Martin Mujinga
Biographic Data
| ID | 2197123 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Martin Mujinga |
| GIVEN NAMES | Martin |
| FAMILY NAME | Mujinga |
| SIGNATURE | MUJINGA M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of South Africa |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8098-2515 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
The meaning of being human and the future of humanity in the world of artificial intelligence
Science has contested the traditional theology of imago Dei over time. The theology of God as the creator of humanity has been challenged, and, starting with evolution, artificial intelligence (AI), the critique has advanced by producing humanoid robots. Moreover, the African philosophy of ubuntu did not escape the challenge, as humanoids that are not divinely elected, rational, or relational compete with humanity. This article aims to juxtapose …
Faith, Culture and Community
From time immemorial, faith, culture, and community have maintained a symbiotic relationship, a pattern that also characterises the spread of Christianity worldwide. In Africa, the three worked together to promote the growth of Christianity through the imposition of mono-faith, deculturation, and de-communisation of Africans into mission centres. Faith was shaped by the multilayered cultural values that each community encountered and embraced. Th…
Reverse and Distant Mission
Migration is as old as human history. Over the centuries, there was never a time when migration stopped. The nineteenth century was characterised by the migration of Europeans to Africa. These movements were attributed to colonisation, commerce, and Christianisation. Christianity was used as a conduit of colonisation and the deculturation of the recipients of the missionary gospel. At the turn of the twenty-first century, there was a significant …
Zimbabwe Council of Churches
Since 2000, Zimbabwe’s political landscape has been divided into two extreme ends represented by the conservatives and those advocating for democracy. Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), whose approach is grounded in Marxist theory, used colonial rhetoric to keep the country in the hands of the minority. The party’s hegemonic approach labels everyone differing with their ideology as enemies of sovereignty and puppets of the…
Revisiting the theological underpinnings of the Kairos Document and its relevance for the church in Zimbabwe
The publication of the Kairos Document in 1985 marked a significant shift in the political, theological and social history of South Africa. The document challenged inequalities, oppression, the apartheid system and structural injustices. The underpinnings of the Kairos Document influenced churches outside South Africa to challenge their governments on the socioeconomic and political status of their nations. This article aims to revisit the theolo…
Joshua Maponga’s interactions with Black theology, African identities and Indigenous belief systems
he intersection of Black theology, African cultural identities and Indigenous belief systems has been topical in South Africa, given the apartheid history of the country. Black South Africans used theology to define their cultural identities and belief systems in their quest for liberation. The need to engage this symbiotic relationship in Zimbabwe arose with Joshua Maponga III, who used his theological background as a pastor to analyse the meani…
An Econo-Theological Analysis of the Role and Contribution of the Church in the Zimbabwean Economy
The role of the church in economics remains conflictive. While the ecclesiastical body is convinced that it has the right to participate in economics, this position is viewed with disdain by politicians who think that the church should remain as a religious institution waiting to bandage the wounds of those injured and maimed by politicians, to support those sidelined to the peripheries of the economy, provide for families and individuals who are…
A colonial-decolonial critique of theological and religious research in South Africa (1975–2025)
As the Research Institute for Theology and Religion (RITR) celebrates 50 years of theological and religious research, reflecting on how the two have shaped South Africa’s history is essential. Religion and theology had been used as weapons of oppression and liberation. Before 1994, the two stood on two conflicting sides – the oppressor and the oppressed. The elite identified with the minority, while the majority of the poor craved an incarnate bl…
Godisinit! Nelson Chamisa’s theology to address the sociopolitical crisis in Zimbabwe
The Bible presents God journeying with the weak and the poor. God’s involvement in the affairs of the less privileged was because of God’s nature of being just, compassionate, eternal, omnipresent and unchangeable. These attributes gave the weak hope as God intervened in their circumstances. Although in perpetual suffering, one would expect God’s nature to remain unchanging, unfortunately, the oppressed people grapple with the Doctrine of God in …
African women, religion and Covid-19
Although women are the centre of African society, not much scholarly attention has been given to these conduits of human development in the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe. The stories of individual women have never formed part of Methodist historiography, ecclesiology, or theology. Methodist scholars exercised this pigeonholing even though women contribute to the life and mission of the church in a formidable way. Moreover, the ministers’ wives who…
