mixing of christianity and traditional african religions apush

African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. Corrections? Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. 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. OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. 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). Take em with a grain of salt. For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. 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. 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. Omissions? Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. 93 0 obj 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. What is African Traditional Religion? Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. hb```b``g`a`.ef@ aV68+ +$.0t9$r8A2Or}6=<4. I want to see his healing hand, to hear his word that exorcises evil spirits. Christianity in Africa dates to the very inception of the church. There is no room to describe them, and I can mention only two or three of them briefly. First, the association of traditional African religion with an other-worldly orientation may appear problematic, given the "pragmatic" basis of this religion. I find the traditional Western distinction between "special revelation" and "general revelation" to be inadequate and unfreeing. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. 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 councils programs in response to these problems are impressive. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. That experience gave me a face-to-face encounter with the ecumenical movement and left a lasting mark on me. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors, Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects. Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). GAZETTE: It sounds like African indigenous religions are dynamic, inclusive, and flexible. I want to walk with Jesus of Nazareth on the shores of Lake Galilee and the hillsides of Judea, through the gates of Jerusalem. A follower of African diaspora religions has many choices in terms of seeking spiritual help or succor. I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). They are not mutually exclusive. 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. 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. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. 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. 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. In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. I am tantalized by the fact that my vision cannot cope with that horizon. While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. OLUPONA: I was raised in Africa during the 1960s, when the Yoruba community never asked you to chose between your personal faith and your collective African identity. (back to text), 2 The World Religion Database estimates that roughly four-in-ten people in Guinea Bissau are Muslim and approximately one-in-ten are Christian, with the rest of the population associated with traditional African religions. In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. Their history has a theological meaning. 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%. 0 Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was. The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. "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. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. The concept of the church as the body of Christ in the whole world is another growing development for me. Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. Modernity has not put a total stop to its influence. 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. This is not an empty coincidence. In one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. A subscription to Anthropologica is included in CASCA's annual membership fee. This includes five countries (Cameroon, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal) where more than half the population uses traditional healers. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. 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. Par consquent, Mbali-Dieu est la rponse crative des Biras une rencontre religieuse syncrtique. 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. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). 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. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . Indigenous African spirituality today is increasingly falling out of favor. GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? One of the things these diaspora African religions testify to is the beauty of African religions to engage a devotee on many spiritual levels. 0000001791 00000 n 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. 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 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt 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. 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. 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. An old African adage says: The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.. 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. Ritual functionaries include priests, elders, rainmakers, diviners, and prophets. 0000000016 00000 n Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. 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. 0000000676 00000 n The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. Many other familial feasts (for the sacred children, for the poor, for particular ancestors) as well as initiations and funerary rituals occur throughout the year. GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology? It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . Awolawu and Depamu (1979) << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. I had it. The word Vodou means spirit or deity in the Fon language of the African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). But it is nevertheless a working Yes and one that demands theological understanding. Regardless of the variation, it is still true that Nigeria has both the largest number of Muslims and the largest number of Christians in the region. 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. The WCCs very existence as a council of churches is a living hope. It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin. That which had been seen as the enemy of the gospel turns out (to me) to be indeed a very welcoming friend. 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. There is some regional difference in ritual practice across Haiti, and branches of the religion include Rada, Daome, Ibo, Nago, Dereal, Manding, Petwo, and Kongo. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. Outline of the Curricular Framework: Anglicanization Atlantic slave trade "Atlantic World" Barbados (sugar) British-American system of slavery the Carolinas (rice) Caste system cereal crops Colonial resistance Dominion of New England Enlightenment Furs Great Awakening Indentured Servants Mercantilism Metis Models of colonization Molasses Act Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. 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. 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. What factors are responsible for it? This was an extremely liberating word in my theological thinking. % Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. The suppression of ancestor worship is the only area where mission Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? 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. It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. 0000005714 00000 n Didnt our Lord let it be clearly known that "before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58)? Dr. Mbiti is on the staff of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland. Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. In this overpowering environment, one simply accepted this stand and looked at the world from its perspectives. 0000001586 00000 n 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. 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 (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. 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. (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 Some scholars choose to call it the African Traditional Religion, while others prefer to name it the African traditional Religions. 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. Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. 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. Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax OLUPONA: Thats a mixed bag. Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. 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. 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. For this reason, some African theologians take African religiosity to be one of the sources of theological reflection (besides the Bible, Christian heritage, etc.). v6 -j>,>Or%I&!To !{vgrh7xxDs}d[!$8k1zX+@}~ The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. So, "Lord, help Thou my unbelief!" 0000001019 00000 n But I am grateful for that one step I may be taking under the light of this vision. Updates? But in practical terms, there is a Christian Yes to African religiosity. As the map in the preface to this report shows, sub-Saharan Africa is much more religiously mixed than northern Africa, where the population is overwhelmingly Muslim. 75 0 obj 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. 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. 0000003641 00000 n In Cameroon, Ethiopia, Liberia and Mozambique, Muslims account for between 15% and 30% of survey respondents. 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. Instead, God brought them. Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World, Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices, Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa, Next: Chapter 4: Interreligious Harmony and Tensions, Chapter 2: Commitment to Christianity and Islam, 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.

How To Get To Tanaan Jungle From Orgrimmar Shadowlands, Fractional Distillation Of Ethanol And Water Lab Report, Articles M