Eerdmans

Eerdmans Ekklesia Series
Michael L. Budde and Stephen E. Fowl, series editors
The Sacrifice of Africa
A Political Theology for Africa
Emmanuel Katongole
Displays the power of Christianity to unleash true political transformation in Africa
Christianity is rapidly expanding in Africa — but so
also are the vexing realities of war, civil unrest, corruption,
and violence. What are the connections between
these two faces of Africa? Can Christianity become the
much-needed social force for a new future in Africa?
What would such a future look like?
These questions lie at the heart of The Sacrifice of Africa
by Emmanuel Katongole. A Catholic priest from Uganda,
born in 1960, who lived through the reign of Idi Amin
and who has seen firsthand the problems that ravage
his home country and its neighbors, Katonogole argues
that recurring civil war, violence, corruption, and
instability are wired within the imaginative landscape
of modern Africa, are set within the founding
narratives of Africa’s inception into the modern world
through colonialism and its successor institution,
nation-state politics.
In the face of these entrenched political imaginations,
the most critical social challenge is one of “daring to
invent” the future through new foundational narratives
that reflect and nurture a fresh, different vision for
African politics and social life. This is the primary
political difference that Christianity can make in Africa.
The stories of three African Christian leaders and
their work — Bishop Paride Taban and the Holy Trinity
Peace Village in Southern Sudan; Angelina Atyam and
the Concerned Parents Association in Uganda; and
Maggie Barankitse and Maison Shalom in Burundi —
cap off Katongole’s inspiring vision of hope for Africa.
Emmanuel Katongole is associate research professor
of theology and world Christianity at Duke Divinity
School, where he also serves as founding codirector of the Duke Center for Reconciliation. His
other books include Mirror to the Church: Resurrecting Faith after Genocide in Rwanda and Reconciling
All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace, and Healing.
Of related interest
A History of Christianity
in Africa: From Antiquity
to the Present
Elizabeth Isichei
978-0-8028-0843-1
Whose Religion
Is Christianity?
Lamin Sanneh
978-0-8028-2164-5
African Studies •
Social Theology
November / 978-0-8028-6268-6
6″ × 9″ paperback
200 pages / $16.00 [£10.99]
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