GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic? 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. An old African adage says: The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.. Religious syncretism - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. Vodou is an oral tradition practiced by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the necessary devotional practices, from their elders. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. The word Vodou means spirit or deity in the Fon language of the African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. There are other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. I am tantalized by the fact that my vision cannot cope with that horizon. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. Religion Online is designed to assist teachers, scholars and general seekers who are interested in exploring religious issues. My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. 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. 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. And in Botswana, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia, the survey finds that 5% or less identify as Muslim. The theological horizon continues to expand. As the map also shows, the ratio of Christians to Muslims increases the further south one goes in the continent. Its about getting tangible results. ), In addition to expressing high levels of belief in the protective power of sacrificial offerings and sacred objects, upwards of one-in-five people in every country say they believe in the evil eye, or the ability of certain people to cast malevolent curses or spells. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. 0000015705 00000 n (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. Some scholars choose to call it the African Traditional Religion, while others prefer to name it the African traditional Religions. Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation. African Christianity - African Studies - Oxford Bibliographies - obo In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. 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 . Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. L'interdiction de pratiquer le culte des anctres est l'unique domaine dans lequel la mission chrtienne a triomph de la vie religieuse traditionnelle des Biras. Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. In the other case no such written record exists. 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. <<6D546C3FADADB2110A00A09A6B9CFF7F>]/Prev 416812>> 1996 Canadian Anthropology Society Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Amen. I want to reflect and write on this topic, but somehow it makes me feel frightened. If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? Corrections? Par contre, les croyances en la sorcellerie ont persist. 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. Instead, God brought them, for the God described in the Bible is none other than the God who was already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. Y.91sC@o9sJL9@XMw`7\`1%nRjBS %U=a{N>. It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . 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. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. %PDF-1.7 % For example, followers can seek spiritual direction and relief from healers, medicine men and women, charms [adornments often worn to incur good luck], amulets [adornments often used to ward off evil], and diviners [spiritual advisers]. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. It is the southern two-thirds of Africa (including Madagascar) which we can rightly call Christian Africa, as the northern one-third is Muslim Africa. Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender, Side by side with their high levels of commitment to Christianity and Islam, many people in the countries surveyed retain beliefs and rituals that are characteristic of traditional African religions. I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. But whatever the shortcomings of these and my other publications, the materials that went into these two have raised extremely important issues for me that have continued to engage my reflection. The decisive word here is "only." 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. But I am grateful for that one step I may be taking under the light of this vision. In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. 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. This rapid spreading of the Christian faith where people have been predominantly followers of African religion provokes interesting questions. 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. (PDF) Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. A follower of African diaspora religions has many choices in terms of seeking spiritual help or succor. So, "Lord, help Thou my unbelief!" While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that For starters, the word religion is problematic for many Africans, because it suggests that religion is separate from the other aspects of ones culture, society, or environment. There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. African spirituality has always been able to adapt to change and allow itself to absorb the wisdom and views of other religions, much more than, for example, Christianity and Islam. The concept of the church as the body of Christ in the whole world is another growing development for me. PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. GAZETTE: How have ancestors played a role in traditional societies? Because of this, Africa is now home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim communities. Robinson, came out. 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. It will keep me chewing for a long time, and it will most certainly feed my theological development. <> Outline of the Curricular Framework: Anglicanization Atlantic slave trade "Atlantic World" Barbados (sugar) British-American system of slavery the Carolinas (rice) Caste system cereal crops Colonial resistance Dominion of New England Enlightenment Furs Great Awakening Indentured Servants Mercantilism Metis Models of colonization Molasses Act 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. He later earned both an M.A. Corrections? 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. Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender. The Yoruba diviners, for example, draw on this extensive indigenous knowledge every day by consulting Ifa, an extensive literary corpus of information covering science, medicine, cosmology, and metaphysics. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. A conference of mainly African theologians, held in Ghana in December 1977, said in its final communiqu: "The God of history speaks to all peoples in particular ways. Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. Omissions? Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? I had it. 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. 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. All these spirits are believed to live in a mythic land called Ginen, a cosmic Africa. The God of the Christian Bible is understood to be the creator of both the universe and the spirits; the spirits were made by God to help him govern humanity and the natural world. These statements await further exploration by African theologians. Ethiopia's Christian population, at 6 million in 1900, will grow to a projected 100 million in 2050. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. % That experience gave me a face-to-face encounter with the ecumenical movement and left a lasting mark on me. 0000014025 00000 n They are not mutually exclusive. Christianity in Africa dates to the very inception of the church. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. They were names of one and the same God, the creator of the world, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this witness deserves ones support through service and prayer. 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. That which had been seen as the enemy of the gospel turns out (to me) to be indeed a very welcoming friend. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. 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. Everywhere he went in southwestern Nigeria, he never opposed or spoke out against African culture including initiation rites, festivals, and traditional Yoruba dress as long as it didnt directly conflict with Christianity. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. This chapter includes information on: Download chapter 1 in full (6-page PDF, <1MB), 1 The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in the easternmost part of North East Africa, on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. stream degree at Harvard Divinity School. At many points I see intriguing parallels between the biblical record and African religiosity. How Africa Is Changing Faith Around the World African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. %%EOF 0000002505 00000 n They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . But today that is not the case due to more exclusive-minded types of Christianity and Islam that see patronizing indigenous African beliefs and practices as violating the integrity of their Christian or Muslim principles, but I believe that one can maintain ones religious integrity and also embrace an African worldview. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . African development. "For us in Africa, God is not dead" -- and that applies whether or not there is a written record of his relations with and concern for people. Religious pluralism serves peace. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). hb```b``g`a`.ef@ aV68+ +$.0t9$r8A2Or}6=<4. I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. 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. The success of Christianity and Islam on the African continent in the last 100 years has been extraordinary, but it has been, unfortunately, at the expense of African indigenous religions. 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. 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. He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. Consequently, traditional Africans have different ideas on what role the ancestors play in the lives of living descendants. We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. /// Dans le nord-est du Zare, la communaut rurale Bira a t expose depuis plus de cinquante ans au message chrtien. 0000014207 00000 n