Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. 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. 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). 43. Much of Oluponas work is an attempt to provide a fuller understanding of the complexity and richness of African indigenous thought and practice by viewing it not as a foil or as a useful comparative to better understand Western religions, but as a system of thought and belief that should be valued and understood for its own ideas and contribution to global religions. I have received much in a short period. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . 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. The beliefs and practices of the traditional religions in Africa can enrich Christian theology and spirituality." The defining line between deities and ancestors is often contested, but overall, ancestors are believed to occupy a higher level of existence than living human beings and are believed to be able to bestow either blessings or illness upon their living descendants. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. This is not a biblical distinction. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. Dr. Mbiti is on the staff of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland. There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Omissions? 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. Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). Modernity has not put a total stop to its influence. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. 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 GAZETTE: What allows African indigenous religions to be so accommodating? 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. He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. The councils programs in response to these problems are impressive. 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 . The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. 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. If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? Updates? Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. I want to make a pilgrimage into Christ. Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . Instead, God brought them. Of course, behind all these factors is the Holy Spirit working through them. I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. Robinson, came out. There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. At first, Christianity made few inroads into the African slave population, which had its own religious traditions. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . 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.. African scholars I want to see his healing hand, to hear his word that exorcises evil spirits. Anthropologica 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. This is not an empty coincidence. That experience gave me a face-to-face encounter with the ecumenical movement and left a lasting mark on me. 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. A follower of African diaspora religions has many choices in terms of seeking spiritual help or succor. With it, one began to explore afresh the realm of Gods revelation and other treasures of our faith. 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. Indigenous religion in Africa is the way Africans understand and worship their god. 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. % A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the Roman Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice. 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. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. Yet . Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. 0000005005 00000 n OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. %%EOF Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. 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? Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. 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. 0000003641 00000 n In three of the countries surveyed (Djibouti, Mali and Senegal), Muslims clearly outnumber Christians. After that date there will be more Christians in the south than in the north. 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. /// Dans le nord-est du Zare, la communaut rurale Bira a t expose depuis plus de cinquante ans au message chrtien. Below is the article summary. 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. 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. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or 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. African diaspora religions, also described as Afro-American religions, are a number of related beliefs that developed in the Americas in various nations of the Caribbean, Latin America and the Southern United States. My findings were used in teaching, but eventually I put them together in a book, Concepts of God in Africa, published by the British publisher SPCK (1970). 93 0 obj Again, it doesnt reflect the multiplicity of ways that traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. God was not a stranger to African peoples. The numerous traditional African religions have in common the notion of a creator god, who made the world and then withdrew, remaining remote from the concerns of human life. 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. For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the World Council of Churches is a great witness of the Christian response to the prayer of our Lord that we may all be one. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. 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. These statements await further exploration by African theologians. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. 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. Anthropologica is published for CASCA by University of Toronto Press. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. Religion Online is designed to assist teachers, scholars and general seekers who are interested in exploring religious issues. 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. Nigeria, the most populous country in all of Africa, has the largest number of Muslims as well as the largest number of Christians in the region.3. 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. In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. 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. 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. GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology? I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa are the only countries surveyed where a significant number of people (roughly one-in-ten) describe their religion as atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular. In all the other countries, the figure is closer to zero. Amen. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. But in practical terms, there is a Christian Yes to African religiosity. It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. A prominent European New Testament professor visited Makerere University and interviewed me on what I thought about the "death of God" discussion. They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. 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. startxref Orthodox Christianity, although influenced by other religions, generally looked negatively upon these syncretistic movements. ancient Rome: Religious and cultural life in the 3rd century, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/religious-syncretism, Academia - Religious Syncretism as a Syncretistic Concept: The Inadequacy of the " World Religions " Paradigm in Cross-Cultural Encounter. 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. 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. 0000001519 00000 n They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. In the other case no such written record exists.
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