Academic fraternity mourn star theologian Prof Mbiti

The academic fraternity is mourning renowned Kenyan theologian and scholar Prof John Mbiti, who died on Sunday aged 87 at a Switzerland hospital.

Leaders and scholars paid tribute to the philosopher, who was the first African to translate the bible from English to Kamba language.

Opposition Chief Raila Odinga, Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua and US-based Kenyan lawyer Prof Makau Mutua led Kenyans in mourning  Mbiti.

Prof Mbiti is considered to be Kenya’s greatest scholar in religious philosophy.

Raila hailed Mbiti’s iconic scholarly contribution to African religion growth.

“His book,  African Religions and Philosophy was an eye-opener and ground-breaking work. Condolences to his family. May his soul Rest in Peace,” he said in a post on his Twitter account.

Prof Makau Mutua described Mbiti as “one of the world’s most iconic philosophy and religion scholars”.

“Ironically, I wrote about him in my Sunday Nation column today before he passed. May his family and friends know peace,” he said.

Governor Mutua also took to Twitter to mourn Mbiti. 

“You revolutionised the way we see ourselves and our relationship with God as Africans. You were an academic and theologian icon and your works will always shape our lives,” he wrote.

Influenced lives

Other scholars also mourned the theologian, highlighting how his works, recognised locally and globally, influenced their lives.

One such scholar is Ashley Robertson Preston, who said: “I read lots of his work while I was working on my degree at Temple. Thanks for your studies on African religion and for every scholarly work you’ve shared with the world.”

Valerie Landfair also mourned him, saying: “Mbiti’s “African Religions and Philosophy” challenged the popular narrative that traditional African religious ideas were demonic and not in line with Christianity…this book is a classic!”

Mbiti is well known for his book African Religions and Philosophy published in 1969 and which propelled him to fame among theology scholars.

In his book, Mbiti challenged the Christian assumption that traditional African religious ideas were “demonic and anti-Christian”. However, the book hailed as an insight into “illiterate Africans” by many also earned him a fair share of criticism from those that held contrary beliefs.

Born on November 30, 1931, Prof Mbiti studied in Uganda and the United States, before pursuing his doctorate degree at the UK’s University of Cambridge.

Major works

He taught religion and theology at  Makerere University Uganda from 1964 to 1974 and was later appointed a director of the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Institute in Bogis-Bossey, Switzerland.  While teaching at Makerere, Mbiti published other major works, including Concepts of God in Africa (1970), New Testament Eschatology in an African Background (1971)—a revised edition of his PhD thesis at Cambridge— Introduction to African Religion and The Prayers of African Religion.

He held visiting professorships at universities across the world and published extensively on philosophy, theology and African oral traditions.

His sympathetic treatment of traditional religions was based on massive field work.  Mbiti was clear that his interpretation of these religions was from a firmly Christian perspective, and this aspect of his work had sometimes been severely criticized.

Mbiti’s research interests included theology in Africa and Asia and ecumenism. He also collaborated on a book of African proverbs, collected from across the continent.

Locally, he is celebrated as the scholar who translated the Bible from English to Kamba.

From 2005, when he was ordained as an Anglican priest and a canon up until his death, Mbiti was an Emeritus Professor at the University of Bern and parish minister to the town of Burgdorf, Switzerland. He leaves behind a wife and four children.