Toward a Black African Theological Anthropology and Ubuntu Ethics

The Question of "Being" or "Person" In African Philosophical TheologyThe African thinking on the person or the African concept of personhood counters the Western traditional thinking on the notion of being.African Theologian BenezetBujo explains clearly in African traditional society that "The person is not defined as an ontological act by means of self-realization, but by means of "relations."This means that the human person in Africa is from the very beginning in a network of relationships that constitutes his inalienable dignity." 2 In Black African anthropology, 1 Magesa"s most influential works include African Religion: The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life (1997), Anatomyof Inculturation: Transforming the Church in Africa (2004), African Religion in the Dialogue Debate: From Intolerance to Coexistence (2010), and What is not Sacred?African Spirituality (2013); Mbit"s most important works include African Religions and Philosophy(1969), Concepts of God in Africa( 1970), New Testament Eschatology in an individualism is not favored above the community nor is it that which delimits the telos of life.That does not mean, however, the individual or personal subjectivity is absorbed into the community.While the person possesses his or her individuality, it is not at the expense of the community.It is also from this angle that LaurentiMagesa could write that firmly, the "African worldview is that life, relationships, participation and community are holistic realities, blending the spiritual and the material organically."3 Accordingly, in the African worldview and religious cosmology, the community plays a substantive role in the life of the individual person.Magesa goes forth to African Background (1971), and Introduction to African Religion (1975); and Bujo"s important works include Foundations of an African Ethic: Beyond the Universal Claims of Western Morality (2001), African Theology in the 21st Century (2003), and African Theology in Its Social Context (2006). 2 Bujo, Foundations of African Ethics, 3-4. 3 Magesa, Anatomy of Inculturation, 182.