BOOK REVIEWS 199across racial barriers are to be achieved in the Church, there is a need,therefore, to look beyond race. The book is simplistic when it quicklyrejects cultural considerations, which go a long way to explain further thetendency towards racial segregation in the Church and wider society (p.22).Zimbabweans of today live in a society marked by a plurality of modesof being-in-the-world and unfortunately they lack a theology that providesguidelines for facing up to modernity. To make racism the main frameworkfor interpreting the segregation of Blacks from Whites is thus useful, butonly in a limited way. I am not suggesting that colonialism and racism havebecome redundant areas of scholarship. Instead, I am drawing attention towider questions about modern African societies, which continue to havedivisions and appalling injustice prevail despite the fact that White rulehas been eliminated.Finally, more attention could have been paid to editing. For instance,on page 8 reference is made to 'Paul's sterling and spirited attempt toidentify the operative dynamics ..." This is not a reference to Paul'sspirited writings of the New Testament, but the Church historian, PaulGundani. On page 26, one has to guess that 'the Commission' refers to theTheological Commission of the Catholic Church. Dodge wrote to Ian Smithduring the times of Rhodesia in 1966 and not, as stated on page 105, in1996.University of Zimbabwe ISABEL MUKONYORAGospel Ferment in Malawi: Theological Essays, Book 2 By Kenneth Ross.Gweru, Mambo Press, 1995, 151 pp., ISBN 086922-615-0.Christianity in Malawi, A Source Book, Book 3 Edited by Kenneth Ross.Gweru, Mambo Press, 1996, 253 pp., ISBN 086922-641-x.These two books, when read together, bring out a composite picture ofthe Christian history and theology in Malawi, spanning a period of morethan a century (1889-1996).In Gospel Ferment in Malawi, Ross begins his theological reflection byanalysing the Christian social witness in Malawi since the issuing of thePastoral Letter of 8 March 1992 up to the holding of the National Referendumin June 1993. For one to understand the thrust of Ross's arguments in thisessay, it is necessary to refer to documents 18, 19 and 20 in Christianity inMalawi. It is Ross's opinion that the publication of these documents by thelargest Christian Churches in Malawi, i.e. the Roman Catholic Church andthe Presbyterian Church (CCAP), provides 'grounds for suggesting thatthe Church, for all its divisions and failures, acted as a liberating force at akey turning point in Malawian history'.200 BOOK REVIEWSEssays 2 and 3 basically affirm the Church's right to participate in thecivic affairs of the country. Ross's reflections on Presbyterian theologyand the idea of the kingdom of God lead him to the conclusion that 'therisks and the costs of engaging prophetically in social and political conflictare necessary to the integrity of the Church's witness' and discipleship.In the remaining essays Ross refreshingly grapples with the theologicalimplications of vernacular translation, church architecture, preachingand the African sense of recreation. These topics also get betteramplification when one reads source documents from Christianity in Malawi.These include hymns, memoirs, diaries of Christian converts andmissionaries, as well as documents that have bearing on matters of thecultural identity of Christians, gender and ministry, as well as independency.The categories that Ross provided for the documents, and theintroduction made before each section and each individual document areof tremendous help to the reader. The introductions help the reader toplace the documents in their appropriate historical, socio-cultural, politicaland missiological contexts. The documents were well chosen to reflectthe whole period of Christian presence in Malawi. Christianity in Malawipresents an invaluable source that affords the reader an opportunity 'tolisten directly and critically to the voices of the past'.While both books are well conceived and well written I would like topick out one essay for deeper scrutiny. This is the one entitled 'Thetheology of hope: A missing link in African Christianity'. I pick out thisessay because it purports to represent African Christianity in a genericsense. This is an essay that affirms John S. Mbiti's thesis in his NewTestament Eschatology in An African Background (1971). For Ross tosubscribe uncritically to Mbiti's claims, made over 25 years ago, reflectsthe kind of cynicism that Ross has of African scholarship. This essayvulgarises the reality of conversion not only in Malawi, but also in the restof Africa.Apart from citing Mbiti, Ross does not present reasons for supposingthat African Christians, in spite of the long history of the Church's presence,have failed to make a transition from the 'traditional world view' (whateverthat means) to the 'Christian world view' (whatever that means) thataccommodates a truly Christian eschatology of hope. To imply that AfricanChristianity has to undergo a process of regeneration in the norms thatthe European Christianity represents is tantamount to claimingabsoluteness of Western Christianity and its virtues over other forms ofChristianity. One only hopes that Ross has not lost sight of the fact thatwhile the struggle for orthodoxy can surely be defined in terms of historicaland cultural specificity, African Christianity does not have to aspire toEuropean orthodoxy.Another oversight was to leave out a bibliography at the end of GospelFerment in Malawi. The two books, however, are an important addition toBOOK REVIEWS 201students and scholars of Christian history and theology in Africa, inparticular Malawi.University of Zimbabwe P. GUNDANIStreet Sellers of Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture Š Artists and EntrepreneursBy C. & M. C. Kileff. Gweru, Mambo Press, 1996, 68 pp., Illustr., ISBN 0-86922-637-1, Z$96.This short work is unusual among the growing literature on Shona stonesculpture in two ways. It is written by an anthropologist rather than an artcritic; and it deals with artists selling on the streets and generally unknown,even despised, by the professional critics.The first half of the book comprises an introduction to ways in whichthe works of unknown artists may be sold, principally to tourists, aroundZimbabwe. Many of the themes are covered through vignettes of particularartists. The substance of the book is the brief autobiographical profilesgiven by 14 artists in and around Harare, together with those of threesellers and one White South African artist, who also sells Shona sculpture,in Cape Town. There is a final chapter that questions the distinctionbetween the high art to be found in galleries and the sculptures found oncity streets.In a book of this size the narratives and the analysis are necessarilybrief. References are limited, and do not always tally with the bibliography.Nevertheless, the book is welcome for the points it raises. The Kileffsshow the importance of the entrepreneurial skills of the artists, and theeconomic significance of their work in their lives. On the other hand, thenarratives of several of the sculptors also show an artistic dedication totheir craft. Although stone sculpture is relatively new in Shona history, itcan provide an authentic expression of the perceptions of Shona artists.Art is essentially creative. Although carvers presented in this work doborrow ideas and designs from others, they are also innovative at times.A key issue, which the book opens up rather than resolves, is therelationship between the art of the galleries, and the items sold by streetvendors and curio shops. About five percent of sculptors achieve the elitecircles of galleries: others are left on the periphery, not necessarily due tolack of talent. The Kileffs present Tago, a sculptor and street seller whocommented on the exclusiveness of the elitist galleries. He only managedto get his works into a gallery when they were given to a promoter by arenowned artist.The book is easy to read and well illustrated, and I recommend it as arefreshing balance to works that emphasize the elite in Shona sculpture.