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Because of this, Africa is now home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim communities. 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 43.
PDF African American Christianity - Harvard University 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.
African religions and corresponding beliefs and practices Nigeria, the most populous country in all of Africa, has the largest number of Muslims as well as the largest number of Christians in the region.3. But I am grateful for that one step I may be taking under the light of this vision. 0000000016 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.. The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. 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. GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. Theological development in Africa must inevitably grow within this religious setting. 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 later earned both an M.A. 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. 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%). Did he then reveal himself only in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel and other personalities of the Bible? The church is composed largely of people who come out of the African religious background. In Nigeria, the population in 1900 included 4.2 million Muslims and 180,000 Christians. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. 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. 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. 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.. My doctoral studies in New Testament eschatology led me also to the field of Christology.
This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. /// Dans le nord-est du Zare, la communaut rurale Bira a t expose depuis plus de cinquante ans au message chrtien. Vodou is an oral tradition practiced by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the necessary devotional practices, from their elders. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . OLUPONA: Thats a mixed bag. 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. Vodou is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. The first African captives entered England's North American colonies through Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. 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. 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. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. %PDF-1.7
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This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity. Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. 4 0 obj Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. OLUPONA: My father, a faithful Anglican priest, was a good example. Instead, God brought them. 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. (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.
www.ej-theology.org Christianity and Indigenisation in Africa in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Today, the country claims about 80 million of each . Alternate titles: Vaudou, Vodun, Voodoo, Voudou, vodon, Elizabeth McAlister Associate Professor of Religion, Weslyan University. I had it. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. 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 interaction between the Christian churches and West African religious culture. 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.
PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial On returning home, the learned professor wrote an article using my brief answer as his title. 0000001586 00000 n
The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity. Foreign religions simply dont have that same connection to the African continent. OLUPONA: If we lose traditional African religions, we would also lose or continue to seriously undermine the African practice of rites of passage such as the much cherished age-grade initiations, which have for so long integrated and bought Africans together under a common understanding, or worldview. 75 0 obj In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. He went on to conduct some of the most significant research on African religions in decades. While Islam and Christianity tend to . 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. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. 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. 0000001519 00000 n
This is not a biblical distinction. Since Christianity and Islam spread across Africa, many people there have observed a mixture of religious practices. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. There is no room to describe them, and I can mention only two or three of them briefly. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . 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. Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. Updates? What is African Traditional Religion? 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.
Religious beliefs among Black Americans | Pew Research Center 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. GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic? 75 19 It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin.
Religious pluralism serves peace | D+C - Development + Cooperation The concept of the church as the body of Christ in the whole world is another growing development for me. 0000005005 00000 n
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. Its aim is to develop an extensive library of resources, representing many different points of view, but all written from the perspective of sound scholarship. We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. The councils programs in response to these problems are impressive. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. All these spirits are believed to live in a mythic land called Ginen, a cosmic Africa. The God of the Christian Bible is understood to be the creator of both the universe and the spirits; the spirits were made by God to help him govern humanity and the natural world. 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. Religion Online is designed to assist teachers, scholars and general seekers who are interested in exploring religious issues. I wont pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. 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. % Revelation is given not in a vacuum but within particular historical experiences and reflections. 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. 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 the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> Indigenous religion in Africa is the way Africans understand and worship their god. Anthropologica is published for CASCA by University of Toronto Press. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . 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. 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. Below is the article summary. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. (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. Subscriptions are available to libraries and individuals who are not members of CASCA. The decisive word here is "only." It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. There are other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. "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 this case, so-called "salvation history" must widen its outreach in order to embrace the horizons of other peoples histories. Anthropologica, journal of the Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA) was created from the merger of the Society's former journal, Culture, with Canada's oldest anthropology journal, Anthropologica.
(PDF) Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The One read Honest to God and a variety of other works in an effort to understand the hot debate then raging in Europe and America. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. 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"). 817-820. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. With it, one began to explore afresh the realm of Gods revelation and other treasures of our faith. 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. 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).