As discussed elsewhere in this report, many Christians and Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa retain beliefs and rituals that are characteristic of traditional African religions. Updates?
www.ej-theology.org Christianity and Indigenisation in Africa But in practical terms, there is a Christian Yes to African religiosity. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. The statistical expansion of the Christian faith in Africa in this century is one of the considerations that led me back to the issue of its relation with African religion. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. So I read on and on, and conducted field research to learn more and more. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. Authoring or editing more than half a dozen books on religion and African culture (including the recent African Religions: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press), Olupona has researched topics ranging from the indigenous religions of Africa to the religious practices of Africans who have settled in America. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). There is not space here to argue the case for the role played by African religion in the establishment of the Christian faith in Africa. I have concentrated these comments on the role of African background in my theological reflection. 0000001519 00000 n
They include the work of missionaries (of whom there are about 40,000 today, without counting their family members); the work of African Christians in evangelism and pastoral care (their numbers are infinitely greater than those of overseas missionaries, and include men, women and children, both lay and ordained); the role of Christian schools; the translation and distribution of the Bible (which is now available in full or in part in nearly 600 of Africas 1,000 languages); and the ending of the colonial era during the decades 1960-1980. It is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. I want to see his healing hand, to hear his word that exorcises evil spirits. The Pew Forums survey finds a similar number of people in Guinea Bissau identifying themselves as Muslim (38%) but a much higher percentage identifying themselves as Christian (62%) and very few describing themselves mainly as practitioners of traditional African faiths.
Christianity: An African traditional religion - ghanaweb.com /// Dans le nord-est du Zare, la communaut rurale Bira a t expose depuis plus de cinquante ans au message chrtien. Amen.
Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation | Pew Research Center The idea is that the traditional African practitioner who constructed that amulet believes in the efficacy of other faiths and religions; there is no conflict in his mind between his traditional African spirituality and another faith. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. But the basic truth seems to be that Gods revelation is not confined to the biblical record. <>stream
For instance, in a few years time, I pray that I will be participating in an age-grade festival for men around 70 years of age called Ero in my native Nigerian community in Ute, in Ondo state. OLUPONA: Yes, its a mixed bag because in the African diaspora mostly due to the slave trade starting in the 15th century indigenous African religions have spread and taken root all over the world, including in the United States and Europe. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. OLUPONA: We would lose a worldview that has collectively sustained, enriched, and given meaning to a continent and numerous other societies for centuries through its epistemology, metaphysics, history, and practices. 0000014025 00000 n
In February 1974 a group of 120 anthropologists launched the Canadian Ethnology Society/socit canadienne d'ethnologie (CESCE), because they felt there was room for an association of anthropologists separate from the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association (CSAA) which was dominated by sociologists. Wendy Sherman, who was the lead U.S. negotiator in the nuclear deal with Iran, was welcomed by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. Some of these African diaspora religions include Cuban Regla de Ocha, Haitian Vodou, and Brazilian Candomble. The theological horizon continues to expand. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
This is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism not at all. He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. I want to make a pilgrimage into Christ. I have received much in a short period.
Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices At first, Christianity made few inroads into the African slave population, which had its own religious traditions. Indigenous African spirituality today is increasingly falling out of favor. Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors, Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects. (back to text), 3 Nigerias 2006 census did not ask about religious affiliation, and recent estimates of the numbers of Muslims and Christians in the country vary. Since the Bible tells me that God is the Creator of all things, his activities in the world must clearly go beyond what is recorded in the Bible. They will certainly be overwhelming, and I feel very excited about them. African spirituality is truly holistic. The suppression of ancestor worship is the only area where mission Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. Corrections? That would be a serious loss not only for Africans, but also for academics, researchers, writers, and general seekers of wisdom the world over. He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. Subscriptions are available to libraries and individuals who are not members of CASCA.
Consequently, people are discovering that the biblical faith is not harmful to their religious sensibilities. That which had been seen as the enemy of the gospel turns out (to me) to be indeed a very welcoming friend. In one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. Religion informs everything in traditional African society, including political art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. That is anathema to the fundamentalist faith movements that have been gaining momentum in recent decades. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. Dr. Mbiti is on the staff of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland. Its aim is to develop an extensive library of resources, representing many different points of view, but all written from the perspective of sound scholarship. While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that In Cameroon, Ethiopia, Liberia and Mozambique, Muslims account for between 15% and 30% of survey respondents. That book was followed by a flurry of literature on the so-called "death of God" theology (if "theology" it was, for I would call it "atheology"). These initiation rituals are already not as common in Africa as they were only 50 years ago, yet age-grade initiations have always helped young Africans feel connected to their community and their past. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). Some African diasporans are returning to the continent to reconnect with their ancestral traditions, and they are encouraging and organizing the local African communities to reclaim this heritage. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect.
