The African Dilemma Africa is a land wealthy in proverbs. One of my favourite ones relates the dilemma of the hyena. The hyena was following the general direction of the aroma of barbecuing meat. He wanted a share of this enticing and mouth-watering meat. Suddenly his path forked into two. He was not sure which one would lead him to the meat. In his uncertainty, he put his legs astride the two paths and tried to walk along both and oops! The poor hyena split in the middle.The African Christian often walks with one foot in African religion and culture and another in the Church and western culture. While the former is seen as tradition and must disappear with time, the latter is passed for progress and encouraged. The dilemma of the African Christian cannot simply be wished away, especially today when it seems as if the centre does not hold and things are falling apart. 1Christian women of Africa are part of these two worlds. Often times, one feels the strain of splitting apart when trying to correlate the pull of the culture on the one hand and that of the Church on the other.The tension between the notion that it is possible and desirable to live by the gospel without culture is a belief held with much wishful thinking. Reality tells a different story. In the African indigenous thought system, culture and religion are not distinct from each other. Therefore, culture and religion in Africa embrace all areas of one's total life. There is no sphere of existence that is excluded from the double grip of culture and religion. The presence or absence of rain, the well-being of the community, sexuality, marriage, birthing, naming children, success or failure, the place 1.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract