Healing the Wounds of Theological Exclusion: Inxeba Elingaphakathi and the Nicene Creed

• Nobuntu Penxa-Matholeni Stellenbosch University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9874-9164

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7833/124-1-2321

Keywords: Indigenous Storytelling, Inxeba elingaphakathi, African Theology, The Nicene Creed, Pastoral Care, Theological Inclusion

Abstract

The Nicene Creed (325 CE) has shaped Christian orthodoxy but also marginalised African indigenous religious voices. Despite Africa’s foundational roles in early Christianity, its spiritual traditions were largely excluded from the Creed’s theological formulations. This paper engages inxeba elingaphakathi (the invisible wound) to explore how such exclusion disrupted indigenous knowledge and practices. Using African epistemologies, indigenous storytelling, naming, and proverbs, the study asks how the Creed can be reread to heal rather than silence African voices, and what confessing “one faith” means when grounded in justice, inclusion, and holistic healing. Rereading the Creed through the lens of inxeba elingaphakathi challenges historical erasure, restores dignity to marginalised perspectives, and proposes a path toward theological inclusion, allowing Africa’s spiritual imagination, languages, and lived experiences to shape the global Christian narrative.