Conversion and Contextual Conceptions of Christ: A Missiological Study among Young Converts in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

Abstract: This study presents contextual conceptions of Christ among young urban converts, within the Evangelical Church of Congo (EEC). The basic data consists of interviews, conversion stories, gathered during fieldwork in 1995-1997. From the data explicit and implicit conceptions of Christ were deducted and accounted for in the study. The main analytical questions are: How do young people (aged 17-35) conceive of Jesus Christ when they witness in church that they "want to leave sin and follow Jesus," and how do these conceptions relate to the context. In order to produce answers to these questions the interview data have been related to the context of the young, including the Kongo traditional worldview, life in a society in crisis, traditional church life, charismatic prayer groups and the christologies of three African theologians, namely Bénézet Bujo, Kä Mana and Raymond Buana Kibongi. The study ends with a concluding chapter describing Jesus Christ as the true fulfiller of contextual offices: Yaya (the older brother) and Nganga (the traditional priest).