Is the philosophy of Ubuntu mentioned in the bible?

[tosamullen]

I have recently been introduced to the African philosophy of Ubuntu, the basic premise being “I am because you are”. My question is wether or not similar ideals are mentioned in scripture?

 

[Tomdstone]

I have recently been introduced to the African philosophy of Ubuntu, the basic premise being “I am because you are”. My question is wether or not similar ideals are mentioned in scripture?

If it means love your neighbor as yourself, then that is mentioned in Scripture.

 

[Nelka]

……

 

[ProdglArchitect]

I have recently been introduced to the African philosophy of Ubuntu, the basic premise being “I am because you are”. My question is wether or not similar ideals are mentioned in scripture?

There are no similar philosophies in the Bible because, to put it simply, the notion is nonsensical. We are because God chooses for us to Be. The fact that we are has no impact on the fact that our neighbors are any more then their existence impacts the fact that we exist. (Note, this is not to say we have no impact on our neighbors, but rather that the fact that we exist has nothing to do with their existence).

 

[Scottgun]

Sounds like pantheism. If that’s the case, then it is wildly incompatible with Christianity.

 

[seagal]

I did a quick search in Wiki and discovered that Ubuntu is a form of humanism. Specifically,

Ubuntu asserts that society, not a transcendent being, gives human beings their humanity.

So there is no God in the philosophy of Ubuntu.

Also, this quote:

The core of ubuntu can best be summarized as follows*“ ‘A person is a person through other people’ strikes an affirmation of one’s humanity through recognition of an ‘other’ in his or her uniqueness and difference. It is a demand for a creative intersubjective formation in which the ‘other’ becomes a mirror (but only a mirror) for my subjectivity. This idealism suggests to us that humanity is not embedded in my person solely as an individual; my humanity is co-substantively bestowed upon the other and me. Humanity is a quality we owe to each other. We create each other and need to sustain this otherness creation. And if we belong to each other, we participate in our creations: we are because you are, and since you are, definitely I am. The ‘I am’ is not a rigid subject, but a dynamic self-constitution dependent on this otherness creation of relation and distance”.*

I don’t think you’ll find these ideas anywhere in Christian scripture. In Christianity, we are mirrors of God (not of each other) made in God’s image and likeness. There maybe similar ideas held in both ubuntu and Christian philosophies (i.e. restorative justice) but at its core Ubuntu denies a deity. We only have worth as others see us, whereas as Christians we have worth because of our creator.