f God Who Curses is Cursed

Using historical critical methods of interpretation, many Western and African scholars have dismissed the use of imprecation in Africa as an incantatory, uncritical, and above all, unwholesome Christian practice. But using an Afrocentric method of interpretation, I argue that African Christians’ use of imprecation is a legitimate Christian prayer that is consistent with God’s character of retributive justice, regardless of its unwholesomeness. For many African Christians, to imprecate is to participate in the ongoing and eschatological reality of God’s holy indignation, and judgment against systemic forces of oppression, injustice, and impunity perpetrated by the powers of the enemy.