Some reflections from a West African perspective
Rudolf K. Gaisie, PhD
Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture
2018 Stott-Bediako Forum
Manila, Philippines
14th-15th September 2018
Introduction
Cyprian of Carthage lived and worked in the midst of Christian persecutions against, and schisms within, the church. He endeavoured to unite the church through his life and teachings as bishop of Carthage. From his extant writings Cyprian emerges primarily as a servant of God in Christ Jesus, a pastor to the flock of God, a leader in times of persecution and a mediator in the midst of divisions within the church following the persecutions.
Cyprian’s efforts in addressing the issues surrounding the divisions of the church, particularly in his On the Unity of the Church, could offer some helpful pointers for both internal and external peace building processes within the church and outside in the wider society. The primary argument is that the local church can make considerable strides in responding to political conflict if she works in, and maintains, internal unity. A united local church would invariably have to maintain her identity as a servant of God in the service of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, serve as a place to nurture various players in the peace building processes, exhibit leadership and be prepared to lead mediation efforts during conflicts in the society. I explore these in the case of Ghana within the West African context.
Third Century AD Roman North Africa
By AD 200, there was a significant Christian presence in Roman North Africa (Provincia Africa Proconsularis) and especially in its principal and administrative city of Carthage (in present day Tunisia). Originally built by the Phoenicians and rebuilt by the Romans after the Punic Wars, Carthage was home to indigenous and rural Berber people and the urban upper working class people of Roman and Punic or Phoenician origin
The Roman Empire by the third century AD had its share of political instability through internal power struggles and wars with its ‘barbaric’ neighbours. Christians lived in relative peace with only unofficial sporadic, even if sometimes severe, persecutions until AD 249 when Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius (c.201–251) became emperor (249–251). Emperor Decius in fighting the Goths eventually ordered mass civil sacrifices to Roman deities in order to secure victory. Christians in general refused to comply and an official systematic persecution ensued. During the persecutions some Christians, both clergy and lay, went into hiding while others succumbed to the civil sacrifice.
The Decian persecution ended with the death of Emperor Decius in AD 251. The two gruelling years of persecution, coinciding with the outbreak of the Plague (beginning AD 249) within the Empire, had significant effects on the church in Carthage.
Cyprian and his Unity of the Church
Thascius Caecilius[1] Cyprianus was of Berber origin born to non-Christian parents in about AD 200 in Carthage. Cyprian was apparently trained in rhetoric and possibly practiced as a lawyer or advocate before his Christian conversion in about AD 245/6.[2] He expressed his sense of God’s mercy in working out a seemingly impossible change of heart by God’s Spirit;
For as I myself was held in bonds by the innumerable errors of my previous life, from which I did not believe that I could by possibility be delivered … But after that, by the help of the water of new birth, the stain of former years had been washed away, and a light from above, serene and pure, had been infused into my reconciled heart — after that, by the agency of the Spirit breathed from heaven, a second birth had restored me to a new man … (To Donatus, 4)
His biographer and junior colleague, Pontius the Deacon felt that, while
his second birth had not yet enlightened the new man with the entire splendour of the divine light, yet he was already overcoming the ancient and pristine darkness by the mere dawning of the light…(Pontius, Life and Passion of St. Cyprian, 2)
After becoming a deacon and a priest within a relatively short interval, Cyprian became bishop of Carthage some two years later in AD 248, amidst opposition from some, especially those who felt they had been bypassed. Cyprian was also popular among the laity in Carthage and was noted for his charity among especially the poor in Carthage following his conversion.
Cyprian was bishop when the Decian persecution began in AD 249. He went into hiding and gave guidance and instructions from his hideout. He was later accused of withdrawing through lack of courage. Yet Cyprian was convinced his decision was in accordance with the divine will; that the time was not right to face execution and especially also for the sake of the faithful, who needed a shepherd as such terrible times. He found justification from the example of the Apostles and Jesus.[3]
During the persecution, many Christians lapsed (lapsi, ‘the fallen’) in actually sacrificing (the sacrificati) to receive the certificate (libellus) or in securing these certificates without actually sacrificing, in order to avoid persecution or confiscation of property. The main issue, therefore, after the persecution was what to do with those who had lapsed. A notable priest Novatian (Novatus), later appointed as a rival pope, led a more extremist, rigorist and exclusive group as against Cyprian’s moderate and accommodative stance on the decision of the readmission of the lapsed. The result was a division (schism) and the associated unorthodox teachings (heresy) which threatened the unity of the church within the Empire and especially in Carthage and Rome.
