Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. interaction between the Christian churches and West African religious culture. 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. Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. 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. Of course, behind all these factors is the Holy Spirit working through them. On returning home, the learned professor wrote an article using my brief answer as his title. 1996 Canadian Anthropology Society 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. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. Updates? For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. Anthropologica is published for CASCA by University of Toronto Press. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. I was like a snail shyly peeping out of its house after a heavy thunderstorm. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. In this case, so-called "salvation history" must widen its outreach in order to embrace the horizons of other peoples histories. Some of these African diaspora religions include Cuban Regla de Ocha, Haitian Vodou, and Brazilian Candomble. Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. 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. 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. 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. I have been greatly enriched by working at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, 1974-1980. The more I peeped into African religious insights about God, the more I felt utterly unable to use the word "only" in this case. (See the glossary for more information on juju. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. 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. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. I have concentrated these comments on the role of African background in my theological reflection. 0000001198 00000 n But in practical terms, there is a Christian Yes to African religiosity. 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. religious syncretism, the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices. Maybe this is why I am not an Anglican priest. 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. The church is composed largely of people who come out of the African religious background. African spirituality is truly holistic. Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. w?0t7/Oa84P]T}T}?gHq.qsRnkc;]X*s1!E"l^~K_/|j p z|9~p uf:}[Mc|4!#"Zg!/vc _~|oyuQ'dX :?NmU)?oPSw?6#?[OUN@6oz{j;\e7nWsV~XyU4vMm4#f4c:[Wefkd&88XB|cMh6)mt<4M8}; *:7??+0:0$! African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors, Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects. Dr. Mbiti is on the staff of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland. 0000015705 00000 n 75 0 obj 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. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. Liberia is the only country where more than one-in-ten (12%) identify primarily with an African traditional religion. 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. According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. stream Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. Omissions? In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. Author of. 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. As the map also shows, the ratio of Christians to Muslims increases the further south one goes in the continent. 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. These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . 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. 0000002884 00000 n 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 The council made me aware, perhaps even frightfully so, of the problems of our world. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. I should add that without claiming to be full members of indigenous traditions, there are many professed Christians and Muslims who participate in one form of indigenous religious rituals and practices or another. 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. Its aim is to develop an extensive library of resources, representing many different points of view, but all written from the perspective of sound scholarship. 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. Anthropologica 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. 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. 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. That finished the interview. The award allows Olupona a year of study and research in Germany; he is on leave this year (201516). OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. Vodou is an oral tradition practiced by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the necessary devotional practices, from their elders. I had it. They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 0000005005 00000 n 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. A prominent European New Testament professor visited Makerere University and interviewed me on what I thought about the "death of God" discussion. The decisive word here is "only." Par contre, les croyances en la sorcellerie ont persist. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect. endobj 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. 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. 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. One of the things these diaspora African religions testify to is the beauty of African religions to engage a devotee on many spiritual levels. Vodou is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. <> 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. 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. 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. 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]. Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. 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. 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. The first and most intriguing topic that immediately engaged my attention was the thinking of African peoples about God. Because of this, Africa is now home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim communities. 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. x\u}4`P}E#(9q"%LCl'KLb)Sfgdq N 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. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. OLUPONA: We would lose a worldview that has collectively sustained, enriched, and given meaning to a continent and numerous other societies for centuries through its epistemology, metaphysics, history, and practices. 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. 1"7$X9Xyyyb GNpL!9I&mxo0++44cA@5c. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax For this reason, some African theologians take African religiosity to be one of the sources of theological reflection (besides the Bible, Christian heritage, etc.). There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 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 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. African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. ), 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. Corrections? "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. 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). 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. All too often, the result is conflict and radicalisation. And if these shrines are not properly cared for by the designated descendant, then misfortune in the form of illness might befall the caretaker. This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. No viable theology can grow in Africa without addressing itself to the interreligious phenomenon at work there. 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. Take em with a grain of salt. 300 ce). 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. Indigenous religion in Africa is the way Africans understand and worship their god. In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. 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. 0000001519 00000 n 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. Their history has a theological meaning. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. Its about getting tangible results. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. (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 He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. The previous year I had published African Religions and Philosophy (Doubleday, 1969). GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? This chapter includes information on: Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects Download chapter 3 in full (3-page PDF, <1MB) Photo credit: Sebastien Desarmaux/GODONG/Godong/Corbis I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 0 Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. That is anathema to the fundamentalist faith movements that have been gaining momentum in recent decades. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). He later earned both an M.A. 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. 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. The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. 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. Some scholars choose to call it the African Traditional Religion, while others prefer to name it the African traditional Religions. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? <<6D546C3FADADB2110A00A09A6B9CFF7F>]/Prev 416812>>
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