Humanity and Destiny

Abstract

Tim Hartman examines African traditional religions (ATRs) more broadly, comparing three major themes in their theological anthropology with the theology of Karl Barth: creation, disobedience/sin, and destiny/salvation. Drawing especially from the work of Kofi Asare Opoku and Jacob Olupona, Hartman argues that Barth and ATRs share similar understandings of God as creator who is wholly other than creation, but who is close to creation, and a disruption of that original closeness because of human disobedience. However, because of their different interpretations of human disobedience, Barth and ATRs differ significantly in understanding salvation or the resolution of the disruption caused by that disobedience. In his concluding reflections, Hartman suggests a further convergence worth exploring: in contrast to some other Western theologians, both Barth and ATRs describe all humanity as one whole, not divided into groups.