ABSTRACT
The personal and interpersonal contexts of personhood are associated with existential and relational realities. Every human being comes into existence at a certain point in time, lives in a state of flux in relationships with others, and dies without certainty about the final destination. This chapter deals with the natural and divine personhood and the quest for an Africanized theology of personhood. The quest derives from the feeling of discontentment that led to the 1994 Synod of African Bishops’ salient search for inculturating Christianity in Africa. The chapter highlights the philosophical, biblical, and doctrinal foundations of personhood, identifies and assesses a genuinely African theological understanding of personhood free from (neo)colonial contamination or burdens, and explores how that understanding could contribute to authentic Christian living and incarnation of the Gospel in Africa. It argues for the reintegration of the positive elements of African personhood into the Christian theology and the evangelizing mission.
