Religious Hybridity: Opportunities and Challenges for African Christian Theology

Abstract

Religious hybridity points to the religiosity of individuals who are anchored in one religious system while involved at various levels through affiliation, participation, belonging, or allegiance to other religious traditions. If religious hybridity presents some Christological challenges for African theology, it also brings some opportunities since the persistence of religious hybridity reflects particular aspects of Christian teachings or practices which need further reflections and/or actions. Some areas of the Christian teaching or rituals do not seem to provide sufficient or satisfactory answers to some African Christians who therefore feel the need to retain elements of their traditional religions. African Christian theology is compelled to respond to those unmet needs which are mainly the demands for a genuine inculturation of transitional rites, a more holistic approach to healing, and a proactive engagement with the social reality. The palaver model can be a useful tool to approach those issues.