How do African concepts of god relate to the biblical GOD?
The quest to answer the question of how African concepts of God relate to the Biblical God starts with the quest to figure out whether they relate at all, and then if so, how. Also, it would be ignorant not to consider the colonial context in which the Biblical God was introduced to Africans and what consequences that bears upon the question.
The Xhosa people in the Eastern Cape, for instance, were asked to respond to the Biblical God under the extreme pressure of the 18th-century frontier wars between themselves and the Dutch, and later the British. Their response was shaped by the political and economic context within which the Christian Gospel was preached to them. In this context, the concept of the Biblical God and that of the Xhosa god locked horns in the minds of the Xhosa.
Africa has numerous ideas about God depending on which geographical pocket one finds themselves on the continent. There is no single, unified concept of God. There are many similarities; however, the nuances are appreciated. Therefore, it may be presumptuous to attempt to cover the entire spectrum of African concepts of God in a short essay. This essay will attempt to answer the question by analysing the god of the Xhosa people through the lens of the Xhosa prophet leaders of the 18th century as well as their life experience. It will then use the great hymn of Ntsikana to understand how he used African traditional concepts in relation to the Biblical God.
The Biblical God emerged among the Xhosa early in the 18th century. The rise of the prophet leaders in Ntsikana and Nxele (Makana) in the Zuurveld and the emergence of Western missionaries in the area were significant.
Among other things, Xhosa religion before that was mostly rooted in a belief in the supreme being, the ancestors as mediators, and the land, which was not under the custodianship of the individual or the king but of the ancestors. The meeting point of these two worldviews about religious life and God is most clearly documented in their lives, messages, poetry, and songs.
uMdalidiphu (The creator of the deep) is the god of the Xhosa according to Nxele. He stands in contrast and is opposed to the ‘white man’s God’ (uThixo). Though Nxele appeared to have been converted to Christianity, out of his initial calling to be a diviner, through the missionary Dr J.T. Van der Kemp’s ministry.
His conception of God changed to a fusion between the Christian and traditional concepts over time. This was born out of Nxele’s disillusionment with the political situation of the Xhosa and their violent expulsion from their land. For the Xhosa, everything was tied to the divine. The power of the whites was a result of their god winning battles on their behalf. Nxele conceptualised the frontier wars as a battle between the gods. His message was that uMdalidiphu was more powerful and would win in the end. For Nxele, it could be that the synchronisation of the two God concepts meant greater spiritual power.
It is probably worth noting that the Khoi-San people closely integrated with the Xhosa. Their religious concepts, as preserved in rock paintings and oral tradition, just like the clicks in their language, had a tremendous influence on the Xhosa. The name for God, uThixo, in isiXhosa, which has come to be used to identify the Biblical God, is said to have originated from the name of the Khoi god, uThuikwa’ . Indeed, records show that the Xhosa diviners at times looked to Khoi divine conceptions and cosmologies in order to secure rain supply.
Ntsikana, on the other hand, was a subscriber to the Biblical God. He was a contemporary of Nxele, a fellow diviner and eventually an opponent to him. His conversion appears to have taken place in two parts. The first spiritual conversion-like experience took place before his contact with the missionaries, and the next some years after listening to Christian sermons.
It was a peculiar experience, however, as it took place with no missionary presence. He went on to preach and hold services, desiring the salvation of his countrymen. Preaching that Nxele was wrong about Mdalidiphu and that he was misleading the people. The one true God was uThixo.
Ntsikana’s message, on the other hand, “to the problems of stress was a complete submission to the will of God, where alone peace and protection was to be found”. It is astounding that words such as these could come from a Xhosa diviner. Even more astounding is the way he presented the Biblical God to his countrymen in such a way that invited them to feel at home in the Christian faith. Especially in a time when there had been very brief contact with Christian missionaries.
Just like most African cultures, songs and hymns are preservers of deep convictions and belief systems. Ntsikana’s great hymn is no different.
Ntsikana’s hymns sought to bring the good news to the Xhosa people. That the transcendent God whom they did not know, now reveals Himself to them. His hymns not only praised God but were also a source of doctrine. Relating Concepts of God that the Xhosa could understand to the Biblical God. They also outlined deviations from what they understood about God, the transcendent one, through the old and familiar use of Xhosa idioms and poetry. The following are some excerpts:
He is God the Redeemer
“Ozandla Zako zinamanxeba Wen.a
Onyawo Zako zinamanxeba Wena.
Ugazi Lako Limrolo yinina?
Ugazi Lako lipalalele tina.
Those hands of Thine, they are wounded.
Those feet of Thine, they are wounded.
Thy blood, why is it streaming?
Thy blood, it was shed for us.”
Read (2011, p.12) makes the point that Ntsikana’s more developed theology is probably sourced from his encounters with the missionary Joseph Williams. He goes on to make the point that the repletion of blood and wounded points to a traditional understanding that blood means expiation and that, with the use of Xhosa poetry literary devices, he encouraged people to respond not only corporately but individually to the Lord Jesus’s death on the cross.
Ntsikana stands as a shining beacon for how to do missions in the African context today. In some ways, Ntsikana is an example of African Theology applied well, not perfectly, but well. Whereas Nxele is an example of African Theology applied poorly.
