Ubuntu: I in You and You in Me (review)

I think, therefore I am?

Think again. According to Kenyan theologian John Mbiti, a more apt formulation would be "we are, therefore I am" (36). His axiom is an expression of Ubuntu, the indigenous African concept explored in this slim volume by Michael Battle. An African American theologian and Episcopal priest ordained by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Battle offers his book as an introduction to his mentor's thought and a contribution to theological dialogue between Africa and the West.

In a nutshell, Ubuntu is a worldview that derives identity from community, rather than individual rights. As the subtitle suggests, it harmonizes well with the Christian view of personhood encapsulated by the mysterious "in" of Paul's letters and John's gospel. If "a person depends on other persons to be a person," this is no more or less than the divine image, for "the three persons of God are so interdependent that all three . . . have one nature" (3). Hence Battle's discussion toggles between communal values and Trinitarian doctrine, which he takes in part from Russian Orthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky. The technical term for the mutual indwelling of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is perichoresis, which approximates the meaning of Ubuntu. Loving relationships based on the principle of "I in you, you in me" can and must occur among us because this is both the nature of God and the command of Jesus. Western theologians have rarely developed theologies of personhood along these lines, as Tutu has done in South Africa. One of the few exceptions, the Anglican Charles Williams—unfortunately missing from this book—used the English term coinherence, an even more precise synonym for Ubuntu.

Desmond Tutu's turbulent life has given him no leisure to write systematic theology. So the profundity of his thought, less familiar to Westerners than the heroism of his life, is among the gifts afforded by Battle's work. Culling passages from the bishop's countless sermons, speeches, and essays, Battle offers a sampler of Tutu's thinking on topics from apartheid to the Incarnation, from evolution to the flaws of Western individualism. He emerges as not only an inspiring leader, but a deeply prayerful man. Battle recalls that during the two eventful years when he served as his chauffeur, the more tumultuous political affairs became, the more insistently Tutu prayed the Divine Office from memory on the road. One feature that distinguishes his version of liberation theology is the deep conviction, rooted in Ubuntu, that an end to the oppression of apartheid would benefit whites no less than blacks. It was Tutu who chaired South Africa's extraordinary Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a public forum in which victims and perpetrators confronted each other face to face so that oppressors might confess their atrocities in the presence of the oppressed. The goal was not merely to bring wrongdoers to justice, but to effect repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation among people who would, after all, have to go on living together. How different are the "victim statements" offered in American courts, the purpose of which is to impress a jury with the enormity of some crime. Such statements may at times lead an offender to contrition, but this is hardly their goal or anyone's realistic expectation. I offer this contrast not to critique American justice, but to highlight the remarkable depth of Christian faith—and trust in Ubuntu—behind Tutu's great experiment in social transformation.

Battle provides complementary chapters on "How Ubuntu Can Be a Gift to the West" and "How the West Can Be a Gift to Ubuntu." The first includes some familiar critiques of Western rationalism, secularism, and individualistic spirituality. For instance, American evangelicals will ask, "do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?" but never "do you have a communal relationship with Jesus?" (88). The next chapter addresses African tendencies toward dictatorship and the complete submergence of the individual in the community. Tutu has insisted on the value of Western...