Yahveh and Modimo

Many African theologians do not accept that the revelation of the Bible about God differs radically from traditional African concepts of God. This study compares the teaching of the Old Testament about Yahweh with six different concepts of God found in Southern and Central Africa. The concepts discussed in this study are the following: Modimo, the impersonal, all-pervading cosmic power; Mwari, the first ancestor (the Shona group); Inkosi yeZulu, the distant, unreachable god of the Nguni groups; the benevolent cosmic grandfather, found among many groups; Leza/Dedza, the theistic concept of God found among peoples north of the Zambezi river; the polytheism found in Uganda. The results of this investigation indicate that among the majority of peoples the pre-Christian ideas of God differ radically from that of the Old Testament. The study concludes with some suggestions for the practice of pastoral, homiletical and catechetic ministry that could be learned from it.