sacral rule and the Christian Church: An ... - ResearchSpace

1. However, the Biblical discourse in Genesis 1 makes a difference when the sequence
of creation goes deeper than the African one presenting God's deeds day-by-day, and
thus emiches the African knowledge of what happened. In both contexts, God can be
known through nature and extraordinary deeds. In Africa, people believe in a natural
propensity to know God rather than being taught in a classical way, as it is the case in
the Bible. The acquisition of knowledge about God in Africa is through personal
encounter. This results in the natural acceptance of a universal God with a variable
concept of the same God who reveals himself in different ways due to difference in the
circumstances ofspiritual experience. But in the Bible, knowledge acquisition ofGod is
rigidly taught with a predefined frame of reference?82 Personal or individual
conceptualisation of God is not tolerated. What is written and taught is what should be
accepted and practised. Africans' knowledge of God is expressed in their social
structures, proverbs, maxims, songs, prayers, names, myths, stories, and religious
ceremonies. All these are easy to remember and pass on to other people since the lack
of sacred writings favoured orality in the traditional society and provided a basis for a
living and dynamic religion. In contrast to the Bible, therefore, one should not expect a
classic dissertation about God, repeatable all the time without any change. The Bible in
its written form is invariant with regard to time and space.
God is not localised but is everywhere. God is beyond time and not limited to it.
This universal and non-temporal view of God is common to both the African and the
Biblical contexts. Surprisingly, in both contexts, the universality of God's deeds seems
to be reduced and limited to ethnic proportions and possession. In the Bible God is
pictured as the "God of Israel". Jesus said that he had been sent to the "lost sheep of
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