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My interpretation of Israels history demands a new look at the history of African peoples, among whom this same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has indeed been at work. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. Vodou ritual activity (e.g., prayer, song, dance, and gesture) is aimed at refining and restoring balance and energy in relationships between people and between people and the spirits of the unseen world. These were not empty names. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. Subscriptions are available to libraries and individuals who are not members of CASCA. I am tantalized by the fact that my vision cannot cope with that horizon. I was like a snail shyly peeping out of its house after a heavy thunderstorm. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Anthropologica Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. 43. There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function. In four countries (Chad, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria and Tanzania), the number of Christians and Muslims is more equally divided, with a ratio of less than two-to-one in either direction.2 The other countries surveyed are predominantly Christian with Muslim minorities of varying sizes. The first and most intriguing topic that immediately engaged my attention was the thinking of African peoples about God. The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. This is not an empty coincidence. <>stream While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. Did he then reveal himself only in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel and other personalities of the Bible? Vodou is an oral tradition practiced by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the necessary devotional practices, from their elders. Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. Regardless of the variation, it is still true that Nigeria has both the largest number of Muslims and the largest number of Christians in the region. %%EOF Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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. 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. 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. Of course, behind all these factors is the Holy Spirit working through them. (a) The Structures of African Traditional Religions: Sometimes it is a difficult task among scholars to choose a unanimous name for the religious traditions and beliefs of the African people. There is some regional difference in ritual practice across Haiti, and branches of the religion include Rada, Daome, Ibo, Nago, Dereal, Manding, Petwo, and Kongo. In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. 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. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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. Africans consequently played a crucial role in establishing the doctrines and theology of the early church. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. African spirituality simply acknowledges that beliefs and practices touch on and inform every facet of human life, and therefore African religion cannot be separated from the everyday or mundane. Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. 1996 Canadian Anthropology Society As the map in the preface to this report shows, sub-Saharan Africa is much more religiously mixed than northern Africa, where the population is overwhelmingly Muslim. One African theologian, Gabriel Setiloane, has even argued that the concept of God which the missionaries presented to the Sotho-Tswana peoples was a devaluation of the traditional currency of Modimo (God) among the Sotho-Tswana. %PDF-1.3 Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. I find the traditional Western distinction between "special revelation" and "general revelation" to be inadequate and unfreeing. A subscription to Anthropologica is included in CASCA's annual membership fee. 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. A close geographical correlation exists between the location of African religion and the rapid expansion of the Christian faith. (See the glossary for more information on juju. There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. (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. 93 0 obj 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. Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. Animism is a common feature of African religions, and misfortune is often attributed to witchcraft and sorcery. 0000002264 00000 n For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. 75 0 obj 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. He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. This chapter includes information on: Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects Download chapter 3 in full (3-page PDF, <1MB) Photo credit: Sebastien Desarmaux/GODONG/Godong/Corbis But in practical terms, there is a Christian Yes to African religiosity. 0000002884 00000 n His research has helped to introduce and popularize new concepts in religious studies, such as the term reverse missionaries, referring to African prelates sent to Europe and the United States. In this overpowering environment, one simply accepted this stand and looked at the world from its perspectives. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). As for the belief in God, it appears that the Bira have utilized Christianity to make their traditional God Mbali less remote and more caring, a change which has also made the Christian God more compassionate and forgiving of sins. A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the Roman Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice. 0000014207 00000 n African spirituality simply acknowledges that beliefs and practices touch on and inform every facet of human life, and therefore African religion cannot be separated from the everyday or mundane.. No viable theology can grow in Africa without addressing itself to the interreligious phenomenon at work there. Important lwa are celebrated on saints days (for example: Ogou on St. Jamess Day, July 25; Ezili Danto on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16; Danbala on St. Patricks Day, March 17; and the spirits of the ancestors on All Saints Day and All Souls Day, November 1 and November 2). Vodou represents a syncretism of the West African Vodun religion and Roman Catholicism by the descendants of the Dahomean, Kongo, Yoruba, and other ethnic groups who had been enslaved and transported to colonial Saint-Domingue (as Haiti was known then) and partly Christianized by Roman Catholic missionaries in the 16th and 17th centuries. The church is composed largely of people who come out of the African religious background. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. (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. