Holistic Vision of All Life

For Africans, the salvation of individuals is no substitute for the complete salvation of the entire human condition. The African person is not an individual, for personality is defined by relationship. The African does not reflect the ideology that says, "I think; therefore I am." Rather, for Africans, their reality is expressed by the saying, "I am, because we are; and because we are, I am." Nor do humans as community live their lives in splendid isolation from the rest of creation. Rather, there is an intrinsic relationship among sky, humans, and earth - and authentic human living is at the harmonious intersection of these three interdependent realms. Human beings cannot be fully saved unless the co-determinates of authentic human life are simultaneously saved. In this regard, Revelation reinforces the African worldview, for Revelation envisions a future not of isolated individuals but of a community living in the holy city and nurtured by the river of life and the tree of life.

James Chukwuma Okoye, "Power and Worship: Revelation in African Perspective," in From Every People and Nation, ed. David Rhoads, pg. 122