- Ikenna Paschal Okpaleke
Upon reading the wonderful piece, Theology Brewed in an African Pot, by the Nigerian Jesuit theologian, Orobator Agbonkhianmeghe, I was thrown back to the beautiful classic of Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart. I remembered how I had broken my annual ritual of reading Things Fall Apart once every year, because I have not been with my copy since almost 5 years now. The attempt to download a PDF hasn’t been successful. Thank God, I just ordered a new set of the Achebe trilogy. I pray it arrives soon before the summer winds up. Anyway, before we get too distracted, following Orobator’s inspiration, I want to take up a little bit of the debate in that novel, which focused on the exchange between Chief Akunna of Umuofia and Mr. Brown, a White Christian missionary, who “earned the respect of the people by his restrained and sensible approach to the deep religious differences that divided members of his church and the people of Umuofia.”
The encounter goes like this:
Whenever Mr. Brown went to that village he spent long hours with Akunna in his obi(hut) talking through an interpreter about religion. Neither of them succeeded in converting the other but they learned moreabout their different beliefs.
“You say that there is one supreme God who made heaven and earth,” said Akunna on one of Mr. Brown’s visits. “We also believe in Him and call Him Chukwu. He made all the world and the other gods.”
“There are no other gods,” said Mr. Brown. “Chukwu is the only God and all others are false. You carve a piece of wood – like that one” (he pointed at the rafters from which Akunna’s carved Ikenga [ancestral staff] hung), “and you call it a god. But it is still a piece of wood.”
“Yes,” said Akunna. “It is indeed a piece of wood. The tree from which it came was made by Chukwu, as indeed all minor gods were. But He made them for His messengers so that we could approach Him through them….”
“Your queen sends her messenger, the District Commissioner. He finds that he cannot do the work alone and so he appoints kotma to help him. It is the same with God, or Chukwu. He appoints the smaller gods to help Him because His work is too great for one person.”
“You should not think of Him as a person,” said Mr. Brown. “It is because you do so that you imagine He must need helpers. And the worst thing about it is that you give all the worship to the false gods you have created.”
“That is not so. We make sacrifices to the little gods, but when they fail and there is no one else to turn to we go to Chukwu. It is right to do so. We approach a great man through his servants. But when his servants fail to help us, then we go to the last source of hope. We appear to pay greater attention to the little gods but that is not so. We worry them more because we are afraid to worry their Master. Our fathers knew that Chukwu was the Overlord and that is why many of them gave their children the name Chukwuka – ‘Chukwu is Supreme.’”
“You said one interesting thing,” said Mr. Brown. “You are afraid of Chukwu. In my religion Chukwu is a loving Father and need not be feared by those who do His will.”
“But we must fear Him when we are not doing His will,” said Akunna. “And who is to tell His will? It is too great to be known.”
A couple of things were going on in my mind when I carefully read this passage over and over again. This is a typical dialogue and I am sure that Mr. Brown who must have considered Chief Akunna, an illiterate pagan, before this encounter, left the obi learning a lot more.
Following this encounter, I think we deserve to ask ourselves some questions:
- Was Chief Akunna really making any sense?
- Do you think that Mr. Brown has all the facts?
- Of course, none of them could convert the other, but do you think that both of them have sufficient understanding of God in their presentations of their religions?
- Are there certain things we can learn from Chief Akunna – in terms of his disposition throughout the dialogue, in terms of staying on facts and not attacking the other, in terms of offering his obi as the place of dialogue?
- Does this story say anything to us concerning our present intolerance today, both within Christianity and in relation to other religions?
Of course, Umuofia was a land of hospitality and community, but it got destroyed. Maybe we need to talk about how things fell apart next week. What do you think?
Alongside One Another 
Thanks Ikenna for these insights. Through dialogue God created man. It also through dialogue that man can understand the purpose of creation.
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Thanks Fr. for that theological foundation of dialogue. There is no other way out. God bless!
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God is a community of Persons thus we who were made in His image must learn to coexist in mutual and peaceful dialogue with one another. Thanks Paschal!
John.
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Thank you so much John for your contribution. Let#s keep spreading the message. God bless!
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The issues you raised are quite instructive and admirably provocative at the same time. No one really possesses the truth about God entirely and exclusively. It is in our purity of intentions and open-mindedness that our multiple insights and perspectives about God can grow, to bud-forth the flowers of love and acceptance.
Listening is as important as the contribution one intends to make in every discussion. It is our inability to listen to other perspectives and to maturely engage those perspectives that often opens up a can of intolerance.
