Reflects what traditional proverbs used in Christian catechetical, liturgical, and ritual contexts reveal about Tanzanian appropriations of and interpretations of Christianity.

Pickens (mission and cultural studies, Kentucky Christian College) examines Matthew Ajuoga's description of his role in the development of a very significant African-Initiated Church (AIC) and the story of his life and Christian experience. Ajuoga, a key figure in the East African Revival of the late 1950s, was a leader in the establishment of the Church of Christ in Africa-Johera, along with 16,000 former Anglican communicants and a handful of priests in Kenya. Pickens has collected and presented Ajuoga's largely oral Johera Narrative, complete with commentary and resources, which heretofore had only been available within Ajuoga's immediate religious community. In doing so Pickens has not only illuminated the largely unnoticed AIC movement but also created a template for similar work by scholars working with nontraditional primary sources. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

A Catholic Theology in a current African context remains a challenge for theologians. How can authentic African elements contribute to a catholic theological discourse that can contribute to a re-awakening of contextual theological reconstructions faithful to cultural contexts? This work responds by bringing into the dialogue one of the renowned German theologians, Karl Adam, and showing his success in his contextual theological project, but also evidencing his failures, and thereby setting boundaries for contextual theological constructions. Denis Mpanga is Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Kampala, Uganda, working as Fidei Donum priest in Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Germany. Dissertation. (Series: Communicative Theology - Interdisciplinary Communicative Theology - Interdisciplinary Studies / Kommunikative Theologie - interdisziplin�¤r Communicative Theology - Interdisciplinary Studies, Vol. 19) [Subject: African Studies, Catholic Studies, Religious Studies]

This collection of stories from Africa brings us to a place where the elders gather the children around the fire at night and narrate the stories and events that make them a proud and memorable people. The stories--some, myths from the past and others, accounts of life today--tell of the mystery of being and the relationship of both human and non-human creation with the Creator. They teach the human heart about compassion, forgiveness, joy, peace, and unity; indeed, of the value of harmony within all creation.

Dr. Jacob L. Goodson will be doing a book signing for Narrative Theology and the Hermeneutical Virtues: Humility, Patience, Prudence at Eighth Day Books in Wichita, KS, on Saturday March 21, 2015, at 4:00pm. In Narrative Theology and the Hermeneutical Virtues: Humility, Patience, Prudence, Jacob L. Goodson offers a philosophical analysis of the arguments and tendencies of Hans Frei’s and Stanley Hauerwas’ narrative theologies. Narrative theology names a way of doing theology and thinking theologically that is part of a greater movement called “the return to Scripture.” The return to Scripture movement makes a case for Scripture as the proper object of study within Christian theology, philosophy of religion, and religious ethics. While thinkers within this movement agree that Scripture is the proper object of study within philosophy and religious studies, there is major disagreement over what the word “narrative” describes in narrative theology. The Yale theologian, Hans Frei, argues that because Scripture is the proper object of study within Christian theology and the philosophy of religion, Scripture must be the exclusive object of study. To think theologically means paying as close attention as possible to the details of the biblical narratives in their “literal sense.” Different from Frei’s contentions, the Christian ethicist at Duke University, Stanley Hauerwas claims: if Scripture is the proper object of study within Christian theology, then the category of narrative teaches us that we ought to give our scholarly attention to the interpretations and performances of Scripture. Hauerwas emphasizes the continuity between the biblical narratives and the traditions of the church. This disagreement is best described as a hermeneutical one: Frei thinks that the primary place where interpretation happens is in the text; Hauerwas thinks that the primary place where interpretation occurs is in the community of interpreters. In order to move beyond the dichotomy found between Frei’s and Hauerwas’ work, but to remain within the return to Scripture movement, Goodson constructs three hermeneutical virtues: humility, patience, and prudence. These virtues help professors and scholars within Christian theology, philosophy of religion, and religious ethics maintain objectivity in their fields of study.

African women come from a long tradition as practitioners of healing. Drawing on this tradition and on her own pastoral and theological work, Mercy Amba Oduyoye, a distinguished Methodist theologian from Ghana, discusses the spirituality that undergirds Christian healing practices in Africa, with a special focus on diseases that predominantly affect women.

The existence of orphans is as inevitable to most African cities and the world as it is death. These orphans are caused by the death of one or both parents due to various reasons, including the scourge of HIV and AIDS. Being orphans, most of them are vulnerable to difficult lives because they have nobody to fend for them and take care of their lives. They lack adequate food, living expenses, school fees, and care since their current guardians are also in adverse economic situations. In such situations, orphans end up living a life of hopelessness and trauma, which makes them deeply remember their dead parents and the care they received from them before death. Following the vulnerable situation of most orphans, this book, through a study done in the Tanzanian context, challenges churches to extend their counseling and caring ministries to Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC). It purports that the use of narrative approach is the most effective way to enter into the world of vulnerable children in order to provide pastoral counseling to them. This approach helps pastoral counselors to use life stories, proverbs, biblical narratives, plays, arts, songs, riddles, poems, symbols, and images as healing and coping mechanisms for OVC. Therefore, this book is helpful not only to churches and their ministry to orphans and vulnerable children, but also to those who care for orphans in their homes. Moreover, it will be helpful to children who live in adverse conditions worldwide to find ways to cope with their situations through the stories of children used inside this book.

From epic to limerick, novel to anecdote, literary narratives engage and entertain us. From autobiography and biography to accounts of familial generations, narratives define communities. Myths and histories loom large in religious traditions as well. Recently, the importance of narrative to ethics and religion has become a pervasive theme in several scholarly disciplines. In the essays presented here, a distinguished roster of scholars addresses a range of issues associated with this theme, focusing especially on questions concerning narrative's contribution to knowledge.