This is the first comprehensive survey of Christian theology in Africa to appear in English. The author is associate director of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World in Edinburgh. Parratt points out how the center of the Christian faith has shifted from America and Europe to the Third World. On these pages, black theologians relate Scripture, God, Christology, church, and eschatology to African categories, lifestyle, and worldview. The concept of ancestors, for example, provides a way to refashion the idea of the church as a community of believers. Jesus, in the African context, can be seen as "a master of initiation" who underwent a series of tests as a model human being. One of the most important chapters illustrates two important theological reconstructions by African theologians. This is a must-have volume for those who view their Christianity as world-encompassing.