Brothers of Different Periods”
Martin Luther and John Wesley stand as towering reformers and transformers whose influence still defines ecclesiastical theology in the twenty-first century. Luther and Wesley survived 200 years apart in two different countries, and circumstances, and yet their responses to the challenges of their milieus present the lived legacies of Lutheranism and Methodism respectively. Factors contributing to the shaping of their backgrounds and theology for…
Meaning beyond symbols
Methodism came to Zimbabwe in 1891. The church expanded through Eurocentric theology taught to the locals. As the mission continued to grow the indigenes became part of the Methodist ethos and theology through the contextualisation of the gospel, the localisation of worship, and the indigenisation of leadership, however, the church did not have a visible identity. When the church finally designed its logo in 1987, there was no deliberate effort t…
Colonial hymns and Black Spirituals in the context of decoloniality
Methodist hymns are attributed to Charles Wesley. Most scholars in Methodist studies, theology, and religion have paid attention to his hymns. In contrast, not much attention had been given to hymns by Black Methodists that contributed to the African history, culture, spirituality, and music genres. With ten hymns, Reverend Ushewokunze tops the list of songs by the Black Methodists, and yet there is no scholarly literature that theologises his hy…
Towards Re-Historicization
This paper is a follow-up to the research conducted in 2021 titled James Anta: missionary, martyr, and the unsung hero of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Zimbabwe. The paper was a reconstruction of Anta's life, ministry, and martyrdom. The research found out that although the blood of Anta was the seed of Methodism in Zimbabwe, the church was reluctant to honour him. The research also noted that the Wesleyan Methodist church created a biased his…
Analysis of the Zimbabwe heads of Christian denominations’ call for a Sabbath on elections
The Zimbabwe heads of Christian denominations issued a pastoral letter proposing to postpone the general elections for seven years. The leaders argued that Zimbabwe’s political paralysis and the economic decline have a long history and they needed to be addressed. The leaders called for a national Sabbath on all political contestation to allow for the rebuilding of trust, and confidence, reset politics, and chart a shared way forward toward a com…
Toward a reinterpretation of sacramental theology in the context of pandemics
The advent of Covid-19 and the subsequent closing of religious institutions through lockdowns created a pandemonium that saw churches not being able to meet physically for worship. Covid-19 lockdowns diluted the traditional meaning of sacramental theology for mainline churches. The effects of the pandemic were bad that, churches in Zimbabwe were closed towards lent season in 2020. Mainline churches that used to shun the technologisation of religi…
Musha mukadzi
Life among most African families and communities revolves around women. In both African religion and culture, women’s lives oscillate between two opposite extremes of being at the centre and periphery at the same time. Women are both the healers and the often wounded by the system that respects them when there are problems and displaces them whenever there are opportunities. Their central role is expressed by a Shona proverb musha mukadzi (the ho…
A critical evaluation of the context and history of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa’s “One and Undivided Church” statement
The statement “one undivided church” has always been at the centre of theology since New Testament times. Jesus in his greatest prayer in (John 17) appealed to God that his followers may be one, as he and God are one. For Jesus, oneness was proof that he was sent by God. In the history of Methodism, John Wesley, as late as a month before he died in 1791, wrote to Ezekiel Cooper in Philadelphia saying, “lose no opportunity of declaring to all peop…
Re-imaginations of women’s theology for female bodies
The perpetual decline of Zimbabwe’s socio-economic situation can be found in the country legalising prostitution, which it used to regard as an act of criminality. This legalisation promoted the trade from being an offense to a lifestyle and from being an act of immorality to a profession. Prostitutes were also advanced from being social outcasts to commercial sex workers. Although the law appeared to financially empower prostitutes, its negative…
Rising against all odds
The Methodist Church in Zimbabwe (MCZ) was established in 1891. In 1977, it was granted autonomy by the British Methodist Church. From 1891, top church leadership has been dominated by male clergy. This article explores three instances of a challenge to this trend. The first occurred in 1994 when there was a leadership crisis in one of the districts, and for the first time, a woman was appointed district chairperson. The second followed the elect…
Towards redeeming marriage custom from ‘triangular captivity’
Marriage in the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe (MCZ) is under siege. This scenario was bequeathed by the British imperialists. This siege is evident because the ecclesiastical theology of marriage in the MCZ is fastened on both African culture and the civil order. Firstly, marriage is anchored on African culture because the MCZ is an African church and it grows its mission using African epistemology. Secondly, marriage in the MCZ is affixed on civi…
