Duffy Lectures in Global Christianity

Before his conversion to Christianity, A.E. Orobator was raised in a Nigerian family steeped in the practice of traditional African Religion—animism, to use the term of anthropologists; “paganism” or “heathenism,” to use the term of the missionaries. This repository of African religion, he argues—at its heart “a deep belief in the livingness of creation”—is the soil in which Christianity and Islam have taken root. “Orobator concludes this work with this African proverb: ‘A single bracelet does not jingle.’ In these readable, engaging, passionate, often intimate reflections, Orobator threads Africa’s indigenous religious experience with Islam and Christianity to offer the reader a ringing narrative that not only resounds with joy but educates, challenges and inspires.”– M. Shawn Copeland, Boston College “I find Orobator's Religion and Faith in Africa extremely refreshing and engaging. Bator writes well and simply (which is the same thing) to drive a powerful argument: In order to become a prophetic practice that advances life and wellbeing on the African continent, Christianity must rediscover and build on the rich cultural and religious heritage of Africa's primal religions.” – Emmanuel Katongole, author, The Journey of Reconciliation: Groaning for a New Creation in Africa “With characteristic honesty and humility, Orobator narrates his own journey of faith in Africa, profoundly and unapologetically grounded in African Religion, unequivocally devoted to Jesus Christ, and rightfully respectful of Islam. He provocatively seeks to redeem and redefine ‘animism’ with prophetic boldness and incisiveness, thereby inviting readers to glean wisdom from African tradition in their own spiritual pilgrimage.”– Diane Stinton, author, Jesus of Africa: Voices of Contemporary Christology Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ, is a Jesuit priest who lives and works in Nairobi, Kenya. He is the author of Theology Brewed in an African Pot and editor of The Church We Want: African Catholics Look to Vatican III (both from Orbis Books).