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. In most of the 19 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Centers Forum on Religion & Public Life, 90% or more of the respondents say they belong to one of these faiths. What is African Traditional Religion? This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. In Cameroon, Ethiopia, Liberia and Mozambique, Muslims account for between 15% and 30% of survey respondents. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. They do this by having Africans increasingly identify themselves as either Muslim or Christian, thus denying their unique African worldview that has always viewed as evidenced in their creation myths everything as unified and connected to the land, the place were ones clan, lineage, and people were cosmically birthed. For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-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 here that I have discovered the church in Burma, in the Pacific islands, the house church in China, the basic Christian communities in Latin America, the struggling church in South Africa, plus countless other endeavors of Christians all over the world. This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. 1"7$X9Xyyyb GNpL!9I&mxo0++44cA@5c. GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic? In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. In one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. Since Christianity came in contact with the traditional religion, there has always been a sharp conflict between traditionalists and Christians. The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity. Their culture, history, world views and spiritual aspirations cannot be taken away from them. 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. 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. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. For instance, if we were to lose indigenous African religions in Africa, then diviners would disappear, and if diviners disappeared, we would not only lose an important spiritual specialist for many Africans, but also an institution that for centuries has been the repository of African history, wisdom, and knowledge. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? That finished the interview. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. It will keep me chewing for a long time, and it will most certainly feed my theological development. This rapid spreading of the Christian faith where people have been predominantly followers of African religion provokes interesting questions. For instance, the Yoruba religion has historically been centered in southwestern Nigeria, the Zulu religion in southern Africa, and the Igbo religion in southeastern Nigeria. There is even a community deep in the American Bible Belt in Beaufort County, S.C., called Oyotunji Village that practices a type of African indigenous religion, which is a mixture of Yoruba and Ewe-Fon spiritual practices. In its place there emerged the word "also." AR-Ndhdnn}H\{%jC!a,]c8F`1LE(3%"w+tj}](q w[,p8i$dd$GrMRD K4wLG4@h\WfPY They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . He went on to conduct some of the most significant research on African religions in decades. In Africa the traditional religions are a major source for the study of the African experience of God. En ce qui concerne la croyance en Dieu, il semblerait que les Biras se soient servis de la chrtient pour rendre leur dieu traditionnel Mbali plus accessible et plus comprhensif, un changement qui a rendu le Dieu des chrtiens plus compatissant et indulgent vis vis du pch. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. Modernity has not put a total stop to its influence. Its about getting tangible results. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. 0000001586 00000 n The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent. Yet . Instead, God brought them. 0000003217 00000 n 0000001519 00000 n The defining line between deities and ancestors is often contested, but overall, ancestors are believed to occupy a higher level of existence than living human beings and are believed to be able to bestow either blessings or illness upon their living descendants. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). The theological horizon continues to expand. That is anathema to the fundamentalist faith movements that have been gaining momentum in recent decades. I have concentrated these comments on the role of African background in my theological reflection. 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. (back to text), Photo credit: Sebastien Desarmaux/GODONG/Godong/Corbis, Part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 1615 L St. NW, Suite 800Washington, DC 20036USA stream The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity. In most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors, Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Some scholars choose to call it the African Traditional Religion, while others prefer to name it the African traditional Religions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. v6 -j>,>Or%I&!To !{vgrh7xxDs}d[!$8k1zX+@}~ Supreme Court may halt health care guarantees for inmates, Why police resist reforms to militarization, Historian says Fla. dispute shows why AP class in African American studies is needed, Low-carb diet can help manage progression of Type 2 diabetes, Those breezy TV drug ads? But it is nevertheless a working Yes and one that demands theological understanding. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. (back to text), 2 The World Religion Database estimates that roughly four-in-ten people in Guinea Bissau are Muslim and approximately one-in-ten are Christian, with the rest of the population associated with traditional African religions. Religion informs everything in traditional African society, including political art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. The editor of The Christian Century has given me an undeserved privilege in asking me to contribute some reflections on "How My Mind Has Changed" in the course of the past decade. Indigenous African practices tend to be strongest in the central states of Africa, but some form of their practices and beliefs can be found almost anywhere in Africa. OLUPONA: Thats a mixed bag. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. 4 0 obj 75 19 They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. endobj 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. On returning home, the learned professor wrote an article using my brief answer as his title. A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. But I have discovered that there is also the fundamental factor of African religion, without which this phenomenal expansion of Christianity would not be a reality. I have met here the church not only in its geographical outreach but also in its historical roots -- seeing, for example, the rich traditions of the Orthodox Church, the universality of the Roman Catholic Church (even though it is based in the Vatican), the reconciling positioning of the Anglican Communion, the dynamic vitality of African independent churches, and so on.