AFRICAN ECO-THEOLOGY: NATURE AND SOURCES

Abstract

The activities of human beings from the dawn of modernity, specifically in the areas of degradation, pollution and destruction of the very environment that hosts and sustains them, have led to the serious danger of extermination. Not only have these human activities succeeded in making the environment hostile to life, they have also turned it into a breeding ground for usual and unusual diseases and sickness. This has led scholars of different backgrounds to begin to investigate better ways of addressing the present ecological crisis, seeking alternatives to the Western hedonistic, consumerist and technological approach. The emergence of an African eco-theology is, therefore, based on the fact that the world needs alternative perspectives or approaches, even within theology, to the problem of ecological crisis affecting the different corners of the world. An African eco-theology addresses the problem of ecology outside of the conventional theological, uniform regulations and technical interventions that have led to the overlooking the complexities of local problems which demand the active participation of all members of the community. New processes taking shape cannot always fit into frameworks imported from outside; they need to be based in the local culture itself. African eco- theology adopts an approach that respects the rights of the African peoples and cultures, and appreciates that the development of the African people presupposes a theological and historical process which takes place within a cultural context and demands the constant and active involvement of the African people from within their proper culture. While there are a few papers written on African eco-theology, there is hardly literature that discusses its nature and sources in a profound manner in relation to the African worldview This work, therefore, adopted the contextual approach to theology, and submitted that eco-theology is more relevant to African people when it is clothed with the categories of the African people.