Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. In the other case no such written record exists. v6 -j>,>Or%I&!To !{vgrh7xxDs}d[!$8k1zX+@}~ <<6D546C3FADADB2110A00A09A6B9CFF7F>]/Prev 416812>> While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. On returning home, the learned professor wrote an article using my brief answer as his title. One of the things these diaspora African religions testify to is the beauty of African religions to engage a devotee on many spiritual levels. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. Unlike in Europe and the United States, very few people in sub-Saharan Africa say they are unaffiliated with a particular faith. GAZETTE: What allows African indigenous religions to be so accommodating? After that date there will be more Christians in the south than in the north. 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. 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Consequently, traditional Africans have different ideas on what role the ancestors play in the lives of living descendants. Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." The WCCs very existence as a council of churches is a living hope. For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. Today, the country claims about 80 million of each . 93 0 obj Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. "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. The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. In its place there emerged the word "also." For over 200 years, Africans, largely from the west coast of Africa, were brought to the United States in the slave trade. 0000000016 00000 n I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. (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 I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. According to the 2003 Demographic and Health Survey, for example, Muslims constituted 50% of the population, while the 2008 DHS figure is 45% and the Nigerian Ministry of Healths 2008 estimate is 50%. Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. Its about getting tangible results. A subscription to Anthropologica is included in CASCA's annual membership fee. 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. Below is the article summary. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. The numerous traditional African religions have in common the notion of a creator god, who made the world and then withdrew, remaining remote from the concerns of human life. This bitter conflict has led to wanton destruction of lives and property, and this has become a source of great worry to the writers. So the church which exists on the African scene bears the marks of its peoples backgrounds. He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. I find the traditional Western distinction between "special revelation" and "general revelation" to be inadequate and unfreeing. 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. 0000002884 00000 n For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions At many points I see intriguing parallels between the biblical record and African religiosity. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. These statements await further exploration by African theologians. 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. Christianity in Africa dates to the very inception of the church. The first African captives entered England's North American colonies through Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. In the end, I believe that Africans can make room for a plurality of religious points of view without one religious point of view excluding or compromising the other. 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. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. Religion informs everything in traditional African society, including political art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. I was like a snail shyly peeping out of its house after a heavy thunderstorm. A close geographical correlation exists between the location of African religion and the rapid expansion of the Christian faith. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. God was not a stranger to African peoples. 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. 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. 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. %PDF-1.3 Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. 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. 0000008365 00000 n Omissions? African development. The concept of the church as the body of Christ in the whole world is another growing development for me. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax I have received much in a short period. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. I wish to apply "change of mind" here to mean theological growth, and not necessarily a rejection of or turnaround from ideas that I may have held ten years ago. In particular, the concepts about God provide one area of great commonality. In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. Anthropologica, journal of the Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA) was created from the merger of the Society's former journal, Culture, with Canada's oldest anthropology journal, Anthropologica. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. trailer 0000001791 00000 n For this reason, some African theologians take African religiosity to be one of the sources of theological reflection (besides the Bible, Christian heritage, etc.). Focuses on the influences of Africans and African ideas on the mission enterprise, conversion, religious innovation, and church life, but it neglects to cover the . 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 . While Islam and Christianity tend to . Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? 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. %PDF-1.7 % While the recourse to traditional healers may be motivated in part by economic reasons and an absence of health care alternatives, it may also be rooted in religious beliefs about the efficacy of this approach. Reuben Kigame, the Kenyan Christian musician and apologist, has rightly suggested that considering the fact that Christianity existed in Africa for a good eighteen centuries before the. 1996 Canadian Anthropology Society In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. 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. But the basic truth seems to be that Gods revelation is not confined to the biblical record. But, it has been a sorrowful, disappointment to me to experience the fact that some individuals who exercise great power in the council are not angels: they sometimes practice the exact contrary of those values and goals to which the council is committed. Some people tried to involve Africa in the debate. 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. 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 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. The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. The introduced religions of Islam (in northern Africa) and Christianity (in southern Africa) are now the continents major religions, but traditional religions still play an important role, especially in the interior of sub-Saharan Africa. