The God That Answers With Fire: Religious Transformation And Public Morality In Africa

Abstract

This paper focuses on public morality in Africa and examines the contributions of Christian theology to moral decline in Africa. The paper points out the disparity between the theology of purnishment in African religions and the theology of purnishment in Christianity and suggests that this disparity may be the underlying cause of the decline in public morality in Africa. It explores the function of fear as an instrument of moral preservation in both traditional religion and Christianity and argues that the transition from traditional religion to Christianity diminished the efficacy of this instrument and thus affected attitude of Africans to public morality. In conclusion, the paper recommends a re-engineering of the Christian theology to stem this crisis.