Polygamy is a phenomenon often associated with African people. In almost all African societies, polygamy is an acceptable and valid form of marriage -in fact, monogamy has been associated with people of lower social status. Proponents of polygamy have claimed that the more wives a man has, the more children he is likely to have, and the more children, the greater the chances that the family will enjoy immortality. This is indicative of the high regard in which the tradition is held by some African people (men in particular). The theological thinking of various Christian denominations is divided on the subject of polygamy. The intention of this article is to investigate the way in which African people have conceptualised polygamy, and how the Christian church has dealt with it. In particular, I will explore and present and argument on whether polygamy can still be regarded as acceptable in contemporary Christian communities.
Teaching used to be a well-respected profession, which many people used to love in the past.Many children, when asked what they wanted to be when growing up, indicated that theywanted to be teachers. This is why – even when children were play-acting – most of them likedto play the role of a teacher. It is disturbing to learn that this profession has grown to be hated bymany people today. This is evidenced by the mass resignations of teachers from many publicschools over the past few years in South Africa. This exodus had been researched by differentscholars from different disciplines who have also made their recommendations as to how thesituation can be reversed. The fact that teachers, who are disappointed and demotivated tocontinue with the career, are the creation of God and are teaching the creation of God, calls forthe church through its pastoral theological services to play its role in trying to compose guidelinesfor the elimination of the problem. The purpose of this article is to search for possible ways inwhich the church can theologically play its role in addressing the problem of the teachers’dissatisfaction as well as giving some guidelines on how this challenge can be eliminated.
An African funeral is a very social event for the entire community in which the deceased lived.Regardless of whether the deceased was a Christian or not, death has always been a reunion forlong-separated relatives, believers and non-believers. Nowadays, tents, cars and the gatheringof multitudes of people demonstrate how death can bring people together, irrespective ofdistance and relationships. Of course, this is not to deny the fact that death can be a cause ofdivision between relatives and friends. Nonetheless, the funeral itself is also a uniting factor;many people come together, regardless of distance, to pay their last tributes to the deceasedand to provide the bereaved family with emotional support. In this article, I argue that death,amongst other things, is a uniting factor that is able to bring people, who are separated bydistance and other factors, together. The aim of this article is to discuss how death invitespeople into a family, regardless of bad blood, flawed relationships and separation.
The importance of children for African people has been prioritised above many other reasons for marriage. Besides the fact that every childless marriage has only a slim chance of survival, women are the main objects of this pressure. Some African researchers have revealed that it is usually women who are traditionally held responsible for childlessness. It becomes evident when a man takes a second wife without first seeking medical proof of his wife’s barrenness. In other instances, suspicions force men to divorce women or claim their bride price back as a result of childlessness. Besides being a humiliation for women, it is also a gender inequality issue that deserves theological attention and research to make suggestions and advise on how to reduce or eliminate some practices that promote the subjection of women. The purpose of this article is to research how gender inequality and women abuse continue to manifest because of barrenness. A theoretical framework will direct the research methods – the reading of African-based books, articles, newspapers and other relevant media sources will be utilised.
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