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. One read Honest to God and a variety of other works in an effort to understand the hot debate then raging in Europe and America. The introduced religions of Islam (in northern Africa) and Christianity (in southern Africa) are now the continent's major religions, but traditional religions still play an important role, especially in the interior of sub-Saharan Africa. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. Africans consequently played a crucial role in establishing the doctrines and theology of the early church. But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. That is anathema to the fundamentalist faith movements that have been gaining momentum in recent decades. startxref The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. 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. 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. Omissions? Liberia is the only country where more than one-in-ten (12%) identify primarily with an African traditional religion. Indigenous African spirituality today is increasingly falling out of favor. 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. This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). (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. It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity. This is not an empty coincidence. But I feel that the issue of looking at African history in light of the biblical understanding of history is clearly called for. According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. I had it. I wont pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. Par contre, les croyances en la sorcellerie ont persist. 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. When we identify the God of the Bible as the same God who is known through African religion (whatever its limitations), we must also take it that God has had a historical relationship with African peoples. So I read on and on, and conducted field research to learn more and more. 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. Y.91sC@o9sJL9@XMw`7\`1%nRjBS %U=a{N>. 0000002026 00000 n {PB,`s 0000001586 00000 n The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. In this case, so-called "salvation history" must widen its outreach in order to embrace the horizons of other peoples histories. Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors, Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects. Corrections? For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. 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]. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). 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. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. For myself, I negotiate between my Yoruba and Christian identity by, for example, affirming those aspects of African culture that promote good life and communal human welfare. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. These were not empty names. I want to walk with Jesus of Nazareth on the shores of Lake Galilee and the hillsides of Judea, through the gates of Jerusalem. It is in this complex of religiosity that the preaching of the gospel makes sense; it is this preparedness that has undergirded the spreading of the gospel like wildfire among African societies which had hitherto followed and practiced traditional religion. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. %%EOF But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. 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 . 4 0 obj 75 19 It will keep me chewing for a long time, and it will most certainly feed my theological development. 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. It is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Vodou's role in Haitian mental health, Learn Religions - An Introduction to the Basic Beliefs of the Vodou (Voodoo) Religion, Ancient Origins - The Origins of Voodoo, the Misunderstood Religion, LiveScience - Voodoo: Facts About Misunderstood Religion, Vodou - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Vodou - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Black Americans who identify with a religion are most likely to say belief in God is essential to what their faith means to them (84%), while large majorities say the same about opposing racism (76%) and sexism (71%). 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 In the 17th century a movement led by the German Protestant theologian George Calixtus aimed at reconciling the differences between the Protestants in Germany, but his efforts were disparaged by orthodox Christian leaders as syncretistic. They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. They depended on the labor of enslaved Africans who often constituted the majority of the population in these areas and developed their own forms of cultural and religious autonomy Examples: plantation agriculture, the Carolinas (rice), Barbados (sugar), tobacco Colonial government OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism not at all. African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. OLUPONA: I was raised in Africa during the 1960s, when the Yoruba community never asked you to chose between your personal faith and your collective African identity. 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. Aujourd'hui, la plupart des Zariens sont soit catholiques, soit protestants; les Biras pour leur part sont principalement catholiques. Omissions? Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Par consquent, Mbali-Dieu est la rponse crative des Biras une rencontre religieuse syncrtique. 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. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. 0000005005 00000 n 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. 0000014207 00000 n In Africa the traditional religions are a major source for the study of the African experience of God. Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. But I am grateful for that one step I may be taking under the light of this vision. GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology? Maybe this is why I am not an Anglican priest. Did he then reveal himself only in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel and other personalities of the Bible? Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. The theological horizon continues to expand. (See the glossary for more information on juju. And if these shrines are not properly cared for by the designated descendant, then misfortune in the form of illness might befall the caretaker. Nigeria, the most populous country in all of Africa, has the largest number of Muslims as well as the largest number of Christians in the region.3. I have been greatly enriched by working at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, 1974-1980. The council made me aware, perhaps even frightfully so, of the problems of our world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. 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. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. A prominent European New Testament professor visited Makerere University and interviewed me on what I thought about the "death of God" discussion. Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. 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. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa).