Green points out that there is a rational basis to African Traditional Religion that shows, in Kantian terms, that there is a deep structure of universal moral and religious reason to it. The three requirements of reason at the heart of this structure are: first, a basic rule or procedure of moral choice; second, a metaphysic grounding the possibility of strict moral retribution; and third, . Updates? 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. By Greens own admission, and as we shall see later, there are as many divergences on the architectonic hinge of these deep structuresGod, the human person, and the materialworldas there are similarities. Maybe this is why I am not an Anglican priest. Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. You can download the paper by clicking the button above. No matter how one looks at it, to offer the female members of ones family as a mark of hospitality to a stranger is morally wrong, not just from the point of view of Christian morality but from a purely natural law point of view as well. Areas of interest to read in the part one was how Christianity has found an inroad into the lives of so many who were living in deep darkness and slavery to the evil powers. Traditional Africans made images of the Supreme God or other supernatural beingswhich they worshipped. Traditional African religious influences on the church and the Bible It is worth noting that Cameroonians ferociously resisted foreign religions in the 18th century to maintain their traditional religions when Christianity entered Cameroon (Betoto, 2012). Rooted in the belief in God as the Creator, Africans believe in various dimensions of the created universe, such as visible and invisible (the spiritual realm), heavenly (skyward) and earthly (and in some ethnic groups there is a belief in the underworld). This is called a tithe. Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. However, to them, the entire universe is filled with spirit such as trees, rocks, and rivers. The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious . It is also present in relationships between persons, based on age and function. 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. This is the function of Gods providence and sustenance of the universe. 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.. Secondly, there is moral and religious order. Second, Africans believe in a moral order given by God, stipulated by the ancestors in the past. 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. endobj l| -O;l0bo?Ge_4=MQ=EO|`X\G~Ah,yyG]%,GmF/-w F%YX`Ip}( na~!e[X/K879 ,y?R'd&h. d?ZKS=h8\%M{h(5M=xUeQG:3Sp}#-%>KpC3`zI *vw() endobj Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. 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. Our duty is to preach the Word of God and trust the saving grace of Jesus Christ for conversion of souls. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Mbiti makes a very controversial point when he claims that in African societies there are no acts that would be considered wrong in themselves. When a missionary asked Africans in Zanzibar to tell him something about their God, they simply said, "God thunders!" The cleric had travelled across the seas in the 19th century to tell "the heathens without religion" or "people with a primitive religion" about God. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. The cup of wine symbolises the blood Jesus shedand the bread symbolises His body which was broken for us. |,utv2QdjrqfM7PC)2-|O7,0[i=_a/Om"X`Y2FpXBjsFxCqDd`%*g,-J1e*jjq,tm{w>qAsAqN$D Itis made of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit working together as one. stream African spirituality is truly holistic. 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. Christ is the Mediator between Humans and God In African Traditional Religion ancestral spirits, and lesser gods, are usually the spirits that communicate with humans on earth. Focusing on Luo Muslims in Kenya, Dr Lawrence Oseje looks at the interaction of Islam and traditional Luo practices, especially those around death and burial. According to Mbiti, Africans came to believe in God by reflecting on their experience and through observation of the created universe. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Peel, J. D. Y. 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However, Christians can offer animals to the church where they canbe sold or reared to give the church income. 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. x + 306. Taboos and customs cover all aspects of human life: words, foods, dress, relations among people, marriage, burial, work, and so forth: A part of this belief in the moral and religious order is belief in the invisible universe, which consists of divinities, spirits, and the ancestors (the living dead). They believe that Obatala helped Olurun in creating theworld and everything in it. Traditional Africans worshipped in shrines. Since God is seen as the Creator, various aspects of the universe are permeated by the sense of the sacredthe religious mentality affects the way people see the universe. The Igbo traditional religious worldview maintains a polytheistic religious view, unlike the monotheistic outlook of the Christian religion. "useRatesEcommerce": false Africans believe in the existence of a mystical, invisible, hidden, spiritual power in the universe. % Commonalities between Christianity and Africa Traditional Religion. One is also sometimes givena new name after baptism. Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. . The writing of this paper is another opportunity given to me so that l would use my talents given by the Holy Spirit to help our relatives still under the worldview of Satan to see and come into the Light of Life. Christians pray toGod through Jesus Christ. GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? The ordering of the universe and its continuance depends on God. Corrections? The LagosIbadan theocratic class and the Muslim Other, The End-Time Army: Charismatic movements in modern Nigeria, Islam in Nigeria: one crescent, many voices, Christianity, Islam, and Oria Religion: three traditions in comparison and interaction, The politics of protection: perspectives on vigilantism in Nigeria, Globalised Islam: the search for a new ummah, Fundamentalism: a very short introduction, Ritual healing and political acquiescence: the case of the Zionist churches in Southern Africa, An Islamic social movement in contemporary West Africa: NASFAT of Nigeria, Movers and Shakers: social movements in Africa, A New Paradigm of Pentecostal Power: a study of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/16/nick-cohen-islam-film-censorship. 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. Adebanwi, Wale Omissions? It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential. In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. 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. 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. <>/ExtGState<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> Belief in the ancestors presents the idea of reciprocity in the African traditional moral world. 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. Just like in Christianity, traditional Africanreligion has organised practices. The position I critique in this paper is really a complex of closely overlapping positions, some more theoretically sophisticated or better grounded empirically than others. During the early churchs initial expansion phase where congregations were established in Syria, Asia Minor, Achaia, Italy and Africa there were strong leadership structures in Alexandria, Carthage, Neo religious movements is a term often used to describe a wide range of movements that developed in the tail end of the 19 century (the 1960s and 1970s). Ancestors can offer advice and bestow good fortune and honor to their living dependents, but they can also make demands, such as insisting that their shrines be properly maintained and propitiated. OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. 1 Their central thrust is to emphasize the similarities rather than the differences between current movements in the world religions, particularly Christianity and Islam, but Ancestors and numerous other spirits are also recognized as part of the cosmological order. 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. Priests undergo vigorous training in the arts of medicine, divination and other related disciplines and are, therefore, consulted on a more regular basis by the public. Learn more about the similarities and differences of the religious systems of Africa, including indigenous religions, Abrahamic, Islamic, and Christian beliefs of people in the region. This bitter conflict has led to wanton destruction of lives and property, and this has become a source of great worry to the writers. The award allows Olupona a year of study and research in Germany; he is on leave this year (201516). Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA. Highlights of the first writing were, the African Traditional Religion, the life of the ethnic groups in Ghana; their beliefs, customs, ritual and taboos. Shrine visitation is strongest among the uneducated and in rural communities. 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. of the people which are all together. The other very big difference between African Traditional Religion and Christianity is the worship. Mystical power is found in all of them, in diminishing degrees. There are untold millions, which are outside the fold who need to come into the saving knowledge of Christ. Therefore, the universe has dimensions of order and power as follows: first of all, there is order in the laws of nature. Updated: 10 . For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. %PDF-1.5 Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. But as we learnt in Unit One, Christians can also worship Him attheir homes or other places. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. When they pray they maykneel down, bow their heads or lift their hands up. Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. These included interviews he conducted with pastors, exorcists, traditional priests, so-called witches and delivered witches. TraditionalAfricans gave offerings but they did not give tithes. 1 0 obj by Richard Chowning [ ATR Topics Page | Africa Missions Research and Strategy Page | Africa Missions Main Page | Help ] [ QuickStart ] Creator God The supreme being in most African Traditional Religions is seen as the creator of humans and all other living things. 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. 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. Total loading time: 0 Traditional Africans did not practice baptism. Christians do not believe in the existence of any other godapart from the Supreme Being. 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