Ubuntu theology

One of our doctoral students, in introducing the upcoming presentation of another our students, writes briefly about “ubuntu theology”:

Ubuntu is a long-standing African worldview (made popular by Desmond Tutu) that makes community the launching place for personhood (which in turn builds better communities and livelihoods, etc). Yes, in a nutshell, Ubuntu is built on the philosophy that says "I am because you are." Or, as some interpret it, "I am what I am because you are what you are. I need you to be what you are in order for me to be what I am."

I'm just back from the first of the Hein-Fry lectures I'll give, and I wish I'd remembered this concise statement, because it would have been a good answer to a question I was asked.

One faculty member at LSTC asked if I could give this same lecture if it had the title "Learning the Koran in the 21st century" rather than "Learning the Bible." My answer was no, I couldn't, as my lecture is premised on the Christian scriptures and comes from that location, but that I would LOVE to hear and could learn from a Muslim who would give that lecture. I doubt my answer satisfied that particular colleague -- and probably an evocation of ubuntu theology wouldn't, either -- but I think that "I am what I am because you are what you are. I need you to be what you are in order for me to be what I am" is a beautiful way of acknowledging what I was trying, in a pretty inarticulate way, to say.