How did Cyprian attempt to transform this internal crisis within the church? Cyprian is notable for calling councils or synods as bishop of Carthage to address the key issues that confronted the church. Held under Cyprian’s episcopate between AD 251 and 256, these various councils sought to address, among others, the issues of the Lapsiin the earlier councils (AD 251, 252 and 254), and that of rebaptism in the later ones (AD 255 and 256). Cyprian’s resort to such councils shows his commitment to communal decision making for the benefit of the church, and particularly the laity.
If Charles A. Bobertz is right in his submission that Cyprian’s ‘De Unitate was, on the basis of Cyprian’s more usual usage, intended for the plebs of Carthage’,[4] then one gets to appreciate further Cyprian’s pastoral vision of reaching as much as possible the ordinary members of the church. It was the majority members who needed to hear and pursue the unity of the church that God has desired and as has been taught and demonstrated by Jesus Christ. While the division or schism for the most part was pursued by certain church leaders, Cyprian apparently took upon himself not so much to attack his fellow leaders as to inform the laity. Indeed for Cyprian, as Geoffrey Dunn points out, ‘the unity of the Church is a unity in practice and in belief’.[5] Thus what the church believed naturally ensued in her practice. And as the people of God are more than his priests, it was more to the laity who needed to hear the right teachings as a way to confront and transform the schism. In this way Cyprian illustrates the need for the right kind of information in conflict transformation.
In Cyprian’s thinking, from his treatise On the Unity of the Church,
The spouse of Christ cannot be adulterous; she is uncorrupted and pure. … She keeps us for God. She appoints the sons whom she has born for the kingdom. Whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress, is separated from the promises of the Church; nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is a stranger; he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother. … The Lord warns, saying, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who gathereth not with me scattereth.” He who breaks the peace and the concord of Christ, does so in opposition to Christ; he who gathereth elsewhere than in the Church, scatters the Church of Christ. …..[6]
Obviously it is helpful to keep in mind that Cyprian’s view of ‘church’ was the universal fellowship of Christians, the ‘Catholic Church’. In this sense of the unity of the body of Christ, one can understand Cyprian’s other popular dictum that “since the house of God is one …there can be no salvation to any except in the Church”.[7]
It is the Holy Spirit who warns us, according to Cyprian quoting Psalm 34:13 – 14, to “… eschew evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it” and that Jesus himself before his sufferings had blessed his disciples with his peace (John 14:27). Hence, Cyprian encourages, ‘if we are fellow-heirs with Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are sons of God, we ought to be peacemakers’.[8]
Cyprian in his closing remarks in the Unity of the Church, highlighted the need ‘to be watchful and observe and to do the Lord’s precepts’ as together with his audience they wait for the return of the Lord. Members of the body of Christ need to be ready in peace and in unity as they wait for the coming of the Lord so their ‘faith may be on the watch, and receive from the Lord the reward for our vigilance’.[9]
As a faithful shepherd of God’s flock, when the time was ripe for his confession and the ‘witness by his blood’, Cyprian, in the grace of God, would finally lead by example in the face of persecution. It is said that his last words prior to his decapitation while in exile in AD 258 were ‘thanks be to God’. The manner of Cyprian’s death (apparently as the first bishop to be martyred in Africa) and its aftermath became a source of inspiration for many.
