I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. 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. (+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. Omissions? GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic? 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. 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.. The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. 1"7$X9Xyyyb GNpL!9I&mxo0++44cA@5c. Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). www.ej-theology.org Christianity and Indigenisation in Africa Didnt our Lord let it be clearly known that "before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58)? Amen. I want to make a pilgrimage into Christ. In its place there emerged the word "also." Orthodox Christianity, although influenced by other religions, generally looked negatively upon these syncretistic movements. These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. 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. 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. Modernity has not put a total stop to its influence. 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"). 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 . GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. 0000000016 00000 n 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 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. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Consequently, traditional Africans have different ideas on what role the ancestors play in the lives of living descendants. %PDF-1.7 % Religion Online is designed to assist teachers, scholars and general seekers who are interested in exploring religious issues. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main At first, Christianity made few inroads into the African slave population, which had its own religious traditions. It doesnt have a fixed creed, like in some forms of Christianity or Islam. I have been greatly enriched by working at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, 1974-1980. Did he then reveal himself only in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel and other personalities of the Bible? Dr. Mbiti is on the staff of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland. After that date there will be more Christians in the south than in the north. But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. stream Consequently, people are discovering that the biblical faith is not harmful to their religious sensibilities. Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. These statements await further exploration by African theologians. A prominent European New Testament professor visited Makerere University and interviewed me on what I thought about the "death of God" discussion. Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. 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 suppression of ancestor worship is the only area where mission Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. Christianity: An African traditional religion - ghanaweb.com The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent. The spirituality of Africa - Harvard Gazette They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. 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. 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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. 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. 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. Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. <<6D546C3FADADB2110A00A09A6B9CFF7F>]/Prev 416812>> The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. 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. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. 0000001791 00000 n 300 ce). 0000001519 00000 n I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. 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. PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial 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. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. 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). (I myself have consulted with several diviners for my research on specific academic topics regarding African culture and history; consequently, if we were to lose Africas diviners, we would also lose one of Africas best keepers and sources of African history and culture. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. On returning home, the learned professor wrote an article using my brief answer as his title. 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. 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. Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . I am tantalized by the fact that my vision cannot cope with that horizon. 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He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. Indigenous African spirituality today is increasingly falling out of favor. African scholars 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. 43. 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. Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. 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. 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. The decisive word here is "only." This is not an empty coincidence. 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. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. Corrections? It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. 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. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). 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. African development. And in Botswana, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia, the survey finds that 5% or less identify as Muslim. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt That which had been seen as the enemy of the gospel turns out (to me) to be indeed a very welcoming friend. African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. For example, sickness in the indigenous African worldview is not only an imbalance of the body, but also an imbalance in ones social life, which can be linked to a breakdown in ones kinship and family relations or even to ones relationship with ones ancestors. The church is composed largely of people who come out of the African religious background. Religious beliefs among Black Americans | Pew Research Center Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. Today, the country claims about 80 million of each . Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. 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. 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 National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Vodou's role in Haitian mental health, Learn Religions - An Introduction to the Basic Beliefs of the Vodou (Voodoo) Religion, Ancient Origins - The Origins of Voodoo, the Misunderstood Religion, LiveScience - Voodoo: Facts About Misunderstood Religion, Vodou - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Vodou - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). 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 Awolawu and Depamu (1979) Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. Par consquent, Mbali-Dieu est la rponse crative des Biras une rencontre religieuse syncrtique. 0000000676 00000 n But I feel that the issue of looking at African history in light of the biblical understanding of history is clearly called for. in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.)