African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. These were not empty names. 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(See the glossary for more information on juju. Faith in The One God in Christian and African Traditional Religions: a 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. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. 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. Vodou | Definition, History, West African Vodun, & Facts Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender. 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 Kenya I grew up in home, school and church milieus which held that the African religious and cultural background was demonic and anti-Christian. 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. Some people tried to involve Africa in the debate. 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. Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. 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. In most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. 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. For instance, in a few years time, I pray that I will be participating in an age-grade festival for men around 70 years of age called Ero in my native Nigerian community in Ute, in Ondo state. 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 . Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation | Pew Research Center There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. I wont pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. <> For example, in 14 of the 19 countries surveyed, more than three-in-ten people say they sometimes consult traditional healers when someone in their household is sick. 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 . Updates? 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. Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent. 0000005714 00000 n 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. degree at Harvard Divinity School. 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 am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Religious pluralism serves peace. It may be, and needs to be, a qualified and critical Yes. %%EOF The council made me aware, perhaps even frightfully so, of the problems of our world. We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. 75 0 obj 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. 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. GAZETTE: How have ancestors played a role in traditional societies? (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 www.ej-theology.org Christianity and Indigenisation in Africa 0000003217 00000 n 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. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. Par consquent, Mbali-Dieu est la rponse crative des Biras une rencontre religieuse syncrtique. Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. There are other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. 0000002505 00000 n 0000002026 00000 n 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. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? It will keep me chewing for a long time, and it will most certainly feed my theological development. 43. 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. PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. Vodou is an oral tradition practiced by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the necessary devotional practices, from their elders. There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function. OLUPONA: Thats a mixed bag. Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. Religious syncretism - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. 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. (back to text), 3 Nigerias 2006 census did not ask about religious affiliation, and recent estimates of the numbers of Muslims and Christians in the country vary. This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin. 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. GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic? The spirituality of Africa - Harvard Gazette In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Instead, God brought them. 75 19 300 ce). 0000001791 00000 n African scholars 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. Africans consequently played a crucial role in establishing the doctrines and theology of the early church. 0000001198 00000 n This rapid spreading of the Christian faith where people have been predominantly followers of African religion provokes interesting questions. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax These statements await further exploration by African theologians. OLUPONA: My father, a faithful Anglican priest, was a good example. 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. Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? Orthodox Christianity, although influenced by other religions, generally looked negatively upon these syncretistic movements. 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 The WCCs very existence as a council of churches is a living hope. They are not mutually exclusive. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. Animism is a common feature of African religions, and misfortune is often attributed to witchcraft and sorcery. 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. Below is the article summary. hb```b``g`a`.ef@ aV68+ +$.0t9$r8A2Or}6=<4. My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. 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. So the church which exists on the African scene bears the marks of its peoples backgrounds. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main African Traditional Religion in the Context of Christian and Islamic Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. AP US History Period 1, APUSH Period 1 Flashcards | Quizlet 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. Their history has a theological meaning. Dr. Mbiti is on the staff of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. % 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. Amen. God was not a stranger to African peoples. 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. APUSH Unit 1 Flashcards | Quizlet Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. endobj So, "Lord, help Thou my unbelief!" For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. 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 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. Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), myst (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. It doesnt have a fixed creed, like in some forms of Christianity or Islam. African diaspora religions - Wikipedia In its place there emerged the word "also." In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. 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. In most of the 19 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, 90% or more of the respondents say they belong to one of these faiths. 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. An old African adage says: The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.. And this witness deserves ones support through service and prayer. 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. 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. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. That experience gave me a face-to-face encounter with the ecumenical movement and left a lasting mark on me. 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. This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. (See the glossary for more information on the evil eye.). 1"7$X9Xyyyb GNpL!9I&mxo0++44cA@5c. African religion has equipped people to listen to the gospel, to discover meaningful passages in the Bible, and to avoid unhealthy religious conflict. They have also fostered a greater feeling of individual self-worth by acknowledging important milestones in ones life, including becoming an adult or an elder. 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 church is composed largely of people who come out of the African religious background. 0000000016 00000 n God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and 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. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. Since Christianity came in contact with the traditional religion, there has always been a sharp conflict between traditionalists and Christians. Author of. 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"). Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. trailer Ethiopia's Christian population, at 6 million in 1900, will grow to a projected 100 million in 2050. And in Botswana, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia, the survey finds that 5% or less identify as Muslim. It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. {PB,`s It is here that I have discovered the church in Burma, in the Pacific islands, the house church in China, the basic Christian communities in Latin America, the struggling church in South Africa, plus countless other endeavors of Christians all over the world. 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. 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. This is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism not at all. The previous year I had published African Religions and Philosophy (Doubleday, 1969). 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. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? One of the things these diaspora African religions testify to is the beauty of African religions to engage a devotee on many spiritual levels. They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. How Africa Is Changing Faith Around the World Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. Corrections? 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. That is anathema to the fundamentalist faith movements that have been gaining momentum in recent decades. 0000003641 00000 n 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%. <<6D546C3FADADB2110A00A09A6B9CFF7F>]/Prev 416812>> While Islam and Christianity tend to be overtly resistant to adopting traditional African religious ideas or practices, indigenous African religions have always accommodated other beliefs. Subscriptions are available to libraries and individuals who are not members of CASCA. 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. 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. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. Consequently, traditional Africans have different ideas on what role the ancestors play in the lives of living descendants. PDF African American Christianity - Harvard University I want to walk with Jesus of Nazareth on the shores of Lake Galilee and the hillsides of Judea, through the gates of Jerusalem. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. 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. 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). Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. 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. He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. I want to reflect and write on this topic, but somehow it makes me feel frightened.