Religion informs everything in traditional African society, including political art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. God was not a stranger to African peoples. 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. This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. I wont pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. Since the Bible tells me that God is the Creator of all things, his activities in the world must clearly go beyond what is recorded in the Bible. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). APUSH Unit 1 Flashcards | Quizlet Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. African religions and corresponding beliefs and practices ), 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. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . 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. But whatever the shortcomings of these and my other publications, the materials that went into these two have raised extremely important issues for me that have continued to engage my reflection. 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. Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation. 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. Afro-American Religious Syncretism in Brazil and the United States: A Religious pluralism serves peace. (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. 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. OLUPONA: The role of ancestors in the African cosmology has always been significant. 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. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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). 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. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. 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. GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. 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. It will keep me chewing for a long time, and it will most certainly feed my theological development. %PDF-1.7 % They were names of one and the same God, the creator of the world, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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). Par consquent, Mbali-Dieu est la rponse crative des Biras une rencontre religieuse syncrtique. Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was. Anthropologica 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. Maybe this is why I am not an Anglican priest. At first, Christianity made few inroads into the African slave population, which had its own religious traditions. 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. 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. 0000002026 00000 n Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. 0000001519 00000 n That book was followed by a flurry of literature on the so-called "death of God" theology (if "theology" it was, for I would call it "atheology"). Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). OLUPONA: No, this type of binary thinking is simplistic. 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 rapid spreading of the Christian faith where people have been predominantly followers of African religion provokes interesting questions. Unlike in Europe and the United States, very few people in sub-Saharan Africa say they are unaffiliated with a particular faith. 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. Amen. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. But upon my return to work in Africa, and upon careful study of the religious background of our people, there emerged gradually the demand to examine this issue and to form my own judgment. 0000001019 00000 n Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. Instead, God brought them. African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. Alternate titles: Vaudou, Vodun, Voodoo, Voudou, vodon, Elizabeth McAlister Associate Professor of Religion, Weslyan University. "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. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. APUSH Content Quiz #2 Flashcards | Quizlet in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition of the region about 100 years ago, when, according to a Pew Forum analysis of historical information from the World Religion Database, less than a quarter of the population identified as either Christian or Muslim. In Nigeria, the population in 1900 included 4.2 million Muslims and 180,000 Christians. PDF African American Christianity - Harvard University 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 missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent. endobj African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. 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. 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. 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. 0000003641 00000 n trailer Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? 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. 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. They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. The continued influence of traditional African religion is also evident in some aspects of daily life. In the other case no such written record exists. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . Updates? My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin. 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. 0000008365 00000 n Anthropologica is published for CASCA by University of Toronto Press. Christianity: An African traditional religion - ghanaweb.com Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. I have been greatly enriched by working at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, 1974-1980. 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. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . The Yoruba diviners, for example, draw on this extensive indigenous knowledge every day by consulting Ifa, an extensive literary corpus of information covering science, medicine, cosmology, and metaphysics. 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. 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. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. 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. Again, it doesnt reflect the multiplicity of ways that traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. Abstract. The Pew Forums survey finds a similar number of people in Guinea Bissau identifying themselves as Muslim (38%) but a much higher percentage identifying themselves as Christian (62%) and very few describing themselves mainly as practitioners of traditional African faiths. 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. 43. (See the glossary for more information on the evil eye.). 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. 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. Ethiopia's Christian population, at 6 million in 1900, will grow to a projected 100 million in 2050. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. I have received much in a short period. startxref It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity. This was an extremely liberating word in my theological thinking. 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 of sins. Eating pattern tied to 24% reduction in cardiovascular, cancer mortality in people diagnosed with the chronic condition, HMS/Brigham study shows most advertised medicines little better than other treatment options. The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. But it is nevertheless a working Yes and one that demands theological understanding. 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. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. Since I myself had never heard any lectures on African religion, I set out to do research on the subject in order to teach the course adequately. Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. 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. Religious pluralism serves peace | D+C - Development + Cooperation 300 ce). There are other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. Faith in The One God in Christian and African Traditional Religions: a The councils programs in response to these problems are impressive. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function. /// Dans le nord-est du Zare, la communaut rurale Bira a t expose depuis plus de cinquante ans au message chrtien. In particular, the concepts about God provide one area of great commonality. 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. Corrections? In Africa the traditional religions are a major source for the study of the African experience of God. I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. 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. Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World, Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa, Next: Chapter 2: Commitment to Christianity and Islam, Chapter 2: Commitment to Christianity and Islam, Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices, 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. Its aims were to encourage formal and informal dissemination of knowledge through an annual conference and publications; promote relations with other academic and professional associations, aboriginal groups, and governments; and publicize ethnological research and activities to further understanding of ethnological practices. GAZETTE: What allows African indigenous religions to be so accommodating? So I read on and on, and conducted field research to learn more and more. (PDF) Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The Since Christianity came in contact with the traditional religion, there has always been a sharp conflict between traditionalists and Christians. 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. This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. 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 Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. 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%). Of course, behind all these factors is the Holy Spirit working through them. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. At many points I see intriguing parallels between the biblical record and African religiosity. I want to reflect and write on this topic, but somehow it makes me feel frightened. 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. OLUPONA: My father, a faithful Anglican priest, was a good example. 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. It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. For over 200 years, Africans, largely from the west coast of Africa, were brought to the United States in the slave trade. Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. 0000002884 00000 n 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. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. I had it. 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%. 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. Because of this, Africa is now home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim communities. The editor of The Christian Century has given me an undeserved privilege in asking me to contribute some reflections on "How My Mind Has Changed" in the course of the past decade. Christianity in Africa dates to the very inception of the church. Didnt our Lord let it be clearly known that "before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58)? xref I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . Corrections? The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. 75 0 obj Author of. A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the Roman Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice. Robinson, came out. In most countries, however, less than one-in-twenty say this is their primary religious affiliation. Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. African religion has equipped people to listen to the gospel, to discover meaningful passages in the Bible, and to avoid unhealthy religious conflict. In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. stream I want to walk with Jesus of Nazareth on the shores of Lake Galilee and the hillsides of Judea, through the gates of Jerusalem. One of Jacob Oluponas earliest memories in Massachusetts is of nearly freezing in his apartment as a graduate student at Boston University during the great snowstorm of 1978. What is African Traditional Religion? After that date there will be more Christians in the south than in the north. In February 1974 a group of 120 anthropologists launched the Canadian Ethnology Society/socit canadienne d'ethnologie (CESCE), because they felt there was room for an association of anthropologists separate from the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association (CSAA) which was dominated by sociologists. He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. 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 (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. In this case, so-called "salvation history" must widen its outreach in order to embrace the horizons of other peoples histories. X0#J++?U;_3_gmx9[F\"{,Um1yu 9 ?ce%9EG`N: &U0EHC$p4=$'=DlX6M_7,--" hb```b``g`a`.ef@ aV68+ +$.0t9$r8A2Or}6=<4. settlements formed by African slaves who ran away from imprisonment the Americas The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity.
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