For over 200 years, Africans, largely from the west coast of Africa, were brought to the United States in the slave trade. But I feel that the issue of looking at African history in light of the biblical understanding of history is clearly called for. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. 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. In one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. There are other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. 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. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. %PDF-1.7
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OLUPONA: Yes, its a mixed bag because in the African diaspora mostly due to the slave trade starting in the 15th century indigenous African religions have spread and taken root all over the world, including in the United States and Europe. A subscription to Anthropologica is included in CASCA's annual membership fee. How Africa Is Changing Faith Around the World It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. % African Christianity - African Studies - Oxford Bibliographies - obo PDF African American Christianity - Harvard University This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. For instance, the Yoruba religion has historically been centered in southwestern Nigeria, the Zulu religion in southern Africa, and the Igbo religion in southeastern Nigeria. 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. Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. 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. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. The suppression of ancestor worship is the only area where mission Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. 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. 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. Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors, Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects. 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. While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity. xref 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. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. 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. 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. The first and most intriguing topic that immediately engaged my attention was the thinking of African peoples about God. Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. OLUPONA: If we lose traditional African religions, we would also lose or continue to seriously undermine the African practice of rites of passage such as the much cherished age-grade initiations, which have for so long integrated and bought Africans together under a common understanding, or worldview. 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. Subscriptions are available to libraries and individuals who are not members of CASCA. Aujourd'hui, la plupart des Zariens sont soit catholiques, soit protestants; les Biras pour leur part sont principalement catholiques. 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. Robinson, came out. He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. 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. 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. 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. 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 Christianity in Africa dates to the very inception of the church. 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. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. No doubt there still remain much research and reflection to be done in order to work out a consistent theological understanding of the issues entailed here. 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. I have been greatly enriched by working at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, 1974-1980. Their history has a theological meaning. 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. stream startxref 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. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. 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. 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. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. 1996 Canadian Anthropology Society African Traditional Religion in the Context of Christian and Islamic 0000000016 00000 n
Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. (I myself have consulted with several diviners for my research on specific academic topics regarding African culture and history; consequently, if we were to lose Africas diviners, we would also lose one of Africas best keepers and sources of African history and culture. interaction between the Christian churches and West African religious culture. And this witness deserves ones support through service and prayer. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. These were not empty names. This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. 0000003641 00000 n
I want to reflect and write on this topic, but somehow it makes me feel frightened. 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. 0000001019 00000 n
(+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. GAZETTE: What allows African indigenous religions to be so accommodating? 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. There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. 0000014025 00000 n
The WCCs very existence as a council of churches is a living hope. In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. 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. Corrections? 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. 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. 0000005714 00000 n
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. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Liberia is the only country where more than one-in-ten (12%) identify primarily with an African traditional religion. I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. As the map also shows, the ratio of Christians to Muslims increases the further south one goes in the continent. 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. It may be, and needs to be, a qualified and critical Yes. Religion informs everything in traditional African society, including political art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. 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. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v
L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. 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%. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. 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. PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial 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. APUSH Unit 1 Flashcards | Quizlet Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. 0000002264 00000 n
Updates? While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. 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. I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. 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]. 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. The decisive word here is "only." In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. This is not an empty coincidence. 0000002505 00000 n
Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. 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. Indigenous religion in Africa is the way Africans understand and worship their god. Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. Religious syncretism - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. 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. AP US History Period 1, APUSH Period 1 Flashcards | Quizlet What is African Traditional Religion? Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. Religious pluralism serves peace. 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 . 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. 0000014207 00000 n
The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. Religious pluralism serves peace | D+C - Development + Cooperation Africans consequently played a crucial role in establishing the doctrines and theology of the early church. In particular, the concepts about God provide one area of great commonality. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. Vodou is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. For this reason, some African theologians take African religiosity to be one of the sources of theological reflection (besides the Bible, Christian heritage, etc.). (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 African religions and corresponding beliefs and practices Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. In three of the countries surveyed (Djibouti, Mali and Senegal), Muslims clearly outnumber Christians. 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. Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in Y.91sC@o9sJL9@XMw`7\`1%nRjBS %U=a{N>. Updates? 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? 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 . "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," said Olupona. As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. Christianity: An African traditional religion - ghanaweb.com Some scholars choose to call it the African Traditional Religion, while others prefer to name it the African traditional Religions. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. As discussed elsewhere in this report, many Christians and Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa retain beliefs and rituals that are characteristic of traditional African religions. Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. 0000001791 00000 n
It will keep me chewing for a long time, and it will most certainly feed my theological development. Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. w?0t7/Oa84P]T}T}?gHq.qsRnkc;]X*s1!E"l^~K_/|j
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*:7??+0:0$! (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity. Wendy Sherman, who was the lead U.S. negotiator in the nuclear deal with Iran, was welcomed by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. hb```b``g`a`.ef@ aV68+ +$.0t9$r8A2Or}6=<4. A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. AR-Ndhdnn}H\{%jC!a,]c8F`1LE(3%"w+tj}](q w[,p8i$dd$GrMRD K4wLG4@h\WfPY A semi-annual journal, it publishes peer-reviewed articles in both French and English devoted to social and cultural issues whether they are pre-historic, historic, contemporary, biological, linguistic, applied or theoretical in orientation. (PDF) Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The