Witchcraft has been a prevailing belief in African cultures and has continually posed problems for the African people groups. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. These images could be of a lion or another animal carvedfrom a tree to represent a god. Like Mbiti and Green, Magesa notes that the world of African Traditional Religion is a hierarchically ordered place where, On the lowest rung of the ladder are spirits, who are active beings distinct from humans and reside in nature and phenomena such as trees, rivers, rocks, or lakes. 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. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa. ufF'dXeA^l4a*0(1l HLtA@a2O>bOk)x6*. Sarr, Ramon 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. One of the things these diaspora African religions testify to is the beauty of African religions to engage a devotee on many spiritual levels. . The spiritual medium is the physical embodiment of the religious retributive order in which Africans know themselves to stand.. Many laws, customs, set forms of behavior, regulations, rules, observances and taboos, constituting the moral code and ethics of a given community, are held sacred, and are believed to have been instituted by God.Furthermore, a person acts in ways that are good when he or she conforms to the customs and regulations of the community, or bad when he or she does not. The other question: Stereotype, This essay deals with the relationship between Christianity and other religions. a trans-moral suspension of retribution in the face of self-confessed and inescapable human wrongdoing. Green notes a similarity between this deep structure and that which has developed in Christian theology over centuries of effort at grounding human moral striving in the face of the experiential difficulties that assault moral idealism. In this Christian theological system, the idea of God as creator and sovereign expresses the moral requirements of impartial regard for all. Quantum computing simulation reveals possible wormhole-like dynamics. This power is not accessible to everyone, and in most cases it is inborn, but the person has to learn how to use it. It evolved through many centuries, before the westerner come to Africa. 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. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. This is the function of Gods providence and sustenance of the universe. $70.00/$25.00. When we speak of African Traditional Religion, we mean the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Africans. According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. These shrines were built near waterbodies, next to big trees or near other sacred places. 3 0 obj GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? Barrenness is, therefore, considered a great misfortune because it prevents ancestors from returning to life. Adebanwi, Wale (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main Both believe that God is the creator ofhumankind. 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. This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? People may complain to God and the ancestors, but they will never accuse them of any moral wrongdoing. 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.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 also to a lesser extent in Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism. "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. The other very big difference between African Traditional Religion and Christianity is the worship. Christians give a tenth of all their earnings to God. %PDF-1.5 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. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? GAZETTE: What allows African indigenous religions to be so accommodating? Whilst interacting with the local African indigenous communities, and observing, The contact between African Traditional Religion (ATR) and Christianity is inextricably linkedto European economic activities that culminated into colonialism. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Africans had shrines they believedGod dwelt in. Thus, to assert as Mbiti does that there are no secret sins or that something or someone is bad or good only according to outward conduct is too careless a statement to make. This is because Jesusalready shed His blood on the cross and He was the perfect sacrifice that totally satisfied God. Odozor's Morality Truly Christian, Truly Africanpublished by theUniversity of Notre Dame Press. This is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism not at all. The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in . Neglect, it is believed, might spell doom. Christians acknowledge the existenceof magic and witchcraft. They are thus moral agents. It is the ancestors, however, the custodians of tradition, who determine the way these agents act, and it is tradition that supplies the moral code and indicates what the people must do to live ethically. African traditions carry out their role as ethical guides in many ways, including myths and rituals. These intermediary agents include the ancestors, members of the community who at death become idealized. The traditional cosmology expresses belief in a supreme being (referred to by the Akan as Nyame, or by the Ewe Mawu). GAZETTE: It sounds like African indigenous religions are dynamic, inclusive, and flexible. 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. INTRODUCTION Man considers life worth living because he finds certain things intrinsically valuable; hence value in its simple connotation means a thing of worth. He then reflects on five "essential aspects" of. 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. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. 