This book navigates the contours of cultural and theological hermeneutics in order to critique, affirm, as well as reconceptualise the vital underpinnings and subtleties of faith-culture intercourse and reciprocation. It questions claims to effective inculturation by theologians and church authorities, even as it acknowledges the inevitability of the tension between inculturation process and syncretic formations. It is an irresistible asset for teachers and students of theology, cultural and religious studies, for pastors and missionaries, and for all Christians in need of finding Christian beliefs and practices more meaningful to them in their daily lives. The hope is that it challenges the straitjacketed conceptual and pastoral frameworks that have often characterised the churchs evangelisation initiatives, and assists in making Christian faith a concrete and living possession of every age and culture. Michael Muonwe is a priest of the Catholic diocese of Awka, Nigeria. He holds Licentiate and Doctorate in Theology and Religious Studies from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He obtained Bachelors in Philosophy from Bigard Memorial Seminary Enugu, Nigeria. Michael also holds Diplomas in Mass Communication and Education. He has authored a number of articles and is an editor of a book. His major research interest is the often-convoluted relationship and interplay between religion and the contemporary culture. His research on the relationship between Christianity, feminism and culture will soon be published in two volumes. On the present book, Prof. Annemie Dillen of the Catholic University of Leuven affirms: This is a must-read book for local church leaders, theologians and everyone involved in pastoral work. It challenges the reader to give up a longing for security and finding answers in fixed rules or the so-called universal truths, and invites him or her to an in-depth study of cultural practices and beliefs. The overview of the discussions on inculturation and the reality or sometime maybe phantom of syncretism is very illuminating and thought-provoking. Thomas F. Magill asserts: A timely and well-balanced study of the theology of inculturation as understood in the Roman Catholic tradition, offering new and fresh insights, situated in the cusp between the Benedict XVI's emphasis on the relationship between faith and reason and the problem of relativism and Francis I's desire for a poor church for the poor. (T.F. Magill, L.S.S., Ph.D, parish priest of the Diocese of Motherwell, formerly a Lecturer in New Testament Studies at the University of Glasgow).

Although Africa is today often seen, because of its large number of Christians, as the future hope of the Church, a closer examination of African Christianity, however, shows that the Christian faith has not taken deep root in Africa. Many Africans today declare themselves to be Christians but still remain followers of their traditional African religions, especially in matters concerning the inner dimensions of their lives. It is evident that, in strictly personal matters relating to such issues as passage rites and crises, most Africans turn to their African traditional religions. As an incarnational faith, part of the history of Christianity has been its encounter with other cultures and its becoming deeply rooted in some of these cultures. The central question remains: Why has the Christian faith not taken deep root in Africa? This volume is concerned with answering this question.

In his quest to identify practices that strengthen the faith of African Christians, Magesa examines the nature of being church today in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.