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Rising against all odds
The Methodist Church in Zimbabwe (MCZ) was established in 1891. In 1977, it was granted autonomy by the British Methodist Church. From 1891, top church leadership has been dominated by male clergy. This article explores three instances of a challenge to this trend. The first occurred in 1994 when there was a leadership crisis in one of the districts, and for the first time, a woman was appointed district chairperson. The second followed the elect…
Towards redeeming marriage custom from ‘triangular captivity’
Marriage in the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe (MCZ) is under siege. This scenario was bequeathed by the British imperialists. This siege is evident because the ecclesiastical theology of marriage in the MCZ is fastened on both African culture and the civil order. Firstly, marriage is anchored on African culture because the MCZ is an African church and it grows its mission using African epistemology. Secondly, marriage in the MCZ is affixed on civi…
Re-imaginations of women’s theology for female bodies
The perpetual decline of Zimbabwe’s socio-economic situation can be found in the country legalising prostitution, which it used to regard as an act of criminality. This legalisation promoted the trade from being an offense to a lifestyle and from being an act of immorality to a profession. Prostitutes were also advanced from being social outcasts to commercial sex workers. Although the law appeared to financially empower prostitutes, its negative…
Analysis of the Zimbabwe heads of Christian denominations’ call for a Sabbath on elections
The Zimbabwe heads of Christian denominations issued a pastoral letter proposing to postpone the general elections for seven years. The leaders argued that Zimbabwe’s political paralysis and the economic decline have a long history and they needed to be addressed. The leaders called for a national Sabbath on all political contestation to allow for the rebuilding of trust, and confidence, reset politics, and chart a shared way forward toward a com…
Toward a reinterpretation of sacramental theology in the context of pandemics
The advent of Covid-19 and the subsequent closing of religious institutions through lockdowns created a pandemonium that saw churches not being able to meet physically for worship. Covid-19 lockdowns diluted the traditional meaning of sacramental theology for mainline churches. The effects of the pandemic were bad that, churches in Zimbabwe were closed towards lent season in 2020. Mainline churches that used to shun the technologisation of religi…
Musha mukadzi
Life among most African families and communities revolves around women. In both African religion and culture, women’s lives oscillate between two opposite extremes of being at the centre and periphery at the same time. Women are both the healers and the often wounded by the system that respects them when there are problems and displaces them whenever there are opportunities. Their central role is expressed by a Shona proverb musha mukadzi (the ho…
A critical evaluation of the context and history of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa’s “One and Undivided Church” statement
The statement “one undivided church” has always been at the centre of theology since New Testament times. Jesus in his greatest prayer in (John 17) appealed to God that his followers may be one, as he and God are one. For Jesus, oneness was proof that he was sent by God. In the history of Methodism, John Wesley, as late as a month before he died in 1791, wrote to Ezekiel Cooper in Philadelphia saying, “lose no opportunity of declaring to all peop…
Godisinit! Nelson Chamisa’s theology to address the sociopolitical crisis in Zimbabwe
The Bible presents God journeying with the weak and the poor. God’s involvement in the affairs of the less privileged was because of God’s nature of being just, compassionate, eternal, omnipresent and unchangeable. These attributes gave the weak hope as God intervened in their circumstances. Although in perpetual suffering, one would expect God’s nature to remain unchanging, unfortunately, the oppressed people grapple with the Doctrine of God in …
African women, religion and Covid-19
Although women are the centre of African society, not much scholarly attention has been given to these conduits of human development in the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe. The stories of individual women have never formed part of Methodist historiography, ecclesiology, or theology. Methodist scholars exercised this pigeonholing even though women contribute to the life and mission of the church in a formidable way. Moreover, the ministers’ wives who…
Brothers of Different Periods”
Martin Luther and John Wesley stand as towering reformers and transformers whose influence still defines ecclesiastical theology in the twenty-first century. Luther and Wesley survived 200 years apart in two different countries, and circumstances, and yet their responses to the challenges of their milieus present the lived legacies of Lutheranism and Methodism respectively. Factors contributing to the shaping of their backgrounds and theology for…
Meaning beyond symbols
Methodism came to Zimbabwe in 1891. The church expanded through Eurocentric theology taught to the locals. As the mission continued to grow the indigenes became part of the Methodist ethos and theology through the contextualisation of the gospel, the localisation of worship, and the indigenisation of leadership, however, the church did not have a visible identity. When the church finally designed its logo in 1987, there was no deliberate effort t…
