Paul, the “New Humanity” (Eph 2) and Tutu’s Ubuntu Reconciliation Theology in Dialogue

• Jose de Carvalho South African Theological Seminary https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7128-693X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7833/124-1-2275

Keywords: African Christian theology, Ephesians 2, “The New Humanity”, Paul’s reconciliation theology, The Ubuntu theology of Desmond Tutu, African traditional religion

Abstract

The research examined the complex contextual factors that influence ethnopolitical conflict in Africa. When considering inclusive solutions for the common good, African philosophers and theologians advocate for retrieving Ubuntu as a cultural, communal resource to promote reconciliatory intercultural dialogue in Africa. The proposal is justified, as Ubuntu is an existential African homogeneity in a culturally diverse religious continent. The challenge to articulating Ubuntu from an African religious and Christian worldview is that it intersects with the robust discussion of adopting an uncritical merging of culture and African Traditional Religions, which is inconsistent with Evangelical theology. Many are sceptical about whether Ubuntu can be authentically Christian and African. Despite the testing areas of contention, I argue that it is realistic. The methodological use of a biblical intertextual and interdisciplinary method revealed that a nuanced Ubuntu can be authentically Christian and African. This is therefore A contribution to a cultural resource to encourage reconciliation, curb ethnopolitical conflicts, and foster social cohesion among diverse cultural and ethnic peoples.