Trinitarian Ecclesiology and the Missional Community : the Place of Christ in the African Divine Church of Kenya
Abstract
This research investigates the place of Christ in the lived theology of the African Divine Church (ADC) of Kenya (Vihiga County). It seeks to address this question through exploring notions of Trinitarian ecclesiology and missional community, both in the lived experiences of ADC members, and in the Ecumenical Creeds of the Church. As a member of the Organisation of African Instituted Churches (OAIC), ADC affirms the teachings of the apostolic church on the Trinity.
This research, therefore, articulates the theological principles that may be helpful for ADC in its reappraisal of the place of Christ in its ecclesiology and missiology. The study 1) describes the background of the African Divine Church of Kenya as an African Instituted Church with special reference to their understanding of the role of Jesus Christ in Trinitarian mission, 2) discusses the development of Trinitarian ecclesiology and missional community during the early church, medieval, Reformation, and modern periods in history with special reference to the place of Jesus Christ, and 3) formulates guidelines for a paradigm shift towards an understanding of Jesus Christ’s role in Trinitarian ecclesiology and the missional community for the formulation of a doctrine of Trinitarian mission in the African Divine Church of Kenya.
The study follows a basic two-fold design, which includes a qualitative empirical study using questionnaires, interviews, and observation to ascertain the opinions and attitudes of church members regarding the place of Christ in their oral theology. This is followed by a review of literature, which examines theological works in the four periods of the church, including African Christian Theology, using the ecumenical creeds as the framework. The review of the literature was conducted on the basis of five suppositions that arose from the empirical study. They included the need to: 1) establish a missional hermeneutic for ADC, 2) rework a coherent Trinitarian theology of mission, 3) establish an understanding of Trinitarian community, 4) establish an understanding of the ecclesial community and 5) rework Christology that is free from an ancestral concept of Christology.
The theological principles derived from the examination of these suppositions include 1) the development of a missional hermeneutic that is rooted in the ecumenical creeds, 2) a reworking of Trinitarian theology rooted in the ecumenical creedal concepts of the Godhead, 3) the establishment of a relationship between Trinitarian and missional community that agrees with the oneness of the Godhead as preserved in the ecumenical creeds, and 4) the development of a Christology that maintains Christ’s hypostatic nature as expressed in the ecumenical creeds.
This work does not suggest a complete discontinuity in ADC theology. However, the suggested theological principles offer a balanced methodology and framework helpful towards reworking, not only the place of Christ, but also other doctrinal themes for ADC. This approach maintains a balance between the propositional theology preserved in the ecumenical creeds, and the practical and lived theology of ADC as an African Instituted Church.
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