Knowing what one thinks he or she knows is another salient point to note. You have to know what you want to say because in saying what you know, there is always an exchange of ideas between you and your interlocutor. Both Chief Akunna and Mr. Brown learnt from each other and appreciated the opinions each held.
In her innocence of heart and irked by the loathsome activities of Boko Haram, a woman once asked me in Maiduguri: “which religion did God create first?” I just gave her a simple answer, albeit deep: “God did not create any religion.” So, why can’t we be tolerant and receptive in the expression of our religious beliefs?
Thank you, Fr. Paschal for scratching off these issues and bringing them to the fore.
I. A. Vasumu
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Thanks a lot Vasumu for your elaborate comment. I am so much thrilled by your reference to the art of listening. God bless and let’s keep promoting dialogue, tolerance and hospitality in our society.
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“When the Arrow of God is No Longer at Ease, Things Fall Apart…”
Brother bring on how things really fell apart.
Chief Akunna & Mr Brown has something that unites them (Chi-Ukwu/Chukwu – Supreme God) and attributes of God/Chukwu that differentiate them (Loving/Feared).
“Loving” makes Him approachable and “Feared” makes Him respected. Various religions have different aspects of their understanding of the Supreme Being and proper dialogue will be pertinent.
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Thanks Fr. Max for your elaboration of the debate. Beyond the content of the debate is also the framework, the circumstances and dispositions during the debate, and these for me are very important. They form the ground for tolerance and hospitality. God bless you and please help us to keep sharing our message of dialogue and peaceful co-existence.
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Fr Paschal, keep up this beautiful work. It is interesting to savour your thoughts and writings. Ride on
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Thanks a lot Stanley. God bless!
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Peaceful dialogue promotes unity and solves the problem of ignorance, it wipes away negative perception and creates an opportunity for individual or group expression of feelings or view concerning a particular thing or issue. We should learn to dialogue with one another in a non- aggresive manner, The dialogue between the two subjects was peaceful . Both of them were right base on perception, leastways, Both learnt one meaningful thing or the other from the dialogue.
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Thanks to you Kelechi, you are indeed one of my foremost readers and contributors. Your comment is on point. Even when dialogue is about debate, people should understand that there is no need to be violent. God bless you as always!
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Thank you Fr Paschal for this great piece. Already thinking deep into the importance and necessity of dialogue, both in religion and life in general. Can I really say that without dialogue, religion and life remain autocratic and self centred? Sure. Where there is understanding and not compromise in dialogue, peace abides.
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Thanks a lot William for your contribution. God bless!
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Rev, this is nice. what a peaceful way of bringing your point forward without attacking or being aggresive to the other. listening and giving others the chance express themselves and understand why they do they things they do is very important. I remember one of my very good friends a muslim lady who held my hands and prayed with me when i was facing a serious issue. Though a muslim and myself a Christian we had a very good relationship in terms of our faith. we encouraged each other in times of difficluties. she will say her prayers and i will say mine. I will ask her questions about her faith and she will answer and likewise myself. our intention was not to convert each other but find a commom ground to relate peacefully. She is a beautiful soul. In her i found true love. we should give each other a chance. There is always something to learn. No one is all knowing when it comes to God. Thanks Fr Ikenna.
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Thanks a lot Shella for once more proving yourself a regular reader and contributor to our blog. Your contribution which comes from personal experience is what is called dialogue of life. Ordinary people in their everydayness relate well until some interests are played up with religious motives. Thanks once again for your contribution and keep supporting us. God bless!
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Very insightful, provactive and admonishing piece. But I have wondered if the things fallen apart can be brought together again.
God help us.
Thank you Fr.
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Thanks Ejike for reading and for your concern. Is it possible to put together once again the things that have already fallen apart? Quite a question. Well, I think that the is part of the reason for this blog. That is why we still hope for a better future, a better society, a better world. It may not be possible to put them back together exactly as they were before, but we can restore what is basic for the unity of things in the past. What this means is that we do not have to rely glorify the past without doing a critique of it as well. This critical approach will help us know what to take and what to leave out, what we should adapt to the present circumstance and what should be jettisoned in the present. God bless you!
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One thing I love so much about this piece is the conversation, so mature. Each with his own belief, trying to make the other understand but not forcing it down his throat. If we all had respect for each others beliefs, there most definitely will be more tolerance in this world. The world needs genuine maturity in everything.
Well done Padre, more power to your elbow.
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Thank you much Evelyn. Thank you for once again reminding us learn how to have a mature conversation. God bless!
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