GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic? Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. 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. Of course, behind all these factors is the Holy Spirit working through them. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. "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. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common.
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African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . 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. Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. 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. Updates?
African Christianity - African Studies - Oxford Bibliographies - obo A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. This is not a biblical distinction. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was. 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. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. 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 the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. Instead, God brought them. He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. 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. All too often, the result is conflict and radicalisation. He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled.
colonization_terms_apush.docx - ` Units 1 and 2 Vocabulary PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. In February 1974 a group of 120 anthropologists launched the Canadian Ethnology Society/socit canadienne d'ethnologie (CESCE), because they felt there was room for an association of anthropologists separate from the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association (CSAA) which was dominated by sociologists. 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. 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. Yet . In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. I want to reflect and write on this topic, but somehow it makes me feel frightened. In particular, the concepts about God provide one area of great commonality. African spirituality is truly holistic. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. 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. Again, it doesnt reflect the multiplicity of ways that traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. A prominent European New Testament professor visited Makerere University and interviewed me on what I thought about the "death of God" discussion. I am tantalized by the fact that my vision cannot cope with that horizon. 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. 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. Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. The theological horizon continues to expand. The first African captives entered England's North American colonies through Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. He later earned both an M.A. Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors, Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects. 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. 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). 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 . Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. 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. As discussed elsewhere in this report, many Christians and Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa retain beliefs and rituals that are characteristic of traditional African religions. The concept of the church as the body of Christ in the whole world is another growing development for me. Corrections? Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. But today that is not the case due to more exclusive-minded types of Christianity and Islam that see patronizing indigenous African beliefs and practices as violating the integrity of their Christian or Muslim principles, but I believe that one can maintain ones religious integrity and also embrace an African worldview. So I read on and on, and conducted field research to learn more and more. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. 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. 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.
The more I peeped into African religious insights about God, the more I felt utterly unable to use the word "only" in this case. 0000014025 00000 n
It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity. Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. Omissions? There is no room to describe them, and I can mention only two or three of them briefly. 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. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) 0000001586 00000 n
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. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? Religious pluralism serves peace. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 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. 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. 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 bitter conflict has led to wanton destruction of lives and property, and this has become a source of great worry to the writers. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. Important lwa are celebrated on saints days (for example: Ogou on St. Jamess Day, July 25; Ezili Danto on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16; Danbala on St. Patricks Day, March 17; and the spirits of the ancestors on All Saints Day and All Souls Day, November 1 and November 2). (See the glossary for more information on the evil eye.). 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. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. 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. Corrections? God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. Indigenous African spirituality today is increasingly falling out of favor. ), 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. 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. Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. Unlike in Europe and the United States, very few people in sub-Saharan Africa say they are unaffiliated with a particular faith. The WCCs very existence as a council of churches is a living hope. They were names of one and the same God, the creator of the world, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The book comprised ideas that I had gathered from 300 African peoples ("tribes" -- a term that today is sometimes used in derogatory ways). Amen. 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. 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. 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.
The previous year I had published African Religions and Philosophy (Doubleday, 1969). degree at Harvard Divinity School. GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology? This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. This chapter includes information on: Download chapter 1 in full (6-page PDF, <1MB), 1 The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in the easternmost part of North East Africa, on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Religion Online is designed to assist teachers, scholars and general seekers who are interested in exploring religious issues. Orthodox Christianity, although influenced by other religions, generally looked negatively upon these syncretistic movements.
How Africa Is Changing Faith Around the World 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.
Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation | Pew Research Center 0000005714 00000 n
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. Author of. Download chapter 3 in full (3-page PDF, <1MB), Photo credit: Sebastien Desarmaux/GODONG/Godong/Corbis, Part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 1615 L St. NW, Suite 800Washington, DC 20036USA It is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation. African scholars Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . 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 word Vodou means spirit or deity in the Fon language of the African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. This is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism not at all. But it is nevertheless a working Yes and one that demands theological understanding. Muslim populations are especially concentrated in a large geographic belt running west to east from Senegal to the Horn of Africa.1 Southern Africa is predominantly Christian. Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect. 817-820. We can list some obvious and often publicized factors. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa.
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*:7??+0:0$! Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). This was an extremely liberating word in my theological thinking. In one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. In this overpowering environment, one simply accepted this stand and looked at the world from its perspectives. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. Updates? 0000015705 00000 n
Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. stream << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> The numerous traditional African religions have in common the notion of a creator god, who made the world and then withdrew, remaining remote from the concerns of human life. One of Jacob Oluponas earliest memories in Massachusetts is of nearly freezing in his apartment as a graduate student at Boston University during the great snowstorm of 1978. 0 I was like a snail shyly peeping out of its house after a heavy thunderstorm. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v
L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. What is African Traditional Religion? The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), myst (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. When this happens, then a passage such as Hebrews 1:1-3 rolls down like mighty waters, full of exciting possibilities of theological reflection. 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. 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. Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. 4 0 obj While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that 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. 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 . AR-Ndhdnn}H\{%jC!a,]c8F`1LE(3%"w+tj}](q w[,p8i$dd$GrMRD K4wLG4@h\WfPY endobj
(PDF) Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . Vodou ritual activity (e.g., prayer, song, dance, and gesture) is aimed at refining and restoring balance and energy in relationships between people and between people and the spirits of the unseen world. In this case, so-called "salvation history" must widen its outreach in order to embrace the horizons of other peoples histories. 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. 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.
Faith in The One God in Christian and African Traditional Religions: a OLUPONA: Thats a mixed bag. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. The Church in Africa, 1450-1950.
Religious beliefs among Black Americans | Pew Research Center 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. 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. This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. 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). Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people.
The Story of Africa| BBC World Service - Logo of the BBC That would be a serious loss not only for Africans, but also for academics, researchers, writers, and general seekers of wisdom the world over. Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. 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. (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. I want to walk with Jesus of Nazareth on the shores of Lake Galilee and the hillsides of Judea, through the gates of Jerusalem. 0000002026 00000 n
Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. Abstract. OLUPONA: No, this type of binary thinking is simplistic.
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