Towards a contextual theology of conviviality: Tutu, Bonhoeffer and living musical metaphors

Both Tutu and Bonhoeffer embraced conviviality as an attribute of Christian life, not only as theory, but also in practice. Both also drew from lived experience in an effort to articulate their respective theologies of conviviality. We discuss the experience of music and musical metaphors as a lens...

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Main Authors: A.M. Coates, J. Kunnuji
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2022-12-01
Series:Acta Theologica
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Online Access:https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/6947
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author A.M. Coates
J. Kunnuji
author_facet A.M. Coates
J. Kunnuji
author_sort A.M. Coates
collection DOAJ
description Both Tutu and Bonhoeffer embraced conviviality as an attribute of Christian life, not only as theory, but also in practice. Both also drew from lived experience in an effort to articulate their respective theologies of conviviality. We discuss the experience of music and musical metaphors as a lens through which to explore this relationship between lived experience and an explicit theology of conviviality. Bonhoeffer’s metaphor of the “polyphony of life” is a product of his milieu and does not fully capture the conviviality implicit in his Christology (being-for-others). We argue that African manifestations of conviviality such as ubuntu and gbenopo, when understood as lived realities rather than isolated abstract concepts, make an important contribution to theological discourse, in general. In this case in particular, utilising ethnomusicology to attend to the polyrhythm in Ogu music enriches our understanding of what it means to be-for-others.
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spelling doaj-art-5b0a92ef245940e5baf214250b532d4a2025-02-11T09:33:11ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Theologica1015-87582309-90892022-12-0142210.38140/at.v42i2.6947Towards a contextual theology of conviviality: Tutu, Bonhoeffer and living musical metaphorsA.M. Coates0J. Kunnuji1University of the Free StateUniversity of the Free State Both Tutu and Bonhoeffer embraced conviviality as an attribute of Christian life, not only as theory, but also in practice. Both also drew from lived experience in an effort to articulate their respective theologies of conviviality. We discuss the experience of music and musical metaphors as a lens through which to explore this relationship between lived experience and an explicit theology of conviviality. Bonhoeffer’s metaphor of the “polyphony of life” is a product of his milieu and does not fully capture the conviviality implicit in his Christology (being-for-others). We argue that African manifestations of conviviality such as ubuntu and gbenopo, when understood as lived realities rather than isolated abstract concepts, make an important contribution to theological discourse, in general. In this case in particular, utilising ethnomusicology to attend to the polyrhythm in Ogu music enriches our understanding of what it means to be-for-others. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/6947ConvivialityUbuntuEthnomusicologyTutu
spellingShingle A.M. Coates
J. Kunnuji
Towards a contextual theology of conviviality: Tutu, Bonhoeffer and living musical metaphors
Acta Theologica
Conviviality
Ubuntu
Ethnomusicology
Tutu
title Towards a contextual theology of conviviality: Tutu, Bonhoeffer and living musical metaphors
title_full Towards a contextual theology of conviviality: Tutu, Bonhoeffer and living musical metaphors
title_fullStr Towards a contextual theology of conviviality: Tutu, Bonhoeffer and living musical metaphors
title_full_unstemmed Towards a contextual theology of conviviality: Tutu, Bonhoeffer and living musical metaphors
title_short Towards a contextual theology of conviviality: Tutu, Bonhoeffer and living musical metaphors
title_sort towards a contextual theology of conviviality tutu bonhoeffer and living musical metaphors
topic Conviviality
Ubuntu
Ethnomusicology
Tutu
url https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/6947
work_keys_str_mv AT amcoates towardsacontextualtheologyofconvivialitytutubonhoefferandlivingmusicalmetaphors
AT jkunnuji towardsacontextualtheologyofconvivialitytutubonhoefferandlivingmusicalmetaphors