http://repository.anu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/1175 Search within this sub-community and its collections: Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:48:46 GMT 2026-08-11T12:48:46Z http://repository.anu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/1185 Christianity and Suffering: African Perspectives Reed, Rodney, L. Christianity and Suffering: African Perspectives addresses the need for sustained theological reflection on suffering by Africans, or for Africans and is the fruit of the 5th Annual Conference of the Africa Society of Evangelical Theology. The contributions address age-old issues like why God does not prevent or relieve human suffering; they wrestle with causes of suffering including witchcraft, poverty, curses, and war; and, and they also explore appropriate Christian responses to suffering, all from within the African context. We often hear these days that the centre of Christianity is moving toward the Global South and Africa is a key player in that movement. This makes the study of African Christianity and African realities important – even more so when it is being done by Africans themselves in their own context. The Africa Society of Evangelical Theology (ASET) was created to encourage research and sustained theological reflection on key issues facing Africa by and for African Christians and those working within African contexts. The volumes in the ASET series constitute the best papers presented at the annual conferences of ASET and together they seek to fill this important gap in the literature of Christianity. Africa is all too familiar with suffering. Yet there is a dearth of sustained theological reflection on suffering by Africans, or for Africans. Christianity and Suffering: African Perspectives addresses this need and is the fruit of the 5th Annual Conference of the Africa Society of Evangelical Theology. The contributions address age-old issues like why God does not prevent or relieve human suffering; they wrestle with causes of suffering including witchcraft, poverty, curses, and war; and they also explore appropriate Christian responses to suffering, all from within the African context. The Africa Society of Evangelical Theology (ASET) is a professional society, founded in 2009 for the purpose of fostering evangelical theological scholarship and to facilitate collegial relationships among scholars and practitioners of the Christian religion in Africa. Its core values are: (1) Faithfulness to the Bible, (2) Professional ethics, (3) Creative and critical thinking, (4) Christ-like humility, (5) Community of scholars encouraging, respecting, and learning from one another, and (6) Development and inspiration of young scholars. Thu, 14 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT http://repository.anu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/1185 2017-12-14T00:00:00Z http://repository.anu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/1184 Understanding the Somali Church Ali, Aweis, A. Somalia is often described as the most homogenous country in Africa.1 They are said to be homogenous ethnically, religiously, culturally, and linguistically. Somalis take great pride in their heritage and identity as Somalis. An average Somali is expected to know and be concerned for his „tol‟ (immediate and extended family members), to adhere to „xeer‟ (contractual clan obligations), to participate in „qaaraan‟ (communal socio-welfare), to aspire to be „baarri‟ (honoring and respectful to the elders), to preserve the „sharaf‟ (honor) of the family, among other obligations. The religious identity that is prevalent among Somalis today is being a Muslim. If you are a Somali, then the assumption is you are a Muslim. This assumption is so deeply ingrained that the law assumes all Somalis are Muslims; if one claims not to be a Muslim, then their nationality and ethnicity are questioned. In reflection of their Islamic convictions, the Provisional Federal Constitution and the Federal Member State administrations have legislated Islam as the state religion and bar the propagation of any religion other than Isla m.2 This has allowed Islam to be the dominant religious voice for many centuries. As a result of this, the history of Somalis has been told mainly from the perspective of Islam. The prevailing missiological philosophy of engaging Somalis with the gospel has been primarily influenced by the Somalis‟ Muslim heritage. The Islamic worldview is the value- system that an evangelist or a missionary is trained to engage as they prepare to serve among Somalis. The prevailing assumption is that Islam forms the core of who Somalis are, and therefore addressing the Islamic worldview is engaging the Somalis at their core level. At a time when the „buzz word‟ in missiological circles is „movements,‟ a thorough history of God‟s work among Somalis, one of the least-reached people groups, is needed and appropriate. Dr. Aweis took it upon himself to document the history of the Somali church, and I must say there are very few that are qualified to provide us with this history. His experiences as an indigenous believer from southern Somalia, his discipleship and training under the tutelage of SIM and the Church of the Nazarene, and his academic training in missiology make him an authoritative voice on this subject. In this book, he takes us on a quest to understand the Somali church. He gives voice to the internal tension of wanting to be entirely in Christ and be completely Somali. In this book, Aweis opens our eyes and enlightens us on the pre-Islamic Somali heritage. He informs us of the pre-Islamic Somali worldview of God. He introduces us to Waaq, a pre- Islamic deity primarily worshipped by the Cushitic people, and Waaqism, the worship of Waaq. He traces and highlights aspects of this ideology among modern-day Somalis and other Cushitic groups. Aweis‟ discoveries challenge us to re-evaluate our assumptions about the socio-religious identity of Somalis. For instance, training missionaries to competently engage the Somali people must factor in the pre-Islamic Somali legacy and Somalis‟ Judeo- Christian heritage. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://repository.anu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/1184 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z