The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. African development. In most countries, however, less than one-in-twenty say this is their primary religious affiliation. /// Dans le nord-est du Zare, la communaut rurale Bira a t expose depuis plus de cinquante ans au message chrtien. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. Didnt our Lord let it be clearly known that "before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58)? Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World, Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices, Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa, Next: Chapter 4: Interreligious Harmony and Tensions, Chapter 2: Commitment to Christianity and Islam, Chapter 4: Interreligious Harmony and Tensions, In the U.S. and Western Europe, people say they accept Muslims, but opinions are divided on Islam, In Western Europe, familiarity with Muslims is linked to positive views of Muslims and Islam, Q&A: Measuring attitudes toward Muslims and Jews in Western Europe, Europes Muslim population will continue to grow but how much depends on migration, The Growth of Germanys Muslim Population, Size & Demographic Characteristics of Religious Groups, Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 60% of Americans Would Be Uncomfortable With Provider Relying on AI in Their Own Health Care, Gender pay gap in U.S. hasnt changed much in two decades. 93 0 obj They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. v6 -j>,>Or%I&!To !{vgrh7xxDs}d[!$8k1zX+@}~ Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. 0000008365 00000 n In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). So the church which exists on the African scene bears the marks of its peoples backgrounds. These statements await further exploration by African theologians. 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]. Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Instances of religious syncretismas, for example, Gnosticism (a religious dualistic system that incorporated elements from the Oriental mystery religions), Judaism, Christianity, and Greek religious philosophical conceptswere particularly prevalent during the Hellenistic period (c. 300 bcec. 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. A follower of African diaspora religions has many choices in terms of seeking spiritual help or succor. I should add that without claiming to be full members of indigenous traditions, there are many professed Christians and Muslims who participate in one form of indigenous religious rituals and practices or another. He went on to conduct some of the most significant research on African religions in decades. 0 God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. That experience gave me a face-to-face encounter with the ecumenical movement and left a lasting mark on me. First, the association of traditional African religion with an other-worldly orientation may appear problematic, given the "pragmatic" basis of this religion. 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. In most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. endobj We can list some obvious and often publicized factors. Traditional African religions and practices were brought to the Western hemisphere through the African diaspora and the slave trade, often resulting in a syncretic blending with Christianity. African religions and corresponding beliefs and practices Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. 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. I want to see his healing hand, to hear his word that exorcises evil spirits. 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. 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%. The first African captives entered England's North American colonies through Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. 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. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. The first and most intriguing topic that immediately engaged my attention was the thinking of African peoples about God. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. 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. Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. I have received much in a short period. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. 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. For this reason, some African theologians take African religiosity to be one of the sources of theological reflection (besides the Bible, Christian heritage, etc.). 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. On returning home, the learned professor wrote an article using my brief answer as his title. 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. 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. Anthropologica Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. 0000015705 00000 n Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. In most of the 19 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, 90% or more of the respondents say they belong to one of these faiths. The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), myst (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. It is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 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. As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. This is not an empty coincidence. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. In Cameroon, Ethiopia, Liberia and Mozambique, Muslims account for between 15% and 30% of survey respondents. x\u}4`P}E#(9q"%LCl'KLb)Sfgdq N 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. 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. APUSH Content Quiz #2 Flashcards | Quizlet 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. Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? (PDF) Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. Again, it doesnt reflect the multiplicity of ways that traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. 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 The WCCs very existence as a council of churches is a living hope. 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. 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. Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in Awolawu and Depamu (1979) in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) That would be a serious loss not only for Africans, but also for academics, researchers, writers, and general seekers of wisdom the world over. Liberia is the only country where more than one-in-ten (12%) identify primarily with an African traditional religion. While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. Their history has a theological meaning. One of the things these diaspora African religions testify to is the beauty of African religions to engage a devotee on many spiritual levels. These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. So, "Lord, help Thou my unbelief!" I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. 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. Religious syncretism - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? (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. 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. This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . Nevertheless, I am convinced that the World Council of Churches is a great witness of the Christian response to the prayer of our Lord that we may all be one. I have concentrated these comments on the role of African background in my theological reflection. xref 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. The previous year I had published African Religions and Philosophy (Doubleday, 1969). It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . 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. The council made me aware, perhaps even frightfully so, of the problems of our world. 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? 0000014025 00000 n X0#J++?U;_3_gmx9[F\"{,Um1yu 9 ?ce%9EG`N: &U0EHC$p4=$'=DlX6M_7,--" This rapid spreading of the Christian faith where people have been predominantly followers of African religion provokes interesting questions. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. Religious pluralism serves peace. In particular, the concepts about God provide one area of great commonality. But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. Religious pluralism serves peace | D+C - Development + Cooperation In lieu of these traditional African ways of defining oneself, Christianity and Islam are gradually creating a social identity in Africa that cuts across these indigenous African religious and social identities. 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 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. Faith in The One God in Christian and African Traditional Religions: a 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 . In addition, roughly a quarter or more of the population in 11 countries say they believe in the protective power of juju (charms or amulets), shrines and other sacred objects. 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. Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. 0000002884 00000 n And if these shrines are not properly cared for by the designated descendant, then misfortune in the form of illness might befall the caretaker. Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). I find the traditional Western distinction between "special revelation" and "general revelation" to be inadequate and unfreeing. That which had been seen as the enemy of the gospel turns out (to me) to be indeed a very welcoming friend. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. African scholars This was an extremely liberating word in my theological thinking. But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. I want to walk with Jesus of Nazareth on the shores of Lake Galilee and the hillsides of Judea, through the gates of Jerusalem. Corrections? GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? Since Christianity and Islam spread across Africa, many people there have observed a mixture of religious practices. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions But it is nevertheless a working Yes and one that demands theological understanding. GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. 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. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. Afro-American Religious Syncretism in Brazil and the United States: A The decisive word here is "only." He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. The theological horizon continues to expand. PDF Traditional African Religion and Modern Christianity in Zaire - JSTOR 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 is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism not at all. But they used the names of the God who was and is already known by African peoples -- such as Mungu, Mulungu, Katonda, Ngai, Olodumare, Asis, Ruwa, Ruhanga, Jok, Modimo, Unkulunkulu and thousands more. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. 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%). GAZETTE: What allows African indigenous religions to be so accommodating? While Islam and Christianity tend to . OLUPONA: The role of ancestors in the African cosmology has always been significant. I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 0000005005 00000 n Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. It may be, and needs to be, a qualified and critical Yes. 0000001019 00000 n 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. (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.
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