An African theology discourse on marriage with special focus on the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The issues raised in the African theological discourse on marriage with special focus on the Methodist church in Zimbabwe are crucial and pertinent to the faith and well-being of the African Christians who make up its congregation. The research document seeks to come up with a sound theology of marriage that will reconcile the three worlds of marriage that has caused confusion and dilemma to African Christians who find themselves torn apart in their traditional culture, the civil or legal world and the European Christian values of marriage. The African Christian theology of marriage will help to shape the faith of the Africans as well as serve as a policy document that will inform the authorities and policy makers in the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe. This research work seeks to diffuse the notion that European marriage is the Christian marriage and prove that there is nothing that is convincingly Christian marriage. Instead what is called Christian marriage is an amalgamation of ancient Greco-Roman cultures. The conception that Christian marriage should be monogamous is an issue of scriptural interpretation otherwise the notion does not find scriptural basing. Marriage in the bible has evolved from monogamous to polygamous marriages arranged privately by family patrons and later given to the secular authorities without the involvement of church priests as the case might be.

The research explores the African traditional marriage values and how they can inform and influence a theology of marriage with an African color. It will take into account the social and communitarian dimension of marriage, the dynamic process of marriage, centrality of procreation, the sacred and religious dimension of marriage which gives birth to the aspect of the indissolubility of marriage and the importance of lobola. The above mentioned principles of African marriage will shape the African Christian marriage. This research work will explore the attitudes of the missionaries upon encounter with the African traditions of marriage and how marriage evolved from a private family affair into a civil affair and eventually the involvement of the church.