I am Mnkong Emmanuel Saah, in Bamenda, Cameroon; and I would like to share the concept and evolution of inculturation in the contemporary Cameroon; the case study of Nso Land in the North West Region of Cameroon, on this Community space to my dear friends and audience.
By way of definition; in Christianity, inculturation is the adaptation of Christian teachings and practices to cultures. This is a term that is generally used by Catholics and Orthodox, whereas protestants, especially associated with the world council of churches, prefer to use the term " contextual theology "
And according to the Oxford's lexico, inculturation is the adaptation of the Christian liturgy to non-christians cultural backgrounds. It involves contextualization and indigenization of the Christian faith, in the culture of the people.
The concept of inculturation is the term that Catholic leaders and theologians have used in recent decades to denote a process of engagement between the Christian gospel and a particular culture. The term is intended conceptually both to safeguard the integrity of the gospel and encourage sensitivity to various cultural contexts.
Inculturation is seen as an indispensable tool for effective evangelization. One clear biblical expression of inculturation is the evangelization of people is in Acts of Apostles 15-1-35, the conflict leading to Jerusalem council in which, as it were, the apostles literally said to the Greeks that they didn't need to become Jews before they can accept christianity: you can be christians even as Greeks.
Theoritically, the foundation of inculturation is the incarnation. The basic argument being that just as Jesus Christ, the word of God became incarnate in a human culture, in the Jewish milieu, the gospel of Jesus Christ should be allowed to be inculturated or incarnated in the local culture.
The African concept of inculturation; has it as an expression of the dynamic relation between the Christian gospel and world cultures for the consolidation of the faith. It is a process or attempt to find or root christianity in different cultures of the world.
The term inculturation includes the notion of growth, of the mutual enrichment of persons and groups rendered possible by the encounter of the Gospel with a social melieu. Inculturation is the incarnation of the gospel in native cultures and also the Introduction of these cultures into the life of the church. It is further argued that inculturation provides a fertile ground for incorporating the culture of a particular people into the life of the church.
Inculturation, the Case Study of the Nso Land:
Nso is one of the largest ethnic groups in Cameroon. It is known in the Country for it's rich cultural heritage. It is as well considered by many Cameroonians as a stronghold of Christianity. Nso Land occupies the eastern part of the North West Region of Cameroon. Historically, Nso people are believed to have migrated from the Tikari in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon. They are known to have had a Woman known as Ngonso, the founder of the Nso dynasty.
Inculturation in the Nso Land stretched back to the days of the first missionaries to the present day Nso Land. Inculturation was and still face conflicts in some of their proponents. Inculturation finds itself at the center of strong opposing or conflicting parties; the gospels and Nso. The first missionaries didn't understand certain aspects of the Nso Culture. Consequently there was some conflicts between christianity and the Nso Culture, particularly with the "ngwerong" ( the male or military wing of the land ), and "ngiri" ( the male royal faction of the people ). The two powerful leading groups of the Nso Land, are the core traditional social associates of the Nso People. Due to the cultural dynamics, there existed tension during the missionary era and today there still exist such tension between the church ( Christianity ) and the Nso Culture. These tensions spring from the christians strifes to integrate some cultural aspects of the culture in the church, which to the custodians of the Nso Culture, is chewing more than they can bite. In a story line of an author from Nso, he made a vivid and colloquial portrayal of an encounter between one dreaded masquerades and the parish priest; an early missionary and another on the main traditional social association of the Nso and the first christians of Nso origin. And today in the present day Nso, the traditional or the cultural custodians of the Nso Culture don't find it well to see the church exercise roles of giving traditional titles to some deserving christians. It has been seen as the usurp of power which is reserved only for the traditional social association of the Nso People, Where only the custodians of the culture has such rights.
D
ue to the conflict that stretched to the early missionary and today, there's a need for an understanding of the complexities and dynamics involved in the relationship between Christianity and culture to be reached for the inculturation of the gospel.
The theology of inculturation and the Africa church, makes us understand that inculturation is the process of interaction between christianity and culture, which takes into consideration, the total collective religious, social, and moral life as it gradually takes a concrete form in each.
While looking at faith and culture today, inculturation is the intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in christianity and the insertion of christianity. And for inculturation to be fully integrated into christianity, it is indispensable for meaningful dialogue to take place between christianity and culture, to ease or curb tension or conflict theory that has been and is still acting as hindrances to effective inculturation.