Colonial hymns and Black Spirituals in the context of decoloniality
Methodist hymns are attributed to Charles Wesley. Most scholars in Methodist studies, theology, and religion have paid attention to his hymns. In contrast, not much attention had been given to hymns by Black Methodists that contributed to the African history, culture, spirituality, and music genres. With ten hymns, Reverend Ushewokunze tops the list of songs by the Black Methodists, and yet there is no scholarly literature that theologises his hy…
Towards Re-Historicization
This paper is a follow-up to the research conducted in 2021 titled James Anta: missionary, martyr, and the unsung hero of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Zimbabwe. The paper was a reconstruction of Anta's life, ministry, and martyrdom. The research found out that although the blood of Anta was the seed of Methodism in Zimbabwe, the church was reluctant to honour him. The research also noted that the Wesleyan Methodist church created a biased his…
Zimbabwe Council of Churches
Since 2000, Zimbabwe’s political landscape has been divided into two extreme ends represented by the conservatives and those advocating for democracy. Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), whose approach is grounded in Marxist theory, used colonial rhetoric to keep the country in the hands of the minority. The party’s hegemonic approach labels everyone differing with their ideology as enemies of sovereignty and puppets of the…
Revisiting the theological underpinnings of the Kairos Document and its relevance for the church in Zimbabwe
The publication of the Kairos Document in 1985 marked a significant shift in the political, theological and social history of South Africa. The document challenged inequalities, oppression, the apartheid system and structural injustices. The underpinnings of the Kairos Document influenced churches outside South Africa to challenge their governments on the socioeconomic and political status of their nations. This article aims to revisit the theolo…
Joshua Maponga’s interactions with Black theology, African identities and Indigenous belief systems
he intersection of Black theology, African cultural identities and Indigenous belief systems has been topical in South Africa, given the apartheid history of the country. Black South Africans used theology to define their cultural identities and belief systems in their quest for liberation. The need to engage this symbiotic relationship in Zimbabwe arose with Joshua Maponga III, who used his theological background as a pastor to analyse the meani…
An Econo-Theological Analysis of the Role and Contribution of the Church in the Zimbabwean Economy
The role of the church in economics remains conflictive. While the ecclesiastical body is convinced that it has the right to participate in economics, this position is viewed with disdain by politicians who think that the church should remain as a religious institution waiting to bandage the wounds of those injured and maimed by politicians, to support those sidelined to the peripheries of the economy, provide for families and individuals who are…
A colonial-decolonial critique of theological and religious research in South Africa (1975–2025)
As the Research Institute for Theology and Religion (RITR) celebrates 50 years of theological and religious research, reflecting on how the two have shaped South Africa’s history is essential. Religion and theology had been used as weapons of oppression and liberation. Before 1994, the two stood on two conflicting sides – the oppressor and the oppressed. The elite identified with the minority, while the majority of the poor craved an incarnate bl…
The meaning of being human and the future of humanity in the world of artificial intelligence
Science has contested the traditional theology of imago Dei over time. The theology of God as the creator of humanity has been challenged, and, starting with evolution, artificial intelligence (AI), the critique has advanced by producing humanoid robots. Moreover, the African philosophy of ubuntu did not escape the challenge, as humanoids that are not divinely elected, rational, or relational compete with humanity. This article aims to juxtapose …
Faith, Culture and Community
From time immemorial, faith, culture, and community have maintained a symbiotic relationship, a pattern that also characterises the spread of Christianity worldwide. In Africa, the three worked together to promote the growth of Christianity through the imposition of mono-faith, deculturation, and de-communisation of Africans into mission centres. Faith was shaped by the multilayered cultural values that each community encountered and embraced. Th…
Reverse and Distant Mission
Migration is as old as human history. Over the centuries, there was never a time when migration stopped. The nineteenth century was characterised by the migration of Europeans to Africa. These movements were attributed to colonisation, commerce, and Christianisation. Christianity was used as a conduit of colonisation and the deculturation of the recipients of the missionary gospel. At the turn of the twenty-first century, there was a significant …
Sociology (13 works) · Philosophy (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Theology (11 works) · Law (10 works) · African studies and sociopolitical issues (9 works) · History (7 works) · African cultural and philosophical studies (6 works) · Gender Studies (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works)