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). 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. 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. Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. A close geographical correlation exists between the location of African religion and the rapid expansion of the Christian faith. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. Their culture, history, world views and spiritual aspirations cannot be taken away from them. religious syncretism, the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices. 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. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. In three of the countries surveyed (Djibouti, Mali and Senegal), Muslims clearly outnumber Christians. Consequently, traditional Africans have different ideas on what role the ancestors play in the lives of living descendants. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. 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. (See the glossary for more information on the evil eye.). Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. 75 0 obj 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. 0000000676 00000 n When this happens, then a passage such as Hebrews 1:1-3 rolls down like mighty waters, full of exciting possibilities of theological reflection. Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender, Side by side with their high levels of commitment to Christianity and Islam, many people in the countries surveyed retain beliefs and rituals that are characteristic of traditional African religions. 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]. Amen. 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. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity. Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? 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. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. 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. 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. 0000002264 00000 n 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 The decisive word here is "only." That is anathema to the fundamentalist faith movements that have been gaining momentum in recent decades. 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. Revelation is given not in a vacuum but within particular historical experiences and reflections. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. 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. 0000001019 00000 n A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the Roman Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice. "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. Religion Online is designed to assist teachers, scholars and general seekers who are interested in exploring religious issues. Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender. African religion has equipped people to listen to the gospel, to discover meaningful passages in the Bible, and to avoid unhealthy religious conflict. 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. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . 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. 0000001586 00000 n Black Americans who identify with a religion are most likely to say belief in God is essential to what their faith means to them (84%), while large majorities say the same about opposing racism (76%) and sexism (71%). OLUPONA: Thats a mixed bag. A prominent European New Testament professor visited Makerere University and interviewed me on what I thought about the "death of God" discussion. In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. In one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. 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. 1"7$X9Xyyyb GNpL!9I&mxo0++44cA@5c. Ethiopia's Christian population, at 6 million in 1900, will grow to a projected 100 million in 2050. 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. The editor of The Christian Century has given me an undeserved privilege in asking me to contribute some reflections on "How My Mind Has Changed" in the course of the past decade. Dr. Mbiti is on the staff of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland. This includes five countries (Cameroon, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal) where more than half the population uses traditional healers. The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. I had it. 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. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. 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. stream Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World, Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa, Next: Chapter 2: Commitment to Christianity and Islam, Chapter 2: Commitment to Christianity and Islam, Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices, 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. 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. This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Robinson, came out. 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. Corrections? %PDF-1.7 % This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . xref The more I peeped into African religious insights about God, the more I felt utterly unable to use the word "only" in this case. I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. (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. 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. That experience gave me a face-to-face encounter with the ecumenical movement and left a lasting mark on me. As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. Religious pluralism serves peace. Wendy Sherman, who was the lead U.S. negotiator in the nuclear deal with Iran, was welcomed by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. After that date there will be more Christians in the south than in the north. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. The councils programs in response to these problems are impressive. It is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. Liberia is the only country where more than one-in-ten (12%) identify primarily with an African traditional religion. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. 0000002884 00000 n And in Botswana, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia, the survey finds that 5% or less identify as Muslim. A follower of African diaspora religions has many choices in terms of seeking spiritual help or succor. Omissions? 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. 0000002505 00000 n 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). 0000015705 00000 n But in practical terms, there is a Christian Yes to African religiosity. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? 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. The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function. This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. 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. Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. Corrections? It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. He went on to conduct some of the most significant research on African religions in decades. 0000014207 00000 n They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. 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. 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. 0000000016 00000 n While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. A subscription to Anthropologica is included in CASCA's annual membership fee. My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. 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. 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. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. The theological horizon continues to expand. Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa. 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. One African theologian, Gabriel Setiloane, has even argued that the concept of God which the missionaries presented to the Sotho-Tswana peoples was a devaluation of the traditional currency of Modimo (God) among the Sotho-Tswana. So the church which exists on the African scene bears the marks of its peoples backgrounds. In most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. As the map also shows, the ratio of Christians to Muslims increases the further south one goes in the continent. 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. 0000005714 00000 n While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that Corrections? Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. 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). /// Dans le nord-est du Zare, la communaut rurale Bira a t expose depuis plus de cinquante ans au message chrtien. Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. 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. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Instead, God brought them. 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. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent. They are not mutually exclusive. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax What factors are responsible for it? 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. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. For instance, if we were to lose indigenous African religions in Africa, then diviners would disappear, and if diviners disappeared, we would not only lose an important spiritual specialist for many Africans, but also an institution that for centuries has been the repository of African history, wisdom, and knowledge. 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. 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. 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.