Cyprian in his actions as a church leader in the midst of internal crisis embodied four connected traits that may not only serve the church in dealing with internal crises but also in the church’s role in addressing societal or political crises or conflicts. First, Cyprian was a servant of God in Christ Jesus – with a sincere allegiance to God and to the service of the body of Christ; second, he knew he had been called be a pastor to the flock of God – writing to encourage the members to be faithful and to keep the unity of peace; third, he was a leader in times of persecution –he sought in his best of ability give some guidance to the church from the example of Christ and especially in consultation with other leaders through his calling of synods; finally he was a mediator – he believed in forgiveness and was open to hear both sides of the issue before him.
The parable Jesus gave concerning a divided household (Mark 3:24-26) points to the fundamental link between unity and conflict, namely, conflicts arise from disunity or failure to achieve unity. Cyprian sought to address the issue of disunity in the Church whose allegiance is to the one God in the Lord Jesus Christ. He did this not only through his words in writing but also by his life and practice as a Christian leader. Cyprian’s outlook and efforts as a leader in addressing the roots of the crisis in the church could offer some guidelines for the church worldwide. For our purposes I shall focus on West Africa in its response to societal conflicts.
The West African Context – The Case of Ghana
Although West Africa has been fairly stable politically in recent years, there have been long periods of disturbances and unrest at the national level as well as among and within ethnic communities. The democratic process in the member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has invariably come with a cost.[10] ECOWAS, since its inception in 1975, has had to develop strategies for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts among member states.
Among other initiatives in West Africa to deal with issues of conflict is the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) founded in 1998.[11] WANEP has since 2002 partnered with ECOWAS in pursuing its set objectives. Apart from seeking to strengthen the ‘capacity of peacebuilding organizations and practitioners’, WANEP is also interested in ‘indigenous perspectives and understanding of conflicts’ as well as ‘building the capacity of West African Women to participate in peacebuilding processes at all levels’, among others.
Ghana’s Peace Council
Although there have not been any large scale national conflicts for close on four decades since the last military coup d’état in Ghana, there have been a couple of more localized ethnic clashes. However, Ghana’s conscious effort to prevent societal conflict especially before, during and after political elections is expressed in the establishment of the National Peace Council (NPC).[12] It is an “independent state mechanism” with the support of a legislative act (Parliamentary Act 818)”.[13] The functions of the NPC as stipulated in the Act primarily focus on the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts. Though the composition of the council is religiously balanced,[14] the outlined functions of the NPC are not specifically linked to any particular religious orientation.
The NPC has its formation roots in a relatively conflict prone area of the country, the northern regions. There are Regional and District Peace Councils that are coordinated and supervised by the NPC.
The Christian Council of Ghana
The Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) came into being in 1929, some three decades before the country’s independence in 1957, with an apparent purpose ‘tosearch for unity and to work with members on issues of social concern and be the voice of the voiceless in society’.[15] The CCG current membership of some thirty-one denominations is not entirely representative of the Christian population in Ghana. It however works in partnership with other church councils such as the Catholic Bishops Council and the Ghana Pentecostal Council. Over the years and in the course of the nation’s independence, the CCG has developed to offer a voice for Christian participation in the nation building process. This has included civic education campaigns, particularly in the run-up to national general elections.
More generally, the CCG has among its six thematic areas of activities the subject ‘Peace and Reconciliation’. Its core values also highlight the areas of ‘unity – based on Christian love, truthfulness and peace’, ‘justice’ and ‘reconciliation’ among others. The CCG therefore considers peace building an essential area in its operation; seeking to maintain peace among Christians and in the political society at large. As already noted, the CCG is particularly active during national political elections in the areas of ‘electoral education, election observation, resolving election disputes and contributing to consultative processes leading to electoral reforms’.[16] Perhaps the most pivotal of these campaigns was that prior to the 2000 election, when the incumbent, Jerry Rawlings, was voted out of office.
Through its Local Council of Churches (LCCs), the CCG has had an active role in the building and maintaining of peace in the country. The CCG is given the opportunity to send a representative to serve on the NPC.[17]
With regard to interfaith coexistence, Ghana has enjoyed a relatively peaceful one. The CCG, particularly through its member churches, has played helpful roles in maintaining the peaceful coexistence between religious groups and particularly between Christians and Muslims.