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. Hostname: page-component-7f44ffd566-79tgq In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. As judge, God is understood to uphold this standard by ultimately punishing its violations and by rewarding the righteous (usually in some eschatological domain). According to Mbiti, Africans came to believe in God by reflecting on their experience and through observation of the created universe. Christians practice baptism. This order, established by God, guides the functioning of the universe, preventing it from falling into chaos; and it ensures the continuance of life and the universe itself. Such a project, however, is only significant if it is not only executed by religious leaders, By clicking accept or continuing to use the site, you agree to the terms outlined in our. Marshall, Ruth It is a counter culture in response to the, The move towards contextual Christianity in Africa is an essential venture if Christianity is to communicate with the African cultural heritage. 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. 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 SUMMARY OF REFORMED THEOLOGY IN 10 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS. The award allows Olupona a year of study and research in Germany; he is on leave this year (201516). Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. 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, . Postcolonial, Abstract Interfaith dialogue is commonly used in building peace and understanding among religious groups. Traditional theologians explained that one could not worship the Supreme Being formally, without the agency of the divinities or ancestors. 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. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. <> May the Lord assist us to know the truth and walk in it. The African Traditional Religion, which is still in place today, can be compared to Christianity through their similarities and differences. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. I wont pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. Christianity, African traditional religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism. However, the reasons for the growth of Christianity in Africa significantly include the way the Africans have attempted to deal with their threatening fears, especially witchcraft. Some of the ideas from Mbitis works are pertinent to our discussion here: Africans believe in a hierarchy of beings, from the ultimate being, God, to lesser ones, divinities, spirits, the living dead, human beings, animals, plants, and inanimate beings. Secondly, there is moral and religious order. Church Life Journal Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. Christians pray toGod through Jesus Christ. 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. stream While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. hand with the study of the people who practise the religion. 24 October 2016. Editorial Statement: This essay is a slightly modified excerpt from the section "Evaluating African Traditional Religion: The Descriptive Task" (98-107) in Fr. Janson, Marloes The vigor with which the African Traditional Religion (ATR) has continued to resist the onslaught of Christianity is a cause of academic preoccupation. Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Despite the presence of Christianity, traditional religions in Ghana have retained their influence because of their intimate relation to family loyalties and local mores. Total loading time: 0 I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. Both have initiation rites into full membership. in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) However, to them, the entire universe is filled with spirit such as trees, rocks, and rivers. In this paper, Ill bring the understanding of African traditional adherents into the light of the Holy Scriptures; to explain what the Bible teaches about soul and spirit in relation to God and man. ), Heritage of Faith: a history of Christianity in Nigeria, The carpenter's revolt: youth, violence and the reinvention of culture in Nigeria, Yoruba Elites and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria: Obafemi and corporate agency, The Clash of Fundamentalisms: crusades, jihads and modernity, False Prophets: the clash of civilizations and the global war on terror, Christianity, Modernity and Development in Africa, Social mobilization and collective violence: vigilantes and militias in the lowlands of Plateau State, Central Nigeria, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Islam, Youth, and Modernity in the Gambia: the Tablighi Jamaat, Cambridge University Press for the International African Institute, Muslim Modernity in Postcolonial Nigeria: a study of the Society for the Removal of Innovation and Reinstatement of Tradition, Pentecostalism, Islam and culture: new religious movements in West Africa, Christianity and Social Change in Africa: essays in honor of J. D. Y. Peel, The search for security in Northern Nigeria, Islamic Reform and Political Change in Northern Nigeria, Political Spiritualities: the Pentecostal revolution in Nigeria, Sects and Social Disorder: Muslim identities and conflict in Northern Nigeria, Ethnic vigilantes and the state: the Odua People's Congress in south-western Nigeria, Pentecostal presidency? It appeals more to social scientists than to those working in religious studies, particularly scholars of specific religious traditions. 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. How digital misinformation may keep you from a good nights sleep, Study finds surgical patients with addiction issues may be at greater risk for complications, including sudden cardiac death after anesthesia, Khalil Gibran Muhammad says College Board needs to stand firm behind curriculum, Chief counsel of respected mid-70s Senate inquiry into improper federal investigations says credibility of oversight function at stake, 2023 The President and Fellows of Harvard College. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Such activities include the making of sacrifices and the pouring of libations. 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