Igwebuike as an Indigenous Ontological Logic for Synodality

Abstract

A major question that consistently looms at the horizon of African theology is: How can the Christian message be made to feel at home in Africa, and Africans feel at home with Christianity? This question springs from the genuine need for authentic dialogue between the Gospel message and the religio-cultural and philosophical values of the African people. This has led to various perspectives about the expression of the Christian faith within indigenous categories that the African people can understand for the Christianization of the African culture and the Africanization of the Christian faith. While many works have been written on the inculturation of the Christian faith in Africa, less attention has been given to the relationship between the theology of Synodality and African indigenous perspectives. The present work, therefore, focused on the theology of synodality in relation to the Igwebuike indigenous framework, which is an African philosophical, theological and religio-cultural perspective and the operative condition of the thermodynamics of African ontology. The purpose of this paper is to establish Igwebuike as an indigenous category that can serve as an ontological logic for the enhancement of the interpretation, understanding and application of the theology of Synodality among the African people. To achieve this, the paper was woven around the Igwebuike theoretical framework, while the hermeneutic, comparative and analytical methods of inquiry were employed for the development and achievement of the purpose of the paper. The paper discovered that the Igwebuike framework already resident among the African people was a synodal seed in preparation for the Synod on Synodality.