Some Empirical Evidence from the Spirituality and Hope Project
To broaden the picture and convey a idea of prevailing attitudes at the grassroots level, I wish to draw from the insights gained from an 18-month research project to explore and discern emerging spirituality and its related sense of hope in five African countries in the year 2016.[18] 30 respondents (from each country; comprising Christians, Muslims and Traditionalists) were queried to find out how they deal with domestic conflict and some of the issues that lead to societal / political conflict. Three questions in particular were framed as follows; a) How would you feel if a family member or friend was for whatever reason rejected by the family or society? What would you do? b) What do you do when a friend or family member quarrels/fights with you or confiscates something from you? and c) Have you ever taken a fellow believer or family member to court because of a dispute especially over property? If yes, elaborate. If no, what is your view? I highlight some of the data from Ghana.
Concerning question a) on the issue of rejection and stigmatisation, apart from the indicated cases of murder and occultism all the respondents expressed concern to either reconcile such a person or help him or her carry on with life. About 18% of the responded would seek reconciliation with regard to the issue of handling disputes that question b) sought to capture. While some respondents (8%) indicated their willingness to confront, some (6%) would rather avoid any confrontation. Significantly, but relatively low statistically, about 10% express the option to pray about the situation for peace to prevail. One Christian respondent expressed her response in a way that showed the limits of negotiation: ‘Depending on the situation. Can talk to the person about it issue. If it fails I will call for family heads, especially after the church does not solve the issue. If the thing confiscated is mine I have to fight back [Female, 55-, Married, Secondary, Christian, Protestant]’.
Question c) demonstrated the attitude of respondents in handling disputes in a legal way in their previous experience and in an imaginary situation. While about 90% have not been to court with any one (yet), four Christian respondents had. While most Christians felt church issues should be best handled internally, according to one male Christian, ‘if the situation is such that the court should come in, that is ok, especially if it is about matters of death and land’ [Male, 35-44, Single, University / Tertiary, Christian, Catholic].
Societal and political conflicts invariably arise from peoples’ attitudes and responses to issues at the family level. For people of faith and for Christians in particular, their spirituality provides a religious framework in responding to conflicts and the actions taken. The Church then could as well explore the depth of people’s spirituality in response to conflict and offer help where needed. The CCG, for example, in an attempt to address the potential of electoral conflicts developed a handbook on ‘The Church’s Political Role in Nation Building’ multi-authored by various Christian leaders.
Concluding Remarks
The church’s active role in the nation building process can be a defining factor in preventing political conflict especially in areas with relatively high Christian numbers. As Kwame Bediako pointed out in the particular case of Africa, after Christianity’s active participation ‘in the struggle to regain the independence of Africa’, African Christianity ‘with greater consciousness of its African identity and character, may face an even greater challenge to be of service to Africa in the political realm’.[19] Thus the challenge of political conflicts in Africa is also a challenge to African Christianity.
Contemporary efforts at conflict transformation increasingly acknowledge the need to ‘hear what the voiceless, the marginalized, the excluded and the victims have to say’ as well as dialogues between the ‘learned and unlearned’[20] If these are indeed part of the democratic process, then the church as the body of Christ, and also part of the civil society, has the capacity to lead the way.[21] Such leadership is only sustainable with a united church as Cyprian of Carthage sought to proclaim and demonstrate or embody. It is with a united church whose focus is on, and commitment is with, the head Jesus Christ himself, that the apparent eluding nature of democracy could be addressed. Bediako’s concluding remarks in his own reflections on the challenge of the democratic process in Africa to Christianity are apt as our final words,
The major challenge now facing the Christian churches in African (sic) in the political sphere is to raise to consciousness in the wider society the connection between the Church’s message of righteousness, love and justice, and the search for sustainable democratic governance though the churches must continually remember that the search for democracy is not an end in itself. As the end of human existence is the Biblical vision of shalom in the Kingdom of God, the arrival of democracy is not the coming of the Kingdom.[22]
[1]A name taken in honour of a priest influential in his conversion
[2]G. W. Clarke, ‘The Secular Profession of St. Cyprian of Carthage’ Latomus, T. 24, Fasc. 3 (Juillet-Septembre 1965), pp. 633-638 Published by: Société d’Études Latines de Bruxelles.
