Theological and Ethical Reflections on Care for Widows from an African Christian Perspective

Abstract

This paper is a literature-based study that offers a critical analysis of widowhood from biblical and traditional African socio-cultural perspectives. The paper anlayzed Scriptures on God’s standards for caring for widows and books, journal articles, and dissertations on widowhood in Africa and found that widowhood in most African societies is characterized by unethical rituals, mandatory remarriages, harassment, denial, solitude, impoverishment, loss of social status, and depression as well as financial, sexual and social exploitations. Having offered theological and ethical reflections on the care for widows from the African Christian perspective, the paper suggested that the church must allocate a substantial part of its income to help the needy in general, more so widows. Traditional authorities are also encouraged to eliminate/modify unethical widowhood practices. The paper contributes to the ongoing scholarly discourse on African cultural transformation and female empowerment from an African Christian perspective.

Keywords

• africa
• christianity
• ethical
• theological
• widows
• widowhood