Christopher Magezi

• PhD in Systematic Theology
• PostDoc Position at North West University, Vaal Triangle Campus

A huge number of South Africans, including Christians, are emigrating to the Western world, which is experiencing a serious regression in Christianity. Unfortunately, the contribution made by South African Christian emigrants has not been sufficiently examined; hence there is no literature on this particular topic. Given this, the objective of this...

South African citizens usually accuse foreign nationals of stealing their jobs and increasing the crime rate in the country. Such accusations have often resulted in xenophobic violence. Unfortunately, not much effort has been made to depict immigrants in positive light to improve the relations between them and the indigenous population. Thus, this...

The perennial scourge of xenophobic violence in South Africa raises some questions about the nation’s hospitality to immigrants. Unexpectedly, Christians are also torn between loyalty to the prevailing anti-immigrant sentiments and the obligation to be hospitable to foreigners. This article, therefore, seeks to explore this tension, and the objecti...

Since the reign of the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Zimbabwe has been seized by retrogressive puppetisation of partisan gospel ministers and churches, worsened by state victimisation of those who stand against political ills. Church and state relations were compromised and fear gripped most citizens. At his inauguration, the incumbent President Emme...

This article perceived the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as a United Nations agency whose mandate is to safeguard refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. However, in discharging this mandate, the UNHCR involves many stakeholders, including churches. In focusing on the church, this article identified a...

The design of church migrant ministries remains suppressed by the limitation of churches that include limited resources and ability to conceptualise ministerial designs. The situation is compounded by compassion global fatigue. Thus, as a holistic ministry, approach, the application and practice of a migrant ministry remain a conceptual challenge d...

The refugee crisis has been an ongoing global challenge. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the international body that is mandated to protect refugees. However, in undertaking its function, it involves many stakeholders such as refugee communities, civil society actors, government entities, non-governmental organisations,...

Christian practical ministry should be driven by a thorough theological framework. Theological theory informs ministerial practices. To understand some theology driven (theologies driving) actions, it is imperative to conduct empirical studies to discern some grassroots theologies held by church leaders on the frontline of ministry. With migration...

This article identifies the complexities of migration situations that subject both host nations and native churches to a paradoxical position on whether to exclude or embrace migrants. This is because migrants are often linked to criminal activities that threaten citizens of the host country. In response to the perceived challenge, this article inv...

This article responds to the emerging need for theology to be more engaged in the issue of migration and to develop a thorough biblical-theological foundation for a migration theology that challenges the Church to effectively respond to the challenges faced by migrants. This is accomplished by utilising Matthew’s genealogy in a quest to explore God...

Migration is posing a huge challenge globally. Within this context, one of the challenges of theology is to develop theological approaches that respond to the situation in meaningful ways. There is increasing scepticism about some theological frameworks that attempt to consider the Bible and theology as a unified whole to provide coherence. In the...

Understanding and perceiving God in situations such as migration and times of pain is a challenge for theology and practical ministry. The following question is inevitable: where is God in all this? In this context, the challenge for theology is to develop a theological theory that provides a constructive perspective that leads to coping. The suffe...

This article identifies a lack of biblical theological foundation of migration driving the church to respond to migrants’ challenges effectively. This is problematic because the rise in migration and migrants’ challenges globally should challenge the church (as God’s community responsible of caring for the vulnerable) to respond to migration situat...

This article argues for the interplay of fear of God’s judgement and responsibility compulsion as a nexus for encouraging responsible migration response. This arises from the need of theology of migration that challenges the church to respond to migration challenges in a comprehensive manner. Given this, the aim of this article is to contribute mig...

This article challenges the church to embrace migrants by presenting migration history in South Africa during the era of European explorers as a lens for interpreting God’s mission. In avowing the aforementioned, it argues for migration history of the European explorers to South Africa as the way God has used in establishing the church in South Afr...

This article identifies a need to develop an operational theology that responds to migrants in a real and constructive way. It discusses Daniel Groody’s image of God prism in migration theology in order to develop an integrated understanding of the image of God. It argues that Groody’s image of God prism in migration theology is assumed rather than...

There is an ongoing challenge in defining African theology because of two important reasons: (1) the quest for a definitive African theology is a fairly recent pursuit and (2) the vastness and diversity of the African continent. Given this, this article presents the complexity of defining African theology and its methodological approaches through a...

This article argues that there is a form of Christian syncretism operating in African Christians� use of traditional African powers to address their spiritual insecurity challenges that arises from their former traditional African worldview of spiritual powers. It provides an overview description of the nature of the spiritual insecurity which stil...

Spiritual insecurity among African Christians is a huge challenge. The insecurity among other things arises from African people’s former traditional African ancestral world view of ancestral veneration. The ancestors promote or hinder African Christians’ reliance on Christ because they have presupposedly acquired the supernatural power that enables...

The perceived foreignness of Christ in African Christianity is an ongoing challenge that is captured in various pieces of African theological literature. This problem partly arises from some early Western missionaries� presentation of the gospel to Africans from a predominantly Western perspective, which caused many Africans to perceive Christ as a...

This article critically assesses some theological-ecclesiological responses and approaches to migration challenges in order to ascertain lacunae within Christian ministry engagement. Although other academic disciplines such economics, politics, geography, demography, sociology, psychology, law, history, anthropology and environmental studies shape...

This article argues that the challenge and need for relevant ministry models is critical for effective Christian ministry and pastoral ministry as practical life ministry. It establishes an Adamic Christological model as a paradigm that provides a practical effective ministerial approach in Africa, particularly within the context of pastoral care a...

This article argues that the transcendence and immanence of God amplified in Christ should influence African believers� private and public ethics. It accomplishes this by engaging transcendence and immanence of God in the traditional African worldview. The African traditional worldview in many respects believes the transcendent God whose immanence...

Many African scholars such as Bolaji Idowu, Mbiti, Bediako and others have posed a question about the interrelationship between traditional African religion and Christianity. Some scholars tend to exalt traditional African religion at the expense of the biblical meaning of salvation, as well as undermining the value of traditional African religion....

Some African Christians continue to rely on traditional spiritual powers as a means of addressing their spiritual insecurity. In their perception Christ is regarded as being foreign to African spirituality and treated accordingly with the gospel seen as a predominantly western phenomenon. This raises the question regarding their understanding of Ch...