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Introduction
Religion plays a significant role in shaping the lives of people throughout the world and this is especially true in third world countries where religion commands greater authority (Aldashev & Platleau 2014:588). In different religions for example, the sacred writings are taken as manuals for daily living. This means that religion influences decision-making processes of those people whether politically, economically or socially. Christianity is one of such religion where the bible as a sacred writing, is taken as a manual for life. In this regard, the Bible influences some ethical guides concerning life situations.
It is within this context that this study explores Pauline ethics regarding reconciliation in the Corinthian correspondence (I Cor 1: 10–17; II Cor 5: 16–21) as the inspiration for ethnic cohesion between the Ndebele and Shona people of Zimbabwe. These two texts have been chosen for the following reasons; first, in I Corinthians 1: 10–17, Paul is addressing the problem of factionalism. In the text, Paul is reconciling conflicting parties though he does not use the term ‘reconciliation’ in the discourse. Such a text serves as an inspiration in dealing with societies with fractured relationships like that of the Ndebele and Shona people. Second, in II Corinthians 5:16–21, Paul uses the word reconciliation several times. The word ‘reconciliation’ (καταλλάσσω) in it’s different forms is used five times in four verses (II Cor 5:18–21) making it one of Paul’s favourite words.
Third, the word is unique to Paul in the New Testament making it a distinct Pauline concept (Kim 1997: 362). Murray J. Harris confirms this; “the word group that relates to ‘reconciliation’ is exclusively Pauline within the New Testament: καταλλάσσω occurs six times, ἀποκαταλλάσσω three times and καταλλαγή four times” (Harris 2005: 435). This does not mean that there are no teachings on reconciliation in other New Testament writings, but the word itself seems to be a Pauline coinage. In other genuine Pauline letters for example, Romans 5:9–11, the word is recorded three times.
Contemporary Zimbabwe needs reconciliation after centuries of division along ethnic and tribal lines. The problem of ethnicity seems to be a common phenomenon throughout the world and it has been established that one of the causes of many wars and conflicts in the world is ethnicity (Brown &Stewart 2015:6; Mohammadzadeh 2016:162); a term that shall be defined in detail later. The Zimbabwean nation is not spared from this phenomenon. The subject of the relationship between the Ndebele and Shona people in the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial Zimbabwe is a hotly contested one. There are contesting views between missionaries, historians, critics, analysts, and lay people on this subject and detailed discussion regarding this is given in chapter two. Even the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Robert G. Mugabe used ethnic politics during the armed struggle as attested in Joshua Nkomo’s biography; The Story of My Life. (Nkomo 1984:113). Chapter two will also explore Zimbabwe African People’s Union-Patriotic Front (hereinafter referred to as PF ZAPU) and Zimbabwe African National Union (hereinafter referred to as ZANU) relations during the armed struggle and in post-colonial Zimbabwe.
Chapter One: Introduction, Definition of terms, and Background to the Study
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Setting the Stage: Background of the nation of Zimbabwe
1.2 Definition of terms.
1.2.1 Ethic
1.2.2 Pauline Ethics
1.2.3 Reconciliation
1.2.4 Ethnic cohesion
1.2.5 The Ndebele people
1.2.6 The Shona people
1.3 Problem statement
1.3.1. Political reasons for social tension
1.3.2 Economic reasons for social tension
1.3.3 Linguistic reasons for social tension
1.3.4 Religious reasons for social tension
1.4 Justification
1.5 Context of the study
1.6 Aim and Objectives of the study
1.7 Research outline
Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework and Methodology
2.0 Introduction
2.1 The Critical Correlation Theory (CCT)
2.1.2 Defining the Theory
2.1.3 The Application of CCT
2.1.4 The CCT of Paul’s Corinthians correspondence and ethnicity in Zimbabwe
2.2 The Social Identity Complexity
2.3 Theories of Ethnicity
2.4 The Social Identity Theory
2.5 Intersectionality
2.6 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
Chapter Three: Ndebele-Shona relations in Pre-Colonial, Colonial, and Post
Colonial Zimbabwe
3.0 Introduction
3.1 The History of Ndebele-Shona relations in pre-colonial Zimbabwe
3.2 The Ndebele-Shona relations in colonial Zimbabwe
3.4 Conclusion
Chapter Four: A Survey of past Reconciliation efforts in Zimbabwe
4.0 Introduction
4.1 The 1979 Lancaster House Agreement and the 1980 reconciliation pronouncement by
Prime Minister Robert Mugabe
4.2 The signing of the Unity Accord
4.3 The road to the signing of the Global Political Agreement
4.4 The Signing of the GPA
4.5 The Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration (ONHRI)
4.6 A critique of past reconciliation efforts in Zimbabwe from a CCT perspectiv
4.7 Initiatives by the Ecumenical Bodies
4.8 Conclusion
Chapter Five: An evaluation of Paul’s ethics regarding reconciliation and Social Cohesion
in the Corinthian correspondences
Chapter Six: A critical correlation of past (Pauline) and present (Zimbabwe) experiences
Chapter Seven: Findings, Recommendations, Conclusion
