The Zambian Peace
Lawrence Temfwe January 27th, 2009
Pax Romana or Roman Peace was the long period of relative serenity through out the Roman Empire from the reign Augustus to that of Marcus Aurelius. During this period the empire protected the governed provinces, each of which legislated and administered its own laws while accepting the forced Roman taxation and military control. The Pax Romana witnessed the transformation of the legal system that brought law and order to the western world. It also brought the flourishing of the arts and architecture, along with commerce and the economy. “The networks of good and safe roads and sea routes was greatly improved, there were free movements of peoples and mixing of cultures, as well as tolerance of foreign cults” (http://orthodoxwiki.org/Pas_Romana).
We are in Rome. Zambia too has experienced Pax Zambiana or the Zambian peace for over 40 years. This is quiet a feat when you consider most African countries record. Our Pax Zambiana has seen improved free movements of peoples and mixing of cultures as well as tolerance of foreign cults. However unlike the Pax Romana we have not used our peace to bring about flourishing commerce and economy. Neither have we used the forced high tax collections to improve the networks of roads and air routes. In fact the opposite is what is happening. Roads in our communities are becoming impassable because they have been unattended to for years. And Zambian airlines are shutting down.
The early church fathers identified the divine providence of God working through the Pax Romana in order to influence the spread of the gospel and the true peace of Christ. Indeed in God’s own providence Jesus was born in the reign of Augustus when nations were enjoying Pax Romana and had good transportation. The MMD party also identified the divine providence of God working through Pax Zambiana when they established their political party, using a biblical verse “The hour has come” as their slogan. The Patriotic Front has a boat as a symbol for their party reminding us of Noah and his family who saw the providence of God and acted. Barack Obama, the president of USA used the slogan “Yes we can” which appears similar to Caleb’s statement when his team returned from exploring the land of Canaan, “…for we can certainly do it” (Numbers 13:30
).
Zambia is in the first and second century AD Rome. The church in Zambia is the hub of intellectual, social and theological life of our nation. The Pax Zambiana raises opportunities for Christians to engage with the constitution making process and to address the challenge of leadership in public places. Even though the church suffered persecution in Pax Romana Rome, the overriding trend however, was the growth and the mission of the church, and its ultimate impact on Rome leadership. The profane language coming out of Parliament suggests that the message of the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6-9) has not permeated the Zambian Empire. Caleb said “we can certainly do it” and Jesus said, “The hour has come.” Let us take the message of true Peace into the corridors of power. Otherwise we will continue to have forced peace.
Lawrence Temfwe
