In this case, so-called "salvation history" must widen its outreach in order to embrace the horizons of other peoples histories. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. I wont pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. So I read on and on, and conducted field research to learn more and more. 0000000016 00000 n They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. 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%. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. Important lwa are celebrated on saints days (for example: Ogou on St. Jamess Day, July 25; Ezili Danto on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16; Danbala on St. Patricks Day, March 17; and the spirits of the ancestors on All Saints Day and All Souls Day, November 1 and November 2). It may be, and needs to be, a qualified and critical Yes. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. On returning home, the learned professor wrote an article using my brief answer as his title. 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. Dr. Mbiti is on the staff of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland. The book comprised ideas that I had gathered from 300 African peoples ("tribes" -- a term that today is sometimes used in derogatory ways). degree at Harvard Divinity School. Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. I want to reflect and write on this topic, but somehow it makes me feel frightened. 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. Focuses on the influences of Africans and African ideas on the mission enterprise, conversion, religious innovation, and church life, but it neglects to cover the . (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main 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. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. In four countries (Chad, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria and Tanzania), the number of Christians and Muslims is more equally divided, with a ratio of less than two-to-one in either direction.2 The other countries surveyed are predominantly Christian with Muslim minorities of varying sizes. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. 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. Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. 0000014207 00000 n African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was. 0000015705 00000 n Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. 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. Y.91sC@o9sJL9@XMw`7\`1%nRjBS %U=a{N>. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. Instead, God brought them. He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. In Africa the traditional religions are a major source for the study of the African experience of God. interaction between the Christian churches and West African religious culture. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . OLUPONA: My father, a faithful Anglican priest, was a good example. The church is composed largely of people who come out of the African religious background. 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. I find the traditional Western distinction between "special revelation" and "general revelation" to be inadequate and unfreeing. 0000002505 00000 n We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. Today, the country claims about 80 million of each . 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. My interpretation of Israels history demands a new look at the history of African peoples, among whom this same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has indeed been at work. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. 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. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? My doctoral studies in New Testament eschatology led me also to the field of Christology. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. settlements formed by African slaves who ran away from imprisonment the Americas My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. Par consquent, Mbali-Dieu est la rponse crative des Biras une rencontre religieuse syncrtique. Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. 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. This bitter conflict has led to wanton destruction of lives and property, and this has become a source of great worry to the writers. 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. xref I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 0000001519 00000 n 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. 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. GAZETTE: It sounds like African indigenous religions are dynamic, inclusive, and flexible. It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. Robinson, came out. AR-Ndhdnn}H\{%jC!a,]c8F`1LE(3%"w+tj}](q w[,p8i$dd$GrMRD K4wLG4@h\WfPY It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. (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 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. GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. %PDF-1.7 % Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. <<6D546C3FADADB2110A00A09A6B9CFF7F>]/Prev 416812>> 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. 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. I am tantalized by the fact that my vision cannot cope with that horizon. An old African adage says: The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.. They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. Par contre, les croyances en la sorcellerie ont persist. According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. 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. This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . They are not mutually exclusive. 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.. X0#J++?U;_3_gmx9[F\"{,Um1yu 9 ?ce%9EG`N: &U0EHC$p4=$'=DlX6M_7,--" This is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism not at all. The first and most intriguing topic that immediately engaged my attention was the thinking of African peoples about God. OLUPONA: Thats a mixed bag. 43. 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. But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. 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. I have concentrated these comments on the role of African background in my theological reflection. 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. But it is nevertheless a working Yes and one that demands theological understanding. Jacob Olupona, professor of indigenous African religions at Harvard Divinity School and professor of African and African-American studies in Harvards Faculty of Arts and Sciences, recently sat down for an interview about his lifelong research on indigenous African religions. 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. %%EOF "For us in Africa, God is not dead" -- and that applies whether or not there is a written record of his relations with and concern for people. Didnt our Lord let it be clearly known that "before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58)? 0000002264 00000 n The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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]. For this reason, some African theologians take African religiosity to be one of the sources of theological reflection (besides the Bible, Christian heritage, etc.). 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. 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. Did he then reveal himself only in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel and other personalities of the Bible? Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. In most of the 19 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Centers Forum on Religion & Public Life, 90% or more of the respondents say they belong to one of these faiths. Vodou is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. 0000005005 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. 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. In particular, the concepts about God provide one area of great commonality. While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. Modernity has not put a total stop to its influence. Unlike in Europe and the United States, very few people in sub-Saharan Africa say they are unaffiliated with a particular faith. Model tested on tens of thousands of routine brain scans spotted disease risk with 90% accuracy, Experts on law, policy say originalist view used to overturn Roe could upend 76 ruling based on cruel, unusual punishment clause, Issues revolve around culture of viewing civilians as potential threats, concerns about self-protection in departments equipped with military-grade arms, Khalil Gibran Muhammad says College Board needs to stand firm behind curriculum, 2023 The President and Fellows of Harvard College. I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. Author of. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. 75 0 obj 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. Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Since Christianity came in contact with the traditional religion, there has always been a sharp conflict between traditionalists and Christians. This includes five countries (Cameroon, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal) where more than half the population uses traditional healers. 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. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. So the church which exists on the African scene bears the marks of its peoples backgrounds. GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology? The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. The previous year I had published African Religions and Philosophy (Doubleday, 1969). God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. In Cameroon, Ethiopia, Liberia and Mozambique, Muslims account for between 15% and 30% of survey respondents. Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. Abstract. 0000005714 00000 n Yet . There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax In one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. Amen. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). ), 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. And if these shrines are not properly cared for by the designated descendant, then misfortune in the form of illness might befall the caretaker. 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. OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. 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. For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. Because of this, Africa is now home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim communities. A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the Roman Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice. OLUPONA: The role of ancestors in the African cosmology has always been significant. 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. 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. It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity.