In his quest to identify practices that strengthen the faith of African Christians, Magesa examines the nature of being church today in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The emergence of Prophetic Theology, of Black theology, of African Theology, of Coping/Healing Churches and of a Pastoral Plan in the catholic Church are five contextual manifestations of a single process in which the Church is rooting itself in the South African soil thus moving from being a settler-mission Church to a local Church. The first part of the study is an attempt to present a description of each of the five cited phenomena as they are manifesting themselves within the South African context. The second part of the study attempt to interpret these phenomena in terms of a theological hermeneutic key. The author examines two interpretative keys: that of Contextualisation and that of Inculturation. The study shows that both models can be used to reveal complementary conclusions for Evangelisation in the South African context.

Although Africa is today often seen, because of its large number of Christians, as the future hope of the Church, a closer examination of African Christianity, however, shows that the Christian faith has not taken deep root in Africa. Many Africans today declare themselves to be Christians but still remain followers of their traditional African religions, especially in matters concerning the inner dimensions of their lives. It is evident that, in strictly personal matters relating to such issues as passage rites and crises, most Africans turn to their African traditional religions. As an incarnational faith, part of the history of Christianity has been its encounter with other cultures and its becoming deeply rooted in some of these cultures. The central question remains: Why has the Christian faith not taken deep root in Africa? This volume is concerned with answering this question.

Examines the phenomena of the growth, in African Christianity, of churches and sects offering healing. The aim of the text is to present an understanding from medical, psychological, cultural, socio-economic, philosophical and theological perspectives. Starting with a description of religious healing, the text develops a theological model within which the experience can be articulated in terms of the Church's mission to heal. It does this using the theological notion of inculturation.