African monotheism is communal and expressed through dialogue, not theology

Evidence

The divine nature which man and the world assume via their participation in the life of God leads us to investigate the reality of African divinities, of the sacred, of the sacrifices and the cult that characterise African religiousness. One finds out that the God of Africans is never the God of an individual but always the God of the community. It is from this that African monotheism originates. The result is, therefore, that Africans do not dare talk of God or elaborate a theology. The relationship with God takes place through a dialogue with Him: one should be able to talk to God. This takes place through rites, prayers, songs, dances, cults and sacrifices, because everything should be able to give praise to He who gave it life. The ways in which values are passed on, life proverbs (teachings on morality) in the African way of thinking, assume a place of great importance. They reveal themselves like entries or voices in a dictionary on thought or on traditional knowledge. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 314

Categorization

• DEFINE: Contrast: African religious knowledge is dialogic and practical rather than doctrinally elaborated — a distinctive characterization of religious epistemology.