Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. (See the glossary for more information on the evil eye.). 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. Corrections? For this reason, some African theologians take African religiosity to be one of the sources of theological reflection (besides the Bible, Christian heritage, etc.). The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. Consequently, people are discovering that the biblical faith is not harmful to their religious sensibilities. 0000002505 00000 n While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . There is no room to describe them, and I can mention only two or three of them briefly. The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. AR-Ndhdnn}H\{%jC!a,]c8F`1LE(3%"w+tj}](q w[,p8i$dd$GrMRD K4wLG4@h\WfPY This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. 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: How have ancestors played a role in traditional societies? 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. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. 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. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. 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. 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. in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was. 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. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. The beliefs and practices of the traditional religions in Africa can enrich Christian theology and spirituality." Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. 1996 Canadian Anthropology Society Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. I have received much in a short period. x\u}4`P}E#(9q"%LCl'KLb)Sfgdq N Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. "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. In three of the countries surveyed (Djibouti, Mali and Senegal), Muslims clearly outnumber Christians. These statements await further exploration by African theologians. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. 0000001198 00000 n I have seen the quest more sharply. Animism is a common feature of African religions, and misfortune is often attributed to witchcraft and sorcery. 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. Traditional African religions and practices were brought to the Western hemisphere through the African diaspora and the slave trade, often resulting in a syncretic blending with Christianity. 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. 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. 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. 0000003217 00000 n 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. 0000000676 00000 n But it is nevertheless a working Yes and one that demands theological understanding. I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. That which had been seen as the enemy of the gospel turns out (to me) to be indeed a very welcoming friend. 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. Author of. In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. 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. Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. 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. The idea is that the traditional African practitioner who constructed that amulet believes in the efficacy of other faiths and religions; there is no conflict in his mind between his traditional African spirituality and another faith. 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. 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. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? 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. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. En ce qui concerne la croyance en Dieu, il semblerait que les Biras se soient servis de la chrtient pour rendre leur dieu traditionnel Mbali plus accessible et plus comprhensif, un changement qui a rendu le Dieu des chrtiens plus compatissant et indulgent vis vis du pch. Their culture, history, world views and spiritual aspirations cannot be taken away from them. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. Ritual functionaries include priests, elders, rainmakers, diviners, and prophets. This rapid spreading of the Christian faith where people have been predominantly followers of African religion provokes interesting questions. These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. 0000001791 00000 n Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. He later earned both an M.A. I was like a snail shyly peeping out of its house after a heavy thunderstorm. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. 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. 0000001586 00000 n An old African adage says: The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.. Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. African spirituality is truly holistic. (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. 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. 0000001019 00000 n This number has since grown rapidly, to the point that in 1980 there are estimated to be 200 million Christians (or about 45 per cent of the population). Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. Orthodox Christianity, although influenced by other religions, generally looked negatively upon these syncretistic movements. In its place there emerged the word "also." These were not empty names. 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. <>stream 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. Take em with a grain of salt. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. What factors are responsible for it? OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. (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. 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 A subscription to Anthropologica is included in CASCA's annual membership fee. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. OLUPONA: The role of ancestors in the African cosmology has always been significant. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. The defining line between deities and ancestors is often contested, but overall, ancestors are believed to occupy a higher level of existence than living human beings and are believed to be able to bestow either blessings or illness upon their living descendants. First, the association of traditional African religion with an other-worldly orientation may appear problematic, given the "pragmatic" basis of this religion. 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. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . Again, it doesnt reflect the multiplicity of ways that traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. Revelation is given not in a vacuum but within particular historical experiences and reflections. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. %PDF-1.7 % Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. I am tantalized by the fact that my vision cannot cope with that horizon. What is African Traditional Religion? This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. OLUPONA: No, this type of binary thinking is simplistic. 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. A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. hb```b``g`a`.ef@ aV68+ +$.0t9$r8A2Or}6=<4. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. <<6D546C3FADADB2110A00A09A6B9CFF7F>]/Prev 416812>> This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. degree at Harvard Divinity School. 0000015705 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. 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. 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. He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. Subscriptions are available to libraries and individuals who are not members of CASCA. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect. 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. Vodou is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and 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 That finished the interview. Since Christianity and Islam spread across Africa, many people there have observed a mixture of religious practices. 0000005714 00000 n 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. 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. 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 . Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. I want to make a pilgrimage into Christ. Its about getting tangible results. 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. In Cameroon, Ethiopia, Liberia and Mozambique, Muslims account for between 15% and 30% of survey respondents. 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. A close geographical correlation exists between the location of African religion and the rapid expansion of the Christian faith. 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 It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. (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.