[3]“He who goes out and departs does not become a partaker of the guilt; but he will be wounded with the plagues who is found a companion in the crime. And therefore the Lord commanded us in the persecution to depart and to flee; and both taught that this should be done, and Himself did it. For as the crown is given of the condescension of God, and cannot be received unless the hour comes for accepting it, whosoever abiding in Christ departs for a while does not deny his faith, but waits for the time; but he who has fallen, after refusing to depart, remained to deny it”. On the Lapsed, 10.
[4]Charles A. Bobertz, The Historical Context of Cyprian’s “De Unitate” The Journal of Theological Studies, New Series, Vol. 41, No. 1 (April 1990), pp. 107-111(111).
[5]Geoffrey D. Dunn, ‘Heresy and Schism according to Cyprian of Carthage’ The Journal of Theological Studies, New Series, Vol. 55, No. 2 (October 2004), pp. 551-574(558).
[6]On the Unity of the Church, 6. Emphasis added.
[7]To Pomponius, Concerning Some Virgins, 4; To Jubaianus, Concerning the Baptism of Heretics, 21.
[8]On the Unity of the Church, 24.
[9]On the Unity of the Church, 27.
[10]Said Adejumobi (2004) ‘Conflict and peace building in West Africa: the role of civil society and the African Union, Conflict, Security and Development’, 4:1, 59-77, DOI:10.1080/1467880042000206868
[12]http://www.peacecouncil.gov.gh/
[13]William A. Awinador-Kanyirige, ‘Ghana’s National Peace Council’, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Policy Brief August 2014.
[14]The current chair of the council is a former head of the Methodist Church of Ghana.
[15]http://www.christiancouncilofghana.org
[16]Emmanuel Kwame Tettey, ‘Church and State Engagement in Africa: A Theological and Ethical Reflection on the Emerging Issues from the Public Witness of the Christian Council of Ghana’, Unpublished MA Project Essay (Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture, October 2016).
[17]Republic of Ghana, National Peace Council Act, 2011 (Act 818), pp.5-6. There is a slot for a representative from the following religious bodies in addition to the GCC; ‘Catholic Bishops Conference, Ghana Pentecostal Council, National Council for Christian and Churches, Ahamadiyya Muslim Mission, Al-sunnah Muslims, Tijaaniya Muslim Group, practitioners of African traditional religion’
[18]The project was funded by the Nagel Institute (Calvin College) with a grant from the Templeton Foundation and was entitled ‘Spirituality and Hope in Africa – Studies in five countries’. The countries involved were Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana and Zimbabwe. A project paper was subsequently published in the International Bulletin for Mission Research, Anthony Balcomb, et al, ‘Spirituality and Hope in Africa: A Study in Five Countries, International Bulletin for Mission Research, Volume 41, No. 4, (2017), 336-346.
[19]Kwame Bediako, Christianity in Africa – The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995)
[20]Clements, Kevin (1997) “Peace Building and Conflict Transformation,” Peace and Conflict Studies: Vol. 4: No. 1, Article 2. Available at: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/pcs/vol4/iss1/2
[21]Cf. Adejumobi (2004) ‘Conflict and peace building in West Africa: the role of civil society and the African Union, Conflict, Security and Development’. Although Adejumobi unfortunately does not refer to religious bodies in his discussions on the role of ‘civil society’, the role of the church, and other religious bodies, as part of civil society in the peace building process cannot be sidelined.
[22]Bediako, Christianity in Africa, p.249.
Share your reflections and feedback below
Some questions for thought…
- What message does the Church in your context need to hear in order for it to embrace unity and peacemaking both internally and in the socio-political realm?
- How does St. Cyprian’s message on the unity of the Church apply in today’s world where churches are very divided on socio-political and denominational lines?
- Are there helpful examples of the Church acting as a peace-builder today in your community or society?
The views and opinions expressed in these papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect an official position of INFEMIT. We seek to foster reflection through conversation, and ask you to be respectful and constructive in your comments.
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