Pre-Marital Relations and Christian Marriage in Africa

Abstract

At least two previous articles in Practical Anthropology have high-lighted the dilemma of the African church in the face of problems of adultery and premarital intercourse.¹ In the present article, the author summarizes the findings of an informal inquiry on premarital sexual practice traditionally practiced by certain groups in the Cameroun. This article attempts to lay the foundations for a study of the problem by reconstructing the traditional attitudes and motives of people in these African groups toward this area of behavior, and the implications for the church and the gospel. In a subsequent issue the present-day attitudes of some modern African youth will be analyzed.