John Mbiti 1931 – 2019
John Samuel Mbiti was a Kenyan-born Christian theologian and philosopher and the founding scholar of the modern academic study of African religions and philosophy. After studies in Uganda, the United States, and Cambridge, he held chairs in Africa, Europe, and America, and served as director of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey in Switzerland. His African Religions and Philosophy and Concepts of God in Africa argued that African traditional religions contain a rich philosophical reflection that must be taken seriously alongside the Western and Asian philosophical traditions. He shaped a generation of African philosophical scholarship.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Kenyan
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Postcolonial Philosophy
Selected quotes
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Attributed to John Mbiti:
“I am because we are; and since we are, therefore I am.”
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Attributed to John Mbiti:
“Religion permeates every aspect of African life.”
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Attributed to John Mbiti:
“Time in African thought is meaningful only insofar as it has been experienced.”
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Attributed to John Mbiti:
“African religions are the foundation of African philosophy.”
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Attributed to John Mbiti:
“Without the past, the present has no roots and the future no wings.”