“TheVictim as Culprit” Re-appropriating Herman Beseah Browne's Conceptualization of Negative Experiences in AfricanTraditional Religion

Abstract

In Africa, the attribution of negative experiences to the 'attack' of spiritual forces is common. A car crash or medical condition is seen as caused in the 'spiritual realm' through the manipulation of occult powers by a malevolent neighbor, relative or colleague. Reckless driving, mechanical failure of a critical system in the vehicle, genetic endowment and lifestyle of the patient are often glossed over. In a broader framework, this interpretive scheme raises questions as regards the flow of history. What is the place of intra-worldly causes, specifically human agency, vis-à-vis the flow of history? As starting point in the reflection, we engage the thoughts of the Liberian Anglican theologian, Herman Beseah Browne, who speaks of “Africa's anthropology of impotence.” He argues that in the traditional African understanding, human beings are not agents or architects of history. He distinguishes between sources and causes of events. He claims that in African Traditional Theology (ATT), spiritual forces are agents of history and causes of events. Human action is inefficacious. Human action has effect only in the spirit world – courting or alienating the ancestors and their protective mantle. Those who alienate the ancestors suffer negative experiences. Thus, though victims, they are also culprits because they made themselves vulnerable to the manipulation and attacks of other spirit forces by alienating the ancestors. This is what he calls the victim as culprit thesis. In this article, we shall evaluate this thesis which in my view is one-sided and non-representative of the best of the traditional conception as well as plagued by an internal contradiction. We shall then give indications as to how possibly to re-appropriate it into Christianity for a more balanced view through a reflection on the incarnation as representative of dual agency.