mixing of christianity and traditional african religions apush

93 0 obj Awolawu and Depamu (1979) 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%). A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. 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. These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. 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 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. 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). 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. % A close geographical correlation exists between the location of African religion and the rapid expansion of the Christian faith. 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. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. 0000002884 00000 n 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. The previous year I had published African Religions and Philosophy (Doubleday, 1969). I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. 0000005005 00000 n in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) Ancestors can offer advice and bestow good fortune and honor to their living dependents, but they can also make demands, such as insisting that their shrines be properly maintained and propitiated. In its place there emerged the word "also." Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. Foreign religions simply dont have that same connection to the African continent. 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. Author of. 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. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. 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. <> Their history has a theological meaning. The councils programs in response to these problems are impressive. The award allows Olupona a year of study and research in Germany; he is on leave this year (201516). 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. Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. It is the southern two-thirds of Africa (including Madagascar) which we can rightly call Christian Africa, as the northern one-third is Muslim Africa. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. 43. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. 4 0 obj We can list some obvious and often publicized factors. Corrections? GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology? stream 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.. All too often, the result is conflict and radicalisation. 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. 0000001019 00000 n Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . 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. At first, Christianity made few inroads into the African slave population, which had its own religious traditions. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. 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. 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. This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. 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. What is African Traditional Religion? 0000014207 00000 n There is no room to describe them, and I can mention only two or three of them briefly. For this reason, some African theologians take African religiosity to be one of the sources of theological reflection (besides the Bible, Christian heritage, etc.). www.ej-theology.org Christianity and Indigenisation in Africa 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 doesnt have a fixed creed, like in some forms of Christianity or Islam. Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. 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. The recipient of many prestigious academic honors and research fellowships, Olupona also received the 20152016 Reimar Lust Award for International and Cultural Exchange, considered one of Germanys most prestigious academic honors. Aujourd'hui, la plupart des Zariens sont soit catholiques, soit protestants; les Biras pour leur part sont principalement catholiques. Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. The continued influence of traditional African religion is also evident in some aspects of daily life. Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that Anthropologica It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . 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. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. 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 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. But I am grateful for that one step I may be taking under the light of this vision. The beliefs and practices of the traditional religions in Africa can enrich Christian theology and spirituality." 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. GAZETTE: It sounds like African indigenous religions are dynamic, inclusive, and flexible. 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. v6 -j>,>Or%I&!To !{vgrh7xxDs}d[!$8k1zX+@}~ It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. 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). (a) The Structures of African Traditional Religions: Sometimes it is a difficult task among scholars to choose a unanimous name for the religious traditions and beliefs of the African people. This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . 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 GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? The introduced religions of Islam (in northern Africa) and Christianity (in southern Africa) are now the continents major religions, but traditional religions still play an important role, especially in the interior of sub-Saharan Africa. Religion informs everything in traditional African society, including political art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. 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). There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. In the other case no such written record exists. 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. Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. 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. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. 300 ce). This is not an empty coincidence. GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? Anthropologica is published for CASCA by University of Toronto Press. In three of the countries surveyed (Djibouti, Mali and Senegal), Muslims clearly outnumber Christians. It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin. Below is the article summary. Corrections? In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. Afro-American Religious Syncretism in Brazil and the United States: A While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. An old African adage says: The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.. It may be, and needs to be, a qualified and critical Yes. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. 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. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. 0000001586 00000 n 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. African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . 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 rapid spreading of the Christian faith where people have been predominantly followers of African religion provokes interesting questions.

mixing of christianity and traditional african religions apush 2023