to political pressure, and partly due to a loss of credibility, given some ambiguous relationships she now tends to cspouse with oppressive individuals and systems for her own benefits. Because ofthat, the church in Africa now seems unsure of how to go forward with her call to prophetic witness. I argue that African liberation theologians must provide the theological rationale that should challenge and re-affirm the church to respond to her prophetic vocation in Africa. This paper is proposing using sacramental theology to reconfigure the church’s identity and mission in and to society. Engaging with the sacramental theology of Edward Schillebeeckx with which he responded to the political challenges of his time and context; challenging the church to engage with the realities of the time in a proactive manner that is both faithful to human experience and to God, I want to suggest a theoretical framework for African liberation theology that can be used to explain the political implications of the church’s sacramental identity and its subsquent implications for the African situation.