Africa and the New Face of Mission: A Critical Assessment of the Legacy of the Irish Spiritans Among the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria

by Charles A. Ebelebe

Overview

In Africa and the New Face of Mission, Ebelebe argues that the mission theory and practice of the Irish Spiritans in Igboland (1905-1970) was forged in the socio-political and faith environment of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Ireland; an environment that produced a Church that was sacramentized, devotional, conservative, and clerical. It was this Church that the Irish Spiritans took to Igboland, and the Church that has largely endured there until now. The author considers this regrettable and calls for inculturation as the only way forward. He highlights the significant contribution of the Igbo Catholic Church to the growing pool of missionaries from the South and argues that for this Church to be truly Igbo, it must be selective in what it reclaims from its Irish Heritage and must draw from the resources of Igbo traditional culture and religion. In this way, the Church can better equip its growing number of missionaries to other nations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761845966
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	06/16/2009
Pages:	262
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Charles A. Ebelebe, C.S.Sp., Ph.D., is a Spiritan priest from Nigeria. He received his academic formation in the seminaries of the Spiritans in Nigeria and was ordained in 1995. He has served as a missionary among the Borana of southern Ethiopia (1997-2001) after which he went to Marquette University in Wisconsin for both his graduate and doctoral studies. He teaches theology at the Spiritan International School of Theology in Enugu, Nigeria.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Preface
Chapter 3 Introduction
Chapter 4 Chapter 1: Igbo Culture at the Time of Encounter with Christianity
Chapter 5 Chapter 2: The Irish Spiritans
Chapter 6 Chapter 3: The Sources of the Irish Spiritan Mission Theology in Igboland
Chapter 7 Chapter 4: The Mission Theology of the Irish Spiritans in Igboland
Chapter 8 Chapter 5: Mission Theology Today: The Major Trends
Chapter 9 Chapter 6: The Igbo Catholic Church and the Changing Face of Mission Today
Chapter 10 Conclusion
Chapter 11 Bibliography
Chapter 12 Appendix 1: Map of Nigeria
Chapter 13 Appendix 2: Map of Igboland
Chapter 14 Index
Chapter 15 About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Dr. Ebelebe brings to bear his respected and sharp intellectual acumen, extensive and dogged research, and felicitous expression....This book will reward the general reader, but professors and students of missiology and Catholic theology will find it especially valuable.

Catholic Theological Union - James Chukwuma Okoye

American as well as Nigerian readers will find Ebelebe's arguments challenging and his style charming....[a] valuable contribution.

Marquette University, Milwaukee - Patrick W. Carely

This is a fascinating book.... I was amazed at the number of different insights that he had, pointing out things I had not even considered.... It has an excellent bibliography and an index.

Missiology: An International Review

This book opens with a powerful and poignant foreward.. .. It provides good insight into the cultural context in which the Christian message was eventually immersed.. .. This volume makes significant contributions to the larger discourse on mission studies. Ebelebe writes with clarity and conviction. His study provides an important African perspective on the theology and raison d'etre of mission, on which the future of the Christian church necessarily rests.

International Bulletin of Mission Research - Akintunde E. Akinade

Not restricted simply to critiquing the past, Ebelebe's study outlines future pastoral initiatives that would solidify achievements and enrich other cultural contexts.

Michael A. Fahey

This is a pioneer study.. .an intimate journey into the missiological soul of the Congregation.

Mccormick Theological Seminary, Chicago - Ogbu.U. Kalu

This is a pioneer study. . .an intimate journey into the missiological soul of the Congregation.--Ogbu.U. Kalu "Mccormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Henry Winters Luce Professor of World Christianity and Mission "

Not restricted simply to critiquing the past, Ebelebe's study outlines future pastoral initiatives that would solidify achievements and enrich other cultural contexts.--Michael A. Fahey, S.J., Department of Theology, Boston College

American as well as Nigerian readers will find Ebelebe's arguments challenging and his style charming....[a] valuable contribution.--Patrick W. Carely, William J. Kelly, S.J. Chair in Catholic Theology "Marquette University, Milwaukee "

From the Publisher

This is a fascinating book.... I was amazed at the number of different insights that he had, pointing out things I had not even considered.... It has an excellent bibliography and an index.

Missiology: An International Review

This is a pioneer study. . .an intimate journey into the missiological soul of the Congregation.

Mccormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Henry Winters Luce Professor of World Christianity and Mission - Ogbu.U. Kalu

This book opens with a powerful and poignant foreward. . . . It provides good insight into the cultural context in which the Christian message was eventually immersed. . . . This volume makes significant contributions to the larger discourse on mission studies. Ebelebe writes with clarity and conviction. His study provides an important African perspective on the theology and raison d'etre of mission, on which the future of the Christian church necessarily rests.

International Bulletin Of Missionary Research, January 2010 - Akintunde E. Akinade