In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. I have met here the church not only in its geographical outreach but also in its historical roots -- seeing, for example, the rich traditions of the Orthodox Church, the universality of the Roman Catholic Church (even though it is based in the Vatican), the reconciling positioning of the Anglican Communion, the dynamic vitality of African independent churches, and so on. degree at Harvard Divinity School. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation. That is anathema to the fundamentalist faith movements that have been gaining momentum in recent decades. All too often, the result is conflict and radicalisation. I want to make a pilgrimage into Christ. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? 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. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . {PB,`s Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin. It is in this complex of religiosity that the preaching of the gospel makes sense; it is this preparedness that has undergirded the spreading of the gospel like wildfire among African societies which had hitherto followed and practiced traditional religion. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. 0000008365 00000 n 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. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. That which had been seen as the enemy of the gospel turns out (to me) to be indeed a very welcoming friend. I have been greatly enriched by working at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, 1974-1980. 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. They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. The book comprised ideas that I had gathered from 300 African peoples ("tribes" -- a term that today is sometimes used in derogatory ways). When we identify the God of the Bible as the same God who is known through African religion (whatever its limitations), we must also take it that God has had a historical relationship with African peoples. APUSH Content Quiz #2 Flashcards | Quizlet How Africa Is Changing Faith Around the World ), In addition to expressing high levels of belief in the protective power of sacrificial offerings and sacred objects, upwards of one-in-five people in every country say they believe in the evil eye, or the ability of certain people to cast malevolent curses or spells. Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic? 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. Corrections? Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. 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 . As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. There is not space here to argue the case for the role played by African religion in the establishment of the Christian faith in Africa. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent. In the 17th century a movement led by the German Protestant theologian George Calixtus aimed at reconciling the differences between the Protestants in Germany, but his efforts were disparaged by orthodox Christian leaders as syncretistic. I am very excited, for example, by the estimate that in 1987 there will be a statistical balance of Christian population between the north (Europe, Soviet Union and America) and the south (Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania). 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. 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. The idea is that the traditional African practitioner who constructed that amulet believes in the efficacy of other faiths and religions; there is no conflict in his mind between his traditional African spirituality and another faith. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. (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 AP US History Period 1, APUSH Period 1 Flashcards | Quizlet It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. 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. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. 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. startxref GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? v6 -j>,>Or%I&!To !{vgrh7xxDs}d[!$8k1zX+@}~ For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. We can list some obvious and often publicized factors. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. The concept of the church as the body of Christ in the whole world is another growing development for me. There is no room to describe them, and I can mention only two or three of them briefly. 0000001019 00000 n When this happens, then a passage such as Hebrews 1:1-3 rolls down like mighty waters, full of exciting possibilities of theological reflection. Corrections? Today, the country claims about 80 million of each . 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. In the other case no such written record exists. African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . So I read on and on, and conducted field research to learn more and more. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. What is African Traditional Religion? Awolawu and Depamu (1979) 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. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. 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. 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. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. What factors are responsible for it? Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. 300 ce). That would be a serious loss not only for Africans, but also for academics, researchers, writers, and general seekers of wisdom the world over. The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity. 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. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? At many points I see intriguing parallels between the biblical record and African religiosity. 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. En ce qui concerne la croyance en Dieu, il semblerait que les Biras se soient servis de la chrtient pour rendre leur dieu traditionnel Mbali plus accessible et plus comprhensif, un changement qui a rendu le Dieu des chrtiens plus compatissant et indulgent vis vis du pch. The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. PDF African American Christianity - Harvard University Anthropologica 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. For instance, in a few years time, I pray that I will be participating in an age-grade festival for men around 70 years of age called Ero in my native Nigerian community in Ute, in Ondo state. Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. /// Dans le nord-est du Zare, la communaut rurale Bira a t expose depuis plus de cinquante ans au message chrtien. The Encounter of Christian Faith and African Religion Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. 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. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Orthodox Christianity, although influenced by other religions, generally looked negatively upon these syncretistic movements. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. 0000001586 00000 n The previous year I had published African Religions and Philosophy (Doubleday, 1969). Maybe this is why I am not an Anglican priest. 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%. (See the glossary for more information on juju. www.ej-theology.org Christianity and Indigenisation in Africa The decisive word here is "only." In the cities, local hierarchies of priestesses or priests (manbo and oungan), children of the spirits (ounsi), and ritual drummers (ountgi) comprise more formal societies or congregations (sosyete). Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Robinson, came out. He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. Religious syncretism - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. 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. 1996 Canadian Anthropology Society 4 0 obj There are other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. Consequently, people are discovering that the biblical faith is not harmful to their religious sensibilities. %PDF-1.3 African diaspora religions - Wikipedia Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. 0000003217 00000 n Unlike in Europe and the United States, very few people in sub-Saharan Africa say they are unaffiliated with a particular faith. The spirituality of Africa - Harvard Gazette stream Some people tried to involve Africa in the debate. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. xref 0000000016 00000 n At first, Christianity made few inroads into the African slave population, which had its own religious traditions. I want to reflect and write on this topic, but somehow it makes me feel frightened. But it is nevertheless a working Yes and one that demands theological understanding. 43. (See the glossary for more information on the evil eye.). 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.. (a) The Structures of African Traditional Religions: Sometimes it is a difficult task among scholars to choose a unanimous name for the religious traditions and beliefs of the African people. This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. Religious beliefs among Black Americans | Pew Research Center in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. 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. I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. Since Christianity and Islam spread across Africa, many people there have observed a mixture of religious practices. Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. Muslim populations are especially concentrated in a large geographic belt running west to east from Senegal to the Horn of Africa.1 Southern Africa is predominantly Christian. While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. 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. Vodou is an oral tradition practiced by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the necessary devotional practices, from their elders. Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. I am tantalized by the fact that my vision cannot cope with that horizon. GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology? 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. I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function. There is even a community deep in the American Bible Belt in Beaufort County, S.C., called Oyotunji Village that practices a type of African indigenous religion, which is a mixture of Yoruba and Ewe-Fon spiritual practices. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 0000014207 00000 n The word Vodou means spirit or deity in the Fon language of the African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). I wont pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. X0#J++?U;_3_gmx9[F\"{,Um1yu 9 ?ce%9EG`N: &U0EHC$p4=$'=DlX6M_7,--" I have seen the quest more sharply. Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. In most of the 19 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, 90% or more of the respondents say they belong to one of these faiths. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. The Yoruba, however, do have a concept of a supreme being, called Olorun or Olodumare, and this creator god of the universe is empowered by the various orisa [deities] to create the earth and carry out all its related functions, including receiving the prayers and supplications of the Yoruba people. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt 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 missionaries in the 16th and 17th centuries. Take em with a grain of salt. While Islam and Christianity tend to . Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. 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. The first African captives entered England's North American colonies through Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. 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. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? 1"7$X9Xyyyb GNpL!9I&mxo0++44cA@5c. 0000003641 00000 n This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. Many other familial feasts (for the sacred children, for the poor, for particular ancestors) as well as initiations and funerary rituals occur throughout the year. But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. The WCCs very existence as a council of churches is a living hope. Since Christianity came in contact with the traditional religion, there has always been a sharp conflict between traditionalists and Christians. 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. Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. %PDF-1.7 % In particular, the concepts about God provide one area of great commonality. But, it has been a sorrowful, disappointment to me to experience the fact that some individuals who exercise great power in the council are not angels: they sometimes practice the exact contrary of those values and goals to which the council is committed. %%EOF "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 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. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). The theological horizon continues to expand. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? <>stream (PDF) Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The Syncretistic movements in the Orient, such as Manichaeism (a dualistic religion founded by the 3rd-century-ce Iranian prophet Mani, who combined elements of Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism) and Sikhism (a religion founded by the 15th16th-century Indian reformer Guru Nnak, who combined elements of Islam and Hinduism), also met with resistance from the prevailing religions of their respective areas. Christianity: An African traditional religion - ghanaweb.com 817-820. Its about getting tangible results. This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. Updates? But the basic truth seems to be that Gods revelation is not confined to the biblical record. 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. Corrections? 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. This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. A prominent European New Testament professor visited Makerere University and interviewed me on what I thought about the "death of God" discussion. African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." And in Botswana, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia, the survey finds that 5% or less identify as Muslim. While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that 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. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. 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. 0000001198 00000 n 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. Later, my theological studies in America and England did not challenge this position, since that was not a living issue for my professors and fellow students. 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.