Divine Revelation in Africa: Challenges of Intercultural Hermeneutics and Inculturation Theology

Abstract

This essay argues that for divine revelation to be understood in Africa, it is necessary to adopt and use intercultural hermeneutics in enhancing inculturation theology as a practical theology in an African setting. Intercultural hermeneutics understood analogically is a conversation between people who speak different languages. In order to understand themselves, both will get into the world of the other. This involves moving from one culture to another, and so, the interpretation of divine revelation in Africa is not just a matter of simple translation of texts but it means placing what is learnt in another culture in a different cultural context. For God’s revelation to be real to Africans, such communication must take place in African languages and cultural symbols but not in mere transliteration of texts. The basic question is: How then does God reveal Godself to different people in different experiences while remaining basically
the same with the same message?