Religious pluralism serves peace | D+C - Development + Cooperation A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the Roman Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. With it, one began to explore afresh the realm of Gods revelation and other treasures of our faith. OLUPONA: My father, a faithful Anglican priest, was a good example. (I myself have consulted with several diviners for my research on specific academic topics regarding African culture and history; consequently, if we were to lose Africas diviners, we would also lose one of Africas best keepers and sources of African history and culture. In the other case no such written record exists. At many points I see intriguing parallels between the biblical record and African religiosity. hb```b``g`a`.ef@ aV68+ +$.0t9$r8A2Or}6=<4. Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. I have seen the quest more sharply. Their history has a theological meaning.
Indigenous religion in Africa is the way Africans understand and worship their god. 0000015705 00000 n
Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. 75 0 obj For over 200 years, Africans, largely from the west coast of Africa, were brought to the United States in the slave trade. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. Much of Oluponas work is an attempt to provide a fuller understanding of the complexity and richness of African indigenous thought and practice by viewing it not as a foil or as a useful comparative to better understand Western religions, but as a system of thought and belief that should be valued and understood for its own ideas and contribution to global religions. In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. Take em with a grain of salt. The recipient of many prestigious academic honors and research fellowships, Olupona also received the 20152016 Reimar Lust Award for International and Cultural Exchange, considered one of Germanys most prestigious academic honors. Ethiopia's Christian population, at 6 million in 1900, will grow to a projected 100 million in 2050. The fusion of cultures that was effected by the conquest of Alexander the Great (4th century bce ), his successors, and the Roman Empire tended to bring together a variety of religious and philosophical views that resulted in a strong tendency toward religious syncretism. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? A belief in ancestors also testifies to the inclusive nature of traditional African spirituality by positing that deceased progenitors still play a role in the lives of their living descendants. Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa. For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. I have been greatly enriched by working at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, 1974-1980. 4 0 obj I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. The decisive word here is "only." Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The bottom line then is that Africans who still wholly practice African indigenous religions are only about 10 percent of the African population, a fraction of what it used to be only a century ago, when indigenous religions dominated most of the continent. The beliefs and practices of the traditional religions in Africa can enrich Christian theology and spirituality." Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. But upon my return to work in Africa, and upon careful study of the religious background of our people, there emerged gradually the demand to examine this issue and to form my own judgment. It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin. Instead, God brought them. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial 0000001586 00000 n
He later earned both an M.A. The Yoruba, however, do have a concept of a supreme being, called Olorun or Olodumare, and this creator god of the universe is empowered by the various orisa [deities] to create the earth and carry out all its related functions, including receiving the prayers and supplications of the Yoruba people. interaction between the Christian churches and West African religious culture. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. During religious rites, believers sometimes enter a trancelike state in which the devotee may eat and drink, perform stylized dances, give supernaturally inspired advice to people, or perform medical cures or special physical feats; these acts exhibit the incarnate presence of the lwa within the entranced devotee. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim.
Faith in The One God in Christian and African Traditional Religions: a The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent. I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. Since Christianity and Islam spread across Africa, many people there have observed a mixture of religious practices. The continued influence of traditional African religion is also evident in some aspects of daily life. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. Later, my theological studies in America and England did not challenge this position, since that was not a living issue for my professors and fellow students. Ifa is an indispensable treasure trove of knowledge that cant be duplicated elsewhere; much of its knowledge has been handed down from babalawo [Ifa priest/diviner] to babalawo for centuries. GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. One important task, then, is to see the nature, the method and the implications of Gods revelation among African peoples, in the light of the biblical record of the same revelation. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Indigenous African religion is primarily an oral tradition and has never been fully codified; thus, it allows itself to more easily be amended and influenced by other religious ideas, religious wisdom, and by modern development. For example, in 14 of the 19 countries surveyed, more than three-in-ten people say they sometimes consult traditional healers when someone in their household is sick. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa.
The spirituality of Africa - Harvard Gazette Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. GAZETTE: How have ancestors played a role in traditional societies? The primary goal and activity of Vodou is to sevi lwa (serve the spirits)to offer prayers and perform various devotional rites directed at God and particular spirits in return for health, protection, and favour. Syncretistic movements in the Orient, such as Manichaeism (a dualistic religion founded by the 3rd-century-ce Iranian prophet Mani, who combined elements of Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism) and Sikhism (a religion founded by the 15th16th-century Indian reformer Guru Nnak, who combined elements of Islam and Hinduism), also met with resistance from the prevailing religions of their respective areas. GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. In Kenya I grew up in home, school and church milieus which held that the African religious and cultural background was demonic and anti-Christian. Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. No viable theology can grow in Africa without addressing itself to the interreligious phenomenon at work there. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. Model tested on tens of thousands of routine brain scans spotted disease risk with 90% accuracy, Experts on law, policy say originalist view used to overturn Roe could upend 76 ruling based on cruel, unusual punishment clause, Issues revolve around culture of viewing civilians as potential threats, concerns about self-protection in departments equipped with military-grade arms, Khalil Gibran Muhammad says College Board needs to stand firm behind curriculum, 2023 The President and Fellows of Harvard College. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. It will keep me chewing for a long time, and it will most certainly feed my theological development.
Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology? Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. (See the glossary for more information on juju. 0000000016 00000 n