Date of Award
4-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2024
Degree Name
Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL)
Director
Eduardo C. Fernandez, SJ
Abstract
The study aims to reimagine the Christian mission in sub-Saharan Africa through the lens of Engelbert Mveng's theology of life. Faced with deplorable conditions and threats to life in sub-Saharan Africa, the study navigates between critical analysis, comparative theology, constructive theology, and interpretive analyses of Mveng's artistic works to develop a new way of doing mission. lt shapes what could be labeled Mission as Life Awakening, which seeks to break with life-diminishing narratives, structures, and mortal spaces and reconstruct new arenas where life can be nurtured and affirmed spiritually and actively in all dimensions.
The critical analysis begins by examining the impact of the colonial translation model of contextual theology, which contributed to the anthropological impoverishment of Sub-Saharan Africa by stripping Africans of their cultural identities, cosmologies, and meaning-making systems. In contrast, Mveng's theology of life, as expressed in his artworks, draws on traditional symbols, colors, rhythms, and meanings to celebrate the cosmic struggle and ultimate triumph of abundant life over all forms of death.
The work concludes that Mission as Life Awakening is a prophetic endeavor, denouncing all that diminishes or ends life. The thesis represents a humble contribution to the ongoing quest for contextual models of mission that resonate deeply with diverse African cultures, realities, and especially the realm of art, seeking to bridge the realm of traditional African arts and their symbolic meaning system 'with the reinvention of mission.
Recommended Citation
Mouzou, Mondohong, "Mission as Life Awakening in Africa and Beyond: Revisiting the Theology of Life of Engelbert Mveng (1930-1995)" (2024). Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations. 129.
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/jst_dissertations/129