0000014025 00000 n Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. 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: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions The theological horizon continues to expand. 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. Anthropologica 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. 0000005714 00000 n The primary goal and activity of Vodou is to sevi lwa (serve the spirits)to offer prayers and perform various devotional rites directed at God and particular spirits in return for health, protection, and favour. 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. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 0000000016 00000 n Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 0000001586 00000 n A close geographical correlation exists between the location of African religion and the rapid expansion of the Christian faith. Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. 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. endobj Subscriptions are available to libraries and individuals who are not members of CASCA. OLUPONA: Thats a mixed bag. 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. He went on to conduct some of the most significant research on African religions in decades. stream GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? 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. I want to reflect and write on this topic, but somehow it makes me feel frightened. Ethiopia's Christian population, at 6 million in 1900, will grow to a projected 100 million in 2050. 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. 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. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. AR-Ndhdnn}H\{%jC!a,]c8F`1LE(3%"w+tj}](q w[,p8i$dd$GrMRD K4wLG4@h\WfPY Y.91sC@o9sJL9@XMw`7\`1%nRjBS %U=a{N>. We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. colonization_terms_apush.docx - ` Units 1 and 2 Vocabulary The decisive word here is "only." OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. Yet . In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. 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. While Islam and Christianity tend to . 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. Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. 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 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. ), 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. The introduced religions of Islam (in northern Africa) and Christianity (in southern Africa) are now the continent's major religions, but traditional religions still play an important role, especially in the interior of sub-Saharan Africa. 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. Since Christianity came in contact with the traditional religion, there has always been a sharp conflict between traditionalists and Christians. The award allows Olupona a year of study and research in Germany; he is on leave this year (201516). Religious syncretism - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica 0000003641 00000 n If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. 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. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . Updates? trailer 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. During religious rites, believers sometimes enter a trancelike state in which the devotee may eat and drink, perform stylized dances, give supernaturally inspired advice to people, or perform medical cures or special physical feats; these acts exhibit the incarnate presence of the lwa within the entranced devotee. There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. With it, one began to explore afresh the realm of Gods revelation and other treasures of our faith. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. OLUPONA: No, this type of binary thinking is simplistic. 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). Updates? GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? In most countries, however, less than one-in-twenty say this is their primary religious affiliation. 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. The councils programs in response to these problems are impressive. 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. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. 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 It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. 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. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. Omissions? In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. 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. Below is the article summary. 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. 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$! There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. On returning home, the learned professor wrote an article using my brief answer as his title. This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. 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). It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin. 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. It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. 0000014207 00000 n 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. Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. 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. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax As the map also shows, the ratio of Christians to Muslims increases the further south one goes in the continent. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt Take em with a grain of salt. Consequently, traditional Africans have different ideas on what role the ancestors play in the lives of living descendants. The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. This is not an empty coincidence. God was not a stranger to African peoples. 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. 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. I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. 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. After that date there will be more Christians in the south than in the north. 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 . But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. %%EOF 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. What is African Traditional Religion? This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. 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. Corrections? 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. They will certainly be overwhelming, and I feel very excited about them. 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. 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). This bitter conflict has led to wanton destruction of lives and property, and this has become a source of great worry to the writers. 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. 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. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. OLUPONA: The role of ancestors in the African cosmology has always been significant. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect. Christianity: An African traditional religion - ghanaweb.com They include the work of missionaries (of whom there are about 40,000 today, without counting their family members); the work of African Christians in evangelism and pastoral care (their numbers are infinitely greater than those of overseas missionaries, and include men, women and children, both lay and ordained); the role of Christian schools; the translation and distribution of the Bible (which is now available in full or in part in nearly 600 of Africas 1,000 languages); and the ending of the colonial era during the decades 1960-1980.