This volume explores the ethical and philosophical paradigms presented by most of the influential Matriarchs of the Circle of African Women Theologians. It critically evaluates the effectiveness of their ethical and philosophical theories, models, and frameworks in pursuing justice and liberation for women in Africa and globally. The authors address critical questions: How have African women theologians reimagined existing ethical paradigms? What original ethical and philosophical ideas have they generated? How have their ethical frameworks influenced the theologies and interpretations they have developed? What purposes do their ethical and philosophical paradigms serve? How do these renderings intersect with various social categories, including gender, race, class, sexuality, capitalism, and colonialism? What liberating frameworks do they propose? The volume further explores the dialogue between distinct African contexts and universal experiences and values. It explores how universal themes such as humanity, human dignity, rights, justice, motherhood, and more can coexist with communal African concepts and themes. It contemplates how embracing African approaches engages these themes more globally, bringing together particular African contexts of women and the universal ethical, philosophical, and theological theories, models, and frameworks to advance the cause of justice and liberation for African women and women worldwide into the future.

Focusing on the work of contemporary African women researchers, this volume explores feminist perspectives in relation to African Indigenous Religions (AIR). It evaluates what the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians’ research has achieved and proposed since its launch in 1989, their contribution to the world of knowledge and liberation, and the potential application to nurturing a justice-oriented world. The book considers the methodologies used amongst the Circle to study African Indigenous Religions, the AIR sources of knowledge that are drawn on, and the way in which women are characterized. It reflects on how ideas drawn from African Indigenous Religions might address issues of patriarchy, colonialism, capitalism, racism, tribalism, and sexual and disability-based discrimination. The chapters examine theologies of specific figures. The book will be of interest to scholars of religion, gender studies, Indigenous studies, and African studies.

This book surveys a broad panorama of Christian and African traditions to discover and assess the components that will illuminate and motivate a Christian and African ethic of women’s political participation. The author’s primary lens for diagnosing the problems faced by women in Africa is Engelbert Mveng’s concept of “anthropological poverty” that results from slavery and colonialism. It affects women in unique ways and is exacerbated by the religious and cultural histories of women’s oppression. The author advocates an interplay between the sacredness of every individual’s life, a salient principle of Christian ethics, and the collective consciousness of solidarity distinctive to African cultures. This interplay can, in turn, foster a more enlightened approach to African masculinity. Using a “sophialogical” hermeneutic, this in-depth study undertakes a moral imagination through narrative criticism. It argues that the existential reality of African women must be addressed as an essential element in the development of Christian socio-political ethic. The righteous, solidaristic, and resistant anger of women can transform patriarchy and inform Catholic social teaching. The author draws on The Circle of concerned African women theologians, postcolonial theorists, inculturation theology, African males, and Jon Sobrino's liberation theology to present an innovative Christian ethic that will radically affect the lives of African women and inform feminist theology.

Theology has a rich tradition across the African continent, and has taken myriad directions since Christianity first arrived on its shores. This handbook charts both historical developments and contemporary issues in the formation and application of theologies across the member countries of the African Union. Written by a panel of expert international contributors, chapters firstly cover the various methodologies needed to carry out such a survey. Various theological movements and themes are then discussed, as well as biblical and doctrinal issues pertinent to African theology. Subjects addressed include: • Orality and theology • Indigenous religions and theology • Patristics • Pentecostalism • Liberation theology • Black theology • Social justice • Sexuality and theology • Environmental theology • Christology • Eschatology • The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament The Routledge Handbook of African Theology is an authoritative and comprehensive survey of the theological landscape of Africa. As such, it will be a hugely useful volume to any scholar interested in African religious dynamics, as well as academics of Theology or Biblical Studies in an African context.

Anchored on postcolonial and liberation theology, this book examines the global ecological crisis within gender justice discourse. Utilizing textual analysis and empirical studies, the book chapters foreground how the African continent, particularly African women, bear the burden of the ecological catastrophe.

A sequel to the popular Mujerista Theology that addresses themes relevant at the beginning of the 21st century.Mujerista theology begins with personal experience and moves toward a theology that advances the dignity and liberation of all Hispanic/Latino women. This collection of essays combining personal narratives and theological discourse brings together important insights into the concerns of Hispanic women, the ways in which they can help shape theology, and the roles they can take on in the church.Divided into two sections, Part 1, The Personal Is Political, presents three essays on the author?s religious-theological experiences, showing how they help form her theology. The eight essays in Part 2, In God?s Image--Latinas and Our Struggles, focus on theological understandings essential for justice.