The Word of God in African context

In the African world view, the spoken word is a vital force that is efficacious and it elicits a response that is binding. The presentation will make an analogy between the power of the word in an African context and the power and efficacy of the Word of God. The paper has three parts.

The first part is socio-anthropological. This part will explore the effectiveness of the spoken word in the traditional African context as seen in blessings, curses and incantations, in swearing, taking oaths, divination, oracles and marriage rituals.

The second part will highlight the analogies, concordances and parallelisms between the African understanding of the word and the revealed Word of God presented in both the Old and New Testament.

The third part will show the sacramental expression and celebration of the Word of God in the African liturgies: analogies of veneration, reading and meditating the Word on the grassroots level and in small Christian communities, the spirituality of the Word and issues of practical proclamation.