VIRTUOUS LIVING - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

construction of what may be termed an “African virtue ethic”. To achieve this, weproceed in five 114 interrelated sections:1. An African virtue ethics is theo-centric, in a trinitarian sense, as itrecognises God as moral being from whom all virtues proceed.2. An African virtue ethic is pneumatological as it recognises the Spirit(moya) as facilitator of virtue and as a continued divine presence viathe “vital force” common to all creation and human beings inparticular.3. An African virtue ethics is anthropological as it recognises theindividual (umuntu) as unique image of the triune God and relativeautonomous agent of virtue.4. An African virtue ethic is communitarian as it recognises the virtue ofubuntu as guiding life - in-community. Just as God in His trinitarianfellowship is the source and protector of virtues, so is the Africancommunity the custodian of virtues on God’s behalf.5. An African virtue ethic is Christian as it recognises Jesus Christ asembodiment and prototype of wise and virtuous living.114 Charles Nyamiti, in his article, Contemporary African Christologies (1994), has suggested fivethemes quoted from the statement of Pope Paul VI in his message to Africa (Africae terrarium,October 1967)): (i) A spiritual view of life, including “the idea of God, as the first or ultimate cause ofall things” (ii) Respect for the dignity of human beings, particularly manifested in the traditional way ofeducation within the family, in initiation rites, and the traditional social and political life. (iii) The senseof the family, evidenced by the attachment to the family and bond with ancestors. (iv) Closely linkedwith the family is the partria potestas of the father of the family, implying authority and demandingrespect; it is sometimes accompanied with a typical priestly function. (v) The sense of community lifeexpressed by participation in the life of the community into which the individual is introduced byvarious initiation rites (Nyamiti 1994:68-69). The five points of this chapter greatly overlap with this,although it is developed independently and add a specific Trinitarian flavour to bring them closer totraditional Christian theology.299