He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. Differences between Christianity and traditional African beliefs and customs (Exodus 20:3-5,Hebrews 10:8-10) 1. Witchcraft was also feared and witchdoctors were respected as they had power tocurse, make people get sick or end their life. Philosophers, sociologists, theologians, The conversion of indigenous converts to Christianity is often perceived as a linear process, which marks individuals rebirth and assumption of a new identity as they are assimilated into the, In the early 19th century, missionaries flocked to Central and Southern Africa to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, sickness in the indigenous African worldview is not only an imbalance of the body, but also an imbalance in ones social life, which can be linked to a breakdown in ones kinship and family relations or even to ones relationship with ones ancestors. They are not mutually exclusive. This leads him into the whole area of theology of religions, in which the relationship between Christianity and other religions is currently the focus of lively debate. 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. An important area Green points to has to do with the role of God in these two systems of thought. Both have religious leaders or priests whopresent the peoples requests to God. Such activities include the making of sacrifices and the pouring of libations. Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? These facts, however, does not necessary suggest that the educated Ghanaian has totally abandoned tradition; some educated and mission trained individuals do consult traditional oracles in times of crises. These gods are generally perceived as intermediaries between the Supreme Being and society. African religions behavior is centered mainly on the human person and his or her life in this world, with the consequence that religion is clearly functional, or a means to serve people to acquire earthly goods (life, health, fecundity, wealth, power and the like) and to maintain social cohesion and order.. Shrine visitation is strongest among the uneducated and in rural communities. 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. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. Below is the article summary. Other spirits with a significant role in maintaining the African traditional moral world include ancestors and lineage spirits who operate in specific social contexts where their will is expressed through misfortunes, and some other spirits who do not act directly but who rely on human agents to effect their will. These spirits underlie the power of spirit mediums who, as mediators between space and the human world and by virtue of the moral authority this confers, are able to arbitrate between living human beings. Acknowledgements, Introduction: Locations of culture, 1. 2017. There are also the lesser gods that take residency in streams, rivers, trees and mountains. Sacrificial meals in the traditional Africanreligion are the equivalent of the Holy. All life, power, and existence flow from God, and by right of their primogeniture and proximity to God by death God has granted the ancestors a qualitatively more powerful life force over their descendants. Who constitutes the world of the ancestors? The Igbo traditional religious worldview maintains a polytheistic religious view, unlike the monotheistic outlook of the Christian religion. Their significance lies in the genealogical positions and the rights and duties which derive from them. Ancestors uphold right conduct by punishing moral violations, demanding respect and attention, and getting angry when not given due respect. African traditional religion cannot be discussed without mentioning that it is the way of life of the people of Africa and so cannot be differentiated from the politics, education, and socialisation, etc. 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. According to Mbiti, Africans believe that God has ordained a moral order for humans, through which they came to understand what is good and what is evil, so that they might live in harmony with one another and safeguard the life of the people. Both religions believe that God revealsHimself to people through dreams, propheciesand other special events. Furthermore, Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that totally pleased God and there is no need for any other. Download chapter 3 in full (3-page PDF, <1MB), Photo credit: Sebastien Desarmaux/GODONG/Godong/Corbis, Part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 1615 L St. NW, Suite 800Washington, DC 20036USA Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. The award allows Olupona a year of study and research in Germany; he is on leave this year (201516). Postcolonial, Abstract Interfaith dialogue is commonly used in building peace and understanding among religious groups. endobj In this paper, I interrogated the Gabola church in terms of its origins, purpose and its distinctiveness as a postcolonial manifestation of freedom of religion in South Africa. Who Should Christians Worship? Journal of Biblical Unitarianism 1:1, 5-33, 2014. Updates? SUMMARY OF REFORMED THEOLOGY IN 10 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. This is the function of Gods providence and sustenance of the universe. This is the kind of interlocutor who will counter an observation about violent militancy in contemporary Islam in the context, let us say, of a discussion about Boko Haram with But what about the Crusades? This is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism not at all. This is called the Trinity. Maybe this is why I am not an Anglican priest. $70.00/$25.00. The recipient of many prestigious academic honors and research fellowships, Olupona also received the 20152016 Reimar Lust Award for International and Cultural Exchange, considered one of Germanys most prestigious academic honors. Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA. While the recourse to traditional healers may be motivated in part by economic reasons and an absence of health care alternatives, it may also be rooted in religious beliefs about the efficacy of this approach. It is also an opportunity to help the Christian churches in the Akan and Ewe ethnic groups from which l come from, to see it as their duty to find means and ways to evangelise our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and children who are still under the African Traditional practices. Omissions? Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. Indigenous African spirituality today is increasingly falling out of favor. This includes five countries (Cameroon, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal) where more than half the population uses traditional healers. 1"7$X9Xyyyb GNpL!9I&mxo0++44cA@5c. The other very big difference between African Traditional Religion and Christianity is the worship. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. 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. 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. Even though their differences outnumber their. GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? The worship can be direct , but is done (mostly) indirectly through divine agents like the gods or divinities (abosom in Akan , legbaa in Ewe ) and the ancestors. This supreme . 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. Akiki Nyabongos novel, Africa answers back, reveals that religious syncretism in Africa is a reality that has persistently painted Christianity as an offshoot of traditional African religions. ^xH&M'YZ7EDi%qN^K He has useful insights to add to our discussion and in many ways corroborates the statements other scholars like Mbiti have made about African religion. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. endobj Traditional Religion as a source of African theology just as Christian theology is. Keywords: contextualization . ABSTRACT PART II: Comparing the concept of Spirit and Soul in the Traditional Religion of the Akan and Ewe Tribes to that of the Bible By Godwin Kwame Ofosuhene In the part one of my writing, with the titled The concept of God in the traditional religion of Akan and Ewe ethnic groups compare to the Bible - dated 31st May 2006, l explained how the Akan and Ewe ethnic groups of Ghana understood God in their traditional religious practices. I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. These could be caves, forests,mountains and so on. 1630-1633), HEBREWS' CHRISTOLOGY AND ITS CONTEMPORARY APPREHENSION IN AFRICA 1, New Mind, New Heart, New Strength (A Paradigm on the New Man), Dissertation ETD Libermann and EA in Dialogue Dec 2013, Pentecostalism and Shamanism in Asia and Beyond: An Inter-disciplinary Analysis. Paulinus Ikechukwu Odozor, C.S.Sp., is Professor of moral theology, the theology of the world church, and Africana studies at the University of Notre Dame. In other words, he shows that the sense of the divine was not something introduced to Africa by missionaries or by anyone else; that the knowledge of God in African religion was not much different from the idea of God that Christian missionaries preached in Africa; and, more specifically to our purpose here, that belief in God engendered a moral response that for centuries before Christian arrival in Africa directed moral life and interaction on the continent and among its peoples. Those to whom this power is accessible can use it for good, such as healing, rainmaking, or divination, while others can use it for harm, through magic, witchcraft, and sorcery. Because many diseases are believed to have spiritual causes, traditional priests sometimes act as doctors or herbalists. 4 0 obj Jacob Olupona, professor of indigenous African religions at Harvard Divinity School and professor of African and African-American studies in Harvards Faculty of Arts and Sciences, recently sat down for an interview about his lifelong research on indigenous African religions. Published online by Cambridge University Press: This is called a tithe. % <> 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. The cup of wine symbolises the blood Jesus shedand the bread symbolises His body which was broken for us. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? %PDF-1.5 OLUPONA: Thats a mixed bag. 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. Religion informs everything in traditional African society, including political art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. Traditional Africans didnot have this practice. The traditional theologians also emphasized that as in all religious traditions, the belief and worship of the Supreme Being in ATR does not just mean the strict performance of certain rituals. Christians pray toGod through Jesus Christ. GAZETTE: How have ancestors played a role in traditional societies? The African Traditional Religion, which is still in place today, can be compared to Christianity through their similarities and differences. Again, it doesnt reflect the multiplicity of ways that traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. All work unless implicitly stated is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Corrections? These differences, I will argue, have significant impact not just on the way people conceive of the moral world or with regard to moral intentions, but also on moral practices. A third scholar of interest to us here is Laurenti Magesa, the central thesis of whose book on African religion is captured quite succinctly in the subtitle: African religion constitutes a tradition of abundant life. %PDF-1.5 stream As a universal religion, Christianity has to find an, This article engages with the notion of Ndembu traditional eco-masculinities which was conceptualised in a framework of sacrifice as ground for manliness. Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Black Americans, 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. An important preoccupation of Mbitis work has been to show that knowledge of God and the worship of God have been staples of African life from the earliest times on the continent. They have also fostered a greater feeling of individual self-worth by acknowledging important milestones in ones life, including becoming an adult or an elder. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. Moral culpability is always on the shoulders of humanity. The same hierarchy evident in the relationship between God, the ancestors, and humanity is also present in the relationship between the animate and the inanimate world, the former being superior to the latter. I had it. A sacrifice refers to an animal that is offered to God, e.g. 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. endobj I wont pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. endobj Second, Africans believe in a moral order given by God, stipulated by the ancestors in the past. <> African spirituality is truly holistic. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. Believe in a moral order given by God, stipulated by the ancestors in the diaspora animal that offered! 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