African religiousness centers on communal dialogue with God rather than individual 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. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 314

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains how African monotheism is rooted in communal rather than individual relationship with God — a key definitional claim about the tradition.
• XREF: Connects to wider discourse comparing African communal theology to Western individualist religious frameworks discussed elsewhere. — connects to: Salvation in Christian tradition is communal, not merely personal — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 88