The Dimensions of Human Work According to John Samuel Mbiti

Danjuma Luke Ango

doi:10.18290/rkult23143.7

Published : 2023-10-27

Vol. 14 No. 3 (2023)

The Dimensions of Human Work According to John Samuel Mbiti

Danjuma Luke Ango

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rkult23143.7

Abstract

Down through the ages, man has been a worker for his own good and the good of the society in which he lives. John Samuel Mbiti has described work as man’s activities in the face of the universe for his livelihood. Every individual human being is engaged in one form of work or the other. In order to explain the essence of human work in African culture, Mbiti made statistical collections of African prayers. His research and discoveries revealed three facets of human work: the physical, spiritual and the communal dimensions. All that a typical African traditional man or woman does is surrounded within these dimensions. We cannot deny the fact that all that we see around us are the products of human work. Man’s capacity to work is revealed in work! The African man has been a hardworking individual through the ages, and his livelihood depends on work. For him or her, work is everything!

Keywords:

Mbiti, human work/labour, dimensions, African prayer, African culture, spiritual